WGTU

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WGTU

Traverse City–Cadillac, Michigan United States
City	Traverse City, Michigan
Channels	Digital: 29 (UHF) Virtual: 29
Branding	ABC 29&8 (general) UpNorthLive News on ABC 29&8 (newscasts) TV 7&4 (DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	29.1: ABC 29.2: NBC 29.3: Charge!
Ownership
Owner	Cunningham Broadcasting (Traverse City (WGTU-TV) Licensee, Inc.)
Operator	Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sister stations	WPBN-TV / WTOM-TV
History
First air date	August 18, 1971 (53 years ago) (1971-08-18)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 29 (UHF, 1971–2009) Digital: 31 (UHF, until 2009)
Former affiliations	CW+ (DT2, 2006−2009) Comet (2015–2021 on DT2)
Call sign meaning	Grand Traverse UHF
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	59280
ERP	68.4 kW
HAAT	393 m (1,289 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	44°44′53″N 85°4′8″W / 44.74806°N 85.06889°W / 44.74806; -85.06889
Translator(s)	WPBN-TV 7.2 Traverse City WTOM-TV 4.2 Cheboygan
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	upnorthlive.com
Satellite station
WGTQ
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Channels	Digital: 8 (VHF) Virtual: 8
Programming
Affiliations	8.1: ABC 8.2: NBC 8.3: Charge!
History
First air date	October 29, 1976 (47 years ago) (1976-10-29)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 8 (VHF, 1976–2009) Digital: 9 (VHF, until 2009)
Technical information[2]
Facility ID	59279
ERP	15 kW
HAAT	288 m (945 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	46°3′8″N 84°6′38″W / 46.05222°N 84.11056°W / 46.05222; -84.11056 (WGTQ)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

WGTU (channel 29) and WGTQ (channel 8) are television stations in Traverse City and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States, serving as the ABC affiliates for the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas of Michigan. WGTU and WGTQ are owned by Cunningham Broadcasting; Cunningham contracts with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of regional NBC affiliates WPBN-TV and WTOM-TV, to provide services and advertising sales functions. Both stations share studios on M-72 just west of Traverse City; WGTU's transmitter is located east of Kalkaska, Michigan, and WGTQ's is located near Goetzville in southeastern Chippewa County, in addition to simulcasts on WPBN-TV and WTOM-TV's transmitters. The two stations, known as "ABC 29&8" and together with WPBN/WTOM as "UpNorthLive", carry the same programming and together serve one of the largest television markets east of the Mississippi River.

WGTU went on the air in 1970 and provided full ABC network service to Traverse City for the first time; WGTQ followed in 1976. Prior to WPBN/WTOM taking over many operational functions for WGTU/WGTQ in 2007, the stations aired very little local programming, with two attempts at full local newscasts having failed to garner ratings. The UpNorthLive newsroom produces one dedicated local newscast for WGTU/WGTQ.