WJRT-TV
ABC-affiliated television station serving Flint and east central Michigan on channel 12.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
WJRT-TV is a commercial television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, and serving the Flint–Tri-Cities and wider east central Michigan region. The station broadcasts on virtual channel 12 and operates under the ABC12 brand. It has been an ABC affiliate since signing on, making the network relationship one of the station’s defining institutional characteristics. WJRT’s main studios and offices are located on Lapeer Road in Flint, while it maintains a second newsroom serving the Saginaw and Tri-Cities area. Its transmission facilities are in St. Charles Township, northeast of Chesaning, in southwestern Saginaw County. The station was established by Goodwill Stations, the company associated with Detroit radio station WJR. Goodwill originally proposed a group of regional television outlets, but WJRT-TV was the only one of those planned stations that it ultimately founded. It began broadcasting on October 12, 1958. As a condition of the license award, the station was required to provide substantial original local programming during its first decade. This obligation helped produce a distinctive early schedule of local children’s, entertainment, information, and movie-host programs, including Mr. Magic, Folkswingers, Theatre of Thrills, Rae Deane and Friends, and the locally presented Bozo’s Big Top. WJRT became the first television station outside Detroit in Michigan to broadcast entirely in color, completing the transition in 1967. Its early local programming gradually gave way to syndicated content after the original license-related requirement expired in 1968, although Bozo continued for several years. During the 1970s, the station benefited from the improving national performance of ABC and became the highest-rated station in the Mid-Michigan market. It later experienced stronger competition from WNEM-TV, particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ownership changed repeatedly. Goodwill Stations merged with Capital Cities Broadcasting in 1964, but WJRT was divested to Poole Broadcasting to comply with federal television ownership limits. Poole sold the station to Knight Ridder in 1978, and Knight Ridder subsequently sold it to SJL Broadcast Management in 1989. Capital Cities/ABC acquired WJRT and Toledo sister station WTVG in 1995 during a period of major affiliation realignment involving Fox, CBS, and NBC. The transaction made WJRT an ABC-owned station and reunited it with the WJR radio property, which had earlier been associated with the station’s founding company. SJL, backed by a private-equity affiliate of Bain Capital, reacquired WJRT from Disney in 2011 while retaining the ABC affiliation. Gray Television purchased the station in 2014. Gray later sold WJRT to Allen Media Group in 2021 as part of a broader ownership restructuring associated with Gray’s acquisition of Meredith’s local television assets. WJRT remains an operating local broadcast station under Allen Media Group. The station’s present business centers on ABC network programming, locally produced news, weather, sports and public-affairs coverage, syndicated programming, digital publishing, and several multicast channels. As of October 2024, its schedule included 37 hours of locally produced newscasts per week. WJRT also distributes news and video through ABC12.com and related digital platforms. Its digital television history includes a transition from UHF pre-transition facilities back to VHF channel 12 after the nationwide analog shutdown. In 2025, Allen Media Group announced plans to replace local meteorologist positions at affected stations, including WJRT, with weather content supplied through a centralized Weather Channel weather hub. The station’s long-term status is active, although its owner announced in June 2025 that it was exploring strategic options for the television group amid financial pressure and rising debt.
History
WJRT-TV originated in Goodwill Stations’ early-1950s plan for a regional television network connected to WJR radio in Detroit. Goodwill sought several channel assignments, including channel 12 in Flint, but WJRT-TV became the only station from that proposed group to reach the air. The company prevailed over competing applicants, including interests connected with WFDF and a theater operator. Because proposed transmitter sites in Oakland County would have placed the station within the Detroit market, the facility was located in St. Charles Township, where its transmitter remains based. WJRT-TV began broadcasting at 5 p.m. on October 12, 1958, from facilities on Lapeer Road in Flint. Those studios had previously been associated with WTAC-TV, which had ceased operating. The station entered into an ABC affiliation at launch and was required by the terms of its license award to produce several hours of local programming each day for ten years. At the time, this meant filling approximately 55 hours outside network programming. The requirement encouraged a substantial range of locally made shows, including children’s programs, a horror-film presentation, music and entertainment features, and community-oriented information programs. The station’s early local personalities and programs included Mr. Magic, Bozo’s Big Top, Romper Room, Theatre of Thrills, Folkswingers, Almanac, TV Bingo, and Rae Deane and Friends. Earl Frank Cady developed and performed Mr. Magic before the station replaced it with Bozo when WJRT moved to full-color broadcasting in 1967. WJRT was the first Michigan television station outside Detroit to make that complete color transition. Once the local-programming requirement expired in 1968, most original programs were phased out in favor of syndicated shows; Bozo remained on the schedule until 1979. Goodwill Stations merged with Capital Cities Broadcasting in 1964. Because the combined company exceeded the Federal Communications Commission’s ownership limit for VHF stations, WJRT was spun off to Poole Broadcasting on July 29, 1964. Poole later sold the station, along with its other television holdings, to Knight Ridder in 1978. Knight Ridder placed its broadcast stations on the market in the late 1980s, and SJL Broadcast Management acquired WJRT in 1989. During the 1970s, ABC’s improving national ratings helped WJRT become the leading station in the Mid-Michigan market. It was generally second to WNEM-TV in portions of the late 1980s and 1990s. The station’s strategic importance increased during the 1994 network-affiliation upheaval. New World Communications’ agreement with Fox triggered a series of affiliation changes, including a move by WNEM from NBC to CBS. NBC was reportedly interested in WJRT and WTVG, but Capital Cities/ABC instead purchased both stations in October 1994 for a reported combined price of $155 million. The transaction closed in 1995 and preserved WJRT’s ABC affiliation while making it an ABC-owned station. Under ABC ownership, WJRT regained the top position in Mid-Michigan prime-time ratings. Its connection with the WJR name was also renewed, although ABC later sold WJR radio and other radio assets to Citadel Broadcasting in 2006. WJRT launched digital broadcasting on May 1, 2002, using digital channel 36. It ended analog broadcasting on VHF channel 12 on June 12, 2009, as part of the United States digital television transition, and moved its digital signal to channel 12. After viewers using UHF antennas encountered reception difficulties, the station sought a power increase; the FCC approved the increase in 2011. Disney sold WJRT and WTVG back to SJL Broadcasting in a transaction completed April 1, 2011. SJL sold both stations to Gray Television in 2014, with the sale closing September 15. In 2021, Gray sold WJRT to Allen Media Group while retaining and consolidating other assets affected by its Meredith transaction. WJRT consequently ceased to be a sister station of WTVG after roughly three decades of shared ownership. The station has continued to expand and revise its local news and multicast services. Its noon newscast became an hour long in September 2019 after the cancellation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, adding consumer, entertainment, pet, and shopping features. By October 2024, WJRT was producing 37 hours of local newscasts weekly. Its digital subchannels have carried services including ABC News Now, AccuWeather, Live Well Network, WeatherNation, MeTV, Start TV, Heroes & Icons, Circle, TheGrio, Catchy Comedy, and MeTV Toons at different times. WJRT remains active under the ABC12 identity and continues to serve Flint and surrounding communities through broadcast and digital platforms.
- 2024
Local news output reaches 37 hours weekly
[1]The station was reported to produce 37 hours of locally originated newscasts each week.
- 2021
Allen Media Group acquisition
[1]Allen Media Group completed its purchase of WJRT-TV from Gray Television on September 23.
- 2014
Gray Television acquisition
[1]Gray Television completed its purchase of WJRT-TV from SJL in September.
- 2011
SJL reacquires the station
[1]SJL Broadcasting completed its purchase of WJRT-TV from Disney on April 1.
- 2009
Analog transmission ends
[1]The station discontinued analog broadcasts and moved its digital signal toward its traditional VHF channel 12 allocation.
- 2002
Digital broadcasting launches
[1]WJRT began digital broadcasts on channel 36.
- 1995
WJRT becomes an ABC-owned station
[1]Capital Cities/ABC completed its acquisition of WJRT and WTVG, preserving WJRT’s ABC affiliation.
- 1989
SJL acquires WJRT
[1]Knight Ridder’s broadcast-station divestiture led to SJL Broadcast Management becoming WJRT’s owner.
- 1978
Knight Ridder acquisition
[1]Poole Broadcasting sold WJRT and its other television stations to Knight Ridder.
- 1967
Full-color broadcasting begins
[1]WJRT became the first Michigan television station outside Detroit to broadcast entirely in color.
Products and positioning
A locally rooted ABC affiliate emphasizing Flint, Mid-Michigan, and Tri-Cities news, weather, community reporting, and broad free over-the-air access.
Local television news · 1958
ABC12 News
WJRT’s principal local-news service covers Flint, Genesee County, the Saginaw and Bay City area, and other communities in east central Michigan. The schedule includes morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and weekend newscasts, with reporting, weather, sports, consumer information, and community features delivered on television and through digital channels.
Digital media
ABC12.com
The station’s website extends the ABC12 brand beyond broadcast television with local news articles, live and on-demand video, weather information, alerts, community coverage, and other material connected to the station’s regional newsgathering operation.
Network television · 1958
ABC network programming
WJRT carries programming supplied by ABC and has maintained the affiliation since its 1958 launch. The network schedule complements locally produced news and station-selected syndicated programming.
Digital television · 2002
Multicast services
WJRT’s digital signal has carried a changing collection of secondary services, including MeTV, Start TV, Heroes & Icons, Catchy Comedy, and MeTV Toons. These channels broaden the station’s over-the-air offering beyond the primary ABC12 service.
Brand decisions
2025
Weather operations move toward a centralized hubStrategyBackground
Allen Media Group announced staffing changes across its television stations as part of an effort to centralize weather production.
Action taken
The company planned to remove local meteorologist and weather-forecaster positions at stations including WJRT and use weather-hub programming produced by The Weather Channel.
Aftermath
The decision could change how WJRT presents local weather coverage and reduce station-level weather staffing.
2021
Allen Media Group acquires WJRT-TVM&ABackground
Gray’s acquisition of Meredith created an ownership overlap involving WJRT and WNEM, two stations among the leading local competitors.
Action taken
Gray sold WJRT-TV to Allen Media Group, with the transaction closing September 23.
Aftermath
WJRT continued as an ABC affiliate under Allen Media Group and was no longer a sister station of WTVG.
2019
Noon newscast expandsOtherBackground
The cancellation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire created additional schedule capacity for local programming.
Action taken
WJRT expanded its noon newscast to one hour and added consumer, entertainment, pet, and shopping-related features.
Aftermath
The change increased the station’s weekday local-news output and complemented its broader digital and syndication strategy.
2014
Gray Television purchases WJRT-TVM&ABackground
SJL pursued another sale of WJRT-TV and WTVG after owning the stations for roughly three years.
Action taken
Gray Television agreed to acquire both stations and completed the transaction on September 15.
Aftermath
WJRT became part of Gray’s regional television portfolio and was later separated from WTVG when sold to Allen Media Group.
Purchase price for WJRT-TV and WTVG. 128 million USD (July 2014 announcement)
2011
SJL reacquires WJRT-TVM&ABackground
Disney decided to sell the two smallest stations in ABC’s owned-station portfolio.
Action taken
SJL Broadcasting, supported by financing associated with Sankaty Advisors, purchased WJRT-TV and WTVG and kept both as ABC affiliates.
Aftermath
The transaction closed April 1 and returned WJRT to its former owner.
1994
ABC acquires WJRT during affiliation realignmentM&ABackground
Major network-affiliation changes involving Fox, CBS, NBC, and New World Communications increased the strategic value of established VHF affiliates.
Action taken
Capital Cities/ABC agreed to purchase WJRT-TV and WTVG, retaining WJRT’s ABC affiliation and making it an ABC-owned station.
Aftermath
The acquisition closed in 1995, and WJRT soon returned to the top of the Mid-Michigan prime-time ratings.
Combined purchase price for WJRT-TV and WTVG. 155 million USD (October 1994 announcement)
Recent events
Allen Media Broadcasting completes acquisition of WJRT-TV[3]
Reported:
Allen Media Broadcasting completed its $70 million cash acquisition of WJRT-TV, the ABC affiliate for the Flint-Saginaw, Michigan, market, from Gray Television.
Sources3 sources
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