From an engineering standing standpoint, there were three versions of WXON/WGPR/WWJ-TV.RingtailedFox wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2019 9:44 pmin the analog era, 2, 4, 7 all covered out to Lansing, Flint, Toledo, and even London (with severe transitory interference for 2 as far away as London, Ontario). 20 and 50 covered out to Ann Arbor, Port Huron, Toledo and the inner suburbs... 62 covered only the inner suburbs and downriver communities until CBS bought it and increased the power to a similar coverage area to the other UHFs. 38 covered Port Huron well from its Mount Clemens transmitter site, but never reached Toledo and just barely covered Monroe. Channel 9 covered similar areas to 2, 4, and 7.
The first version (Channel 62) was built on a budget, near 14 Mile and Beck, an area that was considered rural at the time. The theory was that they could use a shorter tower because the elevation was higher. On Detroit's East Side, it was weak, and, when it was windy, it would lose sync as if it were coming in by skip. Of course, if you lived in Oakland County, it was fine.
So, Mr. Johnson made a deal to change to Channel 20, increase power, and change their transmitter site.
(At this point, I'm not sure if it went directly to the 11/Inkster candelabra built for WKBD, or if they were briefly on another tower, on channel 20, then moving to the 11/Ink later.
For about three years (which seems like a lot of time when one is little), Channel 62 was vacant spectrum.. In what I believe was August, 1975, WGPR came on 62 from a new tower that also hosted WHFI (FM, which woiuld soon become "Magic" WMJC). Where I lived, the new 62 became the strongest UHF signal.
WGPR-TV had a day of fame when their agreement to carry a package of many out-of-town college football games just happened to include the Wolverines playing in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. People who havd never watch UHF in their lives went shoppping for UHF antennas just to see that game.
Later, of course, there was the Fox Surprise. CBS bought (some would say bought-off) WGPR to be the new portal for CBS. They applied for 5MW from a tower that would be far taller than any other in the area (with the antenna itself being 432m HAAT - okay with the FCC as the three zones do not apply on UHF).
Unfortunately, someone else (FAA?) disagreed, and they were condemned to a short tower.