WNMU first went on the air in 1972, under
call sign WNPB. The call signs of WNPB and what had been WNMR-FM were changed to WNMU in December 1975, two weeks apart. WNMU serves all communities in the UP, over the air on channel 13 in the central UP, and on cable regionwide, including portions of northern Wisconsin not served by
PBS Wisconsin stations WPNE-TV or WLEF-TV. It is also seen on
Charter Spectrum cable in
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, instead of
WCMU-TV, which the rest of the market receives via transmitters throughout the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. In most of the Eastern UP, cable or satellite are required to receive any PBS service; when the digital conversion took place in 2009, the Eastern UP lost terrestrial PBS service when WCMU satellite WCML in
Alpena lowered its transmitter power for its digital broadcasts. Neither WCMU nor WNMU currently have plans to expand into the Eastern UP to fill the void left by the departure of WCML from the Eastern UP airwaves. WNMU was part of the
Shaw line-up on its
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, system until 2002, when it was replaced with
Detroit's
WTVS. The transmitter for WNMU-TV is located just outside
Ishpeming in
Ely Township. The antenna is tall. The future of WNMU radio and TV was threatened in recent years, as budget cuts led to a proposed sale or closure of the stations. However, new funding was approved, keeping the station on the air. ==Programming==