WZMQ (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Marquette, Michigan, United States, serving the Central and Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan as an affiliate of MeTV and CBS. Owned by Lilly Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on West Washington Street in Marquette, while its transmitter is located in Ishpeming, Michigan. Launched as a Fox affiliate in 2003, WZMQ lost the affiliation in 2009 as the result of the financial collapse of its original owner, Equity Media Holdings, which was unable to build out the digital transmission facility. The station then was sold and returned to air later in 2009, affiliated with several digital multicast networks. Lilly acquired WZMQ in 2017 and obtained the CBS affiliation for the station's second digital subchannel beginning January 21, 2022, displacing Nexstar's WJMN-TV (channel 3). History The station launched on February 2, 2003, as Fox affiliate WMQF. Prior to WMQF's launch, Fox programming was seen in the Upper Peninsula on a limited basis—either over-the-air (on WLUC-TV, which aired the network's programs from 1992 to 1995, or Green Bay's WLUK-TV) or Charter cable systems (which imported either WLUK or Cadillac's WFQX-TV). WMQF also had a secondary affiliation with UPN, broadcasting that network's programming during off-network hours. (UPN was previously affiliated with the Crystal Falls Class A station WUPT-CA, which folded after losing UPN to WMQF.) After UPN folded in 2006, WMQF adopted a second affiliation with MyNetworkTV, effectively using the station to program the later portions of prime time after Fox programming. WMQF was originally owned and operated by Equity Media Holdings. WMQF had no physical presence in the Upper Peninsula under Equity's ownership other than the transmitter. The company central-cast 100% of WMQF's programming (as it did with its other stations) from its headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition to network and syndicated programming, Equity would air two programs on WMQF produced for its Retro Television Network at the time, the conservative political talk shows Unreliable Sources and Closing Remarks. Throughout its history (and especially during its early days), picking up WMQF over-the-air was a challenge to viewers due to its relatively weak 500,000-watt analog signal. When WMQF was picked up, its signal and picture quality could still tend to be sub-par. As with other Equity central-casting operations (such as Lexington, Kentucky's WBLU-LP), viewer, advertiser and vendor questions and concerns about reception went unanswered without any local staff (the station's engineer serving a