WADL (TV)
WADL, virtual channel 38 (UHF digital channel 39), is an independent television station serving Detroit, Michigan, United States that is licensed to Mount Clemens. The station is locally owned by the Adell Broadcasting Corporation. WADL maintains studio and transmitter facilities located on Adell Drive in Clinton Township.
History
Early history
Although Adell Broadcasting filed for an application for the channel 38 license on September 25, 1985, it took four years for WADL to begin broadcasting, signing on the air for the first time on May 20, 1989. The station was founded by Franklin Z. Adell, previously the owner of an automotive parts supplier company. His son Kevin joined the company after graduating from Arizona State University in 1988. Its original programming blocks were filled with mostly Home Shopping Network programs, religious shows and other paid programming, classic movies and hourly blocks of the syndicated music video show Hit Video USA. In 1990, it began running several hours of syndicated programs. WADL had long been considered "The 5 Million Watt Powerhouse", because it has one of the strongest broadcast signals in the Detroit market.