Get ready to say goodbye to Flint-based PBS station WCMZ-TV on Monday

One PBS station filled with high-quality content in a TV market like metro Detroit is a must. Two is, well, a nice bonus.

On Monday, that luxury will go away for many southeast Michigan viewers. That's because Flint-based station WCMZ-TV will be signing off the air for good.

Of course, the Motor City already has an innovative, community-oriented PBS station in Detroit Public TV — aka WTVS-TV.

But for numerous homes in metro Detroit and Ann Arbor, WCMZ gave viewers the option of choosing between two PBS channels that had different program schedules on any given day.

The reason for the change is Central Michigan University's decision to sell WCMZ for $14 million through a Federal Communications Commission auction held to deal with the demand for more broadcast spectrum for America's increasing digital and cellular needs.

When the results of the auction were revealed in 2017, Central Michigan University announced it was putting the $14 million toward three initiatives that will provide scholarship money, academic and career advice, and work opportunities for students.

The move wasn't taken lightly. The college has stressed that 99% of the Flint station's viewers live in places that receive other PBS channels.

“This was a difficult decision,” said Central Michigan University president George E. Ross in a 2017 statement. “Two facts, however, greatly influenced our conversation. First, nearly all viewers will continue to have access to PBS through other sources. If that weren’t the case, we wouldn’t have participated in the auction.

WCMZ will stop broadcasting Monday. In simple terms, that means nobody will be able to watch the station anymore on a TV set by using an antenna.

"We have to turn in our license and shut down the transmitter," said Ken Kolbe, general manager of WCMU Public Media.

For the past year, WCMU Public Media has been working with DirectTV, Dish TV, AT&T U-Verse and Spectrum cable to make sure that the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City market still will be able to receive WCMU-TV, a sister station to WCMZ.

There also are online options for accessing most PBS and locally produced shows carried by WCMU Public Media's four remaining TV stations: WCMU-TV (based in Mt. Pleasant) WCMV (Cadillac), WCML (Alpena) and WCMW (Manistee).

All of the stations carry the same simulcast.

Kolbe said he doesn't know exactly how many viewers in metro Detroit will be affected by WCMZ's departure.

"The Flint station covered about 5.2 million people and we're losing all of the people ... basically from Detroit and Ann Arbor on up to Flint," he said.

That could represent 30% to 40% of the old total.

Cable, satellite and digital providers in metro Detroit can opt voluntarily to carry WCMU-TV through what Kolbe calls distant carriage, but they're not required to do so by FCC regulations, he said.

According to representatives for Comcast, Spectrum and WOW!, their packages for metro Detroit will not be carrying WCMU as a replacement for WCMZ.

All three providers note that their customers will continue to have PBS content through Detroit Public TV, as usual.

Central MIchigan University originally bought WCMZ, then named WFUM-TV, in 2009 from the University of Michigan for $1 million.

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.