WXMI
Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Michigan | |
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City of license | Grand Rapids |
Branding | Fox 17 (general) Fox 17 News (newscasts) |
Slogan | We're in it Together. (used in new promos) |
Channels | Digital: 19 (UHF) Virtual: 17 (PSIP) |
Subchannels | 17.1 Fox 17.2 Antenna TV 17.3 This TV |
Translators | W17DF-D 17 Muskegon W42CB-D 42 Hesperia |
Owner | Tribune Company (Tribune Television Holdings, Inc.) |
First air date | March 18, 1982 |
Call letters' meaning | We're FoX MIchigan (call sign predates network by three years) |
Former callsigns | WWMA (1982-1983) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 17 (UHF, 1982-2009) |
Former affiliations | Independent (1982-1986) The Tube (on DT2) |
Transmitter power | 750 kW |
Height | 334 m |
Facility ID | 68433 |
Transmitter coordinates | 42°41′15″N 85°31′57″W / 42.6875°N 85.5325°W |
Website | fox17online.com |
WXMI channel 17 is a Fox-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, owned by the Tribune Company. WXMI's studio and office facility is located in Grand Rapids and its transmitter is based southwest of Middleville, Michigan. Syndicated programming on WXMI includes: How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Maury, and The Steve Wilkos Show.
Contents |
[edit] Digital television
WXMI's digital channel, 19, is multiplexed, with the following lineup:
Channel | Aspect | Format | Programming |
---|---|---|---|
17.1 | 16:9 | 720p | Main WXMI programming / Fox |
17.2 | 4:3 | 480i | Antenna TV |
17.3 | This TV (moved from 17.2 subchannel) |
WXMI became digital-only on June 12, 2009.[1] Its digital signal remained on channel 19 when the analog to digital conversion completed.[2][3] In July 2010 the station reactivated the 17.2 digital subchannel to carry This TV, which moved to 17.3 on December 9 in anticipation of the late December 31 launch of Tribune's new Antenna TV classic television network on 17.2.
[edit] Translators
In addition to its main signal, the station also operates two translators, mainly to address interference in farther portions of the market by sister station WGN-TV from Chicago, which also broadcasts on digital channel 19. Both translators flag via PSIP to Channel 17 and carry WXMI's full multi-channel map, thus it is possible for a digital television that receives all three signals to carry three different Channel 17's on their channel map.
W42CB channel 42 completed a flash-cut to digital-only broadcasting in November, 2010. W52DB on analog channel 52 was replaced by a digital signal on channel 17 in December, 2010. In late June 2011, W52DB calls will became W17DF-D.[4]
Call letters | Channel | City of license | Transmitter location |
---|---|---|---|
W17DF-D | 17 | Muskegon | northeast of city and U.S. 31 |
W42CB-D | 42 | Hesperia | south of village along M-120 |
[edit] History
This section requires expansion with: further information on WXMI's history. |
The station signed on-the-air March 18, 1982 as a locally-owned independent with the call sign WWMA. The call letters are said to have stood for We're West Michigan Alternative. The station was originally owned by Heritage Broadcasting Company. Approximately a year after signing on, additional shareholders bought control of the station and changed the calls to the current WXMI on August 15, 1983. The "XMI" at the time were said to stand for EXtreme Michigan. It became a charter affiliate of FOX after signing an affiliation deal in 1987. In 1989, the station's stock was purchased by a New York-based company headed by Robert Dudley called Odyssey Television Partners.
Nine years later, WXMI was purchased by Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications which traded the station with sister KTZZ in Seattle, Washington to Tribune in 1998 in exchange for FM station WQCD in New York City. From August 2006 to September 2007, The Tube aired on a second digital channel. Three months later, cartoons were dropped from the WXMI schedule with the cancellation of 4KidsTV and leaving local programs are aired on Saturday Mornings.
[edit] Newscasts
On January 11, 1999, WXMI started a news department and launched the market's first primetime newscast, Fox 17 News at 10. It aired weeknights for 35 minutes and weekends for a half-hour. This was unlike FOX which had no national nightly news. The program would expand to a full hour seven nights a week in 2004. On August 28, 2006, the station premiered the Fox 17 Morning News. Originally a two hour-long broadcast, it expanded to four hours on September 15, 2008. On April 17, 2009, it began producing its local news in high definition. It was the first station in West Michigan to have made the upgrade since the newscasts on NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and ABC affiliates WZZM and WOTV were in merely enhanced-definition widescreen (CBS affiliate WWMT became the second to upgrade to HD newscasts on April 16, 2011 and WOOD-TV/WOTV became the third and fourth on October 22, 2011). The planning for the upgrade first started in December 2008. On April 20 during the weekday morning show, the station officially unveiled a new logo, graphics, music package ("The Unexpected" by 615 Music), and set.
The 10 o'clock news now competes with shows that air on MyNetworkTV WXSP-CD and CW affiliate WWMT-DT2. Sports Ticket was a weekly half-hour sports highlight broadcast that used to air Sunday night at 10:30. Blitz is a weekly sports program focusing on high school sports that airs Friday nights at 10:45. During the Fall, it is known as the Friday Football Blitz and during the Winter it is called Basketball Blitz. In Fall 2008, a one-hour edition of Blitz was added Friday nights at 5 replacing The Simpsons and King of the Hill. WXMI is an affiliate of the Detroit Lions Television Network which airs pre-season games as well as the weekly syndicated show The Ford Lions Report during the regular season. Also, since it is outside of the team's local blackout area, it also airs all regular season games produced by NFL on Fox. On September 21, 2009 WXMI debuted Fox 17 News at Six, an hour-long newscast that competes against half-hour newscasts on WWMT, WOOD-TV, and WZZM and their national network evening newscasts.[5] On March 7, 2011 the station began airing a lifestyle program weeknights at 5 p.m. called The One Seven; the final show aired only five months later on August 19, 2011. It was hosted by Michele DeSelms and Tim Doty and featured lifestyle segments, art, entertainment, cooking and some local news.[6] Fox 17 News At Five, an hour-long newscast featuring news, weather, traffic and sports debuted without any promotion on August 22, 2011.
[edit] News/station presentation
[edit] Newscast titles
- Fox 17 News (1999–present)[7]
[edit] Station slogans
- "Channel 17, Your Special Place" (1983–1990)
- "West Michigan's Fox" (2004–2010)
- "It's Good to Know" (2010–2012)
- "We're In It Together" (2012)
- "Our West Michigan" (2012-present)
[edit] On-air staff
[edit] Current on-air staff[8]
Anchors
- Janice Allen - weeknights at 10 p.m.; also occasional 6 p.m. reporter
- Mike Avery - weekday mornings Fox 17 Morning News
- Sarah Brodhead - weekday mornings Fox 17 Morning News
- Michele DeSelms - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
- Tim Doty - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
- Christian Frank - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Lindsay Kus - weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
- Jason Volentine - weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
Fox 17 Weather Team
- Rick Mecklenburg (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Chief meteorologist
- Kevin Craig (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 10 p.m., also fill-in
- Jon Shaner (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Fox 17 Morning News
Sports team (all are seen on Blitz)
- Steve Amorose - sports anchor; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m., also sports reporter
- Tara Miller - sports anchor; sports reporter
- Bret Bakita - sports reporter for Blitz, also host of [WBBL-FM] show Bakita & Bentley
Reporters
- Carl Apple - general assignment reporter
- Darren Cunningham - general assignment reporter
- Tamra Johnson - weekday morning reporter
- Emily Richett - weekday morning entertainment reporter
- Courtney Perna - general assignment reporter
- Dave Spencer - general assignment reporter
- Robb Westaby - weekday morning traffic reporter; also web producer
[edit] Former on-air staff
- Tracy Forner - now at WISH-TV in Indianapolis as co-host of "Indy Style"[1]
- Brent Ashcroft - now at WZZM in Grand Rapids as a sports anchor. [2]
- Lisa LaPlante - Lisa reported on-air for 13 years, she was WXMI's longest running reporter - November 1998 - August 2011.
- Lauren Unger - now the media relations manager for World Vision International in Washington DC.
- Peter Chan - chief meteorologist[9]
[edit] References
- WXMI TV Channel 17 (June 13, 2005). Michigan's Radio and TV Broadcast Guide.
- WXMI.com |About The Station (June 7, 2006).
- WXMI.com | WXMI News Staff (March 18, 2007).
- Mlive.com | Calderon, Justice go West (August 12, 2007).
- ^ http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-45/1233929734304040.xml&coll=6
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ CDBS Print
- ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1298659.pdf
- ^ [Media:http://www.fox17online.com/news/fox17-news-at-six,0,4276764.story]
- ^ [Media:http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/03/fox-17s_one_seven_co-hosts_mic.html]
- ^ FOX 17 News at Ten Open 12/15/09 in HD
- ^ News Staff
- ^ [www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/chief-meteorologist-peter-chan-out-at-wxmi_b42477 mediabistro.co Peter Chan Out at WXMI
[edit] External links
- WXMI "FOX 17"
- WXMI mobile
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WXMI
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W17DF-D
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W42CB-D
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- Fox network affiliates
- This TV affiliates
- Antenna TV affiliates
- Tribune Broadcasting
- Channel 17 virtual TV stations in the United States
- Channel 19 digital TV stations in the United States
- Television channels and stations established in 1982
- Barry County, Michigan
- Television stations in Grand Rapids, Michigan