WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. WXYZ-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and is the media company's largest-market TV station property. The station's studio/office facility and transmitter are located at Broadcast House, on West 10 Mile Road in Southfield, Michigan.
| Detroit, Michigan | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Channel 7
(general) |
| Slogan | Taking Action for You |
| Channels | Digital: 41 (UHF)Virtual: 7 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | (see article) |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | E. W. Scripps Company
(Scripps Media, Inc.) |
| First air date | October 9, 1948 |
| Call letters' meaning | Derived from former sister station WXYZ radio (now WXYT), can also be easy to remember as being at the opposite end of the alphabet as ABC, the station's network affiliation and founding owner |
| Former callsigns | WDLT (1948) [1] |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog:
7 (VHF, 1948-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW(increased from 770 kW)[2] |
| Height | 286 m |
| Facility ID | 10267 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°28′14.7″N 83°14′59.4″W |
| Website | www.wxyz.com |
Its signal transmits to the Metro Detroit area and the southeast lower Michigan counties. It also covers neighboring Windsor, Ontario and Toledo. WXYZ has the strongest signal outside of Metro Detroit (compared to the other VHF Detroit television stations) near Flint and Lapeer. Its signal can be reached with a good antenna in these areas. WXYZ includes Lapeer County in its service area, even though the station can be viewed in Flint.
WXYZ-TV is on all Detroit area cable systems including Comcast, AT&T, WOW! and Bright House, plus satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network. The station also serves several other parts of Canada as an ABC affiliate on the Shaw Direct satellite provider and serves several Canadian cable TV markets, including Windsor, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Saint John, New Brunswick, all of Manitoba except for areas served by Steinbach orWinnipeg Shaw, and the capital city of Ottawa. WXYZ-TV was previously offered as the ABC affiliate on cable through Cable Atlantic (nowRogers Cable) in Newfoundland and Labrador, including in St. John's from 1985 to 1999 (now carried by fellow ABC affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston). As of 2010 however, some Rogers Cable customers in Newfoundland and Labrador began receiving WXYZ again, along with WDIV and WWJ.
From its sign-on in 1948 until 1986, WXYZ-TV was owned and operated by ABC, and was one of their strongest O&O stations.
History[]
ABC-owned station
WXYZ-TV Action News remote van
WXYZ-TV began broadcasting October 9, 1948, from studios in the Maccabees Building in downtown Detroit, on Woodward Avenue across from the Detroit Institute of Arts. It was the second television station in both Michigan and Detroit, after the Detroit News-owned (original) WWJ-TV (channel 4, now WDIV). Channel 7 was also the third of the five original ABC-owned and operated television stations to begin operations, after New York City and Chicago, and before San Francisco and Los Angeles. WXYZ-TV was created out of ABC-owned radio station WXYZ (1270 AM, now WXYT), which produced the popular radio programs The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. WXYZ radio personality Dick Osgood was host of WXYZ-TV's inaugural broadcast.
In the 1950s WXYZ-TV began producing a series of popular and innovative programs which featured many personalities from WXYZ radio. The station’s success generated revenues large enough that it became instrumental in financially helping the then struggling ABC network and other ABC ventures during the 1950s, including ABC-Paramount Records. In 1959, all of WXYZ's radio and television operations moved into new broadcast facilities at Broadcast House in Southfield, Michigan, where WXYZ's television operations remain. The facility was built on the site of a former farm and included three TV production studios and its own free standing broadcast tower with a single-person maintenance elevator.
By 1978, WXYZ-TV was the second most-dominant television station in the United States in local viewer ratings, no doubt attributed to ABC's prime-time ratings dominance and the continued success of Channel 7 Action News with lead news anchor Bill Bonds. In 1979, ABC named Jeanne Findlater as WXYZ’s general manager. She was the first woman to hold that title at a large market television station.
WXYZ-TV was carried by the Cancom system from 1983 as the ABC signal for Canadian cable television systems too distant to receive a border station over-the-air, though later, Seattle station KOMO-TV was added to Cancom's offerings as a Pacific Time Zone alternative.
E.W. Scripps Company sale
In May 1985, ABC announced it would have to sell WXYZ-TV (which for decades was the only network O&O in Detroit) in order to merge with Capital Cities Communications. The divestiture was necessary to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ownership limits of the time. ABC sold the station to the E.W. Scripps Company of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1986. At the time, another prospective bidder for the station was Bill Cosby's Cozzin Communications.[3] ABC did retain some of the assets at WXYZ including the satellite uplink for its satellite news-gathering service ABC News One. ABC had already sold WXYZ-AM two years earlier in 1984 to the radio station's general manager, Chuck Fritz. Under Scripps ownership, WXYZ-TV retained the ABC network affiliation and continued to use ABC's (originally) proprietary "Circle 7."
Scripps used the station's popularity as leverage for Detroit's cable providers to air the Scripps-owned HGTV cable network. Scripps used the FCC's "retransmission consent" rule to force local cable systems to carry HGTV. Under this rule, a television station that is carried on a cable system under "must carry" rules can request cable systems to compensate the station for carrying it.
The station was selected as the site of the first Town Meeting with President Bill Clinton in February 1993, which was hosted by Bill Bonds. President Clinton would address questions from audience members at WXYZ's studios as well as audiences at other television stations via satellite.
1994 affiliation switch repercussions
On May 23, 1994, New World Communications, the owner of then-CBS affiliate WJBK(channel 2), signed an affiliation deal with Fox Broadcasting Company. This deal, which displaced Fox from WKBD-TV (channel 50), prompted CBS to attempt to lure WXYZ-TV to drop its ABC affiliation in favor of switching to CBS; WDIV was not an option for the network, as that station had a long-term affiliation contract with NBC at the time. As a contingency plan, ABC approached SJL Broadcast Management (later known as Montecito Broadcast Group, now SJL Broadcasting and once again controlled by the principals of Lilly Broadcasting) about buying Toledo, Ohio's WTVG (channel 13) and Flint's WJRT-TV (channel 12) to cover the Detroit area, in the event that WXYZ-TV became a CBS station. Both stations' city-grade signals reached portions of the Detroit area (WTVG to the south, and WJRT-TV to the north; ABC has since sold both stations).
On June 16, 1994, Scripps signed a ten-year long-term deal with ABC that would keep WXYZ-TV as an affiliate of the network (it remains an ABC affiliate to this day). As a condition of that agreement, television stations in other cities, including Tampa-St. Petersburg, Phoenix and Baltimore, would lose their ABC affiliations to competing Scripps-owned stations (WFTS-TV, KNXV-TV, WMAR-TV) in those cities. CBS affiliated with (and then purchased) UHF independent station WGPR-TV (channel 62, now WWJ-TV), after it failed to reach deals to affiliate with WKBD-TV or the market's other independent stations, WXON (channel 20, now WMYD) and WADL (channel 38).
Eventually, Scripps signed a deal with ABC that would keep WXYZ as an ABC affiliate for the next ten years (and remains an ABC affiliate to this day). As a condition of that agreement, television stations in other cities including Cincinnati, Phoenix, Tampa and Baltimore would lose their ABC affiliation to competing Scripps-owned stations in those cities. CBS purchased independent Detroit station WGPR-TV (now WWJ-TV, channel 62).
Present Day
WXYZ-TV has been active in several community service projects. The station received the National Community Service Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for outstanding community service in 1989. WXYZ-TV is a partner in several charitable endeavors including the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Operation Can Do and Detroit's annual children's immunization fair. On October 4, 2006, WXYZ became the first television station in Michigan and the first Scripps-owned station to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.
WXYZ-TV became the first television station in Detroit to transmit an over-the-air digital signal, broadcasting on UHF channel 41 on September 29, 1998. The station shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 41. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 7. WJBK began using the channel 7 allocation for its digital signal after the transition.
WXYZ-TV's third digital subchannel originally carried a video feed of the station's tower camera at Broadcast House. Most recently, it formerly carried Doppler7Weather, a local weather channel looping weather radar, temperatures and live local radar, along with an L-Bar (similar to that used by The Local AccuWeather Channel and the defunct NBC Weather Plus, though it was operated independently from either network) that showed current conditions and five-day local forecasts. On May 21, 2010, this channel was removed to prepare and utilize its channel bandwidth exclusively for mobile television, labelled as WXYZ-MH 7.3 and simulcasting 7.2/Live Well Network at 1.83 MBps. WXYZ-TV, along with WDIV-TV, became the first Detroit stations to offer Mobile DTV feeds on August 6, 2010.
On July 12, 2012, the E. W. Scripps Company signed an affiliation agreement with Bounce TV to make WXYZ-TV the Detroit area affiliate of the network, becoming the first Scripps-owned station to affiliate with Bounce TV.
Programming[]
In addition to the ABC network schedule, syndicated programming on WXYZ includes RightThisMinute, The Doctors, and The Kelly Clarkson Show, among others.
Digital Channels
The station’s digital signal is multiplexed:
WXYZ channels, with technical details and programming assignments
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WXYZ-HD | Main WXYZ-TV Programming/ABC |
| 7.2 | 480i | WXYZ-BN | Bounce TV | |
| 7.3 | WXYZ_LF | Laff | ||
| 7.4 | WXYZ-CT | Court TV | ||
| 20.1 | 720p | WMYD-HD | ATSC 1.0 simulcast of WMYD / MyNetworkTV |
Programming history
In the 1950s WXYZ-TV created a series of widely popular locally produced children’s programs. The most famous program, Lunch with Soupy, launched the career of comedian Soupy Sales (real name, Milton Supman). The program went on the air in 1953 and was such a success that in 1960 ABC moved production to Los Angeles, and aired the show nationally. Soupy also hosted a very popular adult comedy show during that same period in the 1950s, late at night, at 11:00pm called Soupy's On, with a live band and guest stars and a lot of "pies-in-the-face"! Other successful children’s shows to follow would include Wyxie's Wonderland hosted by Detroit comic Marv Welch. In 1954 Bob Henry, (real name Bob Brickwedde) hosted the Nash Theater Hour on Thursday nights, and hosted western movies, featuring Deadeye and Black Bart on Saturday's as "Sheriff Bob". Ricky the Clown hosted by professional clown and magician Irv Romig and The Johnny Ginger Show hosted by the local comic Johnny Ginger. The Auntie Dee Show hosted by Dee Parker was a popular children’s talent show. In 1974, WXYZ-TV launched and produced another successful children’s show, the nationally syndicated Hot Fudge.
Former WXYZ-TV general manager John Pival is credited for launching several other popular innovative programs in the 1950s and 1960s, including the World Adventure Series with host George Pierrot. The program showed films about exotic locations around the world. Pierrot was an author on world travel and a speaker at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Lady of CharmandlaterHouse O’ Charm with host Edythe Fern Melrose was a predecessor to today’s Martha Stewart home-making programs. Prize Movie with popular host Rita Bell introduced feature films and held a viewer call-in contest to name the title of a song she played on the air. The cash prizes started at $7. Several music programs also aired including Club Polka and Club 1270. WXYZ disc jockey Ed McKenzie also brought his talents to TV with The Ed McKenzie Saturday Party with live musical performances from Chuck Berry and Louis Armstrong.
WXYZ-TV also had a series of popular morning shows, starting with the Pat and Johnny Show, hosted by two WXYZ radio announcers, Pat Tobin and Johnny Slagle. Later in 1966, The Morning Show debuted as a morning variety program with host Bob Hynes. The station also helped to launch the career of Dennis Wholey, who started his AM Detroit talk-show at WXYZ before going on to WTVS to host PBS Late Night. The most popular and successful WXYZ morning talk show was Kelly & Company. That show was hosted by a married couple who were both former WXYZ news announcers, John Kelly (news anchor) and Marilyn Turner (weathercaster). The show ran at 9 a.m. weekdays from 1978 to 1995. It was primarily a talk show with featured guests and a studio audience. In 1984 Turner and Kelly would also host the short-lived afternoon program, Good Afternoon Detroit. The program was a pilot for other ABC owned stations in New York, Chicago and elsewhere to launch their own Good Afternoon... shows.
In 1965, the Sunday morning public affairs show Spotlight on the News debuted with WXYZ's news director Bill Fyffe as its first host. The show was later hosted by political reporter Jim Harrington and continues to air today with WXYZ editorial and public affairs director Chuck Stokes as its host, writer and producer. Spotlight is now Detroit's longest running current events television program. It has featured local and national public officials including U.S. Presidents, and won numerous awards. Another public affairs show that aired Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. from 1967 to 1981 was Haney’s People with host Don Haney.
WXYZ-TV has also been involved in several Detroit traditions over the years, having aired special coverage of Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade, The North American International Auto Show Charity Preview', the annual Woodward Dream Cruise and the City of Detroit's celebrations of its 250th anniversary in 1951 and 300th anniversary in 2001. WXYZ's special coverage has also included the victory parades of the city's professional sports teams, most recently the Detroit Red Wings' Stanley Cup victory in 2008 and the Detroit Pistons' NBAchampionship in 2004. WXYZ is also the official broadcaster of the Christmas parade in Rochester, Michigan.
In 1987, the station created and produced a weekly educational literacy program aimed at children called Learn To Read, which was based on the "Michigan Method" of literacy education, with co-production by Kentucky Educational Television. One of the hosts of this series was Doris Biscoe, then one of the anchors of Channel 7 Action News.
During Game 2 of the 2004 NBA Finals in Detroit, Jimmy Kimmel appeared on ABC's halftime show to make an on-air plug for that night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. He suggested that if the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, "they're gonna burn the city of Detroit down ... and it's not worth it." Channel 7 officials immediately announced that night's show would not air on the station. Hours later, ABC officials pulled that night's show from the entire network. Kimmel later apologized.[5]
On September 27, 2007, WXYZ Vice President & General Manager Grace Gilchrist announced her retirement after 13 years at WXYZ, effective at the end of 2007.[6] Her replacement is Bob Sliva, WXYZ's broadcast television management and sales executive.[7]
As of May 21, 2010, the WXYZ-TV 24/7 Weather Station that was on digital channel 7.3 has been discontinued. This digital channel that broadcast Doppler Radar and current conditions 24/7 will now be exclusive to mobile TV. Despite preempting shows for special events (i.e., Woodward Dream Cruise, etc.), WXYZ-TV is one of the few ABC affiliates in a U.S. major market that runs the entire ABC schedule. On August 6, 2010, WDIV-TV and WXYZ-TV became the first stations in Detroit to offer Mobile DTV feeds.
In 2011, WXYZ-TV will replace WWJ-TV as the new flagship of the Detroit Lions Television Network.[8]
Coverage[]
In addition to carriage across Southeast Michigan, WXYZ-TV is carried on most cable providers in Southwestern Ontario and Northwestern Ohio. Coverage on cable systems outside the Detroit/Windsor market may be subject to syndication exclusivityrules and network blackouts in the United States and simsubbing in Canada. The station can be received from as far away as Flint, Michigan, with a good-quality antenna. It's also carried on cable in Grand Marais, Michigan.[citation needed]
The station also serves several other parts of Canada as an ABC affiliate on satellite provider Shaw Direct as well as on cable providers in several Canadian markets including Windsor, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Thunder Bay, Ontario, Saint John, New Brunswick, and all of Manitoba (except for areas served by Shaw's Steinbach or Winnipeg system, which carry WDAZ-TV out of Grand Forks, North Dakota, instead) and the National Capital Region.
WXYZ-TV was previously offered as the ABC affiliate on cable through Cable Atlantic (now Rogers Cable) in Newfoundland and Labrador including in St. John's from 1985 to 1997 (which has since been replaced by Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV). As of 2010, however, some Rogers Cable customers in Newfoundland and Labrador began receiving WXYZ-TV again along with WDIV and WWJ.
Until April 2011, Comcast subscribers in Holly, which is located within the Detroit market in northwestern Oakland County, were unable to see much of WXYZ-TV's programming, as it was often blacked out at the request of Flint's WJRT-TV; the blackout was due to the Comcast system being tied to the Flint headend, instead of one in Oakland County or elsewhere in Detroit. That month, following complaints from Detroit stations and area viewers of being blacked out or unavailable in an area that they were supposed to serve, Comcast discontinued blackouts of the Detroit stations it already carried, added additional stations from that market and dropped many Flint/Tri-Cities area stations from that system. WJRT-TV was one of two stations retained (along with WCMZ-TV) as it was considered to have significant viewership in the Holly area.
News operation[]
WXYZ-TV presently broadcasts 40 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6½ hours each weekday, four hours on Saturdays and 3½ hours on Sundays); in addition, the station produces two half-hour sports programs that air on Sundays, the weekly sports highlight program 7 Sports Cave (which airs weekly at 11 a.m.) and the Detroit Lions highlight program FordLions Report Live (which only airs during the NFL season).
History
WXYZ's former Action News opening, complementing being the first Detroit newscast in HD.
WXYZ-TV’s news department has held a longtime dominance of TV news in Detroit partly due to the popularity of long time lead news anchor Bill Bonds. The station’s news department started as a small operation but would gain credibility for its coverage of the Detroit 1967 race riot. In the 1970s WXYZ began an aggressive build up of its news department. The station adopted many elements of the Eyewitness News format, such as the Cool Hand Luke news music, that were being used to build up news departments at ABC's four other O&O television stations in New York,Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. However, it opted to call its newscast Action News. Under the direction of general manager Jim Osborn and news director Phil Nye, the station would lure popular news personalities from its rival stations, WJBK-TV and WDIV-TV (known then as WWJ-TV), to join its already well-known anchors Dave Diles and Bill Bonds. WXYZ assembled Detroit’s most popular news anchors and reporters such as John Kelly, Jac LeGoff, Al Ackerman, Marilyn Turner, Jack McCarthy, Jerry Hodak, Don Lark, and Doris Biscoe. The station launched a promotional campaign to introduce its new anchor team: “Bonds, Kelly, Ackerman, Turner... Channel 7's Action News Team. We got who you wanted!”
By 1973, Channel 7 Action News, for the first time ever, became the highest-rated newscast in Detroit and has held the lead ever since. Its success was linked to the serious, controversial, opinionated hard delivery of lead anchor Bill Bonds. ABC tried to apply Bonds’ success in Detroit at KABC-TV in Los Angeles in the late 1960s, and again in 1975 at WABC-TV in New York; in both cases, he soon returned to WXYZ. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bonds hosted the interview segment, Up Front, on WXYZ's 5 p.m. Action News. During the interviews Bonds confronted Detroit’s public officials and newsmakers with hard-hitting and sometimes controversial questions. Bonds’ hard-edge style was widely known in Detroit for captivating viewers and repulsing others. Bonds became the station's icon and its main star. In the Ron Powers book, The Newscasters, Powers called Bonds "one of the 6 most influential news anchors in the country." However, Bonds had some public battles with alcoholism that is credited with his dismissal from the station in 1995. Bonds anchored newscasts and a late night talk-show at WJBK-TV and later hosted a radio show at WXYT-AM. Bonds returned to WXYZ-TV in 1999 to present editorials during the newscasts, but left the station after several months to star in local TV and radio commercials.
WXYZ’s ratings dominance was challenged by WDIV-TV in the 1980s. The two stations continue a head to head battle for ratings to this day. In recent years the station's news coverage has been awarded with several high journalism honors including the George Foster Peabody andAlfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards. WXYZ’s Action News was named the best TV newscast in the U.S. by United Press International. The station was awarded as the top television station in America for outstanding community service. WXYZ is a partner in several charitable endeavors including the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Operation Can-Do and Detroit's annual children's immunization fair.
In the 1990s, WXYZ continued to expand its morning newscast, Action News This Morning to the present start time of 5 a.m. This newscast started as short news updates during Good Morning America. One of its long-time co-anchors was Erik Smith. Smith was at Channel 7, off and on, for over 40 years. During most of that time, Smith also served as a reporter of human-interest and Entertainment stories for Action News. Smith had also won acclaim for his award winning series From the Heart. The series, which began in the late 1990s, was a collection of heartwarming, historical and inspirational stories from around the Detroit area. Smith left the station in May 2010 after station management wanted to demote him from anchor of Action News This Morning to doing feature stories part-time. Smith ended up leaving five days before the end of his contract. Many long-time viewers of Action News This Morning were very upset at the departure of Smith, and it is unclear whether WXYZ-TV's high morning news ratings will survive his departure. Smith is currently working on an internet venture with another former Channel 7 personality, Captain Dennis Neubaucher.
In 2001 WXYZ's Action News expanded again and returned to airing a 7 p.m. newscast. The move was spurred after the September 11 attacks when the station moved ABC’s World News Tonight ahead a half-hour to 6:30 p.m.. Action News at 7 PM became a forum for interviewing guests and newsmakers on daily issues and became a ratings success in key demographics. The station also expanded itsAction News at Noon broadcast to one hour. Action News has continued its success with long-time anchors Diana Lewis, Robbie Timmons, meteorologist Jerry Hodak, sportscaster Don Shane and up until October 9, 2006, anchor Frank Turner who became a successful replacement to Bill Bonds. Another recent addition is anchor Stephen Clark, a former anchor at WCBS-TV and CBS News correspondent. Chief Meteorologist Jerry Hodak was the station's primary weathercaster for at least 26 of his more than 40 years in Detroit television. On July 28, 2010, Hodak announced he will retire from WXYZ-TV on September 23, 2010. In 2006, WXYZ also boasted the most veteran general assignment reporters in Detroit TV with Cheryl Chodun, Bill Proctor, Mary Conway and Val Clark, each of whom had at least 20 years with the station.
In the November 2006 ratings period, shortly after the switch to HD, all of WXYZ's newscasts placed first in their respective timeslots except at 11 p.m. behind WDIV.[14] From the November 2007 ratings period until before the May 2009 ratings period, WXYZ's Action News was the number one newscast in all their respective timeslots.[15] Coupled with a strong syndicated programming lineup and top-ranked ABC prime-time programming, WXYZ has been the number one-ranked station in Detroit, from sign-on to sign-off. It has remained one of ABC's strongest affiliates since the network itself sold the station although WDIV took over first place in the evening and late news timeslots in the May 2009 sweeps period, due largely to the weakening of the ratings of the lead-ins to WXYZ's news programs. Both WXYZ and WDIV have been among the country's strongest affiliates of their respective networks over the years although WDIV has taken over first place in all newscast time slots within the past year or so.
WXYZ-TV’s Special Projects department is home to the station’s investigative and consumer reporters and producers. It recently gained notoriety with Chief Investigative Reporter Steve Wilson and his stories of financial mismanagement at the Kmart Corporation, an undercover investigation that exposed high-pressure sales tactics used by a well-known financial firm, and confrontations with elected officials in Detroit, especially Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
On August 7, 2008, Mayor Kilpatrick appeared in front of a judge in Wayne County Circuit Court. The hearing was called to discuss a potential violation of his bond in one of the two felony cases against him. The hearing was called after Steve Wilson uncovered and revealed photos of the mayor in nearby Windsor, Ontario, Canada. A stipulation of the mayor's bond was that he was not to leave the country, and that he give the court 72 hours' notice if he planned to leave the state of Michigan for any reason. Mayor Kilpatrick was then ordered to spend the night in the Wayne County jail.
On November 30, 2009, WXYZ introduced their new graphics package for their newscast. These graphics are identical to those being utilized by all Scripps-owned stations. Also, WXYZ is the only station in Detroit to produce and air all its promos, commercials and other recordings in high definition.
WXYZ-TV's investigative unit, the "7 Investigators", gained notoriety in 2002 with chief investigative reporter Steve Wilson and his stories of financial mismanagement at the Kmart Corporation,[29] an undercover investigation that exposed high-pressure sales tactics used by a well-known financial firm, and confrontations with elected officials in Detroit, especially Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. On August 7, 2008, Kilpatrick appeared in front of a judge in Wayne County Circuit Court. The hearing was called to discuss a potential violation of his bond in one of the two felony cases against him. The hearing was called after Wilson uncovered and revealed photos of the mayor in nearby Windsor, Ontario, Canada. A stipulation of the mayor's bond was that he was not to leave the country, and that he give the court 72 hours' notice if he planned to leave the state of Michigan for any reason. Mayor Kilpatrick was then ordered to spend the night in the Wayne County jail.[30]
The current team of "7 Investigators" is made up of Heather Catallo, Ross Jones and Jim Kiertzner.
On August 3, 2011, WXYZ-TV unveiled a new news set during its noon newscast, a project which the station had been working on since June 2011. The new set features new high definition cameras and monitors and a redesigned weather center under the new forecast branding "7 First Alert Weather".[31] On October 3, 2012, Diana Lewis left WXYZ-TV after working at the station for a total of 31 years (having joined the station in 1977, before leaving in 1984 and returning to channel 7 four years later).
On January 26, 2014, WXYZ-TV discontinued the Sunday Sports Update in favor of expanding its Sunday 11 p.m. newscast to one hour. In turn, one week later on February 2, the station launched a new Sunday morning sports program, the 7 Sports Cave.[32]
On June 16, 2014, WXYZ-TV introduced a new 10 p.m. newscast for its new sister station, WMYD, under the name of 7 Action News at 10 on TV 20 Detroit. The newscast replaced an outsourced newscast with local reporters anchored by staff at former WMYD sister station WPTA in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[33] Months later, the station introduced two more hours of morning news on WMYD as well.
On September 8, 2014, WXYZ-TV introduced a new 4 PM newscast called "The Now Detroit".[34]
On February 23, 2015, WXYZ-TV expanded into Downtown Detroit with a new street-side studio inside the Chase Tower; this new studio serves as the location for "7 Action News at Noon" anchored by Joanne Purtan, and other WXYZ/WMYD programs.
On Wednesday, May 13, 2020, WXYZ-TV upgraded its on-air graphics for its general programming and newscasts. These graphics are being used for all Scripps TV stations.
News/station presentation[]
Newscast titles[]
- The Big News (1960–1964)
- Channel 7 News (1964–1968)
- The 11th Hour News (ca. 1968)
- Channel 7 News / 7 News (1968–1969)
- NewsBeat 7 / Supernews (1969)
- Channel 7 News (1970)
- WXYZ-TV 7 News (1970–1971)
- Bill Bonds with The News (1971–1972)
- Channel 7 Action News (1971–1997 and 1999–2011)
- WXYZ 7 Action News (1997–1999)
- 7 Action News (2011-present)
Station slogans[]
|
|
|
News Packages[]
- Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence - Lalo Schifrin (1969–1987)
- So Good To Turn To - Frank Gari (1982–1984; only used for image promotions)
- KGO 1980 News Theme - Unknown composer (Dates unknown)
- News Series 2000 - Frank Gari (1984–1996)
- News Series 2000 Plus- Frank Gari (1992–1997)
- Spirit Of Detroit - Joe Hogue Productions (now HitPlay) (1997–2000)
- Ignitor - 615 Music (2000–2001)
- Eyewitness News - Frank Gari (2001–2009)
- Scripps TV News Music Package - Musikvergnuegen (2009–2012)
- Inergy - Stephen Arnold Music (2012–2020)
- Scripps Custom News Package - Stephen Arnold Music (2020–present)
- Spotlight on the News - Theme Song - Sidney Howard, Lake Gennesaret SPS (2000–Present)
Movie umbrella titles[]
- The 4:30 Movie (1968–1977)
- The 4:00 Movie (1977–1982)
- Cinema Seven (1982–present)
On-air staff[]
Current on-air staff[]
- Anchors
- Brian Abel - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also weekday field reporter
- Alan Campbell - weekdays at 4:30-7 a.m.
- Carolyn Clifford - weeknights at 4, 6, and 11 p.m.
- Ameera David - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also a weekday field reporter
- Dave LewAllen - weeknights at 6, 7, 10 (WMYD) and 11 p.m.; also weekday field reporter
- Glenda Lewis - weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m. (WMYD)
- Malcolm Maddox - weeknights at 10pm (WMYD)
- Anu Prakash - weekend mornings; also weekday field reporter
- JoAnne Purtan - weekdays at noon and 5 p.m., also "Don't Waste Your Money" consumer reporter
- Alicia Smith - weekday mornings from 4:30-9 a.m., also fill-in noon anchor, weekday field reporter
- Jeff Vaughn - weeknights at 5 p.m.: also 11pm field reporter
7 First Alert Weather
- Dave Rexroth (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights 5, 6, 7, and 11 p.m.
- Chris Edwards (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings; also weekday fill-in meterorologist
- Keenan Smith (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings from 4:30-7 a.m. and weekdays at noon
- Hally Vogel (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 6, 10 (WMYD) and 11 p.m.; also weekday fill-in meteorologist
Sports team
- Brad Galli - sports director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.; also host of Ford Lions Report Live and Detroit Lions preseason game sideline reporter
- Justin Rose - sports anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m., also Weekday sports reporter and host of Sunday Sports Update and Ford Lions Report Live
- Reporters
- Heather Catallo - investigative reporter (The Investigators); also fill-in weekend anchor
- Syma Chowdhry - general assignment reporter; also fill-in weekend anchor
- Kimberly Craig - general assignment reporter
- Darren Cunningham - general assignment reporter
- Rudy Harper - general assignment reporter
- Ali Hoxie - general assignment reporter
- Smita Kalokhe - general assignment reporter
- Jim Kiertzner - general assignment reporter
- Ross Jones - investigative reporter (The Investigators)
- Bill Proctor - general assignment reporter
- Kim Russell - general assignment reporter
- Jen Schanz - general assignment reporter
- Simon Shaykhet - general assignment reporter
- Bill Spencer - consumer and investigative reporter ("Call For Action" and "7 On Your Side")
- Jennifer Ann Wilson - general assignment reporter
- Contributors
- Carter Evans - NYSE correspondent
- Ramy Inocencio - NYSE correspondent
- Jeanne Yurman - NYSE correspondent
- Tom Long - film critic; also seen in The Detroit News
- Gerry Gleeson - Legal analyst
- Chuck Stokes - editorial director
Notable former on-air staff
- Al Ackerman - sports anchor (later at WDIV) (deceased)
- Kim Adams - meteorologist, left for WDIV
- Dennis Archer - public affairs show host, later mayor of Detroit
- Betty Bahr
- J.D. Beemer
- Rita Bell
- Jerome “Jay” Berry - weekend sports anchor
- Paul Berry - anchor/reporter (1968-1972, later at WJLA, retired from the News business)
- Doris Biscoe - reporter/morning news anchor (1975-2000, now at WGPR-FM)
- Bill Bonds - legendary lead anchor (1961-1968, 1971-1975 and 1976-1995) (deceased)
- Chris Bradley - meteorologist (1994-1998; later at WBNS-TV ,deceased)
- Olga Breese (AMS member; NWA member) - left station weekend of January 22, 2011
- Blake Chenault - now with WOIO-TV
- Jerry Chiappetta
- Cheryl Chodun - reporter (retired)
- Stephen Clark - anchor (2005-2017) (retired)
- Mary Conway - anchor/reporter (1985-2012) (retired)
- Denise Dador - health reporter and weekend anchor, now with KABC-TV
- Dave Diles - sports director (1961-1972 and 1979-1982) (also was at ABC) (deceased)
- Joe Ducey - investigative reporter (Newshawk, Special Assignment), now at KNXV-TV
- Rick Edlund - later at WDIV, now at KDAF
- Dayna Eubanks - anchor/reporter (1984-1988) (later at WJBK-TV,then WKRC-TV)
- Rich Fisher - Noon and 6pm anchor (1978-1990) (later at WJBK & WKBD ) (deceased)
- Ken Ford
- Tim Fritz
- Steve Garagiola - sports anchor (1980-1989) (later at WDIV, retired)
- Suzanne Geha - now with WOOD-TV
- Johnny Ginger
- Guy Gordon - anchor (1982-2004) (later at WDIV, now at WJR)
- Gordon Graham - later with CNN Headline News
- Solon Gray
- John Gross - now on the faculty of NPPA NewsVideo Workshop
- Steve Handelsman (1978-1984) - investigative reporter, fill-in anchor, now with WRC-TV
- Don Haney - host “Haney’s People” (1969-1981)
- Chris Hansen - general assignment reporter (later with WDIV, now with NBC News)
- Mark Hayes - reporter/anchor (1998-2002) (now with WAGA-TV)
- Trudy Haynes - later with KYW-TV
- Sandy Heng
- Jim Herrington - longtime reporter/host of “Spotlight on the News” (1965-1993) (deceased)
- Doug Hill - meteorologist (later at WUSA & WJLA) (retired)
- Jerry Hodak - longtime meterologist (1976-1992 and 1996-2010) (retired)
- Mike Holfeld - weekend anchor (now at WKMG-TV)
- Mike Huckman - now with CNBC
- Bob Hynes
- Harry Jarkey
- Jerry Jorgenson
- John Kelly - news anchor/host of “Kelly & Company” (deceased)
- Mike Kenny - reporter (1969-1972) (later at WJR)
- Mary Kay Kleist - now with WBBM-TV
- John Klekamp - now with News 12 New Jersey
- Stu Klitenic
- Rob Kress - meteorologist (1983-1993)
- Don Lark - weekend anchor/reporter (later at WFSB, WPIX, and WTNH)
- Chris Lawrence - now with CNN's Los Angeles bureau
- Jac Le Goff - news anchor (1975-1983) (later at WDIV) (deceased)
- Diana Lewis - anchor/reporter (1977-1984 and 1988-2012) (retired)
- Gordon Loesch - now with WPXI-TV
- Jim Madaus - meteorologist (retired)
- Ven Marshall - reporter (1968-1985)
- Jack McCarthy - anchor/reporter. Also, "The Friday Feast" segments. Retired in Florida
- Lee McNew - the station's first news anchor (1960-1964)
- Edythe Fern Melrose - television host “Lady of Charm” (1948-1960) (deceased)
- Barney Morris - anchor/reporter (1964-1969) (later at KABC-TV) (deceased)
- Chad Myers - morning meteorologist (now at CNN)
- Dick Osgood
- Alan Phillips
- Alan Pinter - longtime staff announcer
- Bill Ratner - announcer for WXYZ-TV
- Kurt Rivera - now with KBAK-TV
- Shay Ryan - now with WWOR-TV
- Soupy Sales - host of “The Soupy Sales Show” (deceased)
- Ray Sayah - now with CNN under the name Reza Sayah
- Don Shane - sports anchor (1989-2012) (later retired, deceased)
- Johnny Slagle
- Shelley Smith - now at NBC News
- Erik Smith - longtime morning anchor/reporter (1962-2010) (left because contract not renewed)
- Kristin Smith - now with WRIC-TV
- Joe Spencer - reporter (later with ABC Newskilled in a helicopter crash in 1986) (deceased)
- Dan Springer - now with Fox News
- Jerry Stanecki
- John Strombero
- Bob Tracey - voiceover for WXYZ-TV (1998-2005)
- Teresa Tomeo - now the host of the nationally-syndicated radio show Catholic Connection; also, a media consultant & nationally-renowned speaker
- Ken Thomas (1966-1969)
- Robbie Timmons - longtime noon and 5pm anchor (1982-2010) (retired)
- Pat Tobin
- Frank Turner - 5PM anchor/reporter (1990-98 and 2000-06)
- Marilyn Turner - female meteorologist/co-host of “Kelly & Company”
- Charlie Van Dyke - voiceover for WXYZ-TV (1996-1998)
- Al Vanik - voiceover for WXYZ-TV (1996-1998)
- Vince Wade
- Kathy Walsh - now with KCNC-TV
- Don Wattrick
- Marv Welch
- Steve Wilson (Chief Investigative Reporter)
- Fred Wolf
- Glenn Zimmerman - now with WNBC
Logo[]
In the 1950s, WXYZ used the 'A' adent the ABC network used, with a "7" in the letter as its logo. It was similar to the logos other ABC O&O stations used at that time. In 1962, WXYZ, along with other ABC O&Os across the country, introduced the famous Circle 7. The Circle 7, which is common among ABC Channel 7s, is still used to this day. In the late 1990s, WXYZ started to integrate the current ABC logo into the Circle 7, much like ABC O&Os across the country. WXYZ did this for general programming purposes, and for promos in relation to the ABC network. The ABC logo is to the right of the Circle 7, instead of to the left like it is for the standard ABC O&Os and affiliates across the country. The idea was suspended briefly from 2001–2004, but was brought back in early 2004. In early 2009, the 7 ABC logo (the ABC logo integrated into the circle 7) became more prominently used with the station. Instead of being used just for general programming purposes, the 7 ABC logo is now the official logo used for the station. On June 3, 2009, WXYZ updated its news opening, using the 7 ABC logo. On top of that, the on-screen bug used for the newscasts also displays the 7 ABC logo. The design is similar to that of sister station WEWS in Cleveland and the ABC O&Os across the country, likeKABC in Los Angeles.
On November 30, 2009, WXYZ updated its news opening again, using the same graphics package as other EW Scripps stations. The music was updated as well, giving the station an edgier feel. The 7 ABC bug is also used for the graphics package. WXYZ has used several campaigns over the years. In the 1970s, Channel 7 used the "We've Got Who You Wanted" campaign to launch the famous news team of Bill Bonds, John Kelly, Marilyn Turner, and Al Ackerman. In the mid 1980s, WXYZ used the "Stand Up and Tell 'em You're from Detroit" campaign (based on Frank Gari's "Turn to News" package) to emphasize the station's commitment to the community. As an ABC owned and operated station, WXYZ also localized several ABC fall campaigns. "Still the One" was one of the most notable campaigns Channel 7 used in the late 1970s.
Gallery[]
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.jpg "Kabc1976 (1).jpg (14 KB)")
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.png "WXYZ (2021).png (112 KB)")
.jpg "WXYZ logo (2021).jpg (77 KB)"){kind=logo}
See also[]
References[]
- ^ http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/listings_and_histories/television/listings.php?pt=1&r=17#CBET-TV
- ^ FCC Modification of Construction Permit
- ^ Smith, Sally. "TV NOTES; COSBY WEIGHS STAKE IN ABC STATION." New York Times 8 June 1985; p46.
- ^ Counterstrike: CBS targets Scripps; will bid for television networks affiliated with Scripps Howard Broadcasting, Broadcasting & Cable (viaHighBeam Research), June 6, 1994.
- ^ Susman, Gary (2004-06-11). "The Ban Show". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ^ http://www.wxyz.com/news/story.aspx?content_id=050c291d-2c24-487a-a775-62ae8f13c590
- ^ http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/ENT10/711290386
- ^ WXYZ: "Detroit Lions and WXYZ partner for 2011 season", February 8, 2011.
- ^ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=atscmph
- ^ http://www.mdtvsignalmap.com/
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ CDBS Print
- ^ [1]
- ^ WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 (2006-11-30). "WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 Wins November Sweeps". Press release.
- ^ http://www.wxyz.com/content/about7/station_news/story.aspx?content_id=f76143c3-87a8-4bdd-86c7-15063e71da26
- Equity Media Holdings Corporation - RTN to Launch in Detroit
- WXYZ: Station History (2005). WXYZ.com.
- Kiska, Tim (2005). From Soupy to Nuts!. ISBN 978-1-879094-70-3.
- Osgood, Dick. W*Y*X*I*E* Wonderland: An Unauthorized 50-Year Diary of WXYZ Detroit. Bowling Green University Press.
- Kelly, John (1986). Good morning Detroit: The Kelly & Co. story. Contemporary Books. ISBN 0-8092-5093-4.
- Powers, Ron. The Newscasters: The News Business As Show Business. St. Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-57208-5.