WKBD
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| WKBD | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Detroit, Michigan | |
| Branding | CW 50 |
| Slogan | Free to Be |
| Channels | 50 (UHF) analog, 14 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | CW |
| Owner | CBS Corporation |
| Founded | January 10, 1965 |
| Call letters meaning | We're Kaiser Broadcasting Detroit |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1965-1967, 1967-1986 and 1994-1995), United Network (1967), Fox (1986-1994), UPN (1995-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 2.34 MW/293 m(analog) 58.7 kW/269 m (digital) |
| Website | www.cw50detroit.com |
WKBD-TV, channel 50, is an owned-and-operated station of the CW television network, based in Detroit, Michigan. The station is owned and operated by the CBS Corporation, and is one-half of a duopoly with sister station WWJ-TV (channel 62). Its studios and transmitters are located at Eleven Mile and Inkster roads in neighboring Southfield. WKBD broadcasts its signal from an antenna shared with PBS member station WTVS, which is 968 feet in height.
On cable, WKBD can be seen on channel five on Comcast Detroit and Bright House Livonia, on channel 60 on Cogeco Windsor, and on channel 10 on Comcast Southeast Michigan, and on channel five on Wide Open West Plymouth.
Contents |
[edit] History
WKBD first went on the air on January 10, 1965, under the ownership of Kaiser Broadcasting, the broadcasting arm of Kaiser Aluminum. It started as an all-sports station, predating ESPN by almost 14 years. It eventually became a typical UHF independent station running cartoons, sitcoms and old movies. For many years it had an afternoon movie hosted by Detroit legend Bill Kennedy. WKBD also produced a controversial weekly talk show, The Lou Gordon Program, which was seen during the late 1960s and most of the 1970s on all Kaiser stations (and a few non-Kaiser ones), until Gordon's death in 1977. However, sports remained a central part of WKBD's schedule, and it was the over-the-air home of the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons for many years, as well as the Tigers for a decade.
Field Communications, which owned WFLD-TV in Chicago, bought a minority interest in Kaiser in 1972. Field bought the remainder of Kaiser's shares in 1978.
Over the years, WKBD was the leading independent in Detroit, running a typical schedule of cartoons, off network sitcoms and old movies. Channel 50 was carried on cable systems throughout Michigan. At one point in the early 1980s, WKBD was the only independent station running a full time schedule of entertainment.
In 1982, Field put all its stations up for sale. However, Field had a difficult time selling WKBD for the amount of money it wanted. As a result Field was forced to hold onto channel 50, which at the time was one of the country's top-rated independents. In late 1983, Cox Enterprises offered to buy the station. On January 30, 1984, Cox acquired the station. The programming remained the same as before, with one notable exception: in the late 1980s WKBD began airing Late Night with David Letterman when NBC affiliate WDIV (which once used the WWJ-TV call letters now used by WKBD's sister station on channel 62) refused to clear it.
The station retained its title as the leading independent station in the Detroit market until 1986, when it became a charter affiliate of the Fox network, later adopting the name Fox 50. Channel 50 was later sold to the Paramount Stations Group in June 1993.
Even though WKBD was one of Fox's strongest affiliates, it lost the Fox affiliation to WJBK-TV (channel 2), Detroit's longtime CBS affiliate, on December 11, 1994. This was a result of WJBK's owner, New World Communications, making a group deal with Fox to switch the affiliation of nearly all of its stations to Fox.
WKBD briefly went independent again until January 1995, when it became Detroit's UPN owned and operated station. Its programming from its days as a Fox affiliate was unchanged except for prime time programming. Eventually, the older sitcoms were replaced with more first-run syndicated talk or reality shows. Fox Kids stayed on WKBD until 1998, when it moved to WADL-TV (channel 38). WKBD continued to maintain a morning cartoon block that became the "UPN Kids Disney Block."
In 2000, Paramount's parent Viacom acquired CBS, a move that united channel 50 with WWJ-TV (which CBS acquired in 1995 in the wake of losing its contract with WJBK). After the merger, WWJ-TV moved from its facilities in downtown Detroit to WKBD's Southfield studios.
UPN ended cartoons in the Fall of 2003. Today, WKBD has a format primarily of first-run syndicated talk, courtroom, and reality shows, some off-network sitcoms, UPN first-run programming, and some drama shows.
On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced they would merge into a single network called the CW, to be owned jointly by CBS and the Warner Bros. Television unit of Time Warner. WKBD was chosen as the CW's Detroit affiliate, and the station continued to carry UPN programming until September 15, 2006. The CW commenced operations on September 18, 2006.
[edit] Logos
 WKBD's "TV50" logo from the summer of 1976 -- The Kaiser logo was used from its 1965 sign-on until 1977. |
 WKBD's "TV50" logo from July 1983 -- The Field logo was in use from late 1977 to 1985. |
 WKBD's 1987 logo -- the station was branded eventually as "Fox50" when it was a Fox affiliate. The "50" logo was used from 1985 to about 1994. |
 WKBD upon joining UPN in 1995 -- it used the "UPN50" branding from then on. |
 WKBD'S "UPN50" logo from Fall 2001. |
 WKBD's "UPN Detroit" logo from Fall 2002. |
 WKBD's "UPN Detroit" logo from Fall 2003. |
 WKBD's current "CW 50" logo |
[edit] Newscasts
For much of its existence, WKBD produced a single newscast, at 10 p.m. (for a brief time, it also had a noon newscast). In December 2002, due to alleged mismanagement, the newscast was cancelled after nearly 15 years on the air. Afterwards, the station's 10 p.m. newscast was produced by WXYZ-TV, Detroit's ABC affiliate. The station hired some of the former WKBD staff, but many simply lost their jobs. As of 2005, the station is no longer broadcasting news. It was replaced with The King Of Queens and According to Jim. However, WKBD now airs the quirky and popular morning show The Daily Buzz live.
Tara Wall, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, is a former reporter for WKBD.
[edit] Sports
On occasion (and regularly during preseason games), WKBD produced broadcasts of Detroit Lions football games, as well as Detroit Pistons basketball games, until the late 1980s when the Pistons decided to produce and distribute the games itself, with WKBD responsible for advertising. Both were simulcasted to other stations across Michigan, on a select list of affiliate stations.
[edit] Syndex, and Statewide Coverage on Cable
Outside of the Detroit area, however, most programming on WKBD is subject to Syndex territorial restrictions placed on cable systems by the local TV rights holders. During the affected programming, cable systems either switch to another channel, or place a text notice on the screen that says something like: "This channel is being blacked out due to FCC regulations." [1]
(Example: In the Lansing-Jackson market, UPN and some syndicated programs rights are owned by WHTV and WSYM and must be blacked out on local cable systems.)
A notable exception to the rule is the Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, Michigan television market. Although most syndicated programs seen on WKBD are contracted locally to WSMH, most of WKBD's schedule is cleared in the Flint-Tri-Cities TV market because the market does not have a UPN affiliate (however, at 5 p.m. daily, blackouts do occur on the Tri-Cities Charter cable system, when WKBD shows My Wife and Kids). In September 2006, WKBD was dropped from Charter's Tri-Cities and Alpena systems (where it was seen on cable 6), to make room for WNEM's "My 5" channel. WKBD's fate on other systems, including Comcast cable channel 9 in the Flint area, is unknown at present.
In 1995, when Fox switched in Detroit from WKBD to WJBK, many Michigan cable systems outside the Detroit area replaced WKBD with WGKI from Cadillac, in order to keep Fox available in the Upper Peninsula. However, in areas where Fox was already available locally, mainly in the southern and central Michigan markets (especially the Tri-Cities), much of WGKI's programming was blacked out. In 1996, some systems that dropped WKBD for WGKI brought WKBD back.
Following the launch of The CW, WKBD began to be dropped from cable systems outside of the Detroit market, in favor of local or nearest CW or My Network TV affiliates. In addition to Tri-Cities and Alpena, Comcast in Jackson dropped WKBD in favor of "CW 5", the new CW channel operated by WLAJ. However, that change did not occur until December 8, 2006 -- almost three months after The CW began.
For many years, WKBD was also available on basic cable in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on Cable 4.
[edit] External links
- TV Ark Database: WKBD-50 UPN Detroit
- WKBD Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WKBD
- Michiguide's Broadcast Television Database for WKBD
