WXYZ-TV

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This article is about the television station WXYZ. For the former AM radio station WXYZ, see WXYT.

WXYZ-TV
Detroit, Michigan
Branding	Channel 7
Slogan	On Your Side
Channels	7 (VHF) analog, 41 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	The E. W. Scripps Company
Founded	October 9, 1948
Call letters meaning	From former WXYZ-AM radio slogan The last word in Radio, can also be easy to remember as last 4 letters of alphabet
Transmitter Power	316 kW/305 m(analog) 770 kW/286 m (digital)
Website	www.wxyz.com

WXYZ-TV is the ABC affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company and is Scripps' largest TV station. WXYZ-TV is among the highest-rated ABC stations in the United States. The station's operations and transmitter are located at Broadcast House on West 10 Mile Road in Southfield, Michigan. Its antenna transmits from its 1,073 foot (327 m) tower at 316 kW/305 m and its digital channel 41 also transmits from the same tower at 770 kW/286 m.

Its signal transmits to the Metro Detroit area and the southeast lower Michigan counties. It also covers neighboring Windsor, Ontario and Toledo.

WXYZ-TV is on all Detroit area cable systems including Comcast, 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 StarChoice satellite provider and serves several Canadian cable TV markets, including Windsor, London, and the capital city of Ottawa.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Programming history 2 Digital Channels 3 Action News 3.1 Weekdays 3.2 Saturday 3.3 Sunday 3.3.1 Reporters and Anchors 3.3.2 Investigative reporters - The Investigators 3.3.3 Consumer reporters 3.3.4 Sports 3.3.5 Weather 3.3.6 Chopper 7 3.3.7 Union 3.4 News history 3.4.1 Former notable WXYZ news staffers 4 Management 4.1 Vice President and General Manager 4.2 Sales Manager 4.3 Program Director 4.4 Editorial and Public Affairs Director 4.5 News Director 5 Trivia 6 Slogans 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

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 Michigan, and ABC's third owned and operated (O&O) television station to begin operation. WXYZ-TV was created out of former ABC-owned radio station WXYZ-AM (now WXYT-AM) which produced the popular radio programs The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. WXYZ-AM radio personality Dick Osgood was host of WXYZ-TV's inaugural broadcast. Distinctively, WXYZ-TV is the third of five original ABC-O&Os on channel 7 after WABC-TV and WLS-TV, ahead of KGO-TV and KABC-TV.

In the 1950s WXYZ-TV began producing a series of popular and innovative programs which featured many personalities from WXYZ-AM. In fact the television 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 Records. In 1959 all of WXYZ's radio and television operations moved into new broadcast facilities at Broadcast House in Southfield, Michigan. 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.

WXYZ-TV’s Channel 7 Action News with lead news anchor Bill Bonds became the highest-rated newscast in Detroit for the first time in 1973. By 1978 WXYZ-TV was the second most-dominant television station in the United States in local viewership ratings. In 1979 ABC named Jeanne Findlater as WXYZ’s General Manager. She would be the first woman to hold that title at a large market television station.

In May 1985 ABC announced it would have to sell WXYZ-TV in order to merge with Capital Cities Communications. The divestiture was necessary to comply with the FCC’s ownership limits of the time. ABC sold the station to the Cincinnati based media conglomerate E.W. Scripps Company in 1986. At the time another prospective bidder for the station was Bill Cosby's Cozzin Communications. ABC did retain some of their 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 own general manager Chuck Fritz. Under Scripps ownership, WXYZ-TV retained the ABC network affiliation and use of the distinctive "Circle 7" logo.

The station was selected as the site of the first Town Meeting With President Bill Clinton in February 1993 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.

A shift in affiliation in 1994 at Detroit's CBS affiliate WJBK-TV to the Fox network prompted CBS to attempt to lure WXYZ to drop its ABC affiliation in favor of CBS. Eventually, on behalf of Scripps, ABC signed a 10-year affiliation contract with WXYZ and sister station WEWS in Cleveland. 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 would end-up purchasing independent Detroit station WGPR-TV (now WWJ-TV). Scripps had previously 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.

In 2002 WXYZ-TV reached an agreement with Viacom, owner of Detroit UPN station WKBD-TV and CBS station WWJ-TV in which WKBD cancelled the newscast it produced for WWJ-TV, shut down its news department and contracted with WXYZ to produce WKBD's 10 p.m. newscast. A handful of Viacom's Detroit employees would be transferred to WXYZ. Viacom would also transfer the operations of its CBS News satellite news gathering service CBS Newspath to offices at WXYZ’s Broadcast House since WXYZ would also be allowed to use the resources of CBS News. The 10 p.m. newscast was cancelled in late 2004 due to poor viewership and neither WKBD nor WWJ-TV now air any local newscasts in Detroit.

[edit] 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 ABC soon moved production to New York City and aired the show nationally. Other successful children’s shows to follow would include Wyxie's Wonderland hosted by Detroit comic Marv Welch, 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 would launch and produce 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 would show 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 Charm and later House 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 would also air 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 personalities, Pat Tobin and Johnny Slagle. Later in 1966 The Morning Show would debut 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 personalities, 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 2002 and the Detroit Pistons' NBA championship in 2004. The Dream Cruise is still aired on Channel 7 today.

[edit] Digital Channels

Digital channels

Channel	Programming
7.1 / 41.1	Main WXYZ Programming
7.2 / 41.2	WXYZ Weather
7.3 / 41.3	Tower Camera

[edit] Action News

[edit] Weekdays

• Action News This Morning - 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.
• Action News at Noon - 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• Action News at 5 PM - 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Action News at 6 PM - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Action News at 7 PM - 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• Action News at 11 - 11:00 p.m. to 11:35 p.m.

[edit] Saturday

• Action News at 6 PM - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Action News at 11 - 11:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

[edit] Sunday

• Action News This Morning - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
• Spotlight on the News - 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Action News at Noon - 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Action News at 6 PM - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Action News at 11 - 11:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
• Sports Update - 11:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

[edit] Reporters and Anchors

• Peggy Agar
• Cheryl Chodun
• Stephen Clark
• Val Clark
• Carolyn Clifford
• Mary Conway
• Kimberly Craig
• Diana Lewis
• Glenda Lewis
• Christy McDonald
• Erin Nicole
• Anu Prakash
• Bill Proctor
• Michael Rosenfield
• Takisha Roberson
• Erik Smith
• Robbie Timmons
• Brandon Truttling
• Glenn Zimmerman

[edit] Investigative reporters - The Investigators

• Steve Wilson, chief investigator
• Heather Catallo
• Ray Sayah

[edit] Consumer reporters

• Bill Spencer
• JoAnne Purtan

[edit] Sports

• Don Shane, Sports Director
• Tom Leyden
• Vic Faust

[edit] Weather

• Jerry Hodak, Chief Meteorologist
• Shay Ryan
• Dave Rexroth
• Jim Madaus (Freelance Meteorologist)

Since 1997 WXYZ-TV has had its own Doppler radar system based at Mettetal Airport in Canton, Michigan. Its branded as Doppler 7, its previous branding was Doppler 7000. WXYZ-TV's weather department's computer generating system is supplied by the WSI Corporation.

[edit] Chopper 7

WXYZ-TV's news helicopter, Chopper 7 is a Bell JetRanger 206B and is leased and operated by McMahon Helicopters based at Mettetal Airport in Canton, Michigan. It is crewed by pilot-reporters Captain Dennis Neubacher, Captain Craig Smith and gyro-camera operator Brian Smith.

[edit] Union

• WXYZ-TV's video photographers and video editors are members of The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). The station shoots on Panasonic's DVC PRO format.

[edit] News history

WXYZ-TV’s news department has held a longtime dominance of TV news in Detroit partly due to the popularity of former 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 1967 12th Street Riot. In the 1970s WXYZ would begin an aggressive build up of its news department. The station would adopt 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. Bonds returned in 1971 from a stint as news anchor in Los Angeles. WXYZ would assemble Detroit’s most popular news personalities such as John Kelly, Jac LeGoff, Al Ackerman, Marylin Turner, Jack McCarthy, Jerry Hodak 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, WXYZ’s Channel 7 Action News would become 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 would try 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. But Bonds would return after each time to lead WXYZ in the news ratings. During the 1980s and 1990s Bonds would host the interview segment, Up Front on WXYZ's 5 p.m. Action News. During the interviews Bonds would confront 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 would become the station's icon and its main star. In the Ron Powers book, The Newscasters, Powers would call 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 would go on to anchor newscasts and a late night talk-show at WJBK-TV and later host 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 would be challenged by Detroit NBC affiliate 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 and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards. WXYZ’s Action News was also named the best TV newscast in the U.S. by United Press International. The station was also recently 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.. Its anchor Erik Smith was recently commended by The E.W. Scripps Co. for the 40th anniversary of his original hiring at WXYZ-TV. 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. 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 terrorist 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 recently expanded its Action News at Noon broadcast to one hour. Action News continues its success with long-time anchors Diana Lewis, Robbie Timmons, meteorologist Jerry Hodak, sportscaster Don Shane and up until October 9th 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 has been the station's primary weathercaster for at least 26 of his more than 40 years in Detroit television. In 2006 WXYZ also boasts the most veteran general assignment reporters in Detroit TV with Cheryl Chodun, Bill Proctor, Mary Conway and Val Clark who all have at least 20 years each with the station.

In the November 2006 ratings period, all of WXYZ's newscasts placed first in their respective timeslots except at 11PM (when WDIV continues to lead, although second-place WXYZ is gaining ground there). Coupled with a strong syndicated programming lineup and top-ranked ABC prime-time programming, WXYZ is the number one-ranked station in Detroit, from sign-on to sign-off. [1]

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.

[edit] Former notable WXYZ news staffers

• Frank Turner (1990-1998, 2000-2006, anchor until October 9th 2006 when he said he would be leaving)
• Bill Bonds (1963-68, and again from 1971-95)
• Doris Biscoe (former long time news anchor and host of Learn to Read)
• Jac LeGoff, (former anchor who anchored at four TV newsrooms in Detroit and Windsor)
• Leon McNew (WXYZ-TV’s first news anchor)
• Dave Diles (Longtime sports anchor, went on to anchor at ABC Sports)
• Jack McCarthy (Longtime Anchor, Reporter, Host of "Friday Feast")
• Trudy Haynes (first African-American weathercaster in Detroit, went on to KYW-TV)
• Vince Wade (Investigative Reporter)
• Jim Harrington (Longtime political reporter and host of Spotlight on the News)
• Larry Adderley (former sportscaster, went on to host Michigan golf outings)
• John Kelly (News anchor, host of Kelly & Company)
• Barney Morris (News anchor, went on to KABC-TV)
• Ladd Carelton (early reporter and photographer)
• Ven Marshal (veteran reporter, formerly of WWJ-AM and WWJ-TV)
• Jerry Stanecki (consumer and investigative reporter, known as the News Hawk)
• Al Ackerman (Sports anchor, returned to WDIV-TV)
• Marilyn Turner (weathercaster, host of Kelly & Company)
• Don Wattrick (former sportscaster)
• Rob Kress (former weathercaster)
• Ken Thomas (News anchor, went on to WJBK-TV)
• Ken Ford (former reporter)
• Mike Kalush (former news photographer)
• John Fuller (former news photographer, author of a how-to home video book. Died March, 2006)
• Dick Femmel (WXYZ’s first news director)
• Phil Nye (former news director, went on to manage other ABC stations )
• Bill Fyffe (former news director, first host of Spotlight on the News, went on to KABC-TV)
• Walter Kraft (former news director), now Executive Vice President Caponigro Public Relations (www.PRDetroit.com)
• Alan Upchurch (former news director)
• Bill Carey (former news director, now General Manager of WFTS-TV)
• Chris Hansen (former reporter, now investigate reporter for NBC News)
• Bob Giles (former Director of News Operations 1980-2002,retired)
• Mike Huckman (former reporter, now reporter at CNBC)
• Shelly Smith (former investigative reporter, NBC News correspondent)
• Rich Fisher (former anchor, went on to WJBK-TV and WKBD-TV)
• Gordon Graham (former anchor and reporter, went on to CNN)
• Dan Springer (former reporter, went on to Fox News Channel)
• Chris Lawrence (former reporter, now CNN correspondent)
• Guy Gordon (former anchor, now at WDIV-TV)
• Jim Herrington (reporter, host of "Spotlight on the News")
• Steve Garagiola (former sports anchor, now at WDIV-TV)
• Greg Neubacher (former producer, went on to CNBC Europe)
• Jayne Hodak (former producer, now a manager at WJRT-TV)
• Helen Pasakarnis (former producer and executive editor)
• Lynda Soloman (producer and writer)
• Chad Myers (former weathercaster, now weathercaster at CNN)

[edit] Management

[edit] Vice President and General Manager

• Grace Gilchrist

[edit] Sales Manager

• Mike Murri

[edit] Program Director

• Marla Drutz

[edit] Editorial and Public Affairs Director

• Chuck Stokes

[edit] News Director

• Andrea Parquet-Taylor

[edit] Trivia

• With 21 vehicles WXYZ-TV has the largest fleet of ENG, SNG and DSNG trucks in the Detroit market and all of Michigan.
• The former farm house located on the WXYZ's Broadcast House property continues to serve as the station's lunch cafeteria.
• WXYZ Action News anchor Diana Lewis played the role of a TV reporter in the 1976 motion picture Rocky. She reprised the role in the sequel Rocky 5, again for several TV series including The Cosby Show and most recently on the daytime soap opera All My Children.
• WXYZ-TV's Broadcast House is also home to the Scripps Networks' regional offices and is the production site for some syndicated programs.
• Veteran WXYZ news photographer Dave Meinhard was awarded the American Red Cross' "The Everyday Hero Award" for rescuing a kayaker from drowning on the Clinton River on July 4, 2001. Ironically Meinhard was shooting the river because of a previous drowning that had just taken place.
• Another veteran WXYZ news photographer, John Fuller, is author of the how-to book, "Make Fantastic Home Videos".
• WXYZ's current staging set for Action News is actually in two former studios (Studios “B” and “C”) that have become one. The wall between two of the station's three studios was torn down to accommodate the entire set.
• Via CANCOM's satellite carriage of WXYZ, two US markets far from Detroit have adopted WXYZ as their ABC affiliate in lieu of an off-air station. The Williston, North Dakota area, 1,370 miles from Detroit, carried WXYZ near-universally (until a local ABC West repeater became available), whereas much of the El Dorado, Arkansas/Monroe, Louisiana (1,100 miles from Detroit) did the same for a period in the mid-1990s when that market lacked an ABC affiliate of its own.
• Based on the last letters of the alphabet, by coincidence WXYZ used to be the east coast reflection of today's ABC station KTRK in Houston, which used to be called KXYZ.
• In 1975, the soap opera The Edge of Night moved from CBS to ABC. However, as soon as the move was announced, then-CBS affiliate WJBK dropped the soap opera from its own schedule. As a result, WXYZ decided to carry the last two weeks of the CBS run, before ABC officially picked up the series on December 1, 1975. Locally, CBS's Edge of Night was seen on WXYZ at 4PM, pre-empting an ABC game show, You Don't Say!; this was a very rare instance where a network owned and operated station pre-empted their own network's show for one from another network. ABC would begin carrying The Edge of Night at that time slot on December 1. [2]
• On November 17, 2006, legendary college football coach Bo Schembechler collapsed at the station's production studio; he was rushed to Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan, where he was pronounced dead. Schembechler was about to tape a program previewing the game between Michigan and Ohio State the next day.[3]

[edit] Slogans

• 1984-1990: "Stand Up and Tell'em You're From Detroit" (based on Frank Gari's "Turn To..." series)
• 1984-1991: "Made in Detroit" (As a production endcap for station produced shows)
• 1984-2002: "7 Stands For News"
• 1996-2000: "The Spirit of Detroit"
• Present: "7 On Your Side" and "7 Stands for News"

[edit] See also

• Circle 7 logo
• Eyewitness News
• Action News

[edit] References

• WXYZ: Station History (2005). WXYZ.com.
• Kiska, Tim (2005). From Soupy to Nuts!.
• 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.
• Powers, Ron. The Newscasters: The News Business As Show Business. St. Martins Press.

[edit] External links

• WXYZ.com
• Bill Bonds.net
• Photos of WXYZ's news set
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WXYZ-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information about Television Station WXYZ