WOOD-TV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WOOD-TV
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Branding	WOOD-TV 8 (general) 24 Hour News 8 (newscasts) WXSP The X (on DT2)
Slogan	West Michigan's News Leader
Channels	Digital: 7 (VHF)
Subchannels	8.1 NBC 8.2 MyNetworkTV 8.3 weather radar
Translators	WOGC-CA 25 (UHF) Holland
Owner	LIN TV Corporation (WOOD License Company, LLC)
First air date	August 15, 1949
Call letters’ meaning	WOOD furniture industry
Sister station(s)	WOTV WXSP-CA
Former callsigns	WLAV-TV (1949-1951) WOOD-TV (1951-1972) WOTV (1972-1992)
Former channel number(s)	7 (VHF analog, 1949-1953) 8 (VHF analog, 1953-2009)
Former affiliations	CBS (1949-1960) ABC (1949-1962) DuMont (1949-1955) all secondary
Transmitter Power	30 kW
Height	288 m
Facility ID	36838
Transmitter Coordinates	42°41′14″N 85°30′34″W / 42.68722°N 85.50944°W / 42.68722; -85.50944
Website	woodtv.com

WOOD-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for West Michigan that is licensed to Grand Rapids. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter near Middleville in northwestern Barry County. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to ABC affiliate WOTV and Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WXSP-CA. All three share studios on College Avenue Southeast in downtown Grand Rapids. Syndicated programming on WOOD-TV includes: Inside Edition, Access Hollywood, Ellen, and The Doctors.

In addition to their main signal, WOOD-TV operates WOGC-CA on UHF channel 25 that is licensed to Holland with a transmitter east of Zeeland along I-196 on the tower of WJQK-FM. This repeater was established around 2002 due to interference from WMVS, a PBS station in Milwaukee, whose digital broadcast is on on channel 8. The signals from that station and WOOD-TV regularly propagated across Lake Michigan causing interference with each other. After the digital transition on June 12, 2009 with the issues resolved, this channel's purpose is to continue providing analog service to Holland.

[edit] Digital programming

The station's signal is multiplexed and never offered NBC Weather Plus.

[edit] History

The station first went on-the-air on August 15, 1949. It had the call sign WLAV-TV and aired an analog signal on VHF channel 7. They were the fourth television station in Michigan and the first outside of Detroit. The original owner was Leonard Adrian Verslius who had signed-on Grand Rapids' second radio station, WLAV-AM 1340, in 1940. In 1951, Verslius sold the television station to Grandwood Broadcasting (a subsidiary of the Bitner Group) for $1.37 million dollars. They were the owners of Grand Rapids' first radio station, WOOD-AM 1300. That station had applied for a television license back in 1948 but it came just after the FCC imposed a freeze on new television construction permits. In fact, WLAV had been one of the last construction permits issued before the freeze. Grandwood eventually grew tired of waiting and cut a deal with Verslius to buy the station.

On October 19, WLAV changed its calls to WOOD-TV and began to broadcast from a new transmitter in northeastern Grand Rapids. On December 8, 1953, the station moved from channel 7 to VHF channel 8 and increased its power from 28,000 to 100,000 watts. The channel change was promoted as "Mark the date: We move to Channel Eight on December Eight". The move was to alleviate interference with WBKB-TV (now WLS-TV) in Chicago.

In 1955, the station moved to its current facilities in the Heritage Hill area of Grand Rapids. Its studios replaced the Bissell mansion (of Bissell vacuum fame) and are across the street from the Voigt House Victorian Museum. Time-Life, Inc. bought WOOD-AM-TV in 1957. Channel 8 has been an NBC affiliate from the very beginning though it had a secondary CBS affiliation until WKZO-TV (now WWMT) in Kalamazoo expanded its signal to cover Grand Rapids. It also had secondary affiliations with ABC and DuMont. The ABC affiliation lasted until 1962 when WZZM-TV signed-on. The DuMont affiliation ended in 1956 when that network ceased operations.

The call letters became WOTV in 1972 when WOOD-AM was sold. Time-Life also sold most of its television stations to McGraw-Hill that year but held on to WOTV until 1983 when it was sold to LIN Broadcasting. In 1992, the station reclaimed its old call letters with WOOD radio's permission. Channel 8 then donated the WOTV calls to WUHQ, the ABC affiliate for the southern portion of the West Michigan market with whom it had a local marketing agreement (a.k.a. LMA) with.

In 1994, LIN Broadcasting spun off its television division into a separate company known as LIN TV but WOOD-TV was not included. Instead, the station became wholly owned by AT&T (which also owned 45 percent of LIN TV at the time) when that company absorbed the remainder of LIN Broadcasting in 1995. During AT&T ownership, LIN TV continued to manage both WOOD-TV and WOTV. LIN TV reacquired WOOD-TV and its LMA with WOTV in 1999 when AT&T sold-off its stake in the company to Hicks, Muse, Furst, and Tate (now HM Capital). On August 14, WOOD-TV became the first station in West Michigan to broadcast a digital signal on VHF channel 7. LIN TV would purchase WOTV outright in 2001. On June 12, 2009 at 10 in the morning, their digital signal remained on channel 7 when the analog to digital conversion was completed.

[edit] News operation

Their news open.

In an area first, the station purchased electronic news equipment in 1975. Five years later, they became the first to broadcast live news from outside the studio. In 1983, it introduced West Michigan's first news helicopter. The weekday Noon and weekend 6 P.M. newscasts were expanded to one-hour formats in 1995. The weekend shows now pre-empt the weekend edition of NBC Nightly News. However, WOOD-TV clears the remainder of NBC's broadcast schedule, including the Monday-through-Friday editions of NBC Nightly News.

Carol Duvall of HGTV's Carol Duvall Show started her career at WOOD-TV. On October 21, 2007, the station began producing a nightly 10 o'clock broadcast on MyNetworkTV affiliate WXSP-CA. This competes with prime time shows that air on Fox affiliate WXMI and CW affiliate WWMT-DT2. WOOD-TV's weeknight 6 o'clock newscast is repeated at 7 on WXSP. This station's meteorologists provide Local Weather Station updates on that station every morning from 5 to 6. It is the only surviving portion of the all-LWS schedule from the late-1990s. Meteorologist Terri DeBoer is seen during the week and Laura Velasquez is on weekends.

Currently, WOTV simulcasts only the second half of "Daybreak" and the 6:00 PM newscasts of WOOD-TV. Starting with the 2007 / 2008 television season, the weeknight 5 o'clock hour of simulcasted news on WOTV was replaced by TMZ on TV and Extra. Chief Meteorologist Bill Steffen does weeknight weather updates on WOTV.

WOOD-TV has news partnerships with The Grand Rapids Press, Holland Sentinel, Kalamazoo Gazette, and Muskegon Chronicle. Sports Overtime is a weekly half-hour sports highlight show that airs Sunday nights after the 11 o'clock news. Football Frenzy is a weekly highlight program covering the Friday night high school football games as well as other sports news of the day. The 11 P.M. newscast is shortened to allow Football Frenzy to air during the regular time slot. To The Point is a weekly political talk show hosted by Rick Albin that airs Sunday mornings at 10. The entertainment and lifestyle show eightWest premiered on October 5, 2009 and airs weekday mornings at 11.

[edit] Station slogans

• "We're the Best on TV 8" (late-1970s)
• "The Team to Watch" (early-1980s)
• "Come on Home to TV-8" (1987-1988, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
• "Come Home to the Best, Only on TV-8" (1988-1989, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
• "The First Team for News in West Michigan" (early-mid 1990s)
• "First. Best. Live." (mid 1990s-1999)
• "West Michigan's News Leader" (1999-present)

[edit] News team

Anchors

• Jennifer Moss - weekday mornings
• Brett Thomas - weekday mornings
• Brian Sterling - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 10
• Susan Shaw - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 10
• Suzanne Geha - weeknights at 6 and 11
• Marc Thompson - weekend mornings and reporter
• Emily Linnert - weekend evenings and reporter
  • producer
• Rachael Ruiz - eightWest host

Storm Team 8 Meteorologists

• Bill Steffen - Chief seen weeknights and WOTV weeknight weather updates
• Terri DeBoer - weekday mornings and eightWest host
• Matt Kirkwood - weekdays at Noon
• Laura Velasquez - weekend mornings
• Kyle Underwood (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend evenings

Sports

• Jack Doles - Director seen weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
• Jason Terzis - Saturday nights and Sports Overtime host
  • Sunday nights at 10 and 11
  • reporter
• Larry Figurski - Sunday nights at 6 and 6:30
  • producer and Football Frenzy host
  • reporter and photographer

Reporters

• Rick Albin - politics and To The Point host
• Eva Aguirre Cooper - Communications Director
  • "Angel Tree", "Drive to Live", and "Connecting with Community" segments producer
• Anne Schieber - "Your Money" segment producer
• Henry Erb - investigative
• Dee Morrison - weekday mornings
• Tony Tagliavia - education and Kalamazoo County
• Leon Hendrix
• Ken Kolker
• Joe LaFurgey
• Jessica Leffler

[edit] Former personalities

• Bill Allen
• Gary Bazner - deceased
• Cary Berglund - now at KNBC
• Dave Bolton
• Tom Bradford
• Jane Brierley
• Roger Brown
• Dave Carmichael
• Lynn Carthane
• Patrick Center
• Eddie Chase
• Dick Cheverton
• Jim Childress
• Dray Clark
• Jim Collins
• Angie Crouch - now at KNBC
• Jim Cummins - deceased
• Coy Davis
• Della DiPietro - a.k.a. Della Koach
• Todd Donoho
• Brad Edwards
• Don Elliott
• John Estabrook
• Dick Evans - deceased
• Curt Fonger
• Alan Gionet - now weekend anchor at KCNC
• Scott Harrison - now reporter at KRDO
• Derek Hayward
• Dennis Hodges - provides weather reports for various radio stations in Michigan
• Ron Howes - now Chief Meteorologist at WTVF
• Craig James - retired in 2008
• Doris Jarrell
• Dave Jefferson
• Ed Kemp
• Jim Kipp
• Steve Kmetko - former E! news host
• Bruce Kopp - now weekday morning anchor at WTHR
• Noreen Lauer
• Buck Matthews
• Dick McKay
• Matt McLogan - now a Vice President at Grand Valley State University in Michigan
• Keith Monahan - now Chief Meteorologist at KIAH
• Larry Nienhaus
• Steve Osunsami - ABC News Correspondent
• Dawn Picken
• Ernie Reno
• Andy Rent - now morning disk jockey at WTRV
• Warren Reynolds - deceased
• Jay Ricci
• Rick Roberts - deceased
• Susan Samples
• Sally Scobey
• Janet Shamlian - now at NBC News
• Joe Sullivan
• John Stehr - now primary evening anchor at WTHR
• John Strickler
• Bill Struyk
• Alex Taylor
• Don Turner
• Nick Unger
• Tom Van Howe - retired but serves as substitute anchor on WWMT while regular anchor Jeff McAtee serves in military
• Emily Zangaroa
• Ben Watson
• Linda White
• Rhona Williams
• Captain Woody
• Matt Winer - now at ESPN
• Ginger Zee - now meteorologist at WMAQ

[edit] External links

• WOOD-DT channel 7
• WOOD-DT mobile
• WOTV channel 20
• WXSP-CA channel 15
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOOD-TV
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOGC-CA