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WDIV-TV

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WDIV-TV, digital channel 45 (virtual channel 4.1), (branded as Local 4) is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now utilized by all stations in the group was launched here alongside its acquiring of flagship status. WDIV currently airs the entire NBC network schedule, with the only exception being Last Call with Carson Daly airing at 2:30 am instead of 1:37 am (right after Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), being pre-empted for Extra and infomercials.

It is the only major television station in the area, aside from public television station WTVS, whose offices and studios are located in the city of Detroit, while its other television station counterparts are located in Southfield.

The station's signal, transmitted from a 1004-foot (306-meter) antenna located on Greenfield Road in Southfield, encompasses the Metro Detroit area and can be picked up as far away as Flint, Lapeer, Adrian, Toledo, and even London, Ontario. WDIV is also one of only three stations that mention Windsor and London as among their primary viewing areas, with the other two being WMYD, and WTVS.

On cable, WDIV can be seen across much of southeast Michigan and southwestern Ontario. It also serves several other Canadian cable-TV markets, including the city of Ottawa, well away from its broadcast area. It also serves several other Canadian cable-TV markets, including Rogers Cable in the city of Ottawa. It is also one of five local Detroit TV stations seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite provider and was the original affiliate offered by CANCOM (now Shaw Broadcast Services) starting in September 1983. CANCOM's carriage of WDIV stretches outside of Canada with cable carriage in places as varied as far northern New York state (Hammond and Alexandria Bay NY), all of Bermuda, parts of Latin America and, for a time in the early 1990s, some parts of Ireland (with a delay). [1] In addition, WDIV is also carried on some cable systems in Mexico, via Shaw Broadcast Services, such the Cablemas system in Ciudad Juárez, which offers WDIV instead of KTSM-TV, the NBC affiliate in nearby El Paso, Texas.

History

WDIV was the first television station in Michigan, signing on as WWDT on October 23, 1946, for one day of demonstration programming[2]. Regular programming commenced on June 3, 1947. On May 15 of that year the station changed its call letters to WWJ-TV after WWJ-AM. Both stations were owned by the Detroit News. Today the WWJ-TV callsign is used by channel 62 in Detroit, not affiliated with WDIV.

Channel 4 has always been an NBC affiliate, although it aired some programs from the DuMont Television Network prior to WJBK's sign-on in 1948.

Channel 4 had a number of broadcasting firsts in Michigan, including the first telecast of Detroit Tigers, Red Wings and Lions games as well as televised newscasts. WDIV was the first TV station in Michigan to broadcast in color which was in 1954. The stations studios and transmitter were originally in the Detroit News building in downtown Detroit. In 1954, the station shut down its original transmitter located on top of the Detroit News building and constructed a new 1,006 foot transmitter at a new location at the intersection of Greenfield and Lincoln Roads in Southfield, Michigan.

In 1978, the FCC was considering new regulations which would have imposed limits on ownership of newspaper and television media in the same market. In anticipation of this, the Evening News Association, which owned the Detroit News and WWJ-AM-FM-TV and the Washington Post, who owned WTOP-AM-FM-TV in Washington, D.C., reached an agreement to swap television stations, perhaps intending to avoid the confusion which might result upon the announcement of new regulations. On July 27, 1978, WWJ-TV became WDIV-TV. The call letters are derived from "D" for Detroit and "IV" for the Roman numeral four. Additionally, in a series of promotional announcements with news anchor Dwayne X. Riley, the new call letters were said to represent the phrase, "Where Detroit Is Vital".

The "WWJ-TV" call sign was subsequently adopted for use 20 years later by the former "WGPR", now Channel 62, the CBS owned-and-operated station in Detroit. The current WWJ-TV is not related in any way to WDIV or to the old WWJ-TV.

Ultimately, the FCC never imposed any limitations on ownership of television and newspapers in the same market, so the exchange of stations between the Evening News Association and the Washington Post was somewhat unique in television broadcasting. The Evening News was pleased to finally have a voice in the Nation's Capital, while the Washington Post perhaps regretted the loss of its prestigious television signal in Washington. However, operation of WDIV would prove to be very lucrative. The station later became available outside the Detroit market when it was selected for inclusion on many Canadian cable systems in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The station itself has never uplinked its programming to satellite, as Atlanta-based WTBS does.

In the 1970s and 1980s, WDIV preempted one to two hours of NBC's daytime programming every day. The station also refused to air Late Night with David Letterman and its successor, Late Night with Conan O' Brien at 12:35 a.m. for many years. Instead, the station opted to rebroadcast The Jenny Jones Show, which lasted until 1999. Though Late Night now airs at its usual time of 12:35 a.m., Last Call with Carson Daly is delayed from 1:35 a.m. to 2:35 a.m. by infomercials.

From 1999 through 2002, WDIV did not clear the soap opera Passions at 2:00 p.m. Instead, it was tape-delayed to air on cross-town WADL at noon, while WDIV aired daytime talk shows at 2:00 p.m. Sister station KPRC-TV in Houston did the same thing until August 30, 2004 when it became the last NBC station to carry Passions at 2:00 p.m. These two stations were the only NBC affiliate holdouts to the show. The issue was rendered moot when NBC removed Passions from its schedule in 2007.

As NBC decreased programming in its daytime schedule in the 1990s, preemptions on WDIV have become less common. Since the turn of the 21st century, WDIV has been running almost all of NBC's schedule with some preemptions for live local special programming from local fireworks events to Detroit Pistons basketball. WDIV and KPRC are also among a handful of NBC affiliates that don't clear Poker After Dark.

In 2004, the station bolstered local programming by securing broadcast rights to several Detroit Pistons basketball games, as well as returning as the host TV station for the North American International Auto Show. The station airs the auto show's charity preview, "America's Thanksgiving Parade" (both in high-definition), The Target Fireworks, and the charity event "The Hob-Nobble Gobble" which is held the night before the Thanksgiving parade. Pistons games will not be shown on WDIV starting in the 2008-2009 season as FSN Detroit will become the sole broadcaster.

On April 15, 2005, former WDIV employee John Owens was shot in the station's lobby by a man with a history of harassing WDIV employees. The man was charged with attempted murder while Owens remained in the hospital in critical but stable condition. On November 21, 2006, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James Callahan sentenced the man, Epifanio Rivas Jr. to 16 to 32 years in prison for the shooting but he also will be serving two years for a felony firearm conviction.

On January 8, 2007, the station added a 30 minute afternoon newscast, Local 4 News First at 4 with Ruth Spencer as its solo anchor. It is also streamed live on the internet.

On Thursday, April 5, 2007, WDIV progressed further on their conversion to high-definition by unveiling a new high-definition news set, brand new HD graphics created by Renderon Broadcast Design [citation needed], and a rearrangement of the WDIV theme by Chris Crane. The set was changed again in 2008. There was a new graphics package in 2008 and again in early 2009.

In the spring of 2007, WDIV received an Edward R. Murrow Award, one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism. "The China Syndrome", reported and produced by Devin Scillian, was named Best Documentary.

On Sunday, August 19, 2007, the 11pm edition of Local 4 News became the 2nd newscast in Detroit produced in High Definition.

In December 2008, WDIV released its newly designed website and viewers were able to watch all newscasts online at www.clickondetroit.com.

On Friday, January 4, 2008 WDIV vice president and general manager Steve Wasserman announced he will be stepping down January 18. Wasserman will be replaced on a temporary basis by Alan Frank, President of the Detroit headquartered Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. who was WDIV's Vice President and GM [1] Eventually, Veteran Detroit TV Executive Marla Drutz left crosstown rival WXYZ-TV to take over at the WDIV helm.


Canadian controversies

Though not in its own market, WDIV (plus WJBK and WXYZ) have seen their share of controversy from afar via their carriage to much of Canada (and fringe parts of North America) via CANCOM.

  • The presence of Detroit stations on Canadian cable systems was cited in some areas (namely the Prairie Provinces) for an uptick in crime rates in the years after their introduction via the heavy reporting of crime stories on their newscasts. The most extreme of these cases was when community activists in Winnipeg, Manitoba allegedly cited WDIV's newscasts as the potential ignitor of the city's first drive-by shootings.
  • In the wake of a Canadian media coverage gag order of the murder trial of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka in 1995, CANCOM was forced to black out WDIV's newscasts on their end with a disclaimer stating "THIS CHANNEL BLACKED OUT DURING THIS TIME DUE TO BROADCAST/PUBLISHING LAW DURING THE BERNARDO/HOLMOKA TRIAL". Though this did its intended purpose in Canada, it angered cable viewers not only in the Detroit market but other Michigan cities as well (which received the signal from CANCOM), as well as other areas of the US and the Caribbean that receive the CANCOM signal. After one week, WDIV management and CANCOM hammered out a deal in which the blackouts would be handled by Canadian cable systems in a manner similar to simsubbing.
  • Though totally coincidental, viewers in the Ottawa area decried WDIV's replacement of Rochester, New York's WHEC when Rogers Cable switched that area's systems US affiliates from a combination of Rochester and Buffalo to Detroit in 2003.

Digital channels

WDIV's digital signal on channel 45 is multiplexed into the following subchannel lineup.

Channel Programming
4.1 Main WDIV / NBC programming in 1080i HD
4.2 This TV Detroit
  • WDIV's third digital subchannel will be an affiliate of The .2 Network, which is planning on launching sometime in 2009 [3]

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion took place on June 12, 2009 [4], WDIV ended its 62 year broadcast on channel 4 and continued digital broadcasts on its pre-transition channel number, 45. [5] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WDIV's virtual channel as 4.

Local programs and personalities

WDIV was the launching pad for several locally produced shows that went national. The station broadcast the Dr. Sonya Freidman talk show Sonya live at 4 p.m. It was so popular that the station, under the banner of Post-Newsweek Stations, syndicated it on a delayed basis to the USA Network cable network (which is now co-owned with NBC under NBC Universal). WDIV also produced the afternoon variety show The Tony Orlando Show at 4 p.m. However, the station's management pulled the plug after a year for an afternoon talk show named Jenny Jones.

Another shot for WDIV came when the station signed WOMC morning man Dick Purtan to do live segments during a 4-5 comedy block called Purtain's People. It was followed by WOMC's Tom Ryan with a monthly special that showed B-movies with comedy skits. This was during the heyday of NBC's late night success SCTV and Joe Flaherty's Count Floyd. Ryan's character was known as Count Scary. Eventually, Count Scary was dropped by WDIV and moved on to WKBD-TV's Shocktoberfest. One local program idea that almost cost the station was for a Detroit-based comedy/drama called Hamtramck, which aired only once. It created a storm of controversy with the Hamtramck community. The program's executive producer, Alan Frank, apologized to the community.

Meteorologist Chuck Gaidica hosted the Michigan Lottery's game shows and his own show. Sports Director Bernie Smilovitz also hosted a couple of shows, including The Chuck and Bernie Show, which featured then Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly, and The Sparky and Bernie Show, which featured Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson. Smilovitz also hosted Bernie's Bloopers/Weekend At Bernies specials.

WDIV features a robust line-up of up to the minute traffic segments. Including noted Detroit Traffic Reporters Lauren Podell, Gail Anderson, Joe Adams and Heather Zara, WDIV has dedicated far more coverage to local traffic than other local TV newsrooms.

In recent years, WDIV news has become what may be termed sensationalistic, featuring reports by the Rescue 4 Undercover team. These reports often deal with sexual topics or issues of personal safety (Is Your Favorite Movie Theater Safe?), but scored high ratings and viewer comments for their breaking news coverage of the Tara Grant disappearance that became a murder case with the arrest of her husband, Stephen.

Current personalities & Local 4 news broadcasts assignments

News Anchors

  • Karen Drew - Noon Weekdays, also Investigative Reporter & Fill-in Anchor
  • Steve Garagiola - Weekend Evenings, also fill in sports anchor; "Vote 4 The Best!"
  • Guy Gordon - Weekday Mornings
  • Carmen Harlan - 5:30, 6 & 11 p.m. Weeknights
  • Lauren Sanders - Local 4 News Morning Weekend
  • Devin Scillian- 5, 5:30, 6 & 11 p.m. Weeknights
  • Ruth Spencer - 4 & 5 p.m. Weeknights, also Consumer Reporter
  • Rhonda Walker - Weekday Mornings
  • Hank Winchester - Local 4 News Morning Weekend - Fill-in and Co-Host for Lauren Sanders

Rescue 4 Undercover investigative team

  • Kevin Dietz
  • Karen Drew
  • Jim Kiertzner
  • Marc Santia (Neighborhood Crime Alerts)

Traffic

  • "Metro Joe" Joe Adams - Sky 4 Reporter for Local 4 News Morning
  • Gail Anderson - Weekend Mornings; Fill/In
  • Tom Sherony - Sky 4 Pilot
  • Lauren Podell - Weekday Evening Traffic
  • Heather Zara - Local 4 Morning Traffic
  • Sky 4 - 1975 Bell JetRanger

Reporters

  • Ama Daetz
  • Silva Harapetian
  • Bora Kim
  • Jim Keirtzner
  • Jon Jordan - Fashion Reporter
  • Mara MacDonald
  • Ross Marroso - Sky 4
  • Rod Meloni - Financial Reporter
  • Bisi Onile-Ere
  • Natalie Sentz
  • Darian Trotter
  • Paula Tutman
  • Roger Weber
  • Hank Winchester
  • Dr Frank McGeorge - Local 4 Doctor
  • Sean Mehan - Morning Cam (Shown on Morning Powercast Weekdays)
  • Tim Pamplin - Night Cam

Local4Casters Weather Team

  • Kim Adams - Weekdays, 4 pm weather anchor (Now out on maternity leave)
  • Chuck Gaidica - "Director of Meteorology", Weeknights
  • Andrew Humphrey - Weekends/Fill-In (AMS-CBM)
  • Paul Gross - Fill-In/Weather Producer
  • Eric Braate - Weekday Morning Meteorologist

Sports

Current Local 4 news segments

  • Ruth to the Rescue - Ruth Spencer
  • Guy The Answer Guy / Guy The Car Guy - Guy Gordon
  • Auto Show Coverage - WDIV Team Members
  • Rescue 4: Undercover - Rescue 4 Team
  • Neighborhood Crime Alerts - Marc Santia
  • Bernie's Video Arcade/Classic Video Arcade/Weekend at Bernie's (+ Spin-offs) - Bernie Smilovitz
  • America's Thanksgiving Day Parade - WDIV Team Members
  • Target Fireworks Coverage - WDIV Team Members
  • Vote 4 The Best - Steve Gargiola
  • I Am Detroit - ClickonDetroit.com Exclusive
  • High School Sports (Fall: Friday Football Frenzy) (Winter: Local 4's Hoop Stars) - Katrina Hancock
  • 4 Your Health - Dr. Frank McGeorge
  • Chuck's Backyard Barbeque - Chuck Gaidica
  • Gaidica's Garden - Chuck Gaidica
  • Neighborhood Crime Tracker - Karen Drew
  • New 4 Michigan - Devin Scillian & Carmen Harlan
  • NASA News - Local 4 News Team
  • Making A Difference - Local 4 News Team and assistance from NBC News

Former news staffers at WDIV & WWJ (pre-1978)

Former news staffers at WDIV-TV (1978 & beyond)

  • Kathy Adams - anchor/reporter (1990-1997)
  • Asha Blake - weekend anchor/health reporter (1993-1996, went to NBC News & was at KWGN-TV in Denver)
  • Robert Batot - meteorologist (1998-1999)
  • Rachel Bianco - anchor/reporter (now at San Diego)
  • John Boruk - weekend sports anchor from (2005-2006; now at Philadelphia's Comcast SportsNet)
  • Doug Bruckner - reporter (now at Extra)
  • Kori Chambers- Anchor/Reporter. Begins as Anchor/Reporter at FOX O&O WFLD-TV Chicago on July 7
  • Mort Crim - News Anchor/Radio Reporter (1978-1997, now runs Mort Crim Communications & at Majic Windows)
  • Vince DeMentri - reporter (1993-1994, now at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia)
  • Derricke Dennis - Anchor/Reporter, now teacher at Wayne State University
  • Rick Edlund - weekend anchor (1998-2000), now at KDFW
  • Art Edwards - Weekeday Morning Reporter, now at KOIN-TV in Portland.
  • Dennis Edwards - reporter (early 1990s, now at WJZ-TV in Baltimore)
  • M.L. Elrick - investigative reporter (2006-2007) (Leaving for Detroit Free Press)
  • Doug Evans - reporter (1993-1998), now weekend anchor WAGA-TV, Atlanta
  • Tony Fama - investigative reporter (1994-1998)
  • Ben Frazier - anchor/reporter (1980-1983)
  • Shon Gables - morning anchor (2000-2003, left WCBS-TV in New York in April 2006)
  • Tracy Gary - traffic reporter & chopper reporter (Feb 2003-Dec 2004); Now weather forecaster WWJ-TV & announcer WMCG Detroit
  • Rick & Vicki Griffin husband-&-wife meteorologists (1984-1989, Cuddle-Alert baby boy, Steven Griffin, born 1987)
  • Chris Hansen - investigative reporter/anchor (1988-1993, now at NBC News)
  • Laurel Hess - reporter (1996-1999)
  • Fred Heumann - sports anchor/reporter (1994-2003, now at WLNS-TV in Lansing, Michigan)
  • Fred Hickman - sports anchor/reporter (1980s, now seen on ESPN's SportsCenter)
  • Doug Hill - meteorologist (1980-1982, now at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.)
  • Jason Hill - reporter (now at KVUE-TV in Austin, Texas)
  • Andrea Joyce - sports reporter (1983-1985) recently seen doing NBC's now completed 2008 Beijing Olympic coverage for NBC sports.
  • Emery King - Anchor/Chief Political Reporter (1986-2005, now with Detroit Medical Center)
  • Kristi Krueger - health reporter/anchor (1990-1993, now at WPLG-TV in Miami)
  • Lila Orbach-Lazarus - "Good Health" correspondent/anchor (1997-2005, now at WJBK-TV)
  • Marcella Lee - reporter (1999-2004, now at KFMB-TV in San Diego)
  • Jac LeGoff - anchor/commentator (1985-1988)
  • Mike Lewis - police reporter (1982-2004, now Asst. Journalism Professor at University of Michigan-Flint in Flint, Michigan)
  • Mike Lyons - meteorologist (1988-1991) Now at WPBF-TV
  • Davey Marlin-Jones - film critic (1978-1987), also worked at WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C..
  • Rich Mayk
  • Beth McLeod - traffic reporter (2004-2008); lottery & special assignment reporter (1997-2007)
  • Fred McLeod - weekend sports anchor /host of "Sports Final Edition" on Sunday nights (1989-2006; currently the TV play-by-play voice of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers)
  • Jennifer Moore - anchor/business reporter (1981-1992)
  • Dan Mountney - former 11 pm anchor (1978-1999)
  • Vickie Newton - morning anchor/reporter (1997-2000, now at KMOV-TV in St. Louis)
  • Bob Pisor - noon anchor (1980s-1991)
  • Margie Reedy - anchor/reporter (1984-1990) Last at NECN
  • Mal Sillars - longtime meteorologist
  • Robbin Simmons - 5 pm Anchor & General Assignment Reporter (went back to WSVN Miami as Weekend Anchor / General Assignment Reporter)
  • Darrielle Snipes - reporter (2001-2004, now at KOCO-TV
  • Tom Sorrells - meteorologist (1995-2000, now at WKMG-TV in Orlando)
  • George Siegal - meteorologist (1995-2001)
  • Brian Teigland - meteorologist (1984-1987, now at WPTY-TV in Memphis, also co-host "Memphis Wrestling" on WLMT) (Brian died suddenly on July 25, 2008)[6]
  • Anne Thompson - reporter (1986-1997, now at NBC News)
  • Jeff Vaughn - morning anchor/reporter (1999-2007; now @ KSHB-TV in Kansas City)
  • Scott Wahle - sports anchor/reporter (1987-1989, now at WBZ-TV in Boston, also lead anchor of WBZ produced 9 pm news on sister station WSBK)
  • Suzanne Wangler - Chopper 4 reporter (1995-2000), later News Director / producer / Anchor @ WLAJ ABC-3/CW-5 Lansing (as Suzanne Page); found dead on February 23, 2008. She hanged herself in her Royal Oak home following an embezzlement accusation that lead to her arrest[7]
  • Jill Washburn - traffic reporter (1997-2004)
  • Dell Warner - Seniors reporter (died January 2009)
  • Mike Wendland - investigative/technology reporter (1980-1998, now at the Detroit Free Press)
  • Nerissa Williams - anchor/reporter (1980-1985) last seen on KIRO-TV in Seattle before being let go by that station.
  • Eric Wilson - Now @ WKMG-TV Orlando, Florida's CBS Affiliate
  • Michael Ann Wolf - weekend anchor/reporter (1995-2006)
  • Reynolds Wolf - meteorologist (1999-2002, now at CNN)
  • Van Earl Wright - sports anchor (1993-1996, now lead announcer of NBC's American Gladiators)
  • Eli Zaret - sports anchor (1981-1986, left for WABC)
  • Alicia Zee - Stayed full time at WWJ-AM. Replaced with Heather Zara

Coverage

WDIV is carried on most cable systems in Southeast Michigan, Southwestern Ontario, and Northwestern Ohio.

Coverage on cable systems outside the Detroit / Windsor market may be subject to syndex and network blackouts in the United States, and simsubbing in Canada.

News/Station presentation

Newscast titles

  • Channel 4 News (to 1969)
  • News 4 (1969-2000)
  • News 4 plus 4 (ca. 1977-1978)
  • NIGHTBEAT (11 PM News 1987-2000)
  • NEWSBEAT (1990-2000)
  • Local First News (2000-2004)
  • Local 4 News (2005-present)
  • News 4 and NEWSBEAT were both used from 1990 to 2000

Station slogans

  • 1978-1979: We're 4 Detroit
  • 1979-1988, 1994-2000: Go 4 It! / Go For It!
  • 1988-1990: Come Home to the Best, Only On Channel 4 (localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • 1990-1991: WDIV, The Place to Be (localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • 1997-2004: Where Local News Comes First
  • 2004-2006: Everywhere, Every Way, Every Day
  • 2006-2008: The Power of 4
  • 2008-Present: General: Worth Tuning In 4 and Worth Staying Up 4/Worth Waking Up 4 (Used for newscast promos referring to its 11pm and morning newscasts)-The station is also using currently in all of its newscast as Your Breaking News Leader

Newscast music

Station logos

References

  1. ^ Matt Lauer, on NBC's The Today Show (May 2, 2007)
  2. ^ WDIV Makes Television History! Travel Back In Time With Local 4 Firsts! (2004). Clickondetroit.com
  3. ^ .2 Launch Pushed to Spring
  4. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  5. ^ CDBS Print
  6. ^ "Eyewitness News Everywhere: Brian Teigland Passed Away Early Friday Morning". Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  7. ^ "Detroit News: Wangler found dead in her home". Retrieved 2008-02-24.
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