WOTV
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WOTV, virtual channel 41 (UHF digital channel 20), is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. The station is owned by Media General, and is a sister station to NBC affiliate WOOD-TV (channel 8) and Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WXSP-CD (channel 15). All three stations share studios on College Avenue Southeast in the Heritage Hill section of Grand Rapids, WOTV's transmitter is located on South Norris Road in Orangeville Township. It is known on air as WOTV 4, since it is carried on channel 4 on Charter Communications and Comcast. Syndicated programming on WOTV includes Steve Harvey, Rules of Engagement, The Queen Latifah Show and The Wendy Williams Show. On early weekend mornings, the station simulcasts WOOD-DT3, which is a feed of WOOD-TV's weather radar (known as the "Storm Team 8 Live Doppler Network") with audio from NOAA Weather Radio station KIG63; since July 15, 2013, it is now carried full-time on WOTV-DT2.
The Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo market is one of a few instances where there are two affiliates of the same network (this situation exists in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida where WFTS-TV and WWSB both air ABC programming in the same market). ABC programming is also seen on WZZM (channel 13), which is based out of Grand Rapids. Although WZZM clears all network programming and operates a full news department, its digital signal cannot reach the southern portions of the market (Battle Creek and Kalamazoo). This is because the transmitter is located northwest of Grand Rapids in Grant, farther north than the area's other network stations. While WOTV once focused primarily on the southern portion of the market, in recent years it has billed itself as a full-market ABC affiliate, including Grand Rapids.
In some cases, commonly from late spring through early fall, the signal from WOTV can be received in parts of southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. This can cause interference in these areas with the signal from Chicago's WGN-TV,[citation needed] as WOTV broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 20 and WGN-TV broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 19.
History
The station signed on the air on July 24, 1971 as WUHQ-TV (standing for "UHF HeadQuarters"). It was owned by Channel 41, Inc. a group of 19 investors from Battle Creek and Kalamazoo. WUHQ signed on because the southern portion of the market did not receive an adequate signal from WZZM. Originally licensed on VHF channel 9, that station swapped channels with WWTV in Cadillac and moved to channel 13 just before signing on in 1962. As a result, its transmitter is farther north than the other Southwestern Michigan stations in order to protect WTVG in Toledo, Ohio. Before WUHQ signed on, viewers in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek watched ABC from either WSJV in Elkhart/South Bend, Indiana, WXYZ-TV in Detroit, or during the summer months with tropospheric propagation across Lake Michigan, WLS-TV in Chicago and WITI in Milwaukee (then that city's ABC affiliate).[verification needed]
In its early days, the station could not get ABC to provide a direct network feed. This forced channel 41 to switch to and from WZZM's signal during the times when ABC network programming was being shown. This practice, however, was less than satisfactory as WZZM often pre-empted network shows in favor of locally originated or other programming (such as Billy Graham crusades). In cases where WUHQ had advance notice of such changes, the station was able to procure filmed copies of the pre-empted network programming for broadcast. However, WZZM sometimes pre-empted a program with no advance notice such as for breaking local news or severe weather coverage. When this happened, WUHQ had simulcast WSJV, usually with less than satisfactory results. At times, atmospheric conditions were not suitable enough to simulcast WSJV, forcing WUHQ to substitute a film or other non-network programming.
WZZM's owners, Northstar Television, planned to buy WUHQ in 1991 and turn it into a satellite. This would have created a strong combined signal with about 40% overlap. Northstar received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to do this, but the deal fell through when the company was unable to come up with the funds necessary to close the transaction. Instead, WUHQ's owner entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with LIN Broadcasting, owner of WOTV in Grand Rapids. The deal closed on November 11, 1991. Shortly after, channel 8 regained its heritage WOOD-TV calls and moved the WOTV calls to channel 41. The previous WUHQ call letters are currently used on a low-powered Daystar affiliate in Grand Rapids.
In 1996, WOTV boosted its transmitter power to five million watts, making it the most powerful television station in West Michigan. It now had at least Grade B coverage throughout the entire market. AT&T bought WOOD-TV and the LMA with WOTV in 1994, when LIN spun off its television division as LIN TV. However, LIN continued to operate both stations. LIN TV reacquired WOOD-TV from AT&T in 1999 and bought WOTV outright in 2002. By December 2006, all operations of the station were consolidated into WOOD-TV's facilities in Grand Rapids. Reporter Gerry Barnaby, who joined WOTV in 1993, left the station at end of the year. WOTV's studios on West Dickman Road (M-96) in Battle Creek were donated to a city entity, Battle Creek Unlimited, and were later demolished in February, 2014.[1] The equipment went to the Calhoun County Vocational Educational Center.
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Both WOTV and WZZM have had a unique history of having one ABC affiliate pre-empt network programming during Labor Day weekend for the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon while another aired the pre-empted ABC programming. In recent years, WOTV has aired the MDA Telethon while WZZM has aired ABC programming preempted by the telethon. It was the other way around in previous years however. Bill Steffen was also the only current news personality to appear on the telethon on both stations having been employed by WZZM and WOOD-TV. Starting in 2013, however, both WZZM and WOTV aired the MDA Show of Strength at the same time as the program switched from a syndication format to a network telecast on ABC. On May 18, 2007, LIN TV announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives that could have resulted in the sale of the company.
The last logo that the station used displayed both digits for channel 41, its defunct analog signal, but highlighted the numeral four in positive space and displayed the numeral one immediately adjacent in negative space (similar to the hidden numeral "11" in the former Big Ten Conference logo). In March 2012, WOTV launched a new logo, website, and daytime lineup under the brand WOTV 4 Women.[2] With the launch, the station began to shift its focus towards the female demographic—its website was redesigned to feature more lifestyle-oriented content, and its daytime lineup began featuring more female and lifestyle-oriented programming (such as Dr. Oz, Swift Justice with Jackie Glass, The Nate Berkus Show, Better, and The Wendy Williams Show); the format change was one of the first such instances in which a broadcast television station attempted to target a more specific demographic (in this case, based on gender).
On March 21, 2014, it was announced that Media General would acquire LIN.[3] The deal closed on December 19, making WOTV, along with WOOD and WXSP, siblings to CBS affiliate WLNS-TV and ABC affiliate WLAJ-TV in Lansing.
On January 27, 2016, Media General announced that it had entered into a definite agreement to be acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group. The combined company will be known as Nexstar Media Group, and own 171 stations (including WOOD and WOTV), serving an estimated 39% of households.[4][5]
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WOTV | Main WOTV programming / ABC |
| 41.2 | 480i | 4:3 | RADAR | GetTV |
| 41.3 | Grit TV | |||
| 41.4 | 16:9 | Storm Team 8 Live Doppler Network |
WOTV previously carried a simulcast of sister station WXSP-CD on digital subchannel 41.2; in late-October 2010 with LIN TV beginning to launch digital translators of WOOD-TV in the southwestern portion of the market and near universal availability of WXSP on cable and satellite, WOTV discontinued its simulcast of WXSP on its second subchannel. It was replaced with 24-hour music video network TheCoolTV. WXSP-CD was also carried by WOOD-DT2 until July 1, 2013. On July 15, 2013, carriage of TheCoolTV ended as LIN ended its agreement to carry the network, and the subchannel was replaced with the same Doppler radar loop seen on WOOD-DT3.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WOTV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 41, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[7] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 20, using PSIP to display WOTV's virtual channel as 41 on digital television receivers.
News operation
Channel 41 opened a news department soon after signing on. However, the station had no luck whatsoever competing against WOOD-TV and WWMT (channel 3), since its viewer base was limited to the southern portion of the market. Even with Kalamazoo (the market's second largest city), there simply were not enough viewers in that area of the market for a separate news department to be viable. The station also had to contend with South Bend's WSJV, which decently covered most of this portion of the market over the air.
WUHQ shut down its separate news department in 1990. When WOOD-TV took over the station's operations a year later, it began simulcasting some of its newscasts on WOTV, as well as airing specially produced newscasts covering Battle Creek and Kalamazoo. Since then, WOTV has essentially functioned as WOOD-TV's Kalamazoo/Battle Creek bureau.
On February 9, 1991, news anchor Diane Newton King was murdered in her home near Marshall. Her husband, Bradford King, was convicted of first-degree murder and is currently serving a life sentence. The case received national attention in 2004 when it was aired on Court TV's Forensic Files. The case was also profiled on A&E's City Confidential in an episode titled "Bad News in Battle Creek". In 1992, WOTV brought back a full news department for a second time branded as 41 News. However, like the previous attempt, it could not gain enough viewers or make a dent in the ratings despite having the resources of WOOD-TV's well-established news department behind it.
LIN finally decided to shut down WOTV's news operation for good in August 2003. Since then, the station has simulcast some of WOOD-TV's newscasts, but this time without any separate opens or segments. Currently, only the second hour of WOOD-TV's weekday morning newscast and nightly 6 p.m. newscast (the first half-hour only on Sundays) can be seen on WOTV. There are also brief prime time weather updates that air on weeknights featuring WOOD-TV chief meteorologist Bill Steffen. In instances of severe weather, WOTV simulcasts coverage from WOOD-TV.
After the news department was shut down, the on-air slogan "My ABC is WOTV 4" was adopted to promote ABC programming paired with WOOD-TV's market leading newscasts. The "Phrase That Pays" is a regularly scheduled contest built around the slogan. On October 5, 2009, WOOD-TV became the second station in Southwestern Michigan to begin offering local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition. Although not truly high definition, the broadcast quality matches the ratio of HD television screens. The simulcasts on WOTV were included in the upgrade. Then on October 22, 2011, WOOD-TV became the third television station in southwestern Michigan to broadcast local newscasts in high definition. The simulcasts on WOTV were included in the upgrade as well.
Notable former on-air staff
- Steve Kmetko - anchor (1979-1982; later an E! host)[8]
- Janet Shamlian (now at NBC News)
- John Stehr - anchor/reporter (now at WTHR in Indianapolis)[9]
- Matt Winer (formerly at ESPN; now at Turner Sports)
- Ginger Zee (now weekend meteorologist for Good Morning America)
See also
- Channel 4 branded TV stations in the United States
- Channel 20 digital TV stations in the United States
- Channel 41 virtual TV stations in the United States
References
- ^ http://archive.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20140220/NEWS01/302200008/Fort-Custer-HQ-razed
- ^ A TV Station Just '4' Women, Broadcasting & Cable, June 3, 2013.
- ^ Sruthi Ramakrishnan (21 March 2014). "Media General to buy LIN Media for $1.6 billion". Reuters. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
- ^ "Nexstar-Media General: It's A Done Deal". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ "Nexstar Clinches Deal to Acquire Media General". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WOTV
- ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
- ^ "Steve Kmetko's resume". Retrieved 12 March 2013.
- ^ "John Stehr bio". Retrieved 12 March 2013.