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WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. WXYZ-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and is the media company's largest-market TV station property. The station's studio/office facility and transmitter are located at Broadcast House, located at 20777 West 10 Mile Road in Southfield, Michigan.

Its signal transmits to the Metro Detroit area and the southeast lower Michigan counties. It also covers neighboring Windsor, Ontario and Toledo, Ohio, and can be viewed on cable and satellite systems in both the United States and Canada. WXYZ has the strongest signal outside of Metro Detroit (compared to the other VHF Detroit television stations) near Flint and Lapeer. Its signal can be reached with a good antenna in these areas. WXYZ includes Lapeer County in its service area, even though the station can be viewed in Flint.

From its sign-on in 1948 until 1986, WXYZ-TV was owned and operated (O&O) by ABC, and was one of their strongest O&O stations.

History

As an ABC-owned station

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 both Michigan and Detroit, after the Detroit News-owned (original) WWJ-TV (channel 4, now WDIV). Channel 7 was also the third of the five original ABC-owned and operated television stations to begin operations, after New York City and Chicago, and before San Francisco and Los Angeles. WXYZ-TV was created out of ABC-owned radio station WXYZ (1270 AM, now WXYT), which produced the popular radio programs The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. WXYZ radio personality Dick Osgood was host of WXYZ-TV's inaugural broadcast.

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

By 1978, WXYZ-TV was the second most-dominant television station in the United States in local viewer ratings, no doubt attributed to ABC's prime-time ratings dominance and the continued success of Channel 7 Action News with lead news anchor Bill Bonds. In 1979, ABC named Jeanne Findlater as WXYZ’s general manager. She was the first woman to hold that title at a large market television station.

WXYZ-TV was carried by the Cancom system from 1983 as the ABC signal for Canadian cable television systems too distant to receive a border station over-the-air, though later, Seattle station KOMO-TV was added to Cancom's offerings as a Pacific Time Zone alternative.

Sale to E.W. Scripps Company

In May 1985, ABC agreed to be purchased by Capital Cities Communications, which owned WJR and WHYT (now WDVD) in Detroit. In order to comply with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) ownership limits of the time, the new Capital Cities/ABC would have to sell either WXYZ-TV or each of three radio stations -- WJR, WHYT, or ABC-owned WRIF (the former WXYZ-FM, which was sold as part of the merger). ABC had sold WXYZ (AM) a year earlier in 1984 to the radio station's general manager, Chuck Fritz.

Upon gaining FCC approval of the merger in February 1986, the new company sold WXYZ-TV (and Capital Cities' WFTS-TV in Tampa) to the E.W. Scripps Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Capital Cities/ABC intended to keep channel 7 together with WJR and WHYT through a waiver of the FCC's cross-ownership rules, as a contingency in case a similar request involving ABC's New York City TV flagship and Capital Cities' Philadelphia outlet was denied. At the time, another prospective bidder for the station was Bill Cosby's Cozzin Communications. ABC did retain some of the assets at WXYZ, including the satellite uplink for its satellite news-gathering service ABC News One. Under Scripps ownership, WXYZ-TV retained the ABC network affiliation and continued to use ABC's (originally) proprietary Circle 7 logo.

Scripps 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.

The station was selected as the site of the first Town Meeting with President Bill Clinton in February 1993, which was 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 (channel 2), to the Fox network prompted CBS to attempt to lure WXYZ to drop its ABC affiliation in favor of CBS. As a contingency, ABC approached SJL Broadcast Management (later known as Montecito Broadcast Group, now SJL Broadcasting once again controlled by the principals of Lilly Broadcasting) about buying Toledo's WTVG (channel 13) and Flint's WJRT-TV (channel 12) to cover the Detroit area, in the event that WXYZ became a CBS station. Both stations' city-grade signals reached portions of the Detroit area (WTVG to the south, and WJRT-TV to the north).

Eventually, Scripps signed a longterm deal with ABC that would keep WXYZ as an ABC affiliate for the next ten years (and remains an ABC affiliate to this day). As a condition of that agreement, television stations in other cities including Tampa-St. Petersburg, Cincinnati, Phoenix and Baltimore would lose their ABC affiliation to competing Scripps-owned stations in those cities. CBS moved to the UHF dial, purchasing independent station WGPR-TV (now WWJ-TV, channel 62).

In 2002, WXYZ-TV reached an agreement with Viacom, then-owner of WWJ-TV and UPN affiliate WKBD-TV (channel 50), in which WKBD canceled 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 newscast was canceled in late 2004 due to poor viewership. Today, neither WKBD nor WWJ-TV airs a local evening or late-night newscast.

On September 29, 1998, WXYZ became the first television station in Detroit to provide a digital over-the-air transmission of its station on digital channel 41, which it still transmits from today. On October 4, 2006, WXYZ became the first television station in Michigan and the first E.W. Scripps owned station to broadcast all of its newscasts in widescreen high-definition.

On September 21, 2007, Scripps announced that it reached an agreement with Equity Media Holdings to provide programming from the Retro Television Network on a new digital subchannel starting in 2008. Known locally as RTN7, the subchannel offers classic television programs daily from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., with infomercials during late-night hours, and sports on Saturday, if necessary.

Equity has since sold RTN to Luken Communications, LLC in June 2008 for financial reasons. Due to the broadcasting disruption of January 2009 between Equity and Luken, RTN7 has switched to the national feed, as opposed to being programmed by Equity and managed by WXYZ-TV, as in the past, starting on January 4, 2009. Equity, Luken, and WXYZ-TV have apparently managed to reach an agreement to allow WXYZ to resume local scheduelling and programming on "RTN 7", and the local feed has been back up as of January 28, 2009.

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 in 1960 ABC moved production to Los Angeles, and aired the show nationally. Soupy also hosted a very popular adult comedy show during that same period in the 1950s, late at night, at 11:00pm called Soupy's On, with a live band and guest stars and a lot of "pies-in-the-face"! Other successful children’s shows to follow would include Wyxie's Wonderland hosted by Detroit comic Marv Welch. In 1954 Bob Henry, (real name Bob Brickwedde) hosted the Nash Theater Hour on Thursday nights, and hosted western movies, featuring Deadeye and Black Bart on Saturday's as "Sheriff Bob". 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 launched and produced 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 showed 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 also aired 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 announcers, Pat Tobin and Johnny Slagle. Later in 1966, The Morning Show debuted 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, hosted by a married couple who were both former WXYZ news announcers, 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 2008 and the Detroit Pistons' NBA championship in 2004. WXYZ is also the official broadcaster of the Christmas parade in Rochester, Michigan.

In 1987, the station created and produced a weekly educational literacy program aimed at children called Learn To Read, which was based on the "Michigan Method" of literacy education, with co-production by Kentucky Educational Television. One of the hosts of this series was Doris Biscoe, then one of the anchors of Channel 7 Action News.

During Game 2 of the 2004 NBA Finals in Detroit, Jimmy Kimmel appeared on ABC's halftime show to make an on-air plug for that night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. He suggested that if the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, "they're gonna burn the city of Detroit down ... and it's not worth it." Channel 7 officials immediately announced that night's show would not air on the station. Hours later, ABC officials pulled that night's show from the entire network. Kimmel later apologized.

As of May 21, 2010, the WXYZ-TV 24/7 Weather Station that was on digital channel 7.3 has been discontinued. This digital channel that broadcast Doppler Radar and current conditions 24/7 will now be exclusive to mobile TV. Despite preempting shows for special events (i.e., Woodward Dream Cruise, etc.), WXYZ-TV is one of the few ABC affiliates in a U.S. major market that runs the entire ABC schedule. On August 6, 2010, WDIV-TV and WXYZ-TV became the first stations in Detroit to offer Mobile DTV feeds.

In 2011, WXYZ-TV replaced WWJ-TV as the new flagship of the Detroit Lions Television Network.

While television station WADL in Mt. Clemens/Detroit, Michigan is The Word Network's flagship (appearing on a digital subchannel, and programmed from WADL), the network's satellite uplink system is located at WXYZ-TV.

In popular culture

WXYZ-TV was featured on the ABC show Detroit 1-8-7, as the actual local news station being portrayed on the show.

Digital Television

As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, WXYZ-TV turned off its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and continued to broadcast on its pre-transition digital channel 41. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display the station's virtual channel as 7.

After WXYZ-TV shut down its analog signal on channel 7 after over 60 years, Metro Detroit's WJBK channel 2 moved its digital signal to the channel 7 allocation.

The station's digital signal is multiplexed. WXYZ-TV's third digital subchannel originally carried a video feed of their Tower Camera at Broadcast House. Most recently, it formerly carried Doppler7Weather, an independent local weather channel looping weather radar, temperatures, and live local radar. This channel also used the L-Bar (similar to The Local AccuWeather Channel and the defunct NBC Weather Plus, but it was not affiliated with either network), showing current conditions on the left and five-day forecasts on the bottom. On May 21, 2010, this channel was removed to prepare and utilize its channel exclusively for mobile television, labelled as WXYZ-MH 7.3 and simulcasting 7.2/Live Well Network at 1.83 MBps.

On July 12, 2012, The E. W. Scripps Company signed an affiliation agreement with Bounce TV to make WXYZ-TV the Detroit area affiliate of the network, becoming the first Scripps-owned station to affiliate with Bounce TV.

Coverage

WXYZ 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. The station can be received from as far away as Flint, Michigan with a good-quality antenna. It is also carried on cable in Grand Marais, Michigan.

WXYZ-TV is on all Detroit area cable systems, including Comcast, AT&T, 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 Shaw Direct satellite provider as well as several Canadian cable TV markets, including Windsor, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and Thunder Bay, Ontario; Saint John, New Brunswick; all of Manitoba except for areas served by Steinbach or Winnipeg Shaw; and the National Capital Region.

WXYZ-TV was previously offered as the ABC affiliate on cable through Cable Atlantic (now Rogers Cable) in Newfoundland and Labrador, including in St. John's from 1985 to 1997 (now carried by fellow ABC affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston). As of 2010 however, some Rogers Cable customers in Newfoundland and Labrador began receiving WXYZ again, along with WDIV and WWJ.

Until April 2011, Comcast subscribers in Holly which is located in Northwestern Oakland County, a part of the Detroit media market, were unable to see much of WXYZ's programming, as it was often blacked out at the request of Flint's WJRT-TV; the blackout was due to the Comcast system being tied to the Flint headend, instead of one in Oakland County or elsewhere in Detroit. That month, following complaints from Detroit stations and area viewers of being blacked out or unavailable in an area that they were supposed to serve, Comcast discontinued blackouts of Detroit channels and added additional channels from that market and dropped many Flint/Tri-Cities channels from that system. WJRT-TV was one of two channels retained (along with WCMZ-TV), as it was considered to have significant viewership in the Holly area.

Action News

History

WXYZ-TV’s news department has a longtime dominance of TV news in Detroit partly due to the popularity of 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 Detroit Riot. In the 1970s, WXYZ began an aggressive build-up of its news department by adopting many elements of the Eyewitness News format, such as the Cool Hand Luke news music, that were used to strengthen 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 rival stations, WJBK-TV and WDIV-TV (known then as WWJ-TV), to join its already well-known anchors Dave Diles and Bill Bonds. WXYZ assembled Detroit’s most popular news anchors and reporters such as John Kelly, Jac LeGoff, Al Ackerman, Marilyn Turner, Jack McCarthy, Jerry Hodak, Don Lark, 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, Channel 7 Action News, for the first time ever, became 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 tried 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; in both cases, he was unsuccessful and soon returned to WXYZ. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bonds hosted the interview segment, Up Front, on WXYZ's 5 p.m. Action News. During the interviews, Bonds confronted the Detroit area’s public officials and newsmakers with hard-hitting and sometimes controversial questions. Bonds’ hard-edge style was widely known in Detroit for both captivating viewers while repulsing others, leading Bonds to become the station's icon and its main star.

In Ron Powers' book, The Newscasters, Powers called Bonds "one of the 6 most influential news anchors in the country." However, Bonds had public battles with alcoholism which are credited with his dismissal from the station in 1995. Bonds anchored newscasts and a late night talk-show at WJBK-TV and later hosted a radio show at WXYT-AM. Bonds returned to WXYZ-TV in 1999 to present editorials during the newscasts, but left the station after a only a few months.

WXYZ’s ratings dominance was challenged by 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 received several journalism honors including the George Foster Peabody and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards. WXYZ’s Action News was named the best TV newscast in the U.S. by United Press International in 1989. The station also received the National Community Service Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences 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. This newscast started as short news updates during Good Morning America. One of its long-time co-anchors was Erik Smith who worked at Channel 7, off-and-on, for over 40 years. During most of that time, Smith also served as a reporter of human-interest and Entertainment stories for Action News. Smith also won acclaim for his award winning series From the Heart, which began in the late 1990s as a collection of heartwarming, historical and inspirational stories from around the Detroit area. Smith left the station in May 2010, due to a dispute with management, five-days before the end of his contract. Because of his popularity with viewers, it is unclear whether WXYZ-TV's high morning news ratings will survive his departure.

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 attacks when the station moved ABC’s World News Tonight ahead 30-minutes 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 expanded its Action News at Noon broadcast to one hour. Action News continued its success with long-time anchors Diana Lewis, Robbie Timmons, meteorologist Jerry Hodak, sportscaster Don Shane and up until October 9, 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 was the station's primary weathercaster for at least 26 of his more than 40 years in Detroit television. On July 28, 2010, Hodak announced his retirement from WXYZ-TV which became effective September 23, 2010. In 2006, WXYZ also boasted the most veteran general-assignment reporters in Detroit TV with Cheryl Chodun, Bill Proctor, Mary Conway and Val Clark, each of whom worked at least 20 years at the station.

In the November 2006 ratings period, shortly after the switch to HD, all of WXYZ's newscasts placed first in their respective timeslots except at 11 p.m., which lagged behind WDIV. From the November 2007 ratings period until before the May 2009 ratings period, WXYZ's Action News was the number-one newscast in each of its respective timeslots. Coupled with a strong syndicated programming lineup and top-ranked ABC prime-time programming, WXYZ has been the number one-ranked station in Detroit, from sign-on to sign-off. It has remained one of ABC's strongest affiliates since the network sold the station to Scripps however, it finished behind rival WDIV, who took first place in the evening and late news timeslots in the May 2009 sweeps period due largely to lower ratings of shows leading into WXYZ's news programs. Both WXYZ and WDIV have been among the country's strongest affiliates of their respective networks over the years although WDIV has taken over first place in all newscast time slots since late 2009. In very recent years, however, WXYZ and WJBK have been battling for second place in the 5 to 6:30 pm block behind WDIV.

WXYZ-TV’s Special Projects department is home to the station’s investigative and consumer reporters and producers. It gained notoriety in 2002 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, especially Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

On August 7, 2008, Mayor Kilpatrick appeared in front of a judge in Wayne County Circuit Court. The hearing was called to discuss a potential violation of his bond in one of the two felony cases against him. The hearing was called after Steve Wilson uncovered and revealed photos of the mayor in nearby Windsor, Ontario, Canada. A stipulation of the mayor's bond was that he was not to leave the country, and that he give the court 72 hours' notice if he planned to leave the state of Michigan for any reason. Mayor Kilpatrick was then ordered to spend the night in the Wayne County jail.

On November 30, 2009, WXYZ introduced its new graphics package for its newscast. These graphics are identical to those being utilized by all Scripps-owned stations. Also, WXYZ is the only station in Detroit to produce and air all its promos, commercials and other recordings in high definition.

On August 3, 2011, WXYZ unveiled a new studio to its viewing audience during its noon news broadacst, a project which the organization had been working on since June 2011. The new studio features new high definition cameras and monitors and a redesigned weather center under a new name: "7 First Alert Weather."

News/Station Presentation

Newscast titles

• The Big News (1960–1964)
• Channel 7 News (1964–1968)
• The 11th Hour News (ca. 1968)
• Channel 7 News / 7 News (1968–1969)
• NewsBeat 7 / Supernews (1969)
• Channel 7 News (1970)
• WXYZ-TV 7 News (1970–1971)
• Bill Bonds with The News (1971–1972)
• Channel 7 Action News (1971–1997 and 1999–2011)
• WXYZ 7 Action News (1997–1999)
• 7 Action News (2011-present)

Station slogans

• We Got Who You Wanted (News slogan; 1970s)
• Still the One, on Channel 7 (1977-1978; 1979-1980; local version of the ABC slogan)
• So Good to Turn To (1981–1982)
• Where Detroit Turns First (1982)
• Come on Along with Channel 7 (1982-1983; local version of the ABC slogan)
• Stand Up and Tell 'em You're From Detroit (1985–1987; based on Frank Gari's "Turn To..." series)
• Made in Detroit (1987–1991; as a production endcap for station produced shows)
• 7 Stands For News/Stands By You (1992–2003)
• The Spirit of Detroit (1996–2000; still used on occasion)
• 7 On Your Side (2003–2011)
• Taking Action for You (2011-present; news slogan)

This list related to film, television, or video is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.

Newscast music

• Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence - Lalo Schifrin (1969–1982)
• So Good To Turn To - Frank Gari (1982–1984)
• News Series 2000 - Frank Gari (1984–1996)
• News Series 2000 Plus - Frank Gari (1991–1996)
• Spirit Of Detroit - Joe Hogue Productions (now HitPlay) (1996–2000)
• Ignitor - 615 Music (2000–2001)
• Eyewitness News - Frank Gari (2001–2009)
• Scripps TV News Music Package - Musikvergnuegen (2009–present)
• Spotlight on the News - Theme Song - Sidney Howard, Lake Gennesaret SPS (2000–Present)

Movie umbrella titles

• The 4:30 Movie (1968–1977)
• The 4:00 Movie (1977–1982)
• Cinema Seven (1982–present)

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

Anchors

• Stephen Clark - weeknights at 6:00, 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.
• Carolyn Clifford - weeknights at 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.
• Vic Faust - weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.) and weekdays at noon
• Alicia Smith - weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.); also fill-in noon anchor, weekday field reporter and "Don't Waste Your Money" consumer reporter
• Michael Rosenfield - weekend mornings (6:00-7:00 and 8:00-9:00 weekends + 9:00-9:30 a.m. Sundays); also weekday field reporter
• Dave LewAllen - weekends at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also weekday field reporter
• Diana Lewis - weeknights at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
• Glenda Lewis - weekends at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also weekday field reporter 3 days a week
• JoAnne Purtan - weekdays at noon and 5:00 p.m.
• Anu Prakash - weekend mornings (6:00-7:00 and 8:00-9:00 weekends + 9:00-9:30 a.m. Sundays); also weekday field reporter
• Malcolm Maddox - weekend mornings (6:00-7:00 and 8:00-9:00 weekends + 9:00-9:30 a.m. Sundays); also weekday morning fill-in

7 First Alert Weather

• Dave Rexroth (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 and 11:00 p.m.
• Hally Vogel (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also weekday fill-in
• Chris Edwards (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings (6:00-7:00 and 8:00-9:00 weekends + 9:00-9:30 a.m. Sundays); also weekday fill-in
• Keenan Smith (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.) and weekdays at noon

Sports team

• Tom Leyden - sports director; also sports reporter and Detroit Lions preseason game sideline reporter
• David Solano - sports reporter; weekends at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also Sunday sports update and Ford Lions Report Live
• Brad Galli - sports reporter

Reporters

• Julie Banovic - general assignment reporter
• Heather Catallo - investigative reporter (The Investigators)
• Cheryl Chodun - general assignment reporter
• Val Clark - general assignment reporter
• Mary Conway - general assignment reporter; also fill-in holiday anchor
• Kimberly Craig - general assignment reporter
• Tara Edwards - general assignment reporter
• Smita Kalokhe - general assignment reporter
• Scott Lewis - investigative reporter ("The Investigators")
• Erin Nicole - traffic reporter ("7 First Alert Traffic" - 4:30-7:00 a.m.)
• Bill Proctor - investigative reporter ("The Investigators")
• Chuck Stokes - Spotlight On The News anchor; election day analyst
• Michael Rosenfield - general assignment reporter, fill-in anchor
• Kim Russell - general assignment reporter
• Bill Spencer - consumer and investigative reporter ("Call For Action" and "7 On Your Side")
• Tom Wait - general assignment reporter, fill-in anchor

Contributors

• Tom Long - film critic; also seen in The Detroit News
• Gerry Gleeson - Legal analyst

Notable former on-air staff

• Dennis Archer - 1970s public affairs show host, later mayor of Detroit
• Bill Bonds (early 1960s-1968, 1971–1975 and 1976–1995) - longtime lead anchor of Action News
• Johnny Ginger
• Gordon Graham - later with CNN Headline News
• Steve Handelsman (1978–1984) - investigative reporter, fill-in anchor, now with WRC-TV and NBC News
• Chris Hansen - later with WDIV, now with NBC News
• Jerry Hodak (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; retired on September 23, 2010
• Chris Lawrence - now with CNN's Los Angeles bureau
• Soupy Sales - deceased
• Steve Wilson - Chief Investigative Reporter, soon joining WTLV/WJXX-TV in Jacksonville

Logos and imaging

In the 1950s, WXYZ used the 'A' adent the ABC network used, with a "7" in the letter as its logo. It was similar to the logos other ABC O&O stations used at that time. In 1962, WXYZ, along with other ABC O&Os across the country, introduced the famous Circle 7 logo. The Circle 7, which is common among ABC Channel 7s, is still used to this day.

In the late 1990s, WXYZ started to integrate the current ABC logo into the Circle 7, much like ABC O&Os across the country. WXYZ did this for general programming purposes, and for promos in relation to the ABC network. The ABC logo is to the right of the Circle 7, instead of to the left like it is for the standard ABC O&Os and affiliates across the country. The idea was suspended briefly from 2001–2004, but was brought back in early 2004.

In early 2009, the 7 ABC logo (the ABC logo integrated into the circle 7) became more prominently used with the station. Instead of being used just for general programming purposes, the 7 ABC logo is now the official logo used for the station.

On June 3, 2009, WXYZ updated its news opening, using the 7 ABC logo. On top of that, the on-screen bug used for the newscasts also displays the 7 ABC logo. The design is similar to that of ABC O&Os across the country including KABC in Los Angeles.

On November 30, 2009, WXYZ updated its news opening again, using the same graphics package as other EW Scripps stations. The music was updated as well, giving the station an edgier feel. The 7 ABC bug is also used for the graphics package.

WXYZ has used several campaigns over the years. In the 1970s, Channel 7 used the "We've Got Who You Wanted" campaign to launch the famous news team of Bill Bonds, John Kelly, Marilyn Turner, and Al Ackerman. In the mid 1980s, WXYZ used the "Stand Up and Tell 'em You're from Detroit" campaign (based on Frank Gari's "Turn to News" package) to emphasize the station's commitment to the community.

As an ABC owned and operated station, WXYZ also localized several ABC fall campaigns in the 1970s, up until 1986. The most notable ABC fall campaign WXYZ customized was 'Still The One,' which was used in the late 1970s.

See also

• Circle 7 logo
• Eyewitness News
• Action News
• Media in Detroit

References

1. "Capcities + ABC." Broadcasting, March 25, 1985, pp. 31-32.
2. "FCC approval of CapCities/ABC deal likely." Broadcasting, March 25, 1985, pp. 33-34.
3. "Changing Hands." Broadcasting, June 18, 1984, pg. 68.
4. "ABC/CCC sells four TV's for $485 million; Detroit, Tampa to Scripps Howard." Broadcasting, July 29, 1985, pg. 30.
5. Stevenson, Richard W. "ABC, Capital Cities to sell stations." The New York Times, May 14, 1985.
6. "Approval sought for ABC merger." Associated Press, July 2, 1985.
7. Fabrikant, Geraldine. "TV station winners reported." The New York Times, July 26, 1985.
8. Sally Bedell Smith (8 June 1985). "TV Notes; Cosby Weighs Stake In ABC Station". The New York Times. NYTimes.com. p. 46. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
9. Steve McClellan (6 June 1994). "Counterstrike: CBS targets Scripps". Broadcasting & Cable. HighBeam Research. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
10. "DetroitNow: WXYZ7-DT -- Channel 41". WXYZ-TV. September 29, 1998. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
11. Susman, Gary (11 June 2004). "The Ban Show". Entertainment Weekly. ew.com. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
12. "Detroit Lions and WXYZ partner for 2011 season". WXYZ. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
13. "Attachment I: DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). FCC. 4 October 2005. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
14. "CDBS Print".
15. Phil Kurtz (3 June 2010). "WDIV, WXYZ launch mobile DTV service in Detroit". Broadcast Engineering. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
17. Mobile DTV Station Guide
18. WXYZ Detroit To Air Bounce TV, TVNewsCheck, July 12, 2012.
19. ^ "WXYZ, Ch. 7, Detroit, MI". Scripps.com. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
20. "WXYZ-TV wins six awards in 1989 UPI Michigan Broadcast competition". PR Newswire. HighBeam.com. 8 February 1990. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
21. "WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 Wins November Sweeps" (Press release). WXYZ-TV/Channel 7. 30 November 2006. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
22. "WXYZ-TV/Channel 7 Sweeps To Victory In November Ratings" (Press release). WXYZ-TV/Channel 7. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
23. "Federal Investigators Probing Kmart's Finances". Good Morning America. 21 August 2002. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
24. "Kilpatrick trip to Windsor may be last for a while". The Windsor Star. Canada.com. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
25. "Behind the scenes slideshow: A new look for Action News". WXYZ-TV. E.W. Scripps Company. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
26. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHxsK1mrTEs
27. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycUpITiEkj0&feature=related

• Equity Media Holdings Corporation - RTN to Launch in Detroit
• WXYZ: Station History (2005). WXYZ.com.
• Kiska, Tim (2005). From Soupy to Nuts!. ISBN 978-1-879094-70-3.
• 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. ISBN 0-8092-5093-4.
• Powers, Ron. The Newscasters: The News Business As Show Business. St. Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-57208-5.

External links

• WXYZ.com - Official Website
• Photos of WXYZ's news set
• Template:TVQ
• Template:BIA
• Template:TitanTV

• Television stations in Detroit, Michigan
• E.W. Scripps television stations
• Channel 41 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 7 virtual TV stations in the United States
• Television channels and stations established in 1948
• Southfield, Michigan
• ATSC-M/H stations
• Detroit Lions broadcasters