WSMH is the Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

-affiliated television station

Television station

A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...

 for the Flint/Tri-Cities

Flint/Tri-Cities

The Flint/Tri-Cities Region or Saginaw Valley is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The region is composed of the area surrounding Flint, Michigan, the Tri Cities, the Saginaw Bay and Saginaw River . Flint's population is 102,434; it is the seventh largest city in Michigan...

 market that is licensed to Flint

Flint, Michigan

Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...

. It broadcasts a high definition

High-definition television

High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a 245 kilowatt, 365.5 metres (1,199.1 ft) high transmitter on Aman Rd (near Gary Rd) near St. Charles, Michigan

St. Charles, Michigan

St. Charles is a village in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located in the northwest corner of St. Charles Township with portions of the village located within Brant Township and Swan Creek Township...

. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group

Sinclair Broadcast Group

The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...

, the station has studios on West Pierson Road in Mount Morris Township

Mount Morris Township, Michigan

Mount Morris Charter Township is a charter township of Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 23,725 as of the 2000 census.-Communities:...

. First run syndicated programs on WSMH include The Jeremy Kyle Show

The Jeremy Kyle Show

The Jeremy Kyle Show is an award-winning British daytime television tabloid talk show presented by Jeremy Kyle that has been broadcast on ITV since 4 July 2005. The show is recorded and produced by Granada Television at the Granada Studios on Quay Street in Manchester city centre and broadcast each...

, Swift Justice with Jackie Glass, Judge Alex

Judge Alex

Judge Alex is a United States syndicated courtroom television show that debuted September 12, 2005. The host/arbitrator is the Hon. Alex Ferrer, a former police officer, lawyer, and Florida judge. The show was produced in Houston at the television studios of Fox's KRIV , as was previously done with...

, The People's Court

The People's Court

The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....

, Judge Mathis

Judge Mathis

Judge Mathis is a syndicated television legal reality show produced originally by Black Pearl Productions. In 2008, it entered its tenth season produced by AND Syndicated Productions and Telepictures. It is taped at NBC Tower in Chicago, but includes cases and litigants from other U.S....

, and The Jerry Springer Show

The Jerry Springer Show

The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...

. Syndicated off-network reruns include The Office, The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, Two and a Half Men

Two and a Half Men

Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...

, Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond

Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...

, Friends

Friends

Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...

, Seinfeld

Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

, King of the Hill

King of the Hill

King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...

, 30 Rock

30 Rock

30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...

, The King of Queens

The King of Queens

The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...

, The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...

, According to Jim

According to Jim

According to Jim is an American sitcom television series starring Jim Belushi in the title role as a suburban father of three children. It originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2001 to June 2, 2009.-Synopsis:Jim is an abrasive but lovable suburban father...

, and The New Adventure of Old Christine.

History

WSMH signed on in March 1985 as an independent station. On October 6, 1986, it became a charter Fox affiliate. The station took its call letters from the fact that it airs syndicated reruns of more hit series than most stations that eventually joined WSMH's current network. The call letters stand for the slogan We Show More Hits and not for anyone in the Smith family whose Sinclair Broadcast Group bought the station in 1996. From 1990 to 1997, WSMH was the Mid-Michigan provider of the now defunct syndication package Disney Afternoon

The Disney Afternoon

The Disney Afternoon was a created-for-syndication two-hour television programming block which aired from September 10, 1990, until Fall 1999. At that time, it was taken out of syndication, and a new Disney weekday afternoon block was started on UPN. The Disney Afternoon was produced by The Walt...

. To this day, reruns of Fox affiliate programs as well as those normally not shown on most other affiliates (including those aired on many Tribune

Tribune Broadcasting

The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...

 CW and past UPN

UPN

United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...

 stations) are part of WSMH's schedule. In addition, it also carries a few first-run syndicated programs seen on Fox affiliates and several shows not carried by those same stations.

In September 2006 shortly after WSMH's digital signal was activated on UHF channel 16, the station added the now defunct 24-hour music video channel called The Tube

The Tube (TV channel)

The Tube Music Network was a music video network carried on free-to-air satellite television, select digital television subchannels and digital cable systems. The network's president and founder was Les Garland, a veteran of MTV and VH1. The Tube was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Tube Media Corp...

 on a new second digital subchannel. However, this channel was removed sometime between February and March 2007.

The retransmission agreement between the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Comcast

Comcast

Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...

 was set to expire on February 5, 2007. An extension was granted twice so the sides could negotiate. During the talks, Comcast stated that it would not pay cash for retransmission rights but were willing to give free commercial time to WSMH in exchange for retransmission rights. On March 9, Sinclair and Comcast signed a new deal to extend retransmission rights for four years to expire on March 1, 2011.

WSMH and WXMI

WXMI

WXMI channel 17 is a Fox-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, owned by the Tribune Company. WXMI's studio and office facility is located in Grand Rapids and its transmitter is based southwest of Middleville, Michigan...

 in Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...

 are the longest serving Fox affiliates in the state because WKBD

WKBD

WKBD-TV, virtual channel 50 , is an owned and operated station of the CW Television Network, based in Detroit, Michigan. The station is owned and operated by the CBS Corporation, and is one-half of a duopoly with sister station WWJ-TV . Its studios and transmitters are located at 11 mile and...

 in Detroit joined UPN. Oddly, that station was available in Mid-Michigan cable systems while still a Fox affiliate and would serve as the region's UPN affiliate for that network's existence. WJBK

WJBK

WJBK is the Fox–owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting on digital channel 7...

 is currently Detroit's Fox owned-and-operated affiliate.

Sinclair and the network cut a six year affiliation contract extension for the company's nineteen Fox affiliates. As a result, the network will remain on WSMH through at least December 31, 2012.

It gave up cartoons in December 2008 when Fox discontinued 4KidsTV.

In late 2010 and early 2011 with new carriage deals by owner Sinclair Broadcast Group, WSMH added two music video networks to its digital subchannels, TheCoolTV

TheCoolTV

THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...

 and The Country Network.

Digital television

Channel	Name	Programming
66.1	WSMH-HD	main WSMH/Fox programming in 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
66.2	WSMH-DT2	TheCoolTV TheCoolTV THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
66.3	WSMH-DT3	The Country Network

Analog-to-digital conversion

WSMH shut down its analog signal and became digital exclusive at 12:00 PM ET on May 21, 2009. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 16, using PSIP to display its virtual channel as 66.

News operation

On October 28, 2002, WSMH started up a news department and began airing local broadcasts every night at 10. Known as Fox 66 News at 10, it was powered by Sinclair's controversial News Central

News Central

News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...

operation. Local news originated from WSMH's studios while national news, weather, and sports aired from News Central headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland

Hunt Valley, Maryland

Hunt Valley is an affluent unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It lies just north of the city of Baltimore, along Highway 145 off Interstate 83. Loch Raven Reservoir...

. The station was the first Sinclair-owned property to use the News Central service and marked the first time it had ventured into the local news market. In January 2006, Sinclair announced plans to end its News Central operation due to low ratings and expense. Other company-owned stations in Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

, Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

, Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

, and Tampa

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

 were also notified of the decision and had their newscasts either outsourced to other stations or dropped all together.

On April 10, Sinclair announced that CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate WNEM-TV

WNEM-TV

WNEM-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market in Michigan. It is licensed to Bay City, and broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 . Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station has studios on North Franklin Street in downtown Saginaw, as...

 would begin producing a nightly 10 o'clock show on WSMH known as TV 5 News at 10 on Fox 66. This began airing on April 24 from WNEM's studios on North Franklin Street in Downtown Saginaw

Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...

. After the final News Central broadcast on April 21, many local WSMH news employees were laid off. It had been expected that some personalities would join the WNEM-produced newscast in the future according to a press release. This was the case for former WSMH reporter David Custer who joined the WNEM news team on May 3. Custer left WNEM and is now a weeknight anchor at NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate WNWO-TV

WNWO-TV

WNWO-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station in Northwest Ohio that is licensed to Toledo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter northeast of Oregon. Owned by Barrington Broadcasting, the station has studios on South Byrne Road...

 in Toledo, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

. Another member, Jim Kiertzner, joined Detroit's NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate WDIV-TV

WDIV-TV

WDIV-TV, virtual channel 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...

.

The final News Central broadcast featured, in its last few minutes, clips from past shows. At the end, the studio was darkened and Kiertzner and his boss left for the last time. Even after WSMH shut down its news operation, Mark E. Hyman

Mark E. Hyman

Mark E. Hyman is the Vice President for Corporate Relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States. Hyman became a visible presence during local news broadcasts over Sinclair's stations, many of which aired The Point from late 2001...

's controversial "The Point" editorials continued to air following the end of the WNEM-produced newscasts. Hyman ended his commentaries on November 30. On May 1, 2009, the 10 o'clock news title was re-branded and the broadcast received updated graphics. Every night at 10:45, a fifteen minute sports highlight show called Sports Extra airs. There is also a segment called "Fugitive Files" airing every week on Mondays which is a common segment offered by local news departments operated by Sinclair.

Although WNEM upgraded its newscasts to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen on October 14, 2010, the newscasts on WSMH remain in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition.

News team

Anchors

• Carrie Sharp - weeknights
• Bill Walsh - weeknights
• Jonathan Lowe - weekends

Meteorologists

• Darrin Bradley (AMS
  American Meteorological Society
  The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
  
   Certified Broadcast Meteorologist
  Certified Broadcast Meteorologist
  Certified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
  
  ) - Chief seen weeknights
• Eric Jylha - weekends and news reporter

Sports

• Scot Johnson - Sports director; seen weeknights
• Jason Fielder - Sports reporter and fill-in anchor
• Evan Beach - Sports reporter and anchor; weekends
• Clay Church - "Game of the Week" segment producer seen Mondays at 10:45

Reporters

• Thomas Haller - family, parenting, and relationship expert
  • heard on WNEM
    WNEM (AM)
    WNEM AM 1250 is an all-news radio station for the Saginaw–Bay City area. It is currently owned by the Meredith Corporation. Although licensed to Bridgeport, WNEM currently operates from the WNEM-TV studios in downtown Saginaw at 107 Franklin Street...
    
     AM 1250
• Tia Ewing - "Fugitive Files" segment reporter
• Jonathan Lowe
• Craig McMorris
• Brian Wood
• Liz Gelardi
• Aisha Howard
• Jessica Maki

Sports

WSMH airs regional and national sports programming from Fox Sports

Fox Sports (USA)

Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...

. Local teams that appear on WSMH include Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

 regular season games (from NFL on Fox

NFL on FOX

NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...

) and Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

 games (from Fox Saturday Baseball). Since WSMH's normal coverage area reaches within 75 miles of the Lions' home Ford Field

Ford Field

Ford Field is an indoor American football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, that is the current home field of the NFL's Detroit Lions. It is owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for...

, it is part of the Lions' blackout area. It occasionally carries Mid-American Conference

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

 football from ESPN Plus

ESPN Plus

ESPN Plus, the popular name of ESPN Regional Television, is an American television program syndicator. ERT is based along with sister network ESPNU in Charlotte, North Carolina...

.