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WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station in Detroit. It is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company and is the media company's largest TV station. WXYZ-TV is among the highest-rated ABC stations in the United States. The station's operations and transmitter are located at Broadcast House on West 10 Mile Road in Southfield. Its antenna transmits from its 1,073-foot (327 m) tower at 316 kW/305 m and its digital channel 41 also transmits from the same tower at 770 kW/286 m.
Its signal transmits to the Metro Detroit area and the southeast lower Michigan counties.
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Encyclopedia
WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station in Detroit. It is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company and is the media company's largest TV station. WXYZ-TV is among the highest-rated ABC stations in the United States. The station's operations and transmitter are located at Broadcast House on West 10 Mile Road in Southfield. Its antenna transmits from its 1,073-foot (327 m) tower at 316 kW/305 m and its digital channel 41 also transmits from the same tower at 770 kW/286 m.
Its signal transmits to the Metro Detroit area and the southeast lower Michigan counties. It also covers neighboring Windsor, Ontario and Toledo.
WXYZ-TV is on all Detroit area cable systems including Comcast, 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 Star Choice satellite provider and serves several Canadian cable TV markets, including Windsor, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Saint John, New Brunswick, all of Manitoba except two companies Steinbach and Winnipeg Shaw (the cable system that used to carry WJBK and WDIV) and the capital city of Ottawa.
From its sign-on in 1948 until 1986, WXYZ-TV was owned and operated by ABC and was one of their strongest O&Os.
History
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 Michigan, and ABC's third owned and operated (O&O) television station to begin operation. WXYZ-TV was created out of former ABC-owned radio station WXYZ-AM (now WXYT-AM) which produced the popular radio programs The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet. WXYZ-AM 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-AM. 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 would be 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, a Seattle station was added to Cancom's offerings as a Pacific time zone alternative.
In May 1985, ABC announced it would have to sell WXYZ-TV (which for decades was the only network O&O in Detroit) in order to merge with Capital Cities Communications. The divestiture was necessary to comply with the FCC’s ownership limits of the time. ABC sold the station to The E.W. Scripps Company of Cincinnati, Ohio in 1986. At the time, another prospective bidder for the station was Bill Cosby's Cozzin Communications. ABC did retain some of their assets at WXYZ including the satellite uplink for its satellite news-gathering service ABC News One. ABC had already sold WXYZ-AM two years earlier in 1984 to the radio station's general manager, Chuck Fritz. Under Scripps ownership, WXYZ-TV retained the ABC network affiliation and continued to use ABC's (originally) proprietary "Circle 7" logo, making it look exactly like the one used at ABC's flagship station, WABC-TV in New York City.
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, to the Fox network prompted CBS to attempt to lure WXYZ to drop its ABC affiliation in favor of CBS. To avoid being consigned to the UHF dial in what was then among the nation's ten largest markets, CBS heavily wooed Detroit's longtime ABC affiliate, WXYZ-TV. WXYZ's owner, the E.W. Scripps Company, then told ABC that unless it agreed to affiliate with Scripps-owned stations in four smaller markets, it would switch WXYZ to CBS. As a contingency, ABC approached SJL Broadcast Management (now, today's Montecito Broadcast Group) about buying Toledo's WTVG and Flint's WJRT-TV 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 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 Cincinnati, Phoenix, Tampa and Baltimore would lose their ABC affiliation to competing Scripps-owned stations in those cities. CBS would end-up purchasing independent Detroit station WGPR-TV (now WWJ-TV).
In 2002, WXYZ-TV reached an agreement with Viacom, then-owner of WWJ-TV and UPN affiliate WKBD, 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, and neither WKBD nor WWJ-TV now air any local newscasts in Detroit.
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 Monday January 15, 2007 WXYZ announced that Carolyn Clifford would anchor its 12 pm, 5 pm, and 7 pm newscasts. She now co-anchors the 12 pm and the 5 pm with veteran anchor Robbie Timmons. She anchors the 7 pm with Stephen Clark, who also anchors the 6pm and 11pm newscasts. Alicia Smith replaced Clifford on Action News This Morning.
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 6AM to 2AM, with infomercials during late-night hours, and sports on Saturday, if necessary. Equity still owns Detroit's Univision outlet, WUDT-CA channel 23, but 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 '50's, 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 would launch and produce 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 would show 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 would also air 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 personalities, Pat Tobin and Johnny Slagle. Later in 1966, The Morning Show would debut 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. That show was hosted by a married couple who were both former WXYZ news personalities, 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.
On September 27 2007, WXYZ Vice President & General Manager Grace Gilchrist announced her retirement after 13 years at WXYZ, effective at the end of 2007. Her replacement is Bob Sliva, WXYZ's broadcast television management and sales executive.
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.
Digital Television
WXYZ-TV's digital channel, 41, is multiplexed, with the following lineup:
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on June 12, 2009, WXYZ-TV will continue digital broadcasts on its current pre-transition channel number, 41. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WXYZ-TV's virtual channel as 7.
Action News
History
WXYZ-TV’s news department has held a longtime dominance of TV news in Detroit partly due to the popularity of former 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 12th Street Riot. In the 1970s WXYZ would begin an aggressive build up of its news department. The station would adopt many elements of the Eyewitness News format, such as the Cool Hand Luke news music, that were being used to build up 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 its rival stations WJBK-TV and WDIV-TV (known then as WWJ-TV) to join its already well-known anchors Dave Diles and Bill Bonds. Bonds returned in 1971 from a stint as news anchor in Los Angeles. WXYZ would assemble Detroit’s most popular news personalities 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, would become 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 would try 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 soon returned to WXYZ. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bonds would host the interview segment, Up Front, on WXYZ's 5 p.m. Action News. During the interviews Bonds would confront Detroit’s public officials and newsmakers with hard-hitting and sometimes controversial questions. Bonds’ hard-edge style was widely known in Detroit for captivating viewers and repulsing others. Bonds would become the station's icon and its main star. In the Ron Powers book, The Newscasters, Powers would call Bonds "one of the 6 most influential news anchors in the country." However, Bonds had some public battles with alcoholism that is credited with his dismissal from the station in 1995. Bonds would go on to anchor newscasts and a late night talk-show at WJBK-TV and later host a radio show at WXYT-AM. Bonds returned to WXYZ-TV in 1999 to present editorials during the newscasts, but left the station after several months to star in local TV and radio commercials.
WXYZ’s ratings dominance would be 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 has been awarded with several high journalism honors including the George Foster Peabody and Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University awards. WXYZ’s Action News was also named the best TV newscast in the U.S. by United Press International. The station was also recently awarded as the top television station in America 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.. Its anchor Erik Smith was recently commended by The E.W. Scripps Co. for the 40th anniversary of his original hiring at WXYZ-TV. Smith had also won acclaim for his award winning series From the Heart. The series which began in the late 1990s was a collection of heartwarming, historical and inspirational stories from around the Detroit area. 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 terrorist attacks when the station moved ABC’s World News Tonight ahead a half-hour 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 recently expanded its Action News at Noon broadcast to one hour. Action News continues 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 has been the station's primary weathercaster for at least 26 of his more than 40 years in Detroit television. In 2006 WXYZ also boasts the most veteran general assignment reporters in Detroit TV with Cheryl Chodun, Bill Proctor, Mary Conway and Val Clark who all have at least 20 years each with 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. behind WDIV. But since the November 2007 ratings period, WXYZ's Action News has become the number one newscast in all their respective timeslots. Coupled with a strong syndicated programming lineup and top-ranked ABC prime-time programming, WXYZ is 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 itself sold off the station.
WXYZ-TV’s Special Projects department is home to the station’s investigative and consumer reporters and producers. It recently gained notoriety 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 Kwame Kilpatrick appeared in front of a judge in the Wayne County District 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 Action News' Chief Investigative reporter Steve Wilson uncovered and revealed photos of the mayor in Canada. A stipulation of the mayor's bond was that he was not to leave the country. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was then ordered to spend the night in the Wayne County Correctional Facility.
Current on-air lineup
Anchors
- Robbie Timmons - Action News Midday & 5 PM
- Carolyn Clifford - Action News Midday, 5 & 7 PM
- Stephen Clark - Action News 6, 7 & 11 PM
- Diana Lewis - Action News 6 & 11 PM
- Erik Smith - Action News This Morning
- Alicia Smith - Action News This Morning
- Glenda Lewis - Action News Weekend
- Dave LewAllen - Action News Weekend
- Vic Faust - Action News This Morning Weekend
- JoAnne Purtan - Action News This Morning Weekend
Reporters
- Peggy Agar
- Heather Catallo -
Investigators, Fill-in Weekend AnchorCheryl ChodunVal ClarkMary ConwayKimberly CraigDave LewAllen - Weekend Evening AnchorGlenda Lewis - Weekend Evening AnchorChristy McDonaldDennis Neubacher - Traffic, Chopper 7 pilotErin Nicole - TrafficAnu PrakashBill ProctorJoAnn Purtain - Don't Waste Your Money reporterMichael RosenfieldBill Spencer - Call for Action, 7 On Your SideBrandon TruttlingTom WaitSteve Wilson - Chief Investigator
Sports
- Don Shane - Sports Director (weeknights 5, 6, 7 & 11 PM)
- Tom Leyden - Reporter & Fill-in Anchor
- TBA - Reporter & Weekend Anchor
Weather
- Jerry Hodak - Chief Meteorologist (weeknights 5, 6, 7 & 11 PM) (AMS Certified)
- Dave Rexroth - Meteorologist (weekday mornings, noon & fill-in)
- Jeremy Eisen - Meteorologist (weekend mornings & fill-in) (AMS Certified)
- Sean Ash - Meteorologist (weekends & fill-in)
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.
WXYZ-TV can be received from as far away as Flint with a good quality antenna.
Former on-air talent
- Al Ackerman
- Kim Adams - meteorologist, now @ WDIV
- Dennis Archer - 1970's public affairs show host, later mayor of Detroit
- Betty Bahr
- J.D. Beemer
- Rita Bell
- Jay Berry
- Bill Bonds
- Doris Biscoe (1973-2000)
- Chris Bradley - weather, now @ WBNS-TV
- Blake Chenault - now with WOIO-TV
- Jerry Chiappetta
- Denise Dador - Replaced by Carolyn Clifford, now with KABC-TV
- Dave Diles (1961-1972, 1979-1982) - Sports Director, also was @ ABC
- Joe Ducey - now @ KNXV-TV
- Rick Edlund - later @ WDIV, now @ KDAF
- Dayna Eubanks - later @ WJBK-TV, then WKRC-TV
- Rich Fisher - later @ WJBK & WKBD
- Ken Ford
- Tim Fritz
- Steve Garagiola - sports, now weekend news anchor @ WDIV
- Suzanne Geha - now with WOOD-TV
- Johnny Ginger
- Guy Gordon (1980-2004) - now with WDIV
- Gordon Graham - later with CNN Headline News
- Solon Gray
- John Gross - now on the faculty of NPPA NewsVideo Workshop
- Don Haney
- Chris Hansen - later with WDIV, now with NBC News
- Mark Hayes - now with WAGA-TV
- Trudy Haynes - later with KYW-TV
- Sandy Heng
- Jim Herrington (1965-1993)
- Mike Holfeld - now @ WKMG-TV
- Mike Huckman - now with CNBC
- Bob Hynes
- Harry Jarkey
- Jerry Jorgenson
- John Kelly
- Mike Kenny (1969-1972) - later @ WJR
- Mary Kay Kleist - now with WBBM-TV
- John Klekamp - now with News 12 New Jersey
- Stu Klitenic
- Rob Kress
- Chris Lawrence - now with CNN's Los Angeles bureau
- Jac Le Goff (1975-1983)
- Gordon Loesch
- Jim Madaus - now doing weather @ WWJ-TV
For the current AM radio station known as WWJ, see WWJ ...
Ven Marshall (1968-1985)Jack McCarthyLee McNew - the station's 1st news anchor (1960-1964)Edythe Fern MelroseBarney Morris (1964-1969)Chad Myers - now a meteorologist @ CNNDick OsgoodAlan PhillipsKurt Rivera - now with KBAK-TVShay Ryan - now with WWOR-TVSoupy SalesRay Sayah - now with CNN under the name Reza SayahJohnny SlagleShelley Smith - now @ NBC NewsJoe Spencer - later with ABC News, killed in a 1986 plane crashDan Springer - now with Fox NewsJerry StaneckiJohn StrombergTeresa Tomeo - now the host of the nationally-syndicated radio show, "Catholic Connection"; also, a media consultant & nationally-renowned speakerKen Thomas (1966-1969)Pat TobinFrank Turner (1990-98, 2000-07)Marilyn TurnerVince WadeKathy Walsh - now with KCNC-TVDon WattrickMarv WelchFred WolfGlenn Zimmerman - now with WNBC-TV
Trivia
- Tim Allen wore a WXYZ-TV sweatshirt during an episode of
Home Improvement.With 21 vehicles, WXYZ-TV has the largest fleet of ENG, SNG and DSNG trucks in the Detroit market and all of Michigan.The former farm house located on the WXYZ's Broadcast House property continues to serve as the station's lunch cafeteria.WXYZ Action News anchor Diana Lewis played the role of a TV reporter in the 1976 motion picture Rocky. She reprised the role in the sequel Rocky V, again for several TV series including The Cosby Show and most recently on the daytime soap opera All My Children. She is also featured in a deleted scene of the 1987 cult horror/comedy film The Monster Squad as a tv anchorwoman.WXYZ-TV's Broadcast House is also home to the Scripps Networks' regional offices and is the production site for some syndicated programs.Veteran WXYZ news photographer Dave Meinhard was awarded the American Red Cross' "The Everyday Hero Award" for rescuing a kayaker from drowning on the Clinton River on July 4, 2001. Ironically Meinhard was shooting the river because of a previous drowning that had just taken place.Another veteran WXYZ news photographer, John Fuller, is author of the how-to book, "Make Fantastic Home Videos".WXYZ's current staging set for Action News is actually in two former studios (Studios “B” and “C”) that have become one. The wall between two of the station's three studios was torn down to accommodate the entire set.WXYZ had one of the most "infamous" Emergency Broadcast System test cards from the late 1970s until 1992 - it visually showed the sine wave combination of the alert tone as it sounded, as well as those of the announcer.Via CANCOM's satellite carriage of WXYZ, two US markets far from Detroit have adopted WXYZ as their ABC affiliate in lieu of an off-air station. The Williston, North Dakota area, 1,370 miles from Detroit, carried WXYZ near-universally (until a local KMCY repeater became available), and much of the El Dorado, Arkansas/Monroe, Louisiana (1,100 miles from Detroit) did the same for a period in the mid-1990s when that market lacked an ABC affiliate of its own. The Marquette, Michigan area adopted WXYZ as its ABC affiliate and was seen on cable TV systems in the central and wester upper Peninsula from 1995 to 1997 when the local ABC affiliate, WLUC TV6 in the Marquette market switched to NBC and that area had no ABC affiliate until October, 1997 when WBKP channel 5 went on the airBased on the last letters of the alphabet, by coincidence WXYZ used to be the east coast reflection of today's ABC station KTRK in Houston, which used to be called KXYZ.In 1975, the soap opera The Edge of Night moved from CBS to ABC. However, as soon as the move was announced, then-CBS affiliate WJBK dropped the soap opera from its own schedule. As a result, WXYZ decided to carry the last two weeks of the CBS run, before ABC officially picked up the series on December 1, 1975. Locally, CBS's Edge of Night was seen on WXYZ at 4 p.m., pre-empting an ABC game show, You Don't Say!; this was a very rare instance where a network owned and operated station pre-empted their own network's show for one from another network. ABC would begin carrying The Edge of Night at that time slot on December 1. WXYZ was also known to have carried NBC's Las Vegas Gambit during its 1980-1981 run, when that show was not cleared by WDIV. On November 17, 2006, legendary college football coach Bo Schembechler collapsed at the station's front door; he was rushed to Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan, where he was pronounced dead. Schembechler was about to tape a program previewing the game between Michigan and Ohio State the next day.Craig Smith (who is a former pilot of WXYZ) was involved in a news helicopter crash between KNXV in Phoenix (WXYZ's sister station) and KTVK following a police car pursuit in Downtown Phoenix. Craig was one of the four people on both helicopters who were killed. The cause of the collision in being investigated.
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. The Circle 7, which is common among ABC Channel 7s, is still used to this day.
In the late 1990s, WXYZ started using the current ABC logo with the Circle 7, much like other ABC O&Os across the country. WXYZ does 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 across the country. The idea was briefly suspended briefly from 2001-2004, but was brought back in early 2004, and has been used for general programming, since.
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 Ackeraman. 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. 'Still the One' was one of the most notable campaigns Channel 7 used, which lasted from 1977 to 1980.
Slogans
Let's Get Together on Channel 7 (local version of the ABC campaign) 1971-1973: This is the Place to Be (Local version of the ABC campaign) 1971-1977: Channel 7 Action News, we've got who you wanted 1977-1980: We're Still the One (local version of the ABC campaign) 1980-1981: You and Me and Channel 7 (local version of ABC campaign) 1981-1982: Now is the Time, Channel 7 is the Place (local version of the ABC campaign) 1982: Channel 7 Action News: So Good to Turn to 1982-1983: Come On Along with Channel 7 (local version of the ABC campaign) 2/1985-1/1987: Stand Up and Tell'em You're From Detroit (based on Frank Gari's "Turn To..." series) 1987-1991: Made in Detroit (As a production endcap for station produced shows) 1992-Present: 7 Stands For News 1996-2000: The Spirit of Detroit (still used on occasion) 2003-Present: 7 On Your Side
Newscast brands
The Big News 1964-1971 - Channel 7 News 1971-1997 - Channel 7 Action News 1997-1999 - WXYZ 7 Action News 1999-Present - Channel 7 Action News
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-present)
See also
External links
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