WXMI
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| WXMI | |
|---|---|
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| Grand Rapids, Michigan | |
| Branding | Fox 17 |
| Slogan | West Michigan's Fox |
| Channels | Analog: 17 (UHF) |
| Translators | W42CB Hesperia W52DB Muskegon |
| Affiliations | Fox |
| Owner | Tribune Company (Tribune Television Holdings, Inc.) |
| First air date | March 18, 1982 |
| Call letters’ meaning | FoX MIchigan (the callsign predates the Fox Network by three years) |
| Former callsigns | WWMA-TV (1982-1983) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1982-1986) |
| Transmitter Power | 1700 kW (analog) 725 kW (digital) |
| Height | 334 m (analog) 306 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 68433 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.wxmi.com |
WXMI ("Fox 17") is the Western Michigan affiliate for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where its studios and offices are located (at 3117 Plaza Drive Northeast). Broadcasting at 1.7 megawatts of power from a 334-meter (1096-feet) tower located near Middleville, Michigan, WXMI has been owned by Tribune Broadcasting since 1998. WXMI also operates two translators, W42CB Channel 42 in Hesperia, and W52DB Channel 52 in Muskegon.
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[edit] History
WXMI's original call letters were WWMA when it signed on the air in March 1982 as a locally owned independent. The call letters are said to have stood for West Michigan Alternative.
Approximately a year after signing on, additional shareholders bought control of the station and changed the call letters to the current WXMI on August 15, 1983. The XMI at the time were said to stand for "EXtreme Michigan." WXMI is a charter affiliate of the Fox network. It is Fox's longest serving affiliate in Michigan after Fox dropped WKBD for New World owned WJBK in Detroit.
1989 saw the station's stock purchased by a New York-based company headed by Robert Dudley. Nine years later, the station was purchased by Indianapolis based Emmis Communications, which later traded the station with sister KTZZ Seattle to Tribune Broadcasting in exchange for FM station WQCD New York City.
Like some Fox affiliates, WXMI started a local news program even though the Fox Network had no nightly newscast. WXMI produces a nightly news program at 10 PM, giving the station a possible leg up on the competition. The newscast started on January 11, 1999 as a 35 minute newscast, which expanded to one hour in 2004.
From August 2006 to September 2007, The Tube aired on a digital channel.
On August 28, 2006, Fox 17 Morning News premiered. It airs from 6:00am to 8:00am Monday through Friday.
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- Area 17 News (1982-1986)
- FOX17 News (1986-Present)
[edit] News
News franchise segments: "Grand Rapids Business Journal Report" (Sunday), "The Pulse" (Monday), "Tech Trends" (Tuesday), "Back Story" (Wednesday), "On Campus" (Thursday), "Best of the Web" (Friday), "West Michigan's Most Wanted" (Saturday).
The weather radar is called "Storm Tracker".
[edit] Slogans
- Station: "West Michigan's Fox" (since 2004)
- Station: "It's on Fox 17!" (early 1990s)
- News at Ten: "At Ten It's News. At Eleven It's History." (since 1999)
- Morning News: "Get News. Get Weather. Get Going." (since 2006)
[edit] Sports
Sports Ticket is a weekly half-hour sports broadcast that airs every Sunday at 10:30 PM. Brent Ashcroft and Tim Doty host this program, which covers local, regional and national sports news.
Blitz is a weekly sports broadcast focusing on high school sports. During the fall, it is the Friday Football Blitz, and during the winter, it is the Basketball Blitz.
[edit] Major Personalities
[edit] Fox 17 News at Ten
- Sunday through Thursday:
- Michelle DeSelms - Anchor (Joined WXMI when newscast started in 1999 as original weekday anchor - Previous stations: WSYX, WREX)
- Christian Frank - Anchor (Joined WXMI when newscast started in 1999 as original weekend anchor - Previous stations: KCNC, KKCO)
- Peter Chan - Chief Meteorologist (Joined WXMI when newscast started in 1999 - Previous stations: WWMT, National Weather Service)
- Brent Ashcroft - Sports Director (Joined WXMI when newscast started in 1999 - Previous stations: WZZM)
- Friday and Saturday:
- Reporters:
- Carl Apple
- Mike Avery
- Rachel Calderon
- Dan Krauth
- Matt Kucinski (News/Sports)
- Lindsay Kus
- Lisa LaPlante
- Theresa Rashid
- Emily Richett (Entertainment)
[edit] Fox 17 Morning News
- Weekdays:
[edit] Sports Ticket
- Sunday at 10:30pm.
- Brent Ashcroft - Sports Director.
- Tim Doty - Sports Anchor.
[edit] Friday Football Blitz
- Friday Football Blitz - 45-minute highlight show airing Fridays at 10:45 during high school football season.
- Brent Ashcroft - Sports Director.
- Tim Doty - Sports Anchor.
[edit] Former Personalities
- David Bailey - WOFL, WWMT
- Mike Bloomberg - CLTV
- Rachel Calderon - KTLA
- Shelley Crenshaw - WBNS
- Derricke Dennis - WDIV
- Pat McGonigle - WHEC
- Monty Torres (known as "Monty Knight" at WXMI) - WNCN, KMPH
- Amy Turner - Communications Director for Early Childhood Commission
- Lindsey Zabor - Associate Director of Strategic Alliances & PR at Zondervan Publishing - Zonderkidz Division
[edit] Ownership
- Sold in 1998 to Emmis Broadcasting, who in turn sold it to Tribune Broadcasting.
[edit] References
- WXMI TV Channel 17 (June 13, 2005). Michigan's Radio and TV Broadcast Guide.
- WXMI.com |About The Station (June 7, 2006).
- WXMI.com | WXMI News Staff (March 18, 2007).
- Mlive.com | Calderon, Justice go West (August 12, 2007).
[edit] External links
- Fox 17
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WXMI
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WXMI-TV
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