WXSP-CA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WXSP-CA | |
|---|---|
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| Grand Rapids, Michigan | |
| Branding | WXSP The X 24 Hour News 8 |
| Slogan | The TV Station with Game |
| Channels | Analog: 15 (UHF) |
| Translators | 14 WOBC-CA Battle Creek 25 WOGC-CA Holland 27 WOLP-CA Grand Rapids 29 WOMS-CA Muskegon 33 WOHO-CA Holland 50 WOKZ-CA Kalamazoo |
| Affiliations | MyNetworkTV |
| Owner | LIN TV (WOOD License Company, LLC) |
| Founded | July 23, 1986 |
| Call letters’ meaning | WXSP: Xtreme and SPorts (for sports coverage) WOLP: WOOD Low-Power other stations: WO + city of license initialized |
| Sister station(s) | WOOD-TV WOTV |
| Former callsigns | W29AD (1986-1988) W15AM WOWD-LP WXSP-LP |
| Former channel number(s) | 29 (1986-1988) |
| Former affiliations | local weather (1995-2000) UPN (2000-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 9.42 kW |
| Height | 121 m |
| Facility ID | 36851 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.wxsp.tv |
WXSP-CA, channel 15, is the Class A MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan that serves West Michigan. Its transmitter is located in Walker. Owned by LIN TV, WXSP is sister to NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and ABC affiliate WOTV. All three stations share studios on College Avenue Southeast in downtown Grand Rapids.
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[edit] Overview
WXSP may air NBC or ABC programming whenever WOOD-TV and WOTV preempt for breaking news, local specials, or the annual North American International Auto Show charity preview. Syndicated programming on the station includes Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, People's Court, Fear Factor, Cops, Maximum Exposure, and 24. However, it should be noted that some of the preempted ABC programs are available on WZZM-TV.
Part of WXSP's call letters come from the word "sports", and for good reason: the station is known for its coverage of sports in both the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas. The station also carries the University of Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State University Spartans basketball and football teams . These broadcasts of regional sports give WXSP more viewership than other programming on this channel. The station airs Detroit Pistons and Red Wings, picking up feeds from statewide networks.
[edit] Repeaters
| Call letters | Channel | Licensed to |
|---|---|---|
| WOBC-CA | 14 | Battle Creek |
| WOGC-CA | 25 | Holland |
| WOLP-CA | 27 | Grand Rapids (Middleville via FCC special temporary authorization) |
| WOMS-CA | 29 | Muskegon |
| WOHO-CA | 33 | Holland |
| WOKZ-CA | 50 | Kalamazoo |
WXSP can also be seen on the second digital subchannels of WOOD-TV and WOTV. The WOHO call letters were originally used for 40 years by a Toledo, Ohio radio station on AM 1470 KHz, which now uses the call letters WLQR. Normally, per FCC regulations, low-powered stations aren't eligible for "must-carry". However, due to WXSP's coverage of major regional sports (Detroit Pistons, Red Wings, and Big Ten sports) along with a major network (MyNetworkTV), retransmission deals allow it to be carried by both cable and satellite systems.
Additionally, LIN TV has the right under the "retransmission consent" section of the must-carry rules to require cable systems to carry WXSP as compensation for carrying WOOD-TV and WOTV. As a result, WXSP is available on almost every cable system in the market and on DirecTV. In September of 2007, ownership of LIN TV denied access to WXSP's programming to some cable companies in south-central Michigan in a dispute over cable television revenue. WXSP's studio-to-transmitter (STL) link is WPOL564.
[edit] History
WXSP-CA itself started on channel 29 as W29AD on July 23, 1986. It moved to channel 15 and acquired the W15AM callsign on January 12, 1988. In the station's early days it was a translator for World Harvest Television, which is owned by LeSEA.
When it was an LWS station and four months as a UPN affiliate, it had the callsign WOWD-LP (a variation on WOOD-TV's calls). WOWD and its low-power network of repeaters used to air 24-hour weather information direct from WOOD-TV's weather center on a network called LWS, or "Local Weather Station". It was an early pre-digital format which is comparable to NBC Weather Plus. The weather programming aired from the mid-1990s until WXSP's programming took over a few years later. It featured graphic displays of various conditions and forecasts as well as periodic forecasts from WOOD-TV's meteorologists. Short commercial breaks would feature local television spots as well as LWS' ident.
A format change took place when UPN was added in 2000, prompting the move of LWS to the early mornings and new calls, WXSP-LP. WXSP-CA was acquired after it became a Class A station which meets stricter requirements than most low-powered television stations.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced they would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its soon-to-be corporate parents, CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner.
CBS affiliate WWMT announced on April 4 that it would launch a CW affiliate on its second digital subchannel. WXSP became available as a MyNetworkTV affiliate partly because the (then) WB affiliate WZPX was also an i network owned-and-operated station and ran WB programming on a 22-hour delay. As a result, West Michigan is one of the largest television markets in which the CW is not available by over-air broadcasts and one of the few to which The CW was awarded to a station not affiliated with either The WB or UPN.
It was reported that WXSP was in talks to join The CW but due to WXSP's heavy reliance upon prime-time professional sports (the programming that gets the highest ratings on the channel) and the CW's concerns over preemptive programming, the two sides could not come to an agreement.
On May 18, 2007, LIN TV announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives that may result in the sale of the company.
[edit] Newscasts
WOOD-TV's weeknight 6 o'clock news is repeated at 7 on WXSP. On October 21, 2007, that station began producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast. It was launched to compete with the 10 P.M. news that airs on Fox affiliate WXMI. WOOD-TV's meteorologists provide Local Weather Station updates every morning from 5 to 6. It is the only surviving portion of the all-LWS schedule from the late-1990s.
24 Hour News 8 at 6
(Weeknights 7 to 7:30 P.M.)
- Anchors:
- Larry Nienhaus
- Suzanne Geha
- Weather
- Craig James
- Sports:
- Jack Doles
24 Hour News 8 at 10 (10 to 10:30 P.M.)
Weeknights
- Anchors:
- Brian Sterling
- Susan Shaw
- Weather
- Bill Steffen
- Sports:
- Jack Doles
Weekends
- Anchor:
- Emily Linnert
- Weather:
- Matt Kirkwood
- Sports:
- Jason Terzis
WXSP uses additional news personnel from WOOD-TV. See that article for a complete listing.
[edit] External links
- WXSP-CA channel 15
- WOOD-TV/DT
- WOTV channel 41
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WXSP-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOBC-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOGC-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOLP-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOMS-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOHO-CA
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOKZ-CA
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