WJBK
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| WJBK | |
|---|---|
| Detroit, Michigan | |
| Branding | Fox 2 |
| Slogan | News that Works for You |
| Channels | Analog: 2 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | Fox |
| Owner | Fox Television Stations, Inc. (WJBK License, Inc.) |
| First air date | October 24, 1948 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Jesus, Be Kind |
| Former callsigns | WJBK-TV (1948-1998) |
| Former affiliations | Primary: CBS (1948-1994) Secondary: DuMont (1948-1955) |
| Transmitter Power | 20 kW (digital) |
| Height | 305 m (analog) 274 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 73123 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 42°27′38.3″N 83°12′49.2″W / 42.460639°N 83.213667°W |
| Website | www.myfoxdetroit.com |
WJBK (branded FOX 2) is the Fox-owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan. Its studios and 1003-foot (305.7 m) tower are co-located in Southfield while its signal covers the Metro Detroit area. WJBK's signal can also be picked up as far away as Flint, Toledo, Adrian, Chelsea, and, with transitory severe interference, London, Ontario.
WJBK also serves as a Fox affiliate for several other Canadian cable markets, including Cogeco Windsor, and Rogers Ottawa. In addition, it is one of five local Detroit TV stations seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite provider.
As of April 30th 2009, Shaw Broadcast Services (formerly CANCOM), is no longer transmitting the signal. [1]
WJBK also serves as the offices and production facilities for sister channel Fox Sports Detroit.
Contents |
[edit] History
The station debuted on October 24, 1948, as a dual CBS-DuMont affiliate owned by Storer Broadcasting (under George B. Storer) along with WJBK-AM 1500 (now WLQV) and WJBK-FM 93.1 (now WDRQ). WJBK became an exclusive CBS affiliate in 1955 after the DuMont network went out of business. In a 1985 corporate deal, the station came under the ownership of KKR. It was then sold as part of a group deal to Gillett Communications in 1987, and then sold to SCI. WJBK was sold to New World Communications in 1993 as part of yet another group deal. In 1992, WJBK chose not to air CBS This Morning, in favor of showing local news. While WJBK had a history of showing most CBS programming, it began to pre-empt CBS programming a bit more than usual in 1993, around the time New World Communications bought the station. One example of this was when the CBS soap opera Guiding Light was moved from its network start time of 3:00pm ET to 10:00am, to allow for syndicated programming.
In 1994, New World agreed to affiliate its stations, including WJBK, to Fox when that network won the contract to carry the NFC football package (including the Detroit Lions), which was originally carried on the station as a CBS affiliate. As a result, WJBK dropped the CBS affiliation and along with the other New World stations took on the Fox affiliation. CBS moved to a weak independent station WGPR (which would be sold to CBS and renamed WWJ-TV). Like most other New World stations, WJBK also did not take Fox's children's programming, (Fox Kids/FoxBox/4KidsTV) which remained on the market's former Fox station (and charter UPN affiliate) WKBD (before briefly moving to WADL, and ultimately, to WMYD). As a result of the network change, WJBK's branding switched from 'TV 2' to 'Fox 2 Detroit.' The actual rebranding did not take place until Fall 1995.
Fox bought out New World Communications in 1997, and WJBK became a Fox owned and operated station. The network brought stronger syndicated shows on WJBK. However, the station continued its practice of not running children's programming from the network (which is no longer shown on weekdays, and is now only seen on Sunday mornings on WMYD).
In 2003, WJBK became the broadcast home of the Detroit Red Wings. The station broadcasted ten games a season. The Red Wings have since moved exclusively to Fox Sports Detroit.
For the 2007 MLB season, WJBK became the over-the-air TV broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers (WMYD was the broadcaster for the 2006 season). Tigers games were produced by WJBK's sister regional sports network, Fox Sports Detroit. As of the 2008 season, the only locally produced game on WJBK is home opener for the Tigers. (WJBK does carry nationally televised Tigers games on FOX Saturday Baseball).
WJBK is one of the eight network-owned stations in Metro Detroit, the other two are CBS-owned WWJ-TV and CW-affiliate WKBD-TV, both are owned by CBS Corporation. There's also low-power stations WDWO-CA, owned by Tri-State Christian Television and W66BV, owned by the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The last three stations are Windsor-based CBET and French station CBEFT (although operates as a satellite of Ottawa's CBOFT -- which in turn rebroadcasts Toronto's CBLFT), both are owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- parent company of CBC Television and lastly, Ann Arbor-based WPXD, owned by ION Media Networks.
[edit] Digital television
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion is completed on June 12, 2009, WJBK digital broadcasts will remain on channel 7.[2] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will continue to display WJBK's virtual channel as 2.1
[edit] News Operation
WJBK broadcasts a total of 52½ hours of local news a week (8½ hours on weekdays, five hours on Saturdays and 3½ hours on Sundays), more than any other station in Detroit, and more than any individual television station in Michigan.
After becoming a Fox affiliate station, WJBK maintained a newscast schedule that is very similar to a CBS, ABC, or NBC affiliated station. Upon the network switch, the station moved its late evening news broadcasts from 11 PM to 10 PM. The station is known in the area for its "Problem Solver" investigative unit that was started in 1998. Since the early 1990s, the station has repeated its 10 PM newscasts at 2 AM the following morning (three hours later).
WJBK's newscasts in the CBS-era were rebroadcasted on WADL under a partnership WJBK had with that station, and continued until 1998. The station also had an Eyewitness News format that was similar to sister station WHBQ-TV in Memphis, thus calling itself FOX2 Eyewitness News for sometime before shortening to the current FOX2 News.
WJBK operates an Aerospatiale AS350BA A-star news helicopter called Sky Fox.
In 2006, WJBK officially debuted their MyFox website, myfoxdetroit.com (similar sites have also been adopted by all the other News Corporation owned Fox affiliates).
On January 8, 2007, WJBK started simulcasting parts of its weekday morning news on Northern Michigan's Fox affiliate, WFQX-TV, based in Cadillac. On that station, the simulcast ran from 6 to 8 A.M. and was known as Michigan's Fox News Morning. This arrangement was possible as a result of a cooperative arrangement offering local advertising opportunities to Northern Michigan businesses. From February 5, 2007 to October 31 after the completion of its own 10 P.M. newscast, WFQX simulcasted the second half of WJBK's weeknight 10 o'clock news. It ended when new owners acquired WFQX and CBS affiliate WWTV gained control of the station. This lead to a new 10 P.M. newscast produced by WWTV that limited WJBK's newscasts to air on WFQX in the mornings. On January 14, the WJBK morning news simulcast was dropped as WFQX, on January 7, began airing a two hour long extension of WWTV's morning news at 7 A.M.
On September 24, 2007, WJBK launched its first ever 11pm newscast as a FOX affiliate, using the NewsEdge format originally used by WTVT. On the same day, WJBK redesigned their look to be more in line with other Fox O&O's, with a new set, new graphics, and new music that have also been used on other Fox-owned stations such as sister station KMSP-TV. The new logo, which debuted on the same day, is also similar in design to sister stations KMSP-TV and KDFW. This marks the biggest change to the station's image in ten years.
On April 22, 2008, WJBK joined competing stations WXYZ and WDIV in airing all newscasts in HD. While WJBK is the first FOX O&O station to broadcast in HD, it does not use the new FOX O&O HD graphics currently used on sister FOX stations WNYW, KTTV, KDFW, WTTG, KRIV, and WAGA.
For many years, WJBK's newscasts have usually rated third in the Detroit market, behind WXYZ and WDIV. There are only three local in-house news stations in the Detroit market (MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYD currently airs an outsourced newscast). Since 2002, WKBD-TV has not produced any news programming (and since 2004 has not aired any news programming), while sister station and CBS affiliate WWJ-TV doesn't air any local news (only weather reports during The Early Show and the top of the 11pm hour).
Fox 2 Traffic Authority, Jackie Paige, was named "Best Traffic Reporter" by the readers of Hour Detroit Magazine in 2009. Proving once again to be among the best of the Detroit Traffic Reporters, Jackie has won the award many times.
[edit] Sportscasts
WJBK televised some Detroit Tigers games in the 2007 season and Detroit Red Wings games during the 2003-2007 seasons, which were produced by sister station Fox Sports Detroit. In March of 2007, WJBK began showing Red Wings games in High Definition. As of the 2007-2008 season, the only Tigers games aired on WJBK are Major League Baseball on FOX telecasts and the home opener for the Tigers (produced by Fox Sports Detroit).
Most regular season Detroit Lions games air on WJBK, since FOX holds the rights to broadcast games in which the road team is in the NFC (see also NFL on FOX). Even so, CBS O&O WWJ-TV is considered the "official station" of the Lions and produces its preseason games and airs the the weekly Ford Lions Report. With Detroit being the team's primary market, regular season home games on both stations are subject to the NFL's local television blackout policy, most notably during the 0-16 2008 Detroit Lions season, in which 5 home games were blacked out due poor performance and low ticket sales figures.
[edit] SportsWorks
On Sunday night, WJBK airs a sports highlights/discussion show called SportsWorks. Often there is a round table discussion between the Detroit media and Dan Miller or Woody Woodriffe. The SportsWorks brand is also used for other sports related segments during newscasts.
Typical round table media members, include; Drew Sharp from the Detroit Free Press, Sean Baligian from the Detroit News, Pat Caputo from the Oakland Press/WXYT-FM, Bob Wojnowski from the Detroit News and Tony Ortiz from WXYT-FM.
[edit] Famous shows
The station aired assorted sci-fi and horror movies on Saturday afternoons, hosted by the humorous personality Sir Graves Ghastly, played by actor Lawson J. Deming. Deming, who played Sir Graves on WJBK from 1967 to 1983 and made personal appearances well into the 1990s, died April 24, 2007, just one day after his 94th birthday. [3]
With This Ring was a religious program produced at the studios of WJBK from approximately the early 1970s through the mid-1990s. Hosted by Roman Catholic priest Raymond Schlinkert, the 15-minute weekly show featured lectures and advice about marriage and family life. The program appeared in syndication on numerous U.S. commercial stations, usually shown immediately following the station's sign-on, or before sign-off, on Sundays.
[edit] Notable Personalities
[edit] Current On-Air Talent
Anchors
- Kam Carman: Weekday Morning Anchor
- Deena Centofanti: Weekend Morning Anchor/Health Reporter
- Murray Feldman 5:30p.m. Weekday Anchor/Business Reporter
- Monica Gayle: Weekday Evening Anchor
- Anqunette Jamison: Weekday Morning Anchor
- Alan Lee: Weekday Morning Anchor
- Sherry Margolis: 11a.m. & 5:30p.m. Weekday Anchor
- Jackie Paige: 4:30a.m. Anchor/Traffic Reporter
- Huel Perkins: Weekday Evening Anchor
- Roop Raj: Weekend Morning Anchor/General Assignment Reporter
- Ron Savage: Weekend Evening Anchor/General Assignment Reporter
- Robin Schwartz: Weekend Evening Anchor/General Assignment Reporter
- Jay Towers: Weekend Morning Anchor/Feature Reporter
Reporters
- Al Allen: General Assignment Reporter
- Taryn Asher: General Assignment Reporter
- Jason Carr: General Assignment Reporter/Feature Reporter
- Ronnie Dahl: General Assignment Reporter
- Brad Edwards: General Assignment Reporter
- Andrea Isom: General Assignment Reporter
- Bill Gallagher: General Assignment Reporter
- Simon Shaykhet: General Assignment Reporter
- Lee Thomas: Entertainment Reporter
Problem Solvers Unit
- Amy Lange: "Problem Solvers" Investigative Reporter
- Scott Lewis: "Problem Solver" Investigative Reporter
- Rob Wolchek: "Problem Solvers" Investigative Reporter/ Hall of Shame
Meteorologists
- Rich Luterman: Chief Meteorologist
- Ben Bailey: Morning Meteorologist
- Justin Ryan: 11a.m./Weekend Meteorologist
- Chris Edwards: Weekend Meterologist
Sports
- Dan Miller: Sports Director
- Woody Woodriffe: Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
- Ryan Ermanni: Sports Reporter
- Jennifer Hammond: Sports Reporter
[edit] Former On-Air Talent
- Kathy Adams - anchor (1983-1991)
- Camille Amiri - reporter
- Chuckie Bergeson - news director/host of Ladies' Day (1952-1959)
- Bill Bonds - commentator, interviewer
- Otis Buchanan - reporter
- Vic Caputo - anchorman/morning show host (1968-1980)
- Carl Cederberg - station's first news anchor (1960-1974)
- Kenny Cline - news director/longtime booth announcer (1949-1978)
- Mike Collins - reporter and weekend anchor (mid 1990s) - now fill-in anchor at WWJ-AM
- Gary Cubberley former host of PM Magazine/morning anchor (1980s-1992; died August 15, 1992 of an apparent heart attack in his car en route to his shift)
- Sandy Dickson - anchor/reporter (1974-1983 and 1988-1993)
- Jill Ditmire - morning anchor/reporter (1992-1996)
- Anne Doyle - first female sports reporter in Detroit (1978-1983)
- Lourdes Duarte - Reporter (Now at WGN TV)
- Sonny Eliot - weather anchor (1978-1982, now at WWJ-AM)
- Dana Eubanks - anchor (1988-1992)
- Wyatt Everhart - weekend meteorologist (2004-2007), now news anchor at WMDT-TV
- Rich Fisher - anchor (1990-1997)
- Kenneth Ford - reporter
- Johnny Fossen - sports anchor/reporter (1985-1988)
- Chuck Gaidica - meteorologist (1982-1987, now at WDIV-TV)
- Harry Gallagher - reporter/anchor (1979 until death in 1982)
- David Game - sports reporter (mid 1980s)
- Sir Graves Ghastly, played by Lawson J. Deming - horror movie host (1967-1983)
- Joe Glover - anchor (1978-1983 and 1987-1993) - now teaches journalism at the University of South Alabama
- Nicole Grandberry - reporter
- Gerald Harrington - anchor/reporter
- Jerry Hodak - meteorologist (1965-1977), morning anchor (1992-1996); now at WXYZ-TV)
- Jennifer Howe - anchor/reporter (1991-1996, now at WTSP-TV in Tampa)
- Frederick Heumann - sports anchor/reporter (1987-1994, now at WLNS-TV in Lansing, MI)
- Bwana Don Hunt - kids' show host
- Pallas Hupé - reporter/meteorologist (1999-2002, now at KOVR-TV in Sacramento)
- Amy Jacobson - reporter (1994-1996, went to WMAQ-TV in Chicago, resigned following a scandal)
- Monica Jackson - traffic reporter (1998 only, then to WXYZ-TV, now at KVVU in Las Vegas)
- Virg Jacques - sports anchor/reporter/noon news anchor (1982-1993, now at WTTG in Washington, DC)
- Red Jamison - sports director (1975-1976); later committed suicide on July 26, 1979[4]
- John Kelly - reporter (1965-1972); later at WXYZ-TV
- Bruce Kirk - anchor (1984-1990)
- Stuart Klitenic - sportscaster - now at CNN Headline News
- Thomas Korzeniowski - reporter (1971-1978), semi-retired, working for WLS-TV Chicago.
- Don Lark - anchor/reporter (1974-1976)
- Ray Lane - sports anchor (1961-1982)
- Lila Lazarus - anchor/health reporter
- Cathy Leahan - reporter (1986-1996)
- Jac LeGoff - anchor (1953-1959 and 1962-1974)
- Joshua Littman - business reporter (deceased)
- Teddy Lloyd - "Sagebrush Shorty" - kids' show host (1947-1949)
- Kay Lowry - reporter (mid 1990s)
- Michael Lyons (meteorologist, now at West Palm Beach's WPBF-TV)
- Micah Materre (1989-1997, now at WGN-TV in Chicago)
- Jack McCarthy - anchor/reporter (1966-197x)- WXYZ-tv (197x-198x) - WJBK(198x-199x)"McCarthy's Menu"-Retired in Florida
- Nancy McCauley - reporter (1975-2000), now with Ford
- Fred McLeod - sports anchor/reporter (1981-1989, now at Fox Sports Ohio)
- Robert Murphy - daytime host (1955-1967)
- Terry Murphy - anchor/reporter (1974-1976)
- John Noel - reporter (1993-1998, now at WNBC-TV in New York)
- Lucille Noland - anchor (1997-2004; now at KHOU-TV in Houston)
- Kathy O'Brien - former PM Magazine host/morning show host (late '70s-early '80s)
- Van Patrick - sports director (1960-1974)
- Don Paul - meteorologist (1979-1984, now at WIVB-TV in Buffalo)
- Beverly Payne (Draper) - anchor/reporter (1973-1982) First female African-American anchor in Detroit now deceased from ovarian cancer.
- Dr. Everett R. Phelps - meteorologist (1951-1958)
- Charles Pugh - anchor/reporter (1999-2009) Left to pursue a new career in politics in Detroit. [5]
- David Rogers - meteorologist (1987-1991. now at WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, VA)
- Jeff Rossen - reporter (1998-2001, now at WABC-TV in New York)
- Ron Sanders - anchor/reporter/PM Magazine co-host (1973-1979, now at WBZ-TV in Boston)
- George Sells - anchor (1983-1986, moved to WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge)
- Jo-Jo Shutty-MacGregor - news reporter/weather anchor (1978-1981), once again one of the Detroit Traffic Reporters on radio & television
- Fanchon Stinger - news anchor/reporter (1997-2008); fired for involement in Detroit City Council sludge contract scandal
- Ryan Smith - morning/noon anchor (2001-2007; now at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia)
- Kenneth Thomas - anchor/reporter (1974-1976)
- Lee Thornton - anchor (1982)
- Robbie Timmons - anchor/reporter (1975-1981, now at WXYZ-TV)
- Marilyn Turner - weathercaster (1959-1972), later at WXYZ-TV
- Michael Tsolinas - reporter/morning meteorologist (1984-1989, now at KTNV in Las Vegas)
- Vince Wade - investigative reporter
- Rhonda Walker - morning/noon anchor (1998-2003, now at WDIV-TV)
- Joseph Weaver - anchor/reporter/special projects editor/program director/editorial director/writer/producer (1963-1994), he is still active on several community boards, including the Mental Illness Research Association (MIRA).
- Mark Wilson - sports anchor/reporter (1992-1997)
- David Wittman - anchor/reporter (early 1980s)
- Eli Zaret - sports anchor (1988-1995)
[edit] Station Presentation
WJBK's logos have changed greatly over the years, reflecting different themes and styles, as well as different owners and network affiliations.
|
TV2 CBS From February 24, 1968 edition of TV Guide. Used until 1974. |
WJBK's "TV2" logo, circa 1977-1978. |
Circle TV2 Logo From September 9, 1978 issue of TV Guide. The logo lasted from around 1978 to 1983. |
Black and white version of the circle 2 logo |
|
WJBK logo from a 1987 Detroit-area TV Guide. This logo was used from 1983 to 1988. |
WJBK logo from 1987, screen capture from TV |
WJBK logo from 1988 to 1994. Originally a yellow '2', it became silver in 1990. There was a slight variation of this logo from 1994-1995, right before WJBK was branded "Fox 2 Detroit". This was the final logo for WJBK as a CBS affiliate. |
WJBK logo from 1995 to 1998 as a result of the rebranding from 'TV 2' to 'Fox2' |
|
Former WJBK logo from 1998 to 2007; color scheme was added based on previous blue logo. |
2-Dimensional WJBK logo, from 1998 to 2007 |
New WJBK logo; started September 24, 2007 along with 11pm newscast. |
Current secondary logo |
[edit] Coverage
WJBK is carried on most cable systems in Southeast Michigan, Southwestern Ontario, and Northwestern Ohio. It is seen on the following systems:
| Station | Shaw Direct | Cogeco | Rogers Cable | Comcast | Charter Cable |
WOW! | AT&T U-Verse | Bright House |
Buckeye CableSystem |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | Windsor/ L'ton/ Essex Co. |
C-Kent SW ON |
Sarnia/ Petrolia/ W'burg |
London SW ON |
St. Thomas/ N. Shore L. Erie |
Ottawa | Detroit | Pt. Huron | Flint | Brooklyn, MI |
Metro Detroit SE MI |
Metro Detroit SE MI |
Metro Detroit SE MI |
Metro Detroit SE MI |
Bedford SE MI |
Toledo NW OH |
|
| WJBK | 365 | 7, 285 (HD) |
7, 285 (HD) |
11, 285 (HD) |
43, 531 (HD) |
17, 531 (HD) |
36, 531 (HD) |
12, 234(HD) |
2, 234 (HD) |
2 (SD only) | 12 | - | 2, 202 (HD) |
2, 1002 (HD) |
2, 220 (HD) |
52 | 52 |
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. WJBK is not available in Lansing (Comcast), Erie County, Ohio (Buckeye), Bowling Green, or Findlay (Time Warner Cable).
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- 1960s-1977: TV-2 Eyewitness News
- 1977-1978: TV-2 News
- 1978-1995: TV-2 Eyewitness News
- 1995-1997: Fox 2 Eyewitness News
- 1997-present: Fox 2 News
[edit] Station Slogans
- 1975-1976: Catch the Brightest Stars on TV-2 (customized version of the CBS campaign; secondary slogan)
- 1977-1978: TV-2 is Yours / Your TV-2
- 1980-1982: Two's the One
- 1981-1982: Reach for the Stars on TV-2 (localized version of the CBS promotional slogan)
- 1983-1985: We've Got the Touch, You and Channel 2 (customized version of the CBS campaign)
- 1986-1988: Us Viewing You
- 1989-1994: It takes two, TV-2 (Also WMAR-TV uses the Slogan from 1998)
- 1992-1994: This is CBS, on TV-2 (Used as a station ID during CBS programming)
- 1994-1996: Where the Facts Tell the Story (Used as a news slogan)
- 1996-1998: Think News, Think Fox 2 News (Also used as news slogan)
- 1998-Present: News that Works for You
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Inside Fox2: Did You Know That (2003, 2004). Fox2Detroit.com.
- Kiska, Tim. From Soupy to Nuts: A History of Detroit Television. 2005. Momentum Books.
- ^ Shaw announcement of termination of carriage of WJBK
- ^ FCC DTV status report for WJBK
- ^ Sir Graves Ghastly Official Site
- ^ Detroit Free Press article dated July 27, 1979
- ^ http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/Say_Goodbye_To_Charles_Pugh and http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/Charles_Says_Goodbye
[edit] External links
- WJBK
- Michiguide.com's listing for WJBK
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WJBK
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WJBK-TV
- Anne Doyle - Pioneering Women in Sports Journalism
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