WXMI

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WXMI is the Fox-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 (virtual channel 17.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter southwest of Middleville. Owned by the Tribune Broadcasting, WXMI maintains studio facilities on Plaza Drive (near Michigan Highway 37) on the northern side of Grand Rapids.

Digital television

Channel	Video	Aspect	Name	Programming
17.1	720p	16:9	FOX17DT	Main WXMI programming / Fox
17.2	480i	4:3	Antenna	Antenna TV
17.3			This-TV	This TV

WXMI became digital-only on June 12, 2009. Its digital signal remained on channel 19 when the analog to digital conversion completed. In July 2010 the station reactivated the 17.2 digital subchannel to carry This TV, which moved to 17.3 on December 9 in anticipation of the late December 31 launch of Antenna TV

Translators

In addition to its main signal, the station also operates two translators, mainly to address interference in farther portions of the market by sister station WGN-TV from Chicago, which also broadcasts on digital channel 19. Both translators flag via PSIP to Channel 17 and carry WXMI's full multi-channel map, thus it is possible for a digital television that receives all three signals to carry three different Channel 17's on their channel map.

W42CB channel 42 completed a flash-cut to digital-only broadcasting in November, 2010. W52DB on analog channel 52 was replaced by a digital signal on channel 17 in December, 2010. In late June 2011, W52DB calls became W17DF-D.

Call letters	Channel	City of license	Transmitter location
W17DF-D	17	Muskegon	northeast of city and U.S. 31
W42CB-D	42	Hesperia	south of village along M-120

History

The station signed on-the-air March 18, 1982 as a locally-owned independent with the call sign WWMA. The call letters are said to have stood for We're West Michigan Alternative. The station was originally owned by Heritage Broadcasting Company. Approximately a year after signing on, additional shareholders bought control of the station and changed the calls to the current WXMI on August 15, 1983. The "XMI" at the time were said to stand for EXtreme Michigan. It became a charter affiliate of FOX after signing an affiliation deal in 1987. In 1989, the station's stock was purchased by a New York-based company headed by Robert Dudley called Odyssey Television Partners.

FOX 17 logo used from 1999 to April 20, 2009.

Nine years later, WXMI was purchased by Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications which traded the station with sister KTZZ in Seattle, Washington to Tribune in 1998 in exchange for FM station WQCD in New York City. From August 2006 to September 2007, The Tube aired on a second digital channel. Three months later, cartoons were dropped from the WXMI schedule with the cancellation of 4KidsTV and leaving local programs are aired on Saturday Mornings.

Newscasts

On January 11, 1999, WXMI started a news department and launched the market's first primetime newscast, Fox 17 News at 10. It aired weeknights for 35 minutes and weekends for a half-hour. This was unlike FOX which had no national nightly news. The program would expand to a full hour seven nights a week in 2004. On August 28, 2006, the station premiered the Fox 17 Morning News. Originally a two hour-long broadcast, it expanded to four hours on September 15, 2008. On April 17, 2009, it began producing its local news in high definition. It was the first station in West Michigan to have made the upgrade since the newscasts on NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and ABC affiliates WZZM and WOTV were in merely enhanced-definition widescreen (CBS affiliate WWMT became the second to upgrade to HD newscasts on April 16, 2011 and WOOD-TV/WOTV became the third and fourth on October 22, 2011). The planning for the upgrade first started in December 2008. On April 20 during the weekday morning show, the station officially unveiled a new logo, graphics, music package ("The Unexpected" by 615 Music), and set.

The 10 o'clock news now competes with shows that air on MyNetworkTV WXSP-CD and CW affiliate WWMT-DT2. Sports Ticket was a weekly half-hour sports highlight broadcast that used to air Sunday night at 10:30. Blitz is a weekly sports program focusing on high school sports that airs Friday nights at 10:45. During the Fall, it is known as the Friday Football Blitz and during the Winter it is called Basketball Blitz. In Fall 2008, a one-hour edition of Blitz was added Friday nights at 5 replacing The Simpsons and King of the Hill. WXMI is an affiliate of the Detroit Lions Television Network which airs pre-season games as well as the weekly syndicated show The Ford Lions Report during the regular season. Also, since it is outside of the team's local blackout area, it also airs all regular season games produced by NFL on Fox. On September 21, 2009 WXMI debuted Fox 17 News at Six, an hour-long newscast that competes against half-hour newscasts on WWMT, WOOD-TV, and WZZM and their national network evening newscasts. On March 7, 2011 the station began airing a lifestyle program weeknights at 5 p.m. called The One Seven; the final show aired only five months later on August 19, 2011. It was hosted by Michele DeSelms and Tim Doty and featured lifestyle segments, art, entertainment, cooking and some local news. Fox 17 News At Five, an hour-long newscast featuring news, weather, traffic and sports debuted without any promotion on August 22, 2011. On March 2, 2013, WXMI will launch a new weekend morning newscast from 5:00-9:00 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• Fox 17 News (1999–present)

Station slogans

• "Channel 17, Your Special Place" (1983–1990)
• "West Michigan's Fox" (2004–2010)
• "It's Good to Know" (2010–2012)
• "We're In It Together" (2012)
• "Our West Michigan" (2012-present)

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

Anchors

• Janice Allen - weeknights at 10:00 p.m.; also occasional 6:00 p.m. reporter
• Mike Avery - weekday mornings on Fox 17 Morning News (5:00-9:00 a.m.)
• Sarah Brodhead - weekday mornings on Fox 17 Morning News (5:00-9:00 a.m.)
• Michele DeSelms - weeknights at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.
• Christian Frank - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Tim Doty - weekend mornings on Fox 17 Morning News (5:00-9:00 a.m.)
• Leigh Ann Towne - weekend mornings on Fox 17 Morning News (5:00-9:00 a.m.)
• Lindsay Kus - weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter

Fox 17 Weather Team

• Rick Mecklenburg (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Kevin Craig (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 10:00 p.m., also fill-in
• Jon Shaner (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings on Fox 17 Morning News (5:00-9:00 a.m.)
• Kelly Smith - meteorologist; weekend mornings on Fox 17 Morning News (5:00-9:00 a.m.)

Sports team (all are seen on Blitz)

• Steve Amorose - sports anchor; weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m., also sports reporter
• Tara Miller - sports anchor; sports reporter
• Bret Bakita - sports reporter for Blitz, also host of Bakita & Bentley on WBBL-FM
• TBD - sports anchor; weekends at 10:00 p.m.

Reporters

• Darren Cunningham - general assignment reporter
• Emily Richett - weekday morning entertainment reporter (5:00-9:00 a.m.)
• Courtney Perna - general assignment reporter
• Dave Spencer - general assignment reporter
• Robb Westaby - weekday morning traffic reporter (5:00-9:00 a.m.); also web producer

Former on-air staff

• Carl Apple (left WXMI after 10 years in May 2012 to become communications director for the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids)
• Brent Ashcroft (now news anchor at WZZM)
• Peter Chan - chief meteorologist
• Tracy Forner (now co-host of Indy Style at WISH-TV in Indianapolis)
• Lisa LaPlante - reporter (1998-2011; was WXMI's longest-running reporter)
• Lauren Unger (now media relations manager for World Vision International in Washington, D.C.)

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).

• WXMI announces 6PM newscast to debut in September 2009

External links

• WXMI "FOX 17"
• WXMI mobile
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