Local Edition
Encyclopedia
Local Edition was a five-minute newscast covering community interest stories from the Cadillac
, Manistee
, Ludington
, and Traverse City
, Michigan
areas. The newscast aired throughout the day at 24 minutes past the hour as an insert on HLN (formally Headline News) via Charter Communications
cable channel 63, and was available on demand
on Charter digital cable channel 1. Local Edition was produced independently by Freelancer Productions.
. The newscast began its life as a web-based program, covering community interest news stories from the Cadillac area. During almost all of its 7-month run as a web-exclusive program, TV Cadillac was produced singlehandedly by Wotila.
, FOX 33
, and 9&10 News
. Like the Cadillac edition, Traverse City's Local Edition would air throughout the day on HLN via Charter Cable.
Local Edition produced numerous weekly newscasts, covering both the Cadillac/Manistee/Ludington and Traverse City cable zones. New editions for each of the two zones were posted on the program's web site Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and aired on cable Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Re-runs of older editions aired on cable Monday, and Tuesday and Thursday. On Sundays, Local Edition aired a cooking segment featuring Chef Hermann Suhs, a well-known chef in the Cadillac area.
Because the operation had limited manpower, most of the news covered occurred in Cadillac and the nearest surrounding communities (most notably, Lake City
). Occasionally, though, video from Manistee or Ludington would be featured on the newscast. Each newscast was five minutes long, and began with a longer-format feature story that generally ran two to two and a half minutes. The feature story was generally followed by a one-minute commercial break, and the newscast wraped up with a short, 30- to 60-second story.
Local Edition's on-air appearance simulated that of the HLN network it aired on, with a lower-third featuring a news ticker and story highlights visible throughout the newscast.
As of February 2011, The team behind "Local Edition" now run a local 24-hour news channel WMNN-LD
, known on air as MI News 26.
Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Wexford County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,000. The city is situated at the junction of US 131, M-55 and M-115...
, Manistee
Manistee, Michigan
Manistee is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,586. It is the county seat of Manistee County. The name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county. The derivation is not certain, but it may be from...
, Ludington
Ludington, Michigan
Ludington is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,357. It is the county seat of Mason County.Ludington is a harbor town located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Pere Marquette River...
, and Traverse City
Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 14,674 at the 2010 census, with 143,372 in the Traverse...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
areas. The newscast aired throughout the day at 24 minutes past the hour as an insert on HLN (formally Headline News) via Charter Communications
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
cable channel 63, and was available on demand
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
on Charter digital cable channel 1. Local Edition was produced independently by Freelancer Productions.
Initial Launch as TV Cadillac
"Local Edition" was launched under the name "TV Cadillac" in August 2007 by Eric Wotila, a young entrepreneur from Cadillac, MichiganCadillac, Michigan
Cadillac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Wexford County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,000. The city is situated at the junction of US 131, M-55 and M-115...
. The newscast began its life as a web-based program, covering community interest news stories from the Cadillac area. During almost all of its 7-month run as a web-exclusive program, TV Cadillac was produced singlehandedly by Wotila.
Cable Carriage & Name Change
A few months after being launched on the web, TV Cadillac gained recognition and was picked up by the local cable system. http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/65494 Shortly before gaining carriage on cable, two more reporters joined the newscast, and the name of the program shifted from "TV Cadillac" to "Local Edition." "Local Edition" premiered on cable in the Cadillac, Manistee and Ludington areas on March 24, 2008.HD Launch
"Local Edition" began distributing their newscasts in HD on July 21, 2008, making the program the only high-definition local newscast in Northern Michigan http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/62260. HD versions of most of their newscasts are available exclusively through Charter's video on demand service.Traverse City Launch
In early December 2008, it was announced that Local Edition would begin producing newscasts covering the Traverse City area beginning in January 2009. http://corpmagazine.com/EventsandCommunity/BusinessBuzz/tabid/86/itemid/288/Default.aspx The Traverse City newscasts would be completely independent from the Cadillac newscasts, and would focus on community-interest news from the Grand Traverse area. Feature stories would be presented by Vic McCarty, a personality well known in northern Michigan for his work reporting for 7&4 NewsWPBN-TV
WPBN-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Northern Lower and Eastern Upper Peninsulas of Michigan that is licensed to Traverse City. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter east of Kalkaska...
, FOX 33
WFQX-TV
WFQX-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the northern Lower and eastern Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. Licensed to Cadillac, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter at studios on 130th Avenue/Dighton Road in Tustin on Grove Hill...
, and 9&10 News
WWTV
WWTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the northern Lower and eastern Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. Licensed to Cadillac, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter at its studios on 130th Avenue, northeast of Tustin, in Osceola County. At 1,631...
. Like the Cadillac edition, Traverse City's Local Edition would air throughout the day on HLN via Charter Cable.
Shutdown
On July 14, 2009, Local Edition ceased producing shows for broadcast on cable due to financial difficulties.Newscasts
Because the operation had limited manpower, most of the news covered occurred in Cadillac and the nearest surrounding communities (most notably, Lake City
Lake City, Michigan
Lake City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 836. Known as the "Christmas Tree Capital", it is the county seat of Missaukee County.-Geography:...
). Occasionally, though, video from Manistee or Ludington would be featured on the newscast. Each newscast was five minutes long, and began with a longer-format feature story that generally ran two to two and a half minutes. The feature story was generally followed by a one-minute commercial break, and the newscast wraped up with a short, 30- to 60-second story.
Local Edition's on-air appearance simulated that of the HLN network it aired on, with a lower-third featuring a news ticker and story highlights visible throughout the newscast.
News Team
Local Edition was produced by a total of four people: Eric Wotila, Benjamin Arie, Vic McCarty, and Kris Darrow http://www.local-edition.com/content/?page_id=30. Due to the small staff, each of the news team members tended to wear many hats behind the scenes, though their on-air positions generally remained consistent. Eric Wotila anchored both the Cadillac and Traverse City newscasts, with Benjamin Arie and Kris Darrow reporting stories from the Cadillac area and Vic McCarty covering Traverse City.As of February 2011, The team behind "Local Edition" now run a local 24-hour news channel WMNN-LD
WMNN-LD
WMNN-LD is the low-powered independent television station for the Cadillac, Michigan area, licensed to Lake City, Michigan. Owned by Freelancer Television Broadcasting, the station began broadcasting on February 27, 2011. It broadcasts a Digital signal on UHF channel 14, with a PSIP of 26 -- this...
, known on air as MI News 26.