WLAJ
Encyclopedia
WLAJ is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for Central Michigan
that is licensed to Lansing
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter northeast of Tompkins Township
on the Jackson
and Ingham
County line. Owned by Freedom Communications
, the station has studios on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing. However, master control and some internal operations are based at the studios of sister station CBS
affiliate WWMT
on West Maple Street in Kalamazoo
. Syndicated
programming on WLAJ includes: The New Adventures of Old Christine
, Everybody Loves Raymond
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
, and Oprah
. It is known on-air as ABC 3 based on its channel location on Comcast
.
.
). Before 1990, Lansing had been one of the biggest markets
in the country without a full-time ABC affiliate even though it had been large enough to support three full network affiliates for some time.
WJRT-TV
in Flint
served as the default station for the area from its 1958 sign-on until WLAJ debuted. Other parts of the market received ABC from WUHQ-TV
in Battle Creek
and WXYZ-TV
in Detroit. As a condition to the station receiving ABC affiliation, its transmitter had to be located so that there was minimum overlap between the WJRT and WLAJ signals.
Ferguson eventually sold a 50% stake of the station to Granite Broadcasting. That company had the option of buying out the rest of WLAJ which it exercised six months later after a brief court battle when the owners of the transmitter site tried to stop the sale from taking place. The station was sold to current owner Freedom Communications in 1999. In 2005, a company-wide consolidation of operations at its stations resulted in the move of WLAJ's master control and most other internal operations to the facilities of sister station WWMT. This left behind a skeleton crew of six people out of what began with eighty staffers in Lansing. Additionally, that station's President and General Manager James Lutton took over the same capacity at WLAJ after the departure of Ross Reardon.
In 1998 with the launch of The WB 100+
, WLAJ began operating a cable-only affiliate of The WB which was part of the service. This was available exclusively on Comcast channel 30, had its own logo, and used the "WBL" call sign in a fictional manner. From 2002 until 2006, UPN
affiliate WHTV
had been housed WLAJ's facilities. The channel relocated to WLNS-TV
's studios on East Saginaw Street (Business Loop 69
/M-43
eastbound) along U.S. 127
. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
unit of Time Warner
.
On February 22, News Corporation
announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV
. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. MyNetworkTV was launched on September 5 and former UPN affiliate WHTV
joined the network. This left WBL to affiliate with The CW via The CW Plus
, a service similar to The WB 100+, on September 18. On that date, WLAJ created a new second digital subchannel to simulcast WBL and offer non-cable subscribers access to The CW. That channel then began using the WLAJ-DT2 call sign in an official manner. It also relocated to Comcast channel 5.
On September 24, 2007, WLAJ was re-branded as "ABC 3" since most cable providers carry it on channel 3. The logo introduced at that time, in a concept like WOTV
, featured the number "53" but emphasized its cable slot ("3") more than the over-the-air channel. On April 7, 2008, a new image makeover including a new logo, similar to WWMT's but with the hidden "5" like the previous logo, was launched. It eventually dropped the hidden "5". WLAJ shut down its analog signal, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 51, using PSIP
to be displayed as virtual channel
53.
WLAJ was unusual for airing The Oprah Winfrey Show at 5pm instead of her traditional 4pm timeslot. The series ended on May 25, 2011, and it is unknown which program will replace Oprah on WLAJ.
WLAJ also aired ESPN Plus
' Big Ten college football
coverage until the launch of the Big Ten Network. While most ABC affiliates in Michigan saw their college football coverage reduced to primarily the network's games, WLAJ and WLAJ-DT2 have in recent years become the Lansing affiliate of the Central Michigan University
Chippewas and the Western Michigan University
Broncos. Today, whenever a football game involving either CMU or WMU kicks off at 12noon, the game will air on ABC3 as lead-in to ABC's college football coverage. All other CMU and WMU football games air on WLAJ-DT2 (CW5).
Freedom announced on November 2, 2011 that it would bow out of television and sell its stations, including WLAJ, to Sinclair Broadcast Group
.
man named Les Pingilley. The charges led to an "Investigators" report at WXYZ by Heather Catallo. On February 23, Wangler was found dead in her home by police.
According to Detroit's Fox affiliate WJBK
, it was an "apparent suicide" and she "had hanged herself". Also according to that station, she went to a local police department to get her blood alcohol level checked for a previous Driving under the influence
charge. Her blood alcohol content
tested at 0.05% (0.08% is legally drunk in Michigan
). However due to prior offenses, she was not allowed to have any alcohol in her system. A family member discovered her dead around 3:00 in the afternoon that day and called police. An autopsy to find the exact cause of death was scheduled.
from WXYZ. Due to low ratings, this was eventually replaced by syndicated programming. In 1997, it re-launched its news operation but still found itself with a fraction of viewers competing with established broadcasts at WLNS and WILX-TV
. New weeknight 6 and 11 o'clock broadcasts were branded as ABC 53 News Now and featured anchor Joe Parker, sports with Shaun Broyls, and weather from the National Weather Network (now known as WeatherVision
). Kirk Montgomery eventually took over as meteorologist.
After Freedom bought the station in 1999, a management change occurred and WWMT Sales Manager Mike King was brought in as the new General Manager at WLAJ. During this time, the news department won several awards including "Best Newscast" from the Associated Press
. Initially retaining the ABC 53 News Now branding, the shows were eventually relaunched as ABC 53 News Express which consisted of ten minutes of news, weather, and sports followed by an interview segment. Parker left in 2002 to become the main anchor at Freedom's WRGB
in Albany, New York
and was replaced by Darcy Sullivan. Despite the new format, WLAJ was still unable to make significant increases in viewership.
On September 24, 2007, more changes happened at WLAJ as Suzanne Wangler (using her on-air name "Suzanne Page") from Detroit's WDIV-TV
replaced Darcy Sullivan as producer and news anchor. Cathy Younkin from WWMT replaced Jim Fordyce as News Director and Hondo Carpenter remained Sports Director. The station also dropped the News Express format from its newscasts and returned to a more traditional format while introducing a new set. It also began producing a weeknight 10 o'clock show on CW affiliate WLAJ-DT2 known as ABC 3 News Live at 10 on CW 5. After Suzanne Wangler's resignation, Bill Younkin (a former news anchor for Cleveland, Ohio
's WEWS-TV
and WOIO
) took over as temporary anchor through April 4, 2008. Jessica Wheeler took over for Younkin as a permanent news anchor effective April 7. The newscasts featured Stacia Mullaney and Jon Erickson as reporters based at WLAJ as well as reporters from WWMT on stories that affected the Lansing and Jackson
areas.
For weather, this channel used taped forecasts from WWMT Chief Meteorologist Keith Thompson. There were no weekday midday or weekend local broadcasts on the station. It did however reinstate weekday morning cut-ins at :25 and :55 past the hour (from 7 to 9) during Good Morning America
anchored by Jessica Wheeler with weather by WWMT's Ron Boyd. Its weeknight 6 o'clock news was also expanded to an hour which moved ABC World News With Charles Gibson to 7. Sports Director Hondo Carpenter resigned on May 27, 2009 and was replaced by Brent Ashcroft who was former Sports Director at WXMI
.
On September 25, 2009, WLAJ discontinued its news department. Its local broadcasts were replaced by syndicated programming. The 10 o'clock news on WLAJ-DT2 was replaced with CW Plus shows. Its weeknight 11 o'clock newscast was replaced with a taped five minute news and weather brief, called ABC 3 News Update, that is produced by WWMT. That station's weeknight anchor Jeff Varner
is featured in the news segment and Chief Meteorologist Keith Thompson provides the weather forecast. Regional and state coverage is presented in the broadcast. On weekday mornings, there are local weather cut-ins during Good Morning America featuring WWMT meteorologist Jeff Porter. A live Michigan State University
football pre-game show from the Small Planet Sports Bar and Grill in East Lansing
continues airing on Saturday mornings at 11 during the season. Like all CW Plus affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
, WLAJ-DT2 airs the nationally syndicated show The Daily Buzz
weekday mornings from 6 until 9.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Central Michigan
Central Michigan
Central Michigan, often called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. Southern Michigan can be considered as a subregion of Central Michigan. As its name implies, it is the central area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and...
that is licensed to Lansing
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter northeast of Tompkins Township
Tompkins Township, Michigan
Tompkins Township is a civil township of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,758 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
on the Jackson
Jackson County, Michigan
As of the census of 2000, there were 158,422 people, 58,168 households, and 40,833 families residing in the county. The population density was 224 people per square mile . There were 62,906 housing units at an average density of 89/sq mi...
and Ingham
Ingham County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 279,320 people, 108,593 households, and 63,744 families residing in the county. The population density was 500 people per square mile . There were 115,056 housing units at an average density of 206 per square mile...
County line. Owned by Freedom Communications
Freedom Communications
Freedom Communications, Inc. is a media conglomerate in the United States. It owns approximately 100 daily and weekly newspapers in the US, with a combined daily circulation of nearly one million subscribers, and also operates over seventy local news websites...
, the station has studios on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing. However, master control and some internal operations are based at the studios of sister station CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate WWMT
WWMT
WWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Chief Noonday Road/M-179, northwest of Yankee Springs Township, along the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also...
on West Maple Street in Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WLAJ includes: The New Adventures of Old Christine
The New Adventures of Old Christine
The New Adventures of Old Christine is an American comedy series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus which ran for five seasons on CBS from March 13, 2006, to May 12, 2010...
, Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
, and Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
. It is known on-air as ABC 3 based on its channel location on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
.
Digital programming
It operates the area's CW affiliate on a second digital subchannel and Comcast channel 5. Known on-air as Lansing CW 5, the station gets all of its programming from The CW PlusThe CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....
.
| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53.1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main WLAJ programming / ABC |
| 53.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | WLAJ-DT2 "Lansing CW 5" |
History
WLAJ began broadcasting on October 13, 1990 from its studios in a former appliance store. The station was originally owned by Joel Ferguson who is the former owner of WFSL-TV (now Fox affiliate WSYM-TVWSYM-TV
WSYM-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Michigan licensed to Lansing. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 38 from a transmitter along M-50/M-99 in Eaton Rapids. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 7 and in high definition on digital...
). Before 1990, Lansing had been one of the biggest markets
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
in the country without a full-time ABC affiliate even though it had been large enough to support three full network affiliates for some time.
WJRT-TV
WJRT-TV
WJRT-TV, channel 12, is the ABC-affiliated station for the Flint/Tri-Cities television market, owned by SJL Broadcasting. Its studios are located in Flint, Michigan, with offices and a second newsroom for the Tri-Cities located in Saginaw...
in Flint
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
served as the default station for the area from its 1958 sign-on until WLAJ debuted. Other parts of the market received ABC from WUHQ-TV
WOTV
WOTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Southwestern Michigan that is licensed to Battle Creek. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter in Orangeville Township. The station can also be seen on Charter and Comcast channel 4. There is a high...
in Battle Creek
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
and WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. WXYZ-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and is the media company's largest-market TV station property...
in Detroit. As a condition to the station receiving ABC affiliation, its transmitter had to be located so that there was minimum overlap between the WJRT and WLAJ signals.
Ferguson eventually sold a 50% stake of the station to Granite Broadcasting. That company had the option of buying out the rest of WLAJ which it exercised six months later after a brief court battle when the owners of the transmitter site tried to stop the sale from taking place. The station was sold to current owner Freedom Communications in 1999. In 2005, a company-wide consolidation of operations at its stations resulted in the move of WLAJ's master control and most other internal operations to the facilities of sister station WWMT. This left behind a skeleton crew of six people out of what began with eighty staffers in Lansing. Additionally, that station's President and General Manager James Lutton took over the same capacity at WLAJ after the departure of Ross Reardon.
In 1998 with the launch of The WB 100+
The WB 100+ Station Group
The WB 100+ Station Group was a group of primarily non-broadcast local cable television outlets for The WB Television Network, for markets below the top 100 television media markets in the United States. Dayparts with no WB programming were programmed by the network...
, WLAJ began operating a cable-only affiliate of The WB which was part of the service. This was available exclusively on Comcast channel 30, had its own logo, and used the "WBL" call sign in a fictional manner. From 2002 until 2006, UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
affiliate WHTV
WHTV
WHTV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central Michigan that is licensed to Jackson, Michigan. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter in Okemos. Owned by Venture Technologies Group, the station is operated through a joint sales...
had been housed WLAJ's facilities. The channel relocated to WLNS-TV
WLNS-TV
WLNS-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central Michigan licensed to Lansing. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Van Atta Road in Meridian. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and Broadstripe channel 13...
's studios on East Saginaw Street (Business Loop 69
Business routes of Interstate 69
-Coldwater, Michigan:Business Loop I-69, or BL I-69, is a route formed from part of the old US 27 route near and through Coldwater and from part of US 12 through Coldwater. Starting at the southern end, it begins at Exit 10 of I-69, which is where Fenn Rd. crosses the Interstate. It follows Fenn Rd...
/M-43
M-43 (Michigan highway)
M-43 is a state trunkline highway in southwestern and central parts of the US state of Michigan. The highway runs from South Haven to Webberville along an indirect path through both rural areas and larger cities...
eastbound) along U.S. 127
U.S. Route 127 in Michigan
US Highway 127 is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that runs for , entering from Ohio south of Hudson and ending at a partial interchange with...
. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
.
On February 22, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. MyNetworkTV was launched on September 5 and former UPN affiliate WHTV
WHTV
WHTV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central Michigan that is licensed to Jackson, Michigan. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter in Okemos. Owned by Venture Technologies Group, the station is operated through a joint sales...
joined the network. This left WBL to affiliate with The CW via The CW Plus
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is a group of primarily digital sub-channels, analog, and non-broadcast cable television outlets for the CW Television Network, for markets below the top 99 television media markets in the United States....
, a service similar to The WB 100+, on September 18. On that date, WLAJ created a new second digital subchannel to simulcast WBL and offer non-cable subscribers access to The CW. That channel then began using the WLAJ-DT2 call sign in an official manner. It also relocated to Comcast channel 5.
On September 24, 2007, WLAJ was re-branded as "ABC 3" since most cable providers carry it on channel 3. The logo introduced at that time, in a concept like WOTV
WOTV
WOTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Southwestern Michigan that is licensed to Battle Creek. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter in Orangeville Township. The station can also be seen on Charter and Comcast channel 4. There is a high...
, featured the number "53" but emphasized its cable slot ("3") more than the over-the-air channel. On April 7, 2008, a new image makeover including a new logo, similar to WWMT's but with the hidden "5" like the previous logo, was launched. It eventually dropped the hidden "5". WLAJ shut down its analog signal, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 51, using PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
to be displayed as virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
53.
WLAJ was unusual for airing The Oprah Winfrey Show at 5pm instead of her traditional 4pm timeslot. The series ended on May 25, 2011, and it is unknown which program will replace Oprah on WLAJ.
WLAJ also aired ESPN Plus
ESPN Plus
ESPN Plus, the popular name of ESPN Regional Television, is an American television program syndicator. ERT is based along with sister network ESPNU in Charlotte, North Carolina...
' Big Ten college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
coverage until the launch of the Big Ten Network. While most ABC affiliates in Michigan saw their college football coverage reduced to primarily the network's games, WLAJ and WLAJ-DT2 have in recent years become the Lansing affiliate of the Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...
Chippewas and the Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
Broncos. Today, whenever a football game involving either CMU or WMU kicks off at 12noon, the game will air on ABC3 as lead-in to ABC's college football coverage. All other CMU and WMU football games air on WLAJ-DT2 (CW5).
Freedom announced on November 2, 2011 that it would bow out of television and sell its stations, including WLAJ, to Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
.
Suzanne Wangler
On February 15, 2008, Suzanne Wangler (who anchored under the name "Suzanne Page") resigned as the anchor/producer/News Director of WLAJ. Wangler had cited the "stress" of the job serving in her position leading to her resignation. She previously had a week-long absence due to family problems. Her resignation, however, may have been due to an investigation where Wangler was accused of taking almost $150,000 from an Oakland CountyOakland County, Michigan
-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The population density as of the 2000 census was 1,369 people per square mile . There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile...
man named Les Pingilley. The charges led to an "Investigators" report at WXYZ by Heather Catallo. On February 23, Wangler was found dead in her home by police.
According to Detroit's Fox affiliate WJBK
WJBK
WJBK is the Fox–owned and operated television station in Detroit, Michigan broadcasting on digital channel 7...
, it was an "apparent suicide" and she "had hanged herself". Also according to that station, she went to a local police department to get her blood alcohol level checked for a previous Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
charge. Her blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content , also called blood alcohol concentration, blood ethanol concentration, or blood alcohol level is most commonly used as a metric of alcohol intoxication for legal or medical purposes....
tested at 0.05% (0.08% is legally drunk in 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"....
). However due to prior offenses, she was not allowed to have any alcohol in her system. A family member discovered her dead around 3:00 in the afternoon that day and called police. An autopsy to find the exact cause of death was scheduled.
News operation
WLAJ launched a news department and its first local broadcast, called 53 Newsbeat, a month after it began operations. However after fifteen months, station management decided to pull the plug on the show and replaced it with a simulcast of Action NewsAction News
Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
from WXYZ. Due to low ratings, this was eventually replaced by syndicated programming. In 1997, it re-launched its news operation but still found itself with a fraction of viewers competing with established broadcasts at WLNS and WILX-TV
WILX-TV
WILX-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Michigan. Licensed to the nearby town of Onondaga, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 4 in Lansing, and Comcast channel 10 in East Lansing and Jackson. It can...
. New weeknight 6 and 11 o'clock broadcasts were branded as ABC 53 News Now and featured anchor Joe Parker, sports with Shaun Broyls, and weather from the National Weather Network (now known as WeatherVision
WeatherVision
WeatherVision is a TV syndication company based in Jackson, Mississippi, that produces and distributes customized weather forecast segments for local airing by over 200 commercial and public television stations and Networks nationwide...
). Kirk Montgomery eventually took over as meteorologist.
After Freedom bought the station in 1999, a management change occurred and WWMT Sales Manager Mike King was brought in as the new General Manager at WLAJ. During this time, the news department won several awards including "Best Newscast" from the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. Initially retaining the ABC 53 News Now branding, the shows were eventually relaunched as ABC 53 News Express which consisted of ten minutes of news, weather, and sports followed by an interview segment. Parker left in 2002 to become the main anchor at Freedom's WRGB
WRGB
WRGB, channel 6, is a television station located in Schenectady, New York, USA. WRGB is owned by Freedom Communications, and is the CBS affiliate for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy television market...
in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
and was replaced by Darcy Sullivan. Despite the new format, WLAJ was still unable to make significant increases in viewership.
On September 24, 2007, more changes happened at WLAJ as Suzanne Wangler (using her on-air name "Suzanne Page") from Detroit's WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV
WDIV-TV, virtual channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated television station based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is owned by Post-Newsweek Stations and is the flagship station and home base of the group with the offices of the group located alongside WDIV's studios; the "Local" branding now...
replaced Darcy Sullivan as producer and news anchor. Cathy Younkin from WWMT replaced Jim Fordyce as News Director and Hondo Carpenter remained Sports Director. The station also dropped the News Express format from its newscasts and returned to a more traditional format while introducing a new set. It also began producing a weeknight 10 o'clock show on CW affiliate WLAJ-DT2 known as ABC 3 News Live at 10 on CW 5. After Suzanne Wangler's resignation, Bill Younkin (a former news anchor for Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
's WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. WEWS has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception, and is an affiliate of the ABC television network...
and WOIO
WOIO
WOIO, virtual channel 19 , is the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio. It is licensed to the nearby suburb of Shaker Heights. WOIO is owned by Raycom Media and its sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate WUAB . The two stations share a studio facility in Cleveland and WOIO's transmitter is located in...
) took over as temporary anchor through April 4, 2008. Jessica Wheeler took over for Younkin as a permanent news anchor effective April 7. The newscasts featured Stacia Mullaney and Jon Erickson as reporters based at WLAJ as well as reporters from WWMT on stories that affected the Lansing and Jackson
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...
areas.
For weather, this channel used taped forecasts from WWMT Chief Meteorologist Keith Thompson. There were no weekday midday or weekend local broadcasts on the station. It did however reinstate weekday morning cut-ins at :25 and :55 past the hour (from 7 to 9) during Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
anchored by Jessica Wheeler with weather by WWMT's Ron Boyd. Its weeknight 6 o'clock news was also expanded to an hour which moved ABC World News With Charles Gibson to 7. Sports Director Hondo Carpenter resigned on May 27, 2009 and was replaced by Brent Ashcroft who was former Sports Director at WXMI
WXMI
WXMI channel 17 is a Fox-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, owned by the Tribune Company. WXMI's studio and office facility is located in Grand Rapids and its transmitter is based southwest of Middleville, Michigan...
.
On September 25, 2009, WLAJ discontinued its news department. Its local broadcasts were replaced by syndicated programming. The 10 o'clock news on WLAJ-DT2 was replaced with CW Plus shows. Its weeknight 11 o'clock newscast was replaced with a taped five minute news and weather brief, called ABC 3 News Update, that is produced by WWMT. That station's weeknight anchor Jeff Varner
Jeff Varner
Jeff Varner is a news anchor and reporter, a former entertainment reporter, and a former contestant on the CBS reality television series, Survivor: The Australian Outback-Early life and education:...
is featured in the news segment and Chief Meteorologist Keith Thompson provides the weather forecast. Regional and state coverage is presented in the broadcast. On weekday mornings, there are local weather cut-ins during Good Morning America featuring WWMT meteorologist Jeff Porter. A live Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
football pre-game show from the Small Planet Sports Bar and Grill in East Lansing
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, though a small portion lies in Clinton County. The population was 48,579 at the time of the 2010 census, an increase from...
continues airing on Saturday mornings at 11 during the season. Like all CW Plus affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, WLAJ-DT2 airs the nationally syndicated show The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz is a nationally syndicated breakfast television news and infotainment program. The show is produced by Fisher Communications and is owned and distributed by ACME Communications; it is broadcast every weekday morning from studios at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida...
weekday mornings from 6 until 9.
Newscast titles
- 53 Newsbeat (1990-1991)
- ABC 53 News Now (1997-2000)
- ABC 53 News Express (2000-2007)
- ABC 3 News (2007-2009)
Station slogans
- "The Most Complete Newscast in Lansing"/"Mid-Michigan's Watching" (1990-1991, the latter was a localized version of an ABC ad campaign)
- "If It's 53, It Must Be ABC" (1992-1993, localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- "Your ABC Connection" (1990s)
- "A Real Difference" (1999-2000)