WSYM-TV
Encyclopedia
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 (or virtual channel
47.1 via PSIP) 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 channel 234. Owned by Journal Communications
, WSYM has studios on West Saint Joseph Street in Downtown Lansing along I-496
. Syndicated programming on the station includes How I Met Your Mother
, Family Guy
, The Simpsons
and The Office among others.
. Me-TV was added on October 1, 2011 on 47.2 and is available on Comcast digital channel 296. A lawsuit filed by Journal Communications for "non-payment of broadcast operations" against TheCoolTV's parent company and the oncoming removal of TheCoolTV from Journal's stations in Wisconsin, resulted in Me-TV replacing TheCoolTV on 47.2.
in the area since WILX-TV
signed-on 23 years earlier. Conventional wisdom suggested it should have debuted as an ABC
affiliate since Lansing was one of the largest markets
in the United States
without full service from all three major networks
. However, it was an Independent from the start instead.
During its pre-sign-on test pattern, an on-screen crawl thanked numerous people and companies for their help including "All the people who said 'No way will that station get on-the-air by December
1st'". WFSL was a typical UHF Independent airing syndicated cartoons, game shows, movies, and off-network sitcoms. For a time, the station also simulcasted the ABC game show Family Feud
and soap opera The Edge Of Night
from WXYZ-TV
in Detroit in hopes of eventually landing a full-time ABC affiliation. Ferguson sold the station to the Journal Company, now the Journal Broadcast Group, in 1985. The new owners changed the call sign to WSYM-TV. The call letters once belonged to a ship but that registration was cancelled by the United States Coast Guard
to allow this television station to use them. The call sign serves as an acronym meaning We Say Yes to Michigan.
Five years later, Ferguson used the proceeds from the sale of this station to start Lansing's first ABC affiliate, WLAJ
. WSYM affiliated with Fox in 1990. Previously, Detroit's WKBD
(which had been available on Lansing cable systems for decades) provided programming from the "forth" network to the area. Some parts of the market could also receive Fox from WXMI
in Grand Rapids
and WSMH
in Flint
. WSYM is also part of the Detroit Lions Television Network
which airs Detroit Lions
pre-season games and the syndicated Ford Lions Report during the regular season. It airs Lions games during the regular season as part of the NFL on Fox
contract. Since portions of the Lansing area are within 75 miles of Ford Field
(home of the Lions), WSYM is part of the team's blackout area. The Detroit Tigers
also appear on this station during Fox Saturday Baseball.
affiliate WILX (owned by Gray Television
).
Under the arrangement, WILX produces local news for WSYM weeknights at 5:30 (for a half-hour) and every night at 10 (for an hour). On weekday mornings at 9 and weekend mornings at 6, the previous late-night's prime time show is replayed on WSYM branded as Fox 47 Morning News Rewind. Since there is a 5:30 broadcast airing on WSYM, there is no show seen at the same time on WILX. Although the two stations share most personnel, WILX and WSYM maintain separate weeknight meteorologists and a news anchor although the latter does general assignment reporting on WILX. On occasion such as severe weather, WSYM may carry the primary feed from WILX where its meteorologists appear on this station. Other personnel from that station fill-in on WSYM as necessary.
From September 24, 2007 until September 25, 2009, WLAJ produced a weeknight prime time newscast on its CW-affiliated second digital subchannel
competing with WSYM. On November 2, 2009, this station began airing a live simulcast of Michael Patrick Shiels
in the Morning from the Michigan Talk Network
weekday mornings from 6 until 8. On January 28, 2011, WILX became the first outlet in Central Michigan to upgrade local newscasts to high definition. On June 13, 2011, WSYM became the second station in the market to transition to high definition broadcasts.
Video journalists
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
-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...
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 38 (or 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....
47.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter along M-50
M-50 (Michigan highway)
M-50 is a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan. Although designated as an east–west highway, it is nearly a diagonal northwest-southeast route...
/M-99
M-99 (Michigan highway)
M-99 is a state highway in the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It runs from the Ohio state border, where it connects to SR 15, north to Lansing where it terminates at a junction with I-496...
in Eaton Rapids
Eaton Rapids, Michigan
Eaton Rapids is a city in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,214 at the 2010 census.The city is located in the south of Eaton Rapids Township, on the boundary with Hamlin Township, though it is politically independent of both townships...
. The station can also be seen 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...
channel 7 and in high definition on digital channel 234. Owned by Journal Communications
Journal Communications
Journal Communications, Inc. is a publicly traded media company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It publishes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a daily newspaper, and it also owns television stations, radio stations and weekly newspapers, among other businesses.-History:The Milwaukee Journal was...
, WSYM has studios on West Saint Joseph Street in Downtown Lansing along I-496
Interstate 496
Interstate 496 is an Interstate Highway that passes through downtown Lansing, Michigan and is a "child" of Interstate 96. It is ceremonially designated the R.E. Olds Freeway along the portion that cuts through the city of Lansing...
. Syndicated programming on the station includes How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
and The Office among others.
Digital programming
Previously, WSYM-DT2 featured programming from TheCoolTVTheCoolTV
THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
. Me-TV was added on October 1, 2011 on 47.2 and is available on Comcast digital channel 296. A lawsuit filed by Journal Communications for "non-payment of broadcast operations" against TheCoolTV's parent company and the oncoming removal of TheCoolTV from Journal's stations in Wisconsin, resulted in Me-TV replacing TheCoolTV on 47.2.
| Channels | Nane | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47.1 | FOX47HD | 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 WSYM programming / FOX |
| 47.2 | FOX 47 | 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 | Me-TV |
History
On December 1, 1982, the station began operations on analog UHF channel 47 with the calls WFSL-TV. It was owned by Lansing businessman Joel Ferguson and his company, F&S Development Company. WFSL was the first new commercial stationCommercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship...
in the area since 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...
signed-on 23 years earlier. Conventional wisdom suggested it should have debuted as an ABC
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...
affiliate since Lansing was one of the largest 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 United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
without full service from all three major networks
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
. However, it was an Independent from the start instead.
During its pre-sign-on test pattern, an on-screen crawl thanked numerous people and companies for their help including "All the people who said 'No way will that station get on-the-air by December
December
December is the 12th and last month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days.December starts on the same day as September every year and ends on the same day as April every year.-Etymology:...
1st'". WFSL was a typical UHF Independent airing syndicated cartoons, game shows, movies, and off-network sitcoms. For a time, the station also simulcasted the ABC game show Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
and soap opera The Edge Of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
from 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 in hopes of eventually landing a full-time ABC affiliation. Ferguson sold the station to the Journal Company, now the Journal Broadcast Group, in 1985. The new owners changed the call sign to WSYM-TV. The call letters once belonged to a ship but that registration was cancelled by the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
to allow this television station to use them. The call sign serves as an acronym meaning We Say Yes to Michigan.
Five years later, Ferguson used the proceeds from the sale of this station to start Lansing's first ABC affiliate, WLAJ
WLAJ
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...
. WSYM affiliated with Fox in 1990. Previously, Detroit's WKBD
WKBD
WKBD-TV, virtual channel 50 , is an owned and operated station of the CW Television Network, based in Detroit, Michigan. The station is owned and operated by the CBS Corporation, and is one-half of a duopoly with sister station WWJ-TV . Its studios and transmitters are located at 11 mile and...
(which had been available on Lansing cable systems for decades) provided programming from the "forth" network to the area. Some parts of the market could also receive Fox from 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...
in Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
and WSMH
WSMH
WSMH is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market that is licensed to Flint. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a 245 kilowatt, high transmitter on Aman Rd near St. Charles, Michigan...
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...
. WSYM is also part of the Detroit Lions Television Network
Detroit Lions Television Network
The Detroit Lions Television Network is a network of six television stations in Michigan that broadcast the NFL's Detroit Lions preseason games as well as its weekly regular season pregame show The Ford Lions Report. As of 2011, WXYZ-TV in Detroit is the flagship station...
which airs Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
pre-season games and the syndicated Ford Lions Report during the regular season. It airs Lions games during the regular season as part of the NFL on Fox
NFL on FOX
NFL on Fox is the brand name of the Fox Broadcasting Company's coverage of the National Football League's National Football Conference games, produced by Fox Sports...
contract. Since portions of the Lansing area are within 75 miles of Ford Field
Ford Field
Ford Field is an indoor American football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, that is the current home field of the NFL's Detroit Lions. It is owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for...
(home of the Lions), WSYM is part of the team's blackout area. The Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
also appear on this station during Fox Saturday Baseball.
News operation
In its early days of operation, the station produced three live news updates throughout the day. This included one in the morning, another during the afternoon, and late at night. The updates ranged from five to ten minutes in length. Under pressure from Fox to start a full newscast or face disaffiliation, WSYM launched a news department in September 1997. It produced local news weeknights at 5:30 and every night at 10 along with a Sunday night sports highlight show. In 2004 due to financial reasons, the station shut down its news operation. In order to still offer broadcasts, WSYM entered into a news share agreement with NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WILX (owned by Gray Television
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H...
).
Under the arrangement, WILX produces local news for WSYM weeknights at 5:30 (for a half-hour) and every night at 10 (for an hour). On weekday mornings at 9 and weekend mornings at 6, the previous late-night's prime time show is replayed on WSYM branded as Fox 47 Morning News Rewind. Since there is a 5:30 broadcast airing on WSYM, there is no show seen at the same time on WILX. Although the two stations share most personnel, WILX and WSYM maintain separate weeknight meteorologists and a news anchor although the latter does general assignment reporting on WILX. On occasion such as severe weather, WSYM may carry the primary feed from WILX where its meteorologists appear on this station. Other personnel from that station fill-in on WSYM as necessary.
From September 24, 2007 until September 25, 2009, WLAJ produced a weeknight prime time newscast on its CW-affiliated second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
competing with WSYM. On November 2, 2009, this station began airing a live simulcast of Michael Patrick Shiels
Michael Patrick Shiels
Michael Patrick Shiels is an American radio personality and author. He is the host of "Michael Patrick Shiels in the Morning", heard on 10 radio stations across the state of Michigan on the Michigan Talk Network. He is also known for authoring books with Donald Trump, Larry King, Arthur Hills, and...
in the Morning from the Michigan Talk Network
Michigan Talk Network
Michigan Talk Network is a 24-hour talk radio satellite that mainly serves 24 radio affiliates in the state of Michigan. It operates from its flagship station WJIM-AM in Lansing, Michigan and is under ownership of Cumulus Media...
weekday mornings from 6 until 8. On January 28, 2011, WILX became the first outlet in Central Michigan to upgrade local newscasts to high definition. On June 13, 2011, WSYM became the second station in the market to transition to high definition broadcasts.
News team
Anchors- A.J. Hilton - weeknight news and reporter
- Liam Martin - weekend news and video journalist
- David Harker - weeknight meteorologist
- Julie Fuson - weekend meteorologist
- Tim Nester - fill-in forecaster
- Tim Staudt - Sports DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights and sports reporter (also heard on WVFNWVFNWVFN is a radio station licensed to East Lansing, Michigan, broadcasting a sports radio format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 730 kHz and is under the ownership of Cumulus Media....
-AM 730) - Jeremy Sampson - weekend sports and sports reporter
Video journalists
- Lori Wengle - "Change Your World" segment producer
- Steve Coon - Chief Photographer
- Caroline Vandergriff
- Sherene Tagharobi
- Alex Goldsmith
- Steve Doty
- Fay Li
External links
- WSYM-TV "Fox 47" (can be entered into wireless device for mobile access)
- WILX-TV