WDIV-TV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WDIV-TV
Detroit, Michigan
Branding	Local 4
Slogan	Secondary: Everywhere. Every Way. Every Day. Primary: the Power of 4:the big event station (used also as branding for "Local 4 News")
Channels	4 (VHF) analog, 45 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	Post-Newsweek Stations
Founded	October 23, 1946
Call letters meaning	We're Detroit's IV(4)
Former callsigns	WWDT (1946-1947); WWJ (1947-1978)
Former affiliations	None
Transmitter Power	100 kW / 306 m Analog 973 kW / 281 m Digital
Website	www.clickondetroit.com/

WDIV-TV "Local 4" is the NBC television station based in Detroit, Michigan. It is the only major television station in the area whose offices and studios are located in the city of Detroit. 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 utilized by all stations in the group was launched here alongside its acquiring of flagship status.

The station's signal, transmitted from a 1004-foot antenna located on Greenfield Road in Southfield, Michigan, encompasses the Metro Detroit area and can be picked up as far away as Flint, Lapeer, Adrian, Toledo, and even London, Ontario.

On cable, WDIV can be seen on Comcast Detroit channel 14, Bright House Livonia channel 4 and Cogeco Windsor channel 5. It also serves several other Canadian cable-TV markets, including Rogers Cable in the city of Ottawa. It is also one of five local Detroit TV stations seen in Canada on the StarChoice satellite provider and was the original affiliate offered by CANCOM starting in the mid-1980s. CANCOM's carriage of WDIV stretches outside of Canada with cable carriage in places as varied as far northern New York state, all of Bermuda, parts of Latin America and, for a time in the early 1990s, some parts of Ireland (with a delay).

[edit] History

WDIV was the first television station in Michigan, signing on as WWDT on October 23, 1946, for one day of demonstration programming. Regular programming commenced on March 4, 1947. On May 15 of that year the station changed its call letters to WWJ-TV after WWJ-AM. Both stations were owned by the Detroit News.

Channel 4 had a number of broadcasting firsts in Michigan, including the first telecast of Detroit Tigers, Red Wings and Lions games as well as televised newscasts and color television broadcasts.

First WDIV logo used from 1978 to 1980. The NAB's Seal of Good Practice is also visible.

In 1978, the FCC was considering new regulations which would have imposed limits on ownership of newspaper and television media in the same market. In anticipation of this, the Evening News Association, which owned the Detroit News and WWJ-AM-FM-TV and the Washington Post who owned WTOP-AM-FM-TV in Washington DC reached an agreement to swap televisions stations, perhaps intending to avoid the confusion which might result upon the announcement of new regulations. On July 27, 1978, WWJ-TV became WDIV-TV. The call letters are derived from "D" for Detroit and "IV" for Roman numeral 4. Additionally, in a series of promotional announcements with news anchor Dwayne X. Riley, the new call letters were said to represent the phrase, "Where Detroit Is Vital."

The "WWJ-TV" callsign was subsequently adopted for use 20 years later by the former "WGPR," now Channel 62, the CBS owned-and-operated station in Detroit. The current WWJ-TV is not related in any way to WDIV or to the old WWJ-TV.

Ultimately, the FCC never imposed any limitations on ownership of television and newspapers in the same market, so the exchange of stations between the Evening News Association and the Washington Post was somewhat unique in television broadcasting. The Evening News was pleased to finally have a voice in the Nation's Capital, while the Washington Post perhaps regretted the loss of its prestigious television signal in Washington. However, operation of WDIV would prove to be very lucrative. The station later became available outside the Detroit market when it was selected for inclusion on many Canadian cable systems in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The station itself has never uplinked its programming to satellite a la Superstation WTBS.

WDIV's logo from 1984-2000. Several variations have been used in between

In the 1970s and 1980s, WDIV preempted one to two hours of NBC's daytime programming everyday. The station also refused to air Late Night with David Letterman and its successor, Late Night with Conan O' Brien at 12:35 a.m. for many years. Instead, the station opted to rebroadcast The Jenny Jones Show, which lasted until 1999.

Local 4 logo used from 2000-2002.

As NBC decreased programming in its daytime schedule in the 1990s, preemptions on WDIV have become less common. Since the turn of the 21st century, WDIV has been running NBC's entire schedule with some preemptions for live local special programming from local fireworks events to Detroit Pistons basketball.

The current 'Local 4' logo, used since September, 2002. The station got rid of the old line 4 and updated its 4 logo with a more generic look

In 2004, the station also returned to its status as "The Station of Big Events" by securing rights to several Detroit Pistons basketball games, as well as returning as the host TV station for the North American International Auto Show. The station airs the NAIAS charity preview, the annual "America's Thanksgiving Parade" and the "Freedom Festival Fireworks",and the famed charity event "The Hob-Nobble Gobble" which is held on the night before the thanksgiving parade.

On April 15, 2005, former WDIV employee John Owens was shot in the station's lobby by a man with a history of harassing WDIV employees. The man was charged with attempted murder while Owens remained in the hospital in critical but stable condition.

[edit] Canadian Controversies

Though not in its own market, WDIV (plus WJBK and WXYZ) have seen their share of controversy from afar via their carriage to much of Canada (and fringe parts of North America) via CANCOM.

• The presence of Detroit stations on Canadian cable systems was cited in some areas (namely the Prairie Provinces) for a uptick in crime rates in the years after their introduction via the heavy reporting of crime stories on their newscasts. The most extereme of these cases was when community activists in Winnipeg, Manitoba allegedly cited WDIV's newscasts as the potential ignitor of the city's first drive-by shootings.
• In the wake of a Canadian media coverage gag order of the murder trial of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka in 1995, CANCOM was forced to black out WDIV's newscasts on their end with a disclaimer stating "THIS CHANNEL BLACKED OUT DURING THIS TIME DUE TO BROADCAST/PUBLISHING LAW DURING THE BERNARDO/HOLMOKA TRIAL". Though this did its intended purpose in Canada, it angered cable viewers not only in the Detroit market but other Michigan cities as well (which received the signal from CANCOM). After one week, WDIV management and CANCOM hammered out a deal in which the blackouts would be handled by Canadian cable systems in a manner similar to simsubbing.
• Though totally coincidental, viewers in the Ottawa, Ontario area decried WDIV's replacement of Rochester, New York's WHEC when Rogers switched that area's systems US affiliates from a combination of Rochester and Buffalo to Detroit in 2003.

[edit] Past slogans

• We're 4 Detroit (1970s)
• Go 4 It! (1980s-1990s)
• Come Home to the Best, Only On Channel 4 (localized version of NBC ad campaign during 1988-89 season)
• WDIV, The Place to Be (localized version of NBC ad campaign from the 1990-91 season)
• Where Local News Comes First (2000s)
• The Power of 4 (2006)

[edit] Newscasts

The station operates a Bell JetRanger 206B news helicopter called Sky 4.

[edit] Weekdays

• Local 4 News Morning PowerCast - 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.
• Local 4 News at Noon - 12Noon to 12:30 p.m.
• Local 4 News at 5 - 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Local 4 News at 6 - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Local 4 News at 11 - 11:00 p.m. to 11:35 p.m.

[edit] Saturday

• Local 4 News Morning PowerCast Saturday - 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
• Local 4 News at 6 - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Local 4 News at 11 - 11:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

[edit] Sunday

• Local 4 Morning PowerCast Sunday - 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
• Local 4 News at 6 - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• Local 4 News at 11 - 11:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

[edit] Local programs and personalities

WDIV was the launching pad for several locally produced shows that went national. The station broadcast the Dr. Sonya Freidman talk show Sonya live at 4 p.m.. It was so popular that the station, under the banner of Post-Newsweek Stations, syndicated it on a delayed basis to the USA Network cable network (which is now co-owned with NBC under NBC Universal). WDIV also produced the afternoon variety show The Tony Orlando Show at 4 p.m.. However, the station's management pulled the plug after a year for an afternoon talk show named Jenny Jones.

Another shot for WDIV came when the station signed WOMC morning man Dick Purtan to do live segments during a 4-5 comedy block called Purtan's People. It was followed by WOMC's Tom Ryan with a monthly special that showed B-Movies with comedy skits. This was during the heyday of NBC's late night success SCTV and Joe Flaherty's Count Floyd. Ryan's character was known as Count Scary. Eventually, Count Scary was dropped by WDIV and moved on to WKBD-TV's Shocktoberfest. Ryan still uses the character on his radio show during Halloween.

One local program idea that almost cost the station was for a Detroit-based comedy/drama called Hamtramck, which aired only once. It created a storm of controversey as ethnic groups said the show was racist. The backlash caused then-WDIV general manager Amy McCombs to resign.

Meteorologist Chuck Gaidica hosted the Michigan Lottery's game shows and his own show. Sports Director Bernie Smilovitz also hosted a couple of shows, including The Chuck and Bernie Show, which featured then Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly, and The Sparky and Bernie Show, which featured Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson. Smilovitz also hosted Bernie's Bloopers/Weekend At Bernies specials.

In recent years, WDIV news has become what may be termed sensationalistic, featuring reports by the RESCUE 4 UNDERCOVER Investigative Team. These reports often deal with sexual topics (such as chasing down and shaming men frequenting public parks looking for gay sex) or issues of personal safety (Is Your Favorite Movie Theater Safe?).

[edit] Current Anchors & Reporters

Anchors

• Carmen Harlan
• Devin Scillian
• Ruth Spencer
• Guy Gordon
• Rhonda Walker
• Steve Garagiola
• Karen Drew
• Robbin Simmons
• Jeff Vaughn
• Kori Chambers

Reporters

• Rachel Bianco
• Derricke Dennis
• Kevin Dietz
• Karen Drew
• Art Edwards
• Jon Jordan
• Mara MacDonald
• Rod Meloni
• Marc Santia
• Paula Tutman
• Roger Weber
• Hank Winchester

Weather / Local 4 Casters

• Chuck Gaidica
• Kim Adams
• Paul Gross
• Andrew Humphrey
• Eric Wilson

Traffic

• Gail Anderson
• Beth McLeod
• Chris Morgan

Sports

• Bernie Smilovitz
• Fred McLeod

[edit] Former news staffers at WDIV & WWJ (pre-1978)

• Al Ackerman -- Sports anchor (1970s and 1980s), left for WXYZ-TV
• Bob Allison - Ask Your Neighbor host, did TV news features, hosted long running "Bowling For Dollars"
• Tom Becherer - News director (1974-1977)
• Bob Bennett - Long-time general assignment reporter (1968-2000) (drowned in 2004)
• Asha Blake-Now lead anchor at KWGN-TV Denver
• Jim Brandstatter - Sports producer and reporter (1970s)
• Betty Carrier - 1970s reporter and anchor
• James F. Clark - 1960s news director
• Mort Crim-heads his own production company and is pitchman for "Majic Window"
• Carol Duvall - 1960s-1970s TV personality and noon anchor. Left for HGTV now retired
• Sonny Eliot - TV weathercaster and WWII POW. Still on air in 2006 on WWJ (AM); on WDIV in the 1970s, he had a way of using portmanteaus to describe the weather, e.g. "fair" and "cool" became "feh-ool, and there's no feh-ool like an old feh-ool"
• Bill Fyfe -- 1960s 6 p.m. news anchor, left to become WXYZ-TV news director and KABC-TV news director. Selected the now-famous "Eyewitness News" theme from movie "Cool Hand Luke"
• Bob Giles - Station's first news producer
• Louise Lind Giles - Detroit's first female news producer
• Chris Hansen- Dateline NBC correspondent
• Fran Harris -- Early TV host and news personality (1950-1960s)
• Tom Hoyt - News writer, now Ford Motor Company executive
• John Hultman - left to anchor at WBBM-AM Chicago
• Dave Kelley - News director (1970s)
• Don Kremer - Sportscaster, left for PR Director (Detroit Lions)
• Charlie Lord -- TV reporter in the 1960s, left TV for antiques
• Gen. S.L.A. Marshall - Military analyist during the Vietnam War era
• John Matthews - 1970s reporter
• Lou Prato - News director (1970s)
• George Pruette -- 1970s labor reporter and 11 p.m. news anchor
• Dwayne X. Riley - Labor and feature reporter, former anchor in the 1970s
• Ted Russell - Anchor in the 1970s
• Wes Sargenson - Replaced by Mort Crim. Now at WXIA-TV Atlanta
• John Spears -- early TV automotive reporter (1960s - 1970s)
• Ann Thompson-NBC News/CNBC Business Correspondent
• Milt Weiss - News director (1970s)
• Dick Westerkamp - 1960s news anchor
• Reynolds Wolf-Now with CNN

[edit] Former news staffers at WDIV-TV (1978 and beyond)

• Kathy Adams
• John Boruk (weekend sports anchor from 2005-2006; now at Philadelphia's Comcast SportsNet)
• Shon Gables left WCBS-TV in April 2006
• Doug Hill
• Emery King (anchor, 1988-2004, now with Detroit Medical Center)
• Rich Mayk
• Fred McLeod (weekend sports anchor and host of "Sports Final Edition" on Sunday nights from 1989-2006; will be the new TV play-by-play voice of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Dan Mountney (former 11 p.m. anchor)
• Margie Reedy
• Mal Sillars (former meteorologist)
• Darrielle Snipes
• Brian Teigland (now a news anchor for ABC 24 in Memphis,also co-host "Memphis Wrestling" on UPN30)
• Suzanne Wangler
• Dell Warner
• Narissa Williams
• Michael Ann Wolf
• Van Earl Wright (sports anchor, 1994-96, now co-anchor of FSN's FSN Final Score)
• Eli Zaret (sports anchor, 1980's)

[edit] References

• WDIV Makes Television History! Travel Back In Time With Local 4 Firsts! (2004). Clickondetroit.com.

[edit] External links

• WDIV's website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WDIV