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Wikipedia

WDIV-TV

WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio facilities on West Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit, making it the only major television station in the market with offices and studios within the Detroit city limits. Detroit's other television stations are all based in the suburb of Southfield; WDIV's transmitter is, however, located on Greenfield Road in Southfield.

WDIV-TV

Channels
Branding
  • Local 4
  • MeTV Detroit (DT3)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedOctober 23, 1946
First air date
March 4, 1947 (76 years ago) (1947-03-04)[1]
Former call signs
  • WWDT (1946–1947)
  • WWJ-TV (1947–1978)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 4 (VHF, 1947–2009)
  • Digital: 45 (UHF, 1999–2020)
Call sign meaning
"We're Detroit's Channel IV" (Roman numeral 4)[2]
-or-
"Where Detroit Is Vital"
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID53114
ERP720 kW
HAAT307.3 m (1,008.2 ft)
Transmitter coordinates42°28′58″N 83°12′19″W / 42.48278°N 83.20528°W / 42.48278; -83.20528
Links
Public license information
  • Public file
  • LMS
Websitewww.clickondetroit.com

History Edit

Early history Edit

The station first signed on the air as WWDT on October 23, 1946, for one day of demonstrative programming;[3] regular programming commenced on March 4, 1947. It was the first television station in Michigan and the tenth station to sign on in the United States overall. The station was originally owned by the Evening News Association, parent company of The Detroit News, along with WWJ radio (AM 950 and FM 97.1, now WXYT-FM). On May 15, 1947, the television station changed its call letters to WWJ-TV to match its radio sisters. Channel 4 has always been an NBC affiliate owing to WWJ radio's longtime affiliation with the NBC Red Network, but also aired some programs from the DuMont Television Network prior to WJBK-TV (channel 2)'s sign-on in October 1948.

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 the state's first televised newscasts. The station's studios were originally located at 600 West Lafayette, across the street from the Detroit News building in downtown Detroit (and next door to its present studio location). In 1954, the station moved its 1,004-foot (306 m) transmitter from the Penobscot Building in Downtown Detroit to the intersection of Greenfield and Lincoln roads in Southfield. Network programming was broadcast in color starting in 1954. The station began broadcasting its newscasts and other locally produced programs in color in 1960, when it purchased new studio camera equipment.

Over the years, the Evening News Association acquired several other broadcasting outlets, such as KTVY (now KFOR-TV) in Oklahoma City, KOLD-TV in Tucson, Arizona, and WALA-TV in Mobile, Alabama. Eventually, the Evening News Association created Universal Communications Corporation as a holding company for its broadcasting interests, with WWJ-AM-FM-TV as the flagship stations.

Trade to The Washington Post Company Edit

In 1969, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began to impose restrictions on the common ownership of print and broadcast media in the same market. The combination of the Detroit News and WWJ-AM-FM-TV was given grandfathered protection from the new regulations, but by the mid-to-late 1970s, the Evening News Association was under pressure to break up its Detroit cluster voluntarily. Fearing that an FCC-forced divestiture was imminent, the Evening News Association agreed to trade WWJ-TV to the Washington Post Company in return for that company's flagship station, WTOP-TV (later WDVM-TV and now WUSA).[4] On July 22, 1978, due to an FCC regulation in place at the time that forbade TV and radio stations in the same market but with different ownership groups from sharing the same call signs, channel 4 changed its call letters to the present WDIV-TV,[5] for "Detroit's IV" (representing the Roman numeral for 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 call sign was later adopted for use by the former WGPR-TV (channel 62) after its 1995 purchase by CBS, which had acquired WWJ radio in 1989 (CBS sold off its radio unit in 2017); the current WWJ-TV is a separate entity and not related to WDIV.

Ultimately, the FCC never imposed any limitations on ownership of television stations and newspapers in the same market and the exchange of stations between the Evening News Association (eventually subsumed by the Gannett Company in 1985) and The Washington Post Company (which was renamed Graham Holdings Company following the sale of The Washington Post in 2013) became somewhat unusual in television broadcasting.

In 1982, WDIV moved out of its facility (which had been built in 1936 for WWJ radio and expanded in 1948 and today is known as the Walker-Roehrig Building) adjacent to the headquarters of the Detroit News and moved one block to its current broadcast facility at West Lafayette Boulevard. The building has also housed the headquarters of Graham Media Group since 1997; the "Local" branding now utilized by most of the group's stations began at WDIV alongside its acquiring of flagship status in 2000. The station later became available outside the Detroit market when it was selected for inclusion on many Canadian cable providers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. WDIV's signal has been uplinked on C-band satellite since at least 1988. In 2004, the station bolstered local programming by securing broadcast rights to several Detroit Pistons basketball games (Fox Sports Detroit—now called Bally Sports Detroit—became the Pistons' sole broadcaster in 2008) as well as returning as the host television station for the North American International Auto Show. The station airs the auto show's charity preview, America's Thanksgiving Parade (both in high definition), the Ford Fireworks on the Detroit International Riverfront, and the charity event "The Hob-Nobble Gobble" which is held the night before the Thanksgiving parade.

On April 15, 2005, former WDIV employee John Owens was shot in the station's lobby by Epifanio Rivas, Jr., a man with a history of harassing WDIV employees. Rivas was charged with attempted murder, while Owens remained in the hospital in critical but stable condition. On November 21, 2006, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James Callahan sentenced Rivas to 16 to 32 years in prison for the shooting; he was also sentenced to two years for a felony firearm conviction. In December 2008, WDIV began streaming its newscasts online as part of a redesign of the station's website. On June 21, 2010, The 52nd Annual Target Fireworks were produced and aired entirely in high definition. On August 6, 2010, WDIV-TV and WXYZ-TV (channel 7) became the first stations in Detroit to offer Mobile DTV feeds.

On the evening of April 14, 2011, a suitcase containing a suspected improvised explosive device was left in the WDIV studio lobby after the person who planted the device was denied entry by the station's security guard, prompting the Detroit Police Bomb Squad to evacuate the studio as well as the Doubletree Hotel across the street. That night's 11 p.m. newscast was broadcast from the corner of Lafayette and Howard streets; the evacuation resulted in master control operations being inaccessible, preventing the broadcast or editing of news stories, and the broadcast of commercials. The station's PSIP virtual channel temporarily reverted to 45.1 (the station's physical digital channel), with HD content downconverted to 720p. The device was detonated minutes later, with police giving the all-clear at 11:15 p.m. for the news crew to re-enter the studio.[6]

Upon re-entering the studio, anchor Devin Scillian explained that WDIV has a policy of not immediately reporting bomb threats unless there is a true threat of an explosion or loss of life. However, because staff was barred access into the studio for the 11 p.m. newscast, an explanation as to why they were on the street, broadcasting from the station's mobile truck instead of the studio, needed to be given. The news was first reported by the Twitter and Facebook accounts of WDIV's news staff; WJBK, WXYZ-TV and WMYD (channel 20) reported on the situation while during the lockout, before the WDIV mobile truck could return to the studios from its assignments. A sweater and some empty soda cans were later found in the briefcase which was left by a homeless man that had followed a WDIV employee in for warmth and coffee; the man was brought to Detroit Receiving Hospital for observation the next day. The Detroit Police Department and Post-Newsweek's management said that no charges would be filed, calling it "just a big misunderstanding".

Programming Edit

WDIV-TV is one of the few television stations in the United States to have aired Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! from the beginning of their respective syndication runs in 1983 and 1984.[7] Because of this, the programs did not air on CBC owned-and-operated station CBET-DT in Windsor during the years the Canadian network carried the game shows; they were removed from the CBC schedule in 2012.[8]

Programming preemptions Edit

In the 1970s and 1980s, WDIV preempted one to two hours of NBC's daytime programming every day. 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, and initially did not clear the Letterman-era program at all.[9] Instead, until 1999, the station opted to rebroadcast The Jenny Jones Show in that timeslot, along with off-network syndicated programs such as Barney Miller.[7]

During the 1978–79 season, it aired This Morning, a locally based talk show hosted by Cathie Mann, in place of the game shows Card Sharks and All Star Secrets,[10] while for many years, NBC's 12:30 p.m. programming was preempted in favor of a newscast.[11][12] During the 1983–84 season, the newscast was expanded to an hour, preempting NBC's noon programming (most notably Super Password). That season, WDIV also preempted the 1983 revival of Dream House in favor of the much more popular syndicated game show Tic-Tac-Dough.[9]

From its debut until September 9, 2022, WDIV has also delayed the fourth hour of Today (which nationally airs at 10 a.m.), airing it generally at 11 a.m., save for a period from 2013 to 2015 when it aired at 2 p.m. after the launch their own local talk show Live In The D. In its place, WDIV has aired The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Ricki Lake Show and Rachael Ray at 10 a.m., with Live In The D airing in that timeslot.

The station did not carry NBC's late night rerun of the fourth hour of Today until 2019, preferring to carry an encore of the 11 p.m. newscast, paid programming, and a second run of Inside Edition. Along with all other Post-Newsweek stations, WDIV refused to air any of NBC's televised poker programming, including Poker After Dark, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship and Face the Ace.

From 1999 to 2002, WDIV did not clear the soap opera Passions at 2 p.m. Instead, it aired on WADL (channel 38) at noon on a day-behind basis, while WDIV aired daytime talk shows at 2 p.m.; Houston sister station KPRC-TV did this as well until August 30, 2004, when it became the last NBC station to carry Passions at 2 p.m. These two stations were the only NBC affiliate holdouts to the show; the issue was rendered moot when NBC canceled the soap opera in 2007. WDIV, KPRC-TV and Bonneville International-owned NBC affiliate KSL-TV in Salt Lake City also never carried Sunset Beach; the soap was seen, respectively, on WKBD, KTXH and KOOG (at the time, the former two were UPN affiliates and the latter was a WB affiliate).

NBC programming is still occasionally preempted for special events, including the annual Ford Fireworks and America's Thanksgiving Parade (whose coverage, incidentally, preempts the live Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast on the station, though it does carry the later tape-delayed broadcast) and on occasion, infomercials. Rebroadcasts of movies from This TV also air several times a year in prime time on WDIV's main channel (usually on Saturday nights or immediately after sweeps periods so no new network programming is affected) to recover revenue from developing news and weather events where sustained coverage preempts commercials, and to fulfill "make goods" for local advertisers.

Local programs and personalities Edit

WDIV was the launching pad for several locally produced shows that went national. The station broadcast the talk show Sonya (hosted by Dr. Sonya Freidman) 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 USA Network (which is now co-owned with NBC under NBCUniversal). WDIV also produced the afternoon variety show The Tony Orlando Show at 4 p.m. However, the station's management canceled the program after one year to run the syndicated daytime talk show The Jenny Jones Show.

WDIV later signed WOMC (104.3 FM) morning radio host Dick Purtan to perform live segments during a 4–5 p.m. 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 (in which Ryan played a character known as Count Scary). This was during the heyday of NBC's late-night success Second City Television and Joe Flaherty's Count Floyd. Eventually, Count Scary was dropped by WDIV and moved on to WKBD-TV (channel 50)'s Shocktoberfest. 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 controversy with the Hamtramck/Polish American community. The program's executive producer, Alan Frank, apologized to the community.

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 in which featured then Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly, and The Sparky and Bernie Show with Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson. Smilovitz also hosted Bernie's Bloopers/Weekend at Bernie's bloopers specials.

Sports Edit

WDIV was the over-the-air television flagship station of the Detroit Tigers, a relationship that lasted twenty seasons, from 1975 to 1994, and previously from 1947 to 1952. During the majority of WDIV's second tenure as the Tigers' broadcast outlet, Hall of Famers George Kell and Al Kaline served as play-by-play announcer and color analyst, respectively, on the telecasts. Bernie Smiltovitz hosted the station's pregame show, Tigers 'XX ('84, '85, etc.) during most of WDIV's time as the TV home of the Tigers. As a result of the station's carriage of Tigers games (which usually ranged between 40 and 50 telecasts per season, the majority of them on weekends), WDIV preempted or rescheduled any affected NBC programming that was displaced. The station also carried any Tigers games when they were featured nationally as part of NBC's MLB coverage from its 1947 sign-on until 1989; this included World Series victories in 1968 and 1984.

WDIV and WDWB/WMYD shared the over-the-air broadcast rights to the Detroit Pistons, from 2004 to 2008. After the 2007–08 season, the Pistons' local telecasts became exclusive to Fox Sports Detroit. As the co-flagship of the Pistons' television network, WDIV was the local outlet that televised the "Malice in the Palace" between the Pistons and the Indiana Pacers on the night of November 19, 2004, which led to the most infamous brawl in NBA history near that game's conclusion; the station also aired any Pistons games via NBC's broadcast contract with the NBA from 1990 to 2002.

The station has also carried the NFL's Detroit Lions, but not as an "official station" partner where it broadcast pre-season and team programming. From 1970 to 1997, via NBC's broadcast contract with the American Football Conference, home interconference contests were aired on channel 4 (which included the Thanksgiving games in some years). Since 2006, Lions games are shown on the station as part of NBC's Sunday Night Football package.

Additionally, through NBC's broadcast contract with the NHL, Detroit Red Wings games were carried until the deal's end in 2021, including the team's winning run through the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals as well as the team's appearance in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, though it often had to compete with CBC Television's CBET-DT across the river in Windsor, which also carries NHL playoff coverage.

Since 2023, the station has carried select Michigan Wolverines football games through NBC's broadcast contract with the Big Ten Conference.

News operation Edit

 
WDIV-TV Local 4 News remote van.

WDIV-TV presently broadcasts 36+12 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and 3+12 hours on Sundays). The station uses a Eurocopter A350 helicopter for newsgathering, which is also shared with WJBK and WXYZ-TV through a Local News Service agreement with those stations' respective owners Fox Television Stations and the E. W. Scripps Company. This helicopter features a completely digital HD video system and is quite noticeable from the ground with its large front camera pod and distinctive red paint (hence the callsign "Red Bird"). WDIV also purchases services from Metro Traffic, which provides traffic reporting from its analog SD video platform, aloft on a Bell 206 airframe. This helicopter is blue and white with a smaller camera pod. Both helicopters are operated by HeliInc, which provides aircraft services to broadcasters in many markets.

WDIV's news department operates a fleet of 14 newsgathering vehicles, including 11 standard news ENG (electronic news-gathering) Ford E350 vans with two-band digital microwave transmitters and video editing platforms. One of these trucks is a dual-purpose microwave truck and digital satellite uplink package. The station has one micro-ENG E150 van capable of rapid deployment short-range broadcasts and one additional satellite uplink vehicle with a much larger 1.8-meter antenna.

On January 8, 2007, the station added a half-hour late afternoon newscast at 4 p.m. In the spring of 2007, WDIV received an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award, one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism. "The China Syndrome", reported and produced by Devin Scillian, was named Best Documentary. On August 19, 2007, starting with the 11 p.m. newscast, WDIV became the second television station in Detroit to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.

In August 2013, WDIV dropped its noon newscast and converted it into an online-only broadcast in order to attract viewers who are at work during that timeslot. Viewer demand resulted in the station relaunching the noon newscast on the television station on January 13, 2014.[13]

In August 2014, WDIV unveiled a new studio, designed in-house and constructed by the Livonia, Michigan-based company EWI Worldwide.[14]

On November 11, 2016, Carmen Harlan retired after 38 years at the station to spend more time with her grandchildren.[15]

On September 12, 2022, WDIV expanded its noon newscast to a full hour full-time.

Notable current on-air staff Edit

Notable former on-air staff Edit

Technical information Edit

Subchannels Edit

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WDIV-TV[18]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
4.1 1080i 16:9 WDIV-HD Main WDIV-TV programming / NBC
4.2 480i This TV This TV
4.3 Me TV MeTV
4.4 COZI Cozi TV
20.2 480i 16:9 WMYD-AT Antenna TV (WMYD-DT2)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

WDIV's second digital subchannel formally carried programming from NBC Weather Plus, which folded in November 2008. WDIV-TV also has a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 4.1, labelled "Local 4", broadcasting at 1.83 Mbit/s.[19][20]

WDIV-DT2 is one of the few affiliates of This TV to have been affiliated with the network through most of its entire history, even as it was dropped in several other markets before Allen Media Group purchased the network in 2021.

On July 30, 2015, WDIV-TV became the market's affiliate for Weigel Broadcasting's MeTV network through their third subchannel. WDIV-DT3 is used as an overflow feed for network and syndicated programming if the latter is pre-empted by breaking news and severe weather coverage on 4.1.

On January 3, 2020, WDIV-TV activated a fourth subchannel, which broadcasts Cozi TV, a network owned by NBC's parent company NBCUniversal. This makes WDIV-TV the third station in the Detroit market to have been affiliated with Cozi TV, which was previously on WMYD and on WADL.

Analog-to-digital conversion Edit

WDIV-TV signed on its digital high-definition signal on UHF 45 on March 1, 1999. The station shut down its analog signal over VHF channel 4 on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 45.[21][22] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 4.

As part of the SAFER Act,[23] WDIV kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.

In March 2017, the station announced that it would move its physical RF channel to UHF channel 32.

Out-of-market coverage Edit

WDIV's over-the-air signal can be picked up as far away as Flint, Lapeer, and Adrian in Michigan, as well as Toledo, Ohio and even London, Ontario. WDIV is also one of only three American stations that mention Windsor and London as among their primary viewing areas, alongside WMYD and WJBK.

WDIV is carried on most cable providers in Southeast Michigan, Southwestern Ontario and Northwestern Ohio. It is also carried on several other Canadian cable providers including Rogers Cable in the capital city of Ottawa well away from the range of its signal. It is one of five Detroit area television stations seen in Canada on satellite provider Shaw Direct and was the original affiliate offered by CANCOM (now Shaw Broadcast Services) starting in September 1983. WDIV is also carried on some cable providers in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in communities such as Seney, Republic and Grand Marais.

CANCOM/Shaw's carriage of WDIV stretches outside of Canada with cable carriage in places as varied as far northern New York state (including Hammond and Alexandria Bay), all of Bermuda, parts of Latin America and for a time in the early 1990s, some parts of Ireland (with a delay).[24] In addition, WDIV is carried on some cable providers in Mexico, via Shaw Broadcast Services, such the Cablemás system in Ciudad Juárez, which offers WDIV instead of fellow NBC affiliate KTSM-TV in nearby El Paso, Texas. From 1985 to circa 1998, WDIV was the NBC affiliate carried by Cable Atlantic (now Rogers Cable) in Newfoundland and Labrador including in St. John's before the provider switched to the network's Boston affiliate WHDH (which was affiliated with NBC from 1995 to 2017; it is now independent).

Coverage on cable providers outside the Detroit–Windsor market may be subject to syndication exclusivity and network blackouts in the United States and simsubbing in Canada.

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ . Archived from the original on August 5, 2007. Retrieved June 21, 2007.
  2. ^ . Archived from the original on June 4, 2011.
  3. ^ WDIV Makes Television History! Travel Back In Time With Local 4 Firsts! August 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (2004). Clickondetroit.com
  4. ^ "Two more crossowners go thataway." Broadcasting, December 12, 1977, pp. 19-21. [1][permanent dead link][2][permanent dead link][3][permanent dead link]
  5. ^ ""WDIV advertisement." Broadcasting, July 17, 1978, pp. 23-25" (PDF).
  6. ^ . Archived from the original on April 16, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Channel 4 Schedule: 1988-89 Season - Inside WDIV News Story - WDIV Detroit". from the original on July 8, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
  8. ^ "CBC axes Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune". The Chronicle Herald. May 2, 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Channel 4 Schedule: 1983-84 Season - Inside WDIV News Story - WDIV Detroit". from the original on July 8, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
  10. ^ "Channel 4 Schedule: 1978-79 Season - Inside WDIV News Story - WDIV Detroit". from the original on July 8, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
  11. ^ "Channel 4 Schedule: 1969-70 Season - About WDIV News Story - WDIV Detroit". from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  12. ^ "Channel 4 Schedule: 1973-74 Season - About WDIV News Story - WDIV Detroit". from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  13. ^ WDIV to Revive Noon News Broadcast, TVSpy, January 13, 2014.
  14. ^ "WDIV Unveils Updated Look". TVSpy. Prometheus Global Media. September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  15. ^ Riley, Rochelle. "Carmen Harlan to retire from WDIV-TV after 38 years". Detroit Free Press.
  16. ^ . Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  17. ^ "Chris Hansen Biography". NBC News. July 11, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  18. ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for WDIV". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  19. ^ "RabbitEars.Info". www.rabbitears.info.
  20. ^ . Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  21. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  22. ^ "CDBS Print". licensing.fcc.gov.
  23. ^ "Updated List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
  24. ^ Matt Lauer, on NBC's The Today Show (May 2, 2007)

External links Edit

  • Official website

wdiv, channel, television, station, detroit, michigan, united, states, affiliated, with, serves, flagship, broadcast, property, graham, media, group, subsidiary, graham, holdings, company, maintains, studio, facilities, west, lafayette, boulevard, detroit, mak. WDIV TV channel 4 is a television station in Detroit Michigan United States affiliated with NBC It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company WDIV TV maintains studio facilities on West Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit making it the only major television station in the market with offices and studios within the Detroit city limits Detroit s other television stations are all based in the suburb of Southfield WDIV s transmitter is however located on Greenfield Road in Southfield WDIV TVDetroit MichiganUnited StatesChannelsDigital 32 UHF Virtual 4BrandingLocal 4MeTV Detroit DT3 ProgrammingAffiliations4 1 NBCfor others see SubchannelsOwnershipOwnerGraham Media Group Graham Media Group Michigan Inc HistoryFoundedOctober 23 1946First air dateMarch 4 1947 76 years ago 1947 03 04 1 Former call signsWWDT 1946 1947 WWJ TV 1947 1978 Former channel number s Analog 4 VHF 1947 2009 Digital 45 UHF 1999 2020 Former affiliationsBoth secondary DuMont 1947 1948 Paramount 1953 1955 Call sign meaning We re Detroit s Channel IV Roman numeral 4 2 or Where Detroit Is Vital Technical informationLicensing authorityFCCFacility ID53114ERP720 kWHAAT307 3 m 1 008 2 ft Transmitter coordinates42 28 58 N 83 12 19 W 42 48278 N 83 20528 W 42 48278 83 20528LinksPublic license informationPublic fileLMSWebsitewww wbr clickondetroit wbr com Contents 1 History 1 1 Early history 1 2 Trade to The Washington Post Company 2 Programming 2 1 Programming preemptions 2 2 Local programs and personalities 2 3 Sports 2 4 News operation 2 4 1 Notable current on air staff 2 4 2 Notable former on air staff 3 Technical information 3 1 Subchannels 3 2 Analog to digital conversion 4 Out of market coverage 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditEarly history Edit The station first signed on the air as WWDT on October 23 1946 for one day of demonstrative programming 3 regular programming commenced on March 4 1947 It was the first television station in Michigan and the tenth station to sign on in the United States overall The station was originally owned by the Evening News Association parent company of The Detroit News along with WWJ radio AM 950 and FM 97 1 now WXYT FM On May 15 1947 the television station changed its call letters to WWJ TV to match its radio sisters Channel 4 has always been an NBC affiliate owing to WWJ radio s longtime affiliation with the NBC Red Network but also aired some programs from the DuMont Television Network prior to WJBK TV channel 2 s sign on in October 1948 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 the state s first televised newscasts The station s studios were originally located at 600 West Lafayette across the street from the Detroit News building in downtown Detroit and next door to its present studio location In 1954 the station moved its 1 004 foot 306 m transmitter from the Penobscot Building in Downtown Detroit to the intersection of Greenfield and Lincoln roads in Southfield Network programming was broadcast in color starting in 1954 The station began broadcasting its newscasts and other locally produced programs in color in 1960 when it purchased new studio camera equipment Over the years the Evening News Association acquired several other broadcasting outlets such as KTVY now KFOR TV in Oklahoma City KOLD TV in Tucson Arizona and WALA TV in Mobile Alabama Eventually the Evening News Association created Universal Communications Corporation as a holding company for its broadcasting interests with WWJ AM FM TV as the flagship stations Trade to The Washington Post Company Edit In 1969 the Federal Communications Commission FCC began to impose restrictions on the common ownership of print and broadcast media in the same market The combination of the Detroit News and WWJ AM FM TV was given grandfathered protection from the new regulations but by the mid to late 1970s the Evening News Association was under pressure to break up its Detroit cluster voluntarily Fearing that an FCC forced divestiture was imminent the Evening News Association agreed to trade WWJ TV to the Washington Post Company in return for that company s flagship station WTOP TV later WDVM TV and now WUSA 4 On July 22 1978 due to an FCC regulation in place at the time that forbade TV and radio stations in the same market but with different ownership groups from sharing the same call signs channel 4 changed its call letters to the present WDIV TV 5 for Detroit s IV representing the Roman numeral for 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 call sign was later adopted for use by the former WGPR TV channel 62 after its 1995 purchase by CBS which had acquired WWJ radio in 1989 CBS sold off its radio unit in 2017 the current WWJ TV is a separate entity and not related to WDIV Ultimately the FCC never imposed any limitations on ownership of television stations and newspapers in the same market and the exchange of stations between the Evening News Association eventually subsumed by the Gannett Company in 1985 and The Washington Post Company which was renamed Graham Holdings Company following the sale of The Washington Post in 2013 became somewhat unusual in television broadcasting In 1982 WDIV moved out of its facility which had been built in 1936 for WWJ radio and expanded in 1948 and today is known as the Walker Roehrig Building adjacent to the headquarters of the Detroit News and moved one block to its current broadcast facility at West Lafayette Boulevard The building has also housed the headquarters of Graham Media Group since 1997 the Local branding now utilized by most of the group s stations began at WDIV alongside its acquiring of flagship status in 2000 The station later became available outside the Detroit market when it was selected for inclusion on many Canadian cable providers in the late 1980s and early 1990s WDIV s signal has been uplinked on C band satellite since at least 1988 In 2004 the station bolstered local programming by securing broadcast rights to several Detroit Pistons basketball games Fox Sports Detroit now called Bally Sports Detroit became the Pistons sole broadcaster in 2008 as well as returning as the host television station for the North American International Auto Show The station airs the auto show s charity preview America s Thanksgiving Parade both in high definition the Ford Fireworks on the Detroit International Riverfront and the charity event The Hob Nobble Gobble which is held the night before the Thanksgiving parade On April 15 2005 former WDIV employee John Owens was shot in the station s lobby by Epifanio Rivas Jr a man with a history of harassing WDIV employees Rivas was charged with attempted murder while Owens remained in the hospital in critical but stable condition On November 21 2006 Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James Callahan sentenced Rivas to 16 to 32 years in prison for the shooting he was also sentenced to two years for a felony firearm conviction In December 2008 WDIV began streaming its newscasts online as part of a redesign of the station s website On June 21 2010 The 52nd Annual Target Fireworks were produced and aired entirely in high definition On August 6 2010 WDIV TV and WXYZ TV channel 7 became the first stations in Detroit to offer Mobile DTV feeds On the evening of April 14 2011 a suitcase containing a suspected improvised explosive device was left in the WDIV studio lobby after the person who planted the device was denied entry by the station s security guard prompting the Detroit Police Bomb Squad to evacuate the studio as well as the Doubletree Hotel across the street That night s 11 p m newscast was broadcast from the corner of Lafayette and Howard streets the evacuation resulted in master control operations being inaccessible preventing the broadcast or editing of news stories and the broadcast of commercials The station s PSIP virtual channel temporarily reverted to 45 1 the station s physical digital channel with HD content downconverted to 720p The device was detonated minutes later with police giving the all clear at 11 15 p m for the news crew to re enter the studio 6 Upon re entering the studio anchor Devin Scillian explained that WDIV has a policy of not immediately reporting bomb threats unless there is a true threat of an explosion or loss of life However because staff was barred access into the studio for the 11 p m newscast an explanation as to why they were on the street broadcasting from the station s mobile truck instead of the studio needed to be given The news was first reported by the Twitter and Facebook accounts of WDIV s news staff WJBK WXYZ TV and WMYD channel 20 reported on the situation while during the lockout before the WDIV mobile truck could return to the studios from its assignments A sweater and some empty soda cans were later found in the briefcase which was left by a homeless man that had followed a WDIV employee in for warmth and coffee the man was brought to Detroit Receiving Hospital for observation the next day The Detroit Police Department and Post Newsweek s management said that no charges would be filed calling it just a big misunderstanding Programming EditWDIV TV is one of the few television stations in the United States to have aired Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy from the beginning of their respective syndication runs in 1983 and 1984 7 Because of this the programs did not air on CBC owned and operated station CBET DT in Windsor during the years the Canadian network carried the game shows they were removed from the CBC schedule in 2012 8 Programming preemptions Edit In the 1970s and 1980s WDIV preempted one to two hours of NBC s daytime programming every day 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 and initially did not clear the Letterman era program at all 9 Instead until 1999 the station opted to rebroadcast The Jenny Jones Show in that timeslot along with off network syndicated programs such as Barney Miller 7 During the 1978 79 season it aired This Morning a locally based talk show hosted by Cathie Mann in place of the game shows Card Sharks and All Star Secrets 10 while for many years NBC s 12 30 p m programming was preempted in favor of a newscast 11 12 During the 1983 84 season the newscast was expanded to an hour preempting NBC s noon programming most notably Super Password That season WDIV also preempted the 1983 revival of Dream House in favor of the much more popular syndicated game show Tic Tac Dough 9 From its debut until September 9 2022 WDIV has also delayed the fourth hour of Today which nationally airs at 10 a m airing it generally at 11 a m save for a period from 2013 to 2015 when it aired at 2 p m after the launch their own local talk show Live In The D In its place WDIV has aired The Ellen DeGeneres Show The Ricki Lake Show and Rachael Ray at 10 a m with Live In The D airing in that timeslot The station did not carry NBC s late night rerun of the fourth hour of Today until 2019 preferring to carry an encore of the 11 p m newscast paid programming and a second run of Inside Edition Along with all other Post Newsweek stations WDIV refused to air any of NBC s televised poker programming including Poker After Dark the National Heads Up Poker Championship and Face the Ace From 1999 to 2002 WDIV did not clear the soap opera Passions at 2 p m Instead it aired on WADL channel 38 at noon on a day behind basis while WDIV aired daytime talk shows at 2 p m Houston sister station KPRC TV did this as well until August 30 2004 when it became the last NBC station to carry Passions at 2 p m These two stations were the only NBC affiliate holdouts to the show the issue was rendered moot when NBC canceled the soap opera in 2007 WDIV KPRC TV and Bonneville International owned NBC affiliate KSL TV in Salt Lake City also never carried Sunset Beach the soap was seen respectively on WKBD KTXH and KOOG at the time the former two were UPN affiliates and the latter was a WB affiliate NBC programming is still occasionally preempted for special events including the annual Ford Fireworks and America s Thanksgiving Parade whose coverage incidentally preempts the live Macy s Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast on the station though it does carry the later tape delayed broadcast and on occasion infomercials Rebroadcasts of movies from This TV also air several times a year in prime time on WDIV s main channel usually on Saturday nights or immediately after sweeps periods so no new network programming is affected to recover revenue from developing news and weather events where sustained coverage preempts commercials and to fulfill make goods for local advertisers Local programs and personalities Edit WDIV was the launching pad for several locally produced shows that went national The station broadcast the talk show Sonya hosted by Dr Sonya Freidman 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 USA Network which is now co owned with NBC under NBCUniversal WDIV also produced the afternoon variety show The Tony Orlando Show at 4 p m However the station s management canceled the program after one year to run the syndicated daytime talk show The Jenny Jones Show WDIV later signed WOMC 104 3 FM morning radio host Dick Purtan to perform live segments during a 4 5 p m 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 in which Ryan played a character known as Count Scary This was during the heyday of NBC s late night success Second City Television and Joe Flaherty s Count Floyd Eventually Count Scary was dropped by WDIV and moved on to WKBD TV channel 50 s Shocktoberfest 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 controversy with the Hamtramck Polish American community The program s executive producer Alan Frank apologized to the community 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 in which featured then Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly and The Sparky and Bernie Show with Detroit Tigers manager Sparky Anderson Smilovitz also hosted Bernie s Bloopers Weekend at Bernie s bloopers specials Sports Edit WDIV was the over the air television flagship station of the Detroit Tigers a relationship that lasted twenty seasons from 1975 to 1994 and previously from 1947 to 1952 During the majority of WDIV s second tenure as the Tigers broadcast outlet Hall of Famers George Kell and Al Kaline served as play by play announcer and color analyst respectively on the telecasts Bernie Smiltovitz hosted the station s pregame show Tigers XX 84 85 etc during most of WDIV s time as the TV home of the Tigers As a result of the station s carriage of Tigers games which usually ranged between 40 and 50 telecasts per season the majority of them on weekends WDIV preempted or rescheduled any affected NBC programming that was displaced The station also carried any Tigers games when they were featured nationally as part of NBC s MLB coverage from its 1947 sign on until 1989 this included World Series victories in 1968 and 1984 WDIV and WDWB WMYD shared the over the air broadcast rights to the Detroit Pistons from 2004 to 2008 After the 2007 08 season the Pistons local telecasts became exclusive to Fox Sports Detroit As the co flagship of the Pistons television network WDIV was the local outlet that televised the Malice in the Palace between the Pistons and the Indiana Pacers on the night of November 19 2004 which led to the most infamous brawl in NBA history near that game s conclusion the station also aired any Pistons games via NBC s broadcast contract with the NBA from 1990 to 2002 The station has also carried the NFL s Detroit Lions but not as an official station partner where it broadcast pre season and team programming From 1970 to 1997 via NBC s broadcast contract with the American Football Conference home interconference contests were aired on channel 4 which included the Thanksgiving games in some years Since 2006 Lions games are shown on the station as part of NBC s Sunday Night Football package Additionally through NBC s broadcast contract with the NHL Detroit Red Wings games were carried until the deal s end in 2021 including the team s winning run through the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals as well as the team s appearance in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals though it often had to compete with CBC Television s CBET DT across the river in Windsor which also carries NHL playoff coverage Since 2023 the station has carried select Michigan Wolverines football games through NBC s broadcast contract with the Big Ten Conference News operation Edit nbsp WDIV TV Local 4 News remote van WDIV TV presently broadcasts 36 1 2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week with six hours each weekday three hours on Saturdays and 3 1 2 hours on Sundays The station uses a Eurocopter A350 helicopter for newsgathering which is also shared with WJBK and WXYZ TV through a Local News Service agreement with those stations respective owners Fox Television Stations and the E W Scripps Company This helicopter features a completely digital HD video system and is quite noticeable from the ground with its large front camera pod and distinctive red paint hence the callsign Red Bird WDIV also purchases services from Metro Traffic which provides traffic reporting from its analog SD video platform aloft on a Bell 206 airframe This helicopter is blue and white with a smaller camera pod Both helicopters are operated by HeliInc which provides aircraft services to broadcasters in many markets WDIV s news department operates a fleet of 14 newsgathering vehicles including 11 standard news ENG electronic news gathering Ford E350 vans with two band digital microwave transmitters and video editing platforms One of these trucks is a dual purpose microwave truck and digital satellite uplink package The station has one micro ENG E150 van capable of rapid deployment short range broadcasts and one additional satellite uplink vehicle with a much larger 1 8 meter antenna On January 8 2007 the station added a half hour late afternoon newscast at 4 p m In the spring of 2007 WDIV received an RTNDA Edward R Murrow Award one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism The China Syndrome reported and produced by Devin Scillian was named Best Documentary On August 19 2007 starting with the 11 p m newscast WDIV became the second television station in Detroit to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition In August 2013 WDIV dropped its noon newscast and converted it into an online only broadcast in order to attract viewers who are at work during that timeslot Viewer demand resulted in the station relaunching the noon newscast on the television station on January 13 2014 13 In August 2014 WDIV unveiled a new studio designed in house and constructed by the Livonia Michigan based company EWI Worldwide 14 On November 11 2016 Carmen Harlan retired after 38 years at the station to spend more time with her grandchildren 15 On September 12 2022 WDIV expanded its noon newscast to a full hour full time Notable current on air staff Edit Devin Scillian weeknights anchorNotable former on air staff Edit Asa Aarons consumer reporter 1990 1993 went to WNBC in New York Asha Blake weekend anchor health reporter 1993 1996 went to NBC News later at KWGN TV in Denver and KTLA in Los Angeles now with WFAA in Dallas Fort Worth Jim Brandstatter sports producer and reporter 1970s 16 Doug Bruckner reporter now at Extra Mort Crim news anchor radio reporter 1978 1997 now runs Mort Crim Communications and spokesperson for Majic Windows Vince DeMentri reporter 1993 1994 most recently at WPIX in New York City Carol Duvall television personality and noon anchor 1960s 1970s left for HGTV now deceased Shon Gables morning anchor 2000 2003 left WCBS TV in New York City in April 2006 now with WFAA in Dallas Fort Worth Chris Hansen investigative reporter anchor 1988 1993 later at NBC News 17 Fran Harris TV host and news personality 1950 1960s Fred Hickman sports anchor 1984 1985 also worked at CNN and ESPN now deceased Doug Hill meteorologist 1980 1982 later at WJLA TV in Washington D C now deceased Davey Marlin Jones film critic 1978 1987 also worked at WUSA in Washington D C now deceased Fred McLeod weekend sports anchor host of Sports Final Edition on Sunday nights 1989 2006 later the TV play by play voice of the NBA s Cleveland Cavaliers now deceased Dean Miller news anchor 1970s now deceased Rob Parker sports anchor also co host of Sports Final Edition now retired Anne Thompson reporter 1986 1997 now at NBC News as correspondent for NBC Nightly News Reynolds Wolf meteorologist 1999 2002 joined CNN currently on The Weather Channel Van Earl Wright sports anchor 1993 1996 was lead announcer of NBC s 2008 revival of American Gladiators Technical information EditSubchannels Edit The station s digital signal is multiplexed Subchannels of WDIV TV 18 Channel Res Aspect Short name Programming4 1 1080i 16 9 WDIV HD Main WDIV TV programming NBC4 2 480i This TV This TV4 3 Me TV MeTV4 4 COZI Cozi TV20 2 480i 16 9 WMYD AT Antenna TV WMYD DT2 Broadcast on behalf of another station WDIV s second digital subchannel formally carried programming from NBC Weather Plus which folded in November 2008 WDIV TV also has a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 4 1 labelled Local 4 broadcasting at 1 83 Mbit s 19 20 WDIV DT2 is one of the few affiliates of This TV to have been affiliated with the network through most of its entire history even as it was dropped in several other markets before Allen Media Group purchased the network in 2021 On July 30 2015 WDIV TV became the market s affiliate for Weigel Broadcasting s MeTV network through their third subchannel WDIV DT3 is used as an overflow feed for network and syndicated programming if the latter is pre empted by breaking news and severe weather coverage on 4 1 On January 3 2020 WDIV TV activated a fourth subchannel which broadcasts Cozi TV a network owned by NBC s parent company NBCUniversal This makes WDIV TV the third station in the Detroit market to have been affiliated with Cozi TV which was previously on WMYD and on WADL Analog to digital conversion Edit WDIV TV signed on its digital high definition signal on UHF 45 on March 1 1999 The station shut down its analog signal over VHF channel 4 on June 12 2009 the official date on which full power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate The station s digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre transition UHF channel 45 21 22 Through the use of PSIP digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 4 As part of the SAFER Act 23 WDIV kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters In March 2017 the station announced that it would move its physical RF channel to UHF channel 32 Out of market coverage EditWDIV s over the air signal can be picked up as far away as Flint Lapeer and Adrian in Michigan as well as Toledo Ohio and even London Ontario WDIV is also one of only three American stations that mention Windsor and London as among their primary viewing areas alongside WMYD and WJBK WDIV is carried on most cable providers in Southeast Michigan Southwestern Ontario and Northwestern Ohio It is also carried on several other Canadian cable providers including Rogers Cable in the capital city of Ottawa well away from the range of its signal It is one of five Detroit area television stations seen in Canada on satellite provider Shaw Direct and was the original affiliate offered by CANCOM now Shaw Broadcast Services starting in September 1983 WDIV is also carried on some cable providers in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in communities such as Seney Republic and Grand Marais CANCOM Shaw s carriage of WDIV stretches outside of Canada with cable carriage in places as varied as far northern New York state including Hammond and Alexandria Bay all of Bermuda parts of Latin America and for a time in the early 1990s some parts of Ireland with a delay 24 In addition WDIV is carried on some cable providers in Mexico via Shaw Broadcast Services such the Cablemas system in Ciudad Juarez which offers WDIV instead of fellow NBC affiliate KTSM TV in nearby El Paso Texas From 1985 to circa 1998 WDIV was the NBC affiliate carried by Cable Atlantic now Rogers Cable in Newfoundland and Labrador including in St John s before the provider switched to the network s Boston affiliate WHDH which was affiliated with NBC from 1995 to 2017 it is now independent Coverage on cable providers outside the Detroit Windsor market may be subject to syndication exclusivity and network blackouts in the United States and simsubbing in Canada See also EditMedia in DetroitReferences Edit WDIV Makes Television History Travel Back In Time With Local 4 Firsts Inside WDIV News Story WDIV Detroit Archived from the original on August 5 2007 Retrieved June 21 2007 Call Letter Origins The List Archived from the original on June 4 2011 WDIV Makes Television History Travel Back In Time With Local 4 Firsts Archived August 5 2007 at the Wayback Machine 2004 Clickondetroit com Two more crossowners go thataway Broadcasting December 12 1977 pp 19 21 1 permanent dead link 2 permanent dead link 3 permanent dead link WDIV advertisement Broadcasting July 17 1978 pp 23 25 PDF Detroit bomb squad gives all clear after bomb scare at WDIV TV Archived from the original on April 16 2011 a b Channel 4 Schedule 1988 89 Season Inside WDIV News Story WDIV Detroit Archived from the original on July 8 2007 Retrieved July 8 2007 CBC axes Jeopardy Wheel of Fortune The Chronicle Herald May 2 2012 Retrieved May 26 2012 a b Channel 4 Schedule 1983 84 Season Inside WDIV News Story WDIV Detroit Archived from the original on July 8 2007 Retrieved July 8 2007 Channel 4 Schedule 1978 79 Season Inside WDIV News Story WDIV Detroit Archived from the original on July 8 2007 Retrieved July 8 2007 Channel 4 Schedule 1969 70 Season About WDIV News Story WDIV Detroit Archived from the original on December 10 2008 Retrieved December 10 2008 Channel 4 Schedule 1973 74 Season About WDIV News Story WDIV Detroit Archived from the original on December 10 2008 Retrieved December 10 2008 WDIV to Revive Noon News Broadcast TVSpy January 13 2014 WDIV Unveils Updated Look TVSpy Prometheus Global Media September 5 2014 Retrieved September 8 2014 Riley Rochelle Carmen Harlan to retire from WDIV TV after 38 years Detroit Free Press Jim Brandstatter Biography Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Archived from the original on September 29 2013 Retrieved September 26 2013 Chris Hansen Biography NBC News July 11 2012 Retrieved September 26 2013 Digital TV Market Listing for WDIV RabbitEars info Retrieved January 3 2020 RabbitEars Info www rabbitears info Mobile DTV Signal Map from the National Association of Broadcasters Archived from the original on October 17 2016 Retrieved September 18 2017 DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds PDF Archived from the original PDF on August 29 2013 Retrieved March 24 2012 CDBS Print licensing fcc gov Updated List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program PDF Federal Communications Commission June 12 2009 Retrieved June 4 2012 Matt Lauer on NBC s The Today Show May 2 2007 External links EditOfficial website Official This TV Detroit website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title WDIV TV amp oldid 1180004706, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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