WEYI-TV

WEYI-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Flint/Tri-Cities market that is licensed to Saginaw. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter at its studios on West Willard Road in Vienna Township along the Genesee and Saginaw County line. Owned by Barrington Broadcasting, the station is sister to CW affiliate WBSF and the two share s tudios. Syndicated programming on WEYI includes: Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, The Dr. Oz Show, and Ellen. The station can also be seen on WBSF's second digital subchannel (virtual channel 46.2).

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History
Channel 25 is one of the nation's oldest UHF stations. It debuted on April 5, 1953 as WKNX-TV on channel 57.[1]  It was owned by Lake Huron Broadcasting along with WKNX radio (AM 1210, now WHHQ at AM 1250), and was a CBS affiliate. It also shared ABC with DuMont affiliate WTAC-TV and then-NBC affiliate WNEM-TV (which later became sister to the former WKNX radio). The station first operated from studios located on South Washington Avenue in Downtown Saginaw. When WTAC-TV shut down in 1954, WKNX-TV and WNEM-TV shared ABC until WJRT-TV signed on in 1958. It moved to the stronger channel 25 on September 14, 1965.[1]  The station later relocated its studios to a new facility located on State Street in Flint.

On March 23, 1972, Lake Huron Broadcasting sold the station to Rust Craft, who changed the call letters to the current WEYI-TV. Soon afterward, the station moved to its current tower and studios on West Willard Road in Vienna Township. The new tower significantly improved its coverage in Flint while still being within 15 miles of Saginaw as required by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. Prior to 1972, the southern side of the Flint/Saginaw/Bay City market, including Flint itself, got a better signal from Lansing's WJIM-TV (now WLNS-TV). Rust Craft merged with magazine publisher Ziff-Davis in 1979.[1]

Ziff-Davis sold WEYI along with sister stations WRDW-TV in Augusta, Georgia, WROC-TV in Rochester, New York and WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio to Television Station Partners in 1983.[1]  As a CBS affiliate, WEYI, dropped the CBS soap Guiding Light in the early 1980s instead showing cartoons during the 3:00-4:00pm hour. On January 16, 1995, WEYI and WNEM-TV traded network affiliations, resulting in WEYI becoming an NBC station.[1]  This came as part of the larger U.S. television network affiliate switches of 1994 that saw CBS' longtime affiliate in adjacent Detroit, WJBK, switch to Fox. CBS was having trouble getting a replacement affiliate in Detroit; it ultimately landed on WGPR-TV (channel 62, now WWJ-TV), which at the time broadcast at very low power and was practically unviewable outside Detroit's inner ring. Since WNEM provides city-grade coverage to much of the northern portion of the Detroit market[citation needed], CBS persuaded WNEM's owner, Meredith Corporation, to switch to CBS. Mid-Michigan is the only known market where the CBS affiliation moved from a relatively weak UHF station to a higher-rated VHF station during this period.[citation needed]

Television Station Partners sold WEYI along with two of its stations WROC-TV in Rochester, New York and WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio to Smith Broadcasting in 1996.[1]  On January 16, 1997, the WEYI license was transferred to Smith Broadcasting subsidiary Sunrise Television.[1]  From October 4, 1999 to September 2001, the station added the WB Network as a secondary affiliation, airing its programming overnight.[1]

In January 2002, Sunrise and LIN TV agreed that LIN would take over the station under Local Marketing Agreement.[1]  By March, Sunrise sells the station to LIN with FCC approval granted in April 2002.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-mig_1-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[1]  LIN agreed to sell WEYI to Barrington Broadcasting in January 2004 and approved by the FCC in March 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-mig_1-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[1]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;">In 2004, Barrington Broadcasting launched WB affiliate WBSF in the same market which was offered over-the-air on WEYI-DT2 and cable.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[2]  The deal was made primarily because WKBD declined to carry Detroit Pistons basketball after the games switched to WMYD which is not available on most Mid-Michigan cable systems.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;">WEYI was blamed for forcing competing NBC affiliate WDIV from Detroit off of Comcast's Flint system (which serves most of Genesee County) as well as starting thesyndication exclusivity controversy on Comcast Flint. For several years, WDIV was available on Comcast's Flint system. However in 2004, WEYI filed a complaint with the FCC claiming it was losing NBC viewers to WDIV, most likely due to that station's new digital, all-high definition picture. According to WEYI's website, the station usedBetacam equipment (an analog videotape technology introduced in 1982) and none of its local or syndicated programming was shot in HD until 2014.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[3]  This is because WEYI lacked an HD-capable master control to receive such programming in even 16:9 standard definition widescreen, let alone HD. The FCC ruled in favor of WEYI <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[4] and for a brief period, NBC programs on WDIV were blacked out on Comcast Flint. Eventually in August 2006, Comcast Flint removed WDIV from the system completely, replacing it with the new local MyNetworkTV affiliate via WNEM-TV's second digital subchannel.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-comcast_5-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[5]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;">WEYI-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 25, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 30,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[6] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[7]  usingPSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 25. Also, WBSF became available on a separate digital signal on channel 46.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[8]  However, it is still available on WEYI's digital subchannel 25.2.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;">Afterwards, several Flint affiliates filed similar complaints with their Detroit-affiliated counterpart stations (WJRT-TV against WXYZ-TV, WBSF against WKBD, and WSMHagainst WJBK). However, the Detroit affiliates remain on Comcast Flint with blackouts continuing.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-comcast_5-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[5]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;">On February 28, 2013, Barrington announced that it would sell its entire group, including WEYI and WBSF, to Sinclair Broadcast Group. However, due to FCC duopolyregulations, since Sinclair already owns Fox affiliate WSMH, Sinclair will transfer the license assets of WEYI to Howard Stirk Holdings (owned by founder and CEO of communications firm The Graham Williams Group, political commentator Armstrong Williams, whose Sunday morning talk show The Right Side is carried by WEYI) and of WBSF to Cunningham Broadcasting (WSMH will take over the operations of both WEYI and WBSF through local marketing agreements when the deal is completed).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-b.26c-saletosinclair_9-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[9] The sale was completed on November 25.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[10]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.4px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:normal;">Effective April 27, 2015, WEYI took over duties of producing the news for sister Sinclair station WSMH.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ml_11-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.2px;font-weight:normal;">[11]

Newscasts
WBSF once aired a weeknight newscast known as The 7 O'Clock News on CW 46 which was produced by WEYI. This production was canceled in April 2008. Unlike most NBC affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, this station does not air local news during the weekday midday hours or weeknight 5 o'clock hour.

Newscast titles

 * TV-25 News (1960s-1980s)
 * 25 News (1980s-early 1990s)
 * WEYI-witness News (early-mid 1990s)
 * NBC 25 News (late 1990s-2002 and 2006–present)
 * NewsCenter 25 (2002–2006)

Station slogans

 * "Get Ready for 25" (1989–1991, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * "I am WEYI People" (1994–1995, last localized version of CBS ad campaign before the switch to NBC)
 * "It's WEYI!" (January–September 1995, first localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * "Moving Mid-Michigan Forward" (2006–2008)
 * "Get Connected" (2008-2012)
 * "NBC 25 News is Your News'' (2012-present)

News team
Anchors Meteorologists Sports Reporters
 * Elizabeth MacFarland - weekday mornings and producer
 * Jane Park - weeknights at 11 and reporter
 * Bill Harris - weeknights at 6 and reporter
 * Joel Feick- weekday mornings and reporter
 * Mark Torregrossa - Chief seen weeknights
 * Janet Van De Wrinkle- weekday mornings and "Travel Mid-Michigan" segment anchor
 * Kevin Usealman - weekends
 * Jamie Edmonds - Sports Anchor
 * Earl Arms- Sports Anchor
 * Bobby Mukkamala - "Ask Dr. Bobby" segment producer
 * David Boike - "Money Matters" segment producer
 * Dave Kinchen - weeknight politics and business
 * fill-in news and weather anchor
 * "Healthy Home" segment producer
 * Jessica Harthorn - fill-in news anchor

Notable former staff

 * Mickey York - sports anchor (now host on Fox Sports Detroit) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5">[6]
 * Doug Karsch - sports reporter (now WXYT-FM host and Michigan Wolverines sports reporter) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6">[7]
 * Jim Brandstatter - sports reporter (now Michigan Wolverines football and Detroit Lions radio analyst) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7">[8]
 * Eric Greene - Executive Producer and weeknight anchor
 * Roop Raj - reporter/anchor/weather (now at WJBK) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8">[9]
 * Leigh Moody - now at Bay News 9
 * Colleen (Hammond) Wine - reporter/anchor/weather (went to The Weather Channel and is now a Texas-based author and motivational speaker) <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9">[10]