WXMI

WXMI channel 17 is a Fox-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, owned by theTribune Company. WXMI's studio and office facility is located in Grand Rapids and its transmitter is based southwest of Middleville, Michigan.

History
The station signed on-the-air March 18, 1982 as a locally-owned independent with the call signWWMA. The call letters are said to have stood for We're West Michigan Alternative. The station was originally owned by Heritage Broadcasting Company. Approximately a year after signing on, additional shareholders bought control of the station and changed the calls to the current WXMIon August 15, 1983. The "XMI" at the time were said to stand for EXtreme Michigan. It became a charter affiliate of FOX after signing an affiliation deal in 1987. In 1989, the station's stock was purchased by a New York-based company headed by Robert Dudley called Odyssey Television Partners.

Nine years later, WXMI was purchased by Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications which traded the station with sister KTZZ in Seattle, Washington to Tribune in 1998 in exchange for FM station WQCD in New York City. From August 2006 to September 2007, The Tubeaired on a second digital channel. Three months later, cartoons were dropped from the WXMI schedule with the cancellation of 4KidsTV and leaving local programs are aired on Saturday Mornings.

Digital television

WXMI's digital channel, 19, is multiplexed, with the following lineup: WXMI became digital-only on June 12, 2009.[1] Its digital signal remained on channel 19 when the analog to digital conversion completed.[2] [3] In July 2010 the station reactivated the 17.2 digital subchannel to carry This TV, which moved to 17.3 on December 9 in anticipation of the late December 31 launch of Tribune's new Antenna TV classic television network on 17.2.

Translators
In addition to its main signal, the station also operates two translators. W42CB channel 42 completed a flash-cut to digital-only broadcasting in November, 2010. W52DB on analog channel 52 was replaced by a digital signal on channel 17 in December, 2010. W52DB calls will become W17DF-D.[4]

Newscasts
On January 11, 1999, WXMI started a news department and launched the market's first prime time newscast FOX 17 News at 10. It aired weeknights for 35 minutes and weekends for a half-hour. This was unlike FOX which had no national nightly news. The program would expand to a full hour seven nights a week in 2004. On August 28, 2006, the station premiered FOX 17 Morning News. Originally a two hour-long broadcast, it expanded to four hours on September 15, 2008. On April 17, 2009, it began producing its local news in high definition. It was the first station in West Michigan to have made the upgrade since the newscasts on NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and ABC affiliates WZZM andWOTV are in merely enhanced-definition widescreen (CBS affiliate WWMT became the second to upgrade to HD newscasts on April 16, 2011). The planning for the upgrade first started in December 2008. On April 20 during the weekday morning show, the station officially unveiled a new logo, graphics, music package ("The Unexpected" by 615 Music), and set.

The 10 o'clock news now competes with shows that air on MyNetworkTV WXSP-CA and CW affiliate WWMT-DT2. Sports Ticket is a weekly half-hour sports highlight broadcast that airs every Sunday night at 10:30. Blitz is a weekly sports program focusing on high school sports that airs Friday nights at 10:45. During the Fall, it is known as the Friday Football Blitz and during the Winter it is called Basketball Blitz. In Fall 2008, a one-hour edition of Blitz was added Friday nights at 5 replacing The Simpsons and King of the Hill. WXMI is an affiliate of theDetroit Lions Television Network which airs pre-season games as well as the weekly syndicated show The Ford Lions Report during the regular season. Also, since it is outside of the team's local blackout area, it also airs all regular season games produced by NFL on FOX. On September 21, 2009 WXMI debuted FOX 17 News at Six, an hour-long newscast that competes against half-hour newscasts on WWMT, WOOD-TV, and WZZM and their national network evening newscasts.[5]

Newscast titles

 * FOX17 News (1999–present)

Station slogans

 * Channel 17, Your Special Place (1983-1990)
 * It's on FOX 17! (1990–1992; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
 * West Michigan's FOX (2004–2010)
 * It's Good to KNOW (March 2010–present)
 * So FOX 17 (2010-present; localized version of Fox ad campaign)

Current on-air staff
Anchors


 * Mike Avery - weekday mornings "FOX 17 Morning News"
 * Sarah Brodhead - weekday mornings "FOX 17 Morning News"
 * Christian Frank - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
 * Lindsay Kus - weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
 * Jason Volentine - weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
 * Michele DeSelms - weeknights at 5 p.m. & 6 p.m.
 * Tim Doty - weeknights at 5 p.m.

FOX17 Weather Team


 * Peter Chan (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
 * Kevin Craig (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 10 p.m.; also fill-in
 * Jon Shaner (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings "FOX 17 Morning News"

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sports team (all are seen on Blitz)


 * Steve Amorose - sports director; weeknights
 * Tara Miller - Weekend Sports Anchor; also sports reporter

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Reporters


 * Janice Allen - general assignment reporter
 * Carl Apple - general assignment reporter
 * Hailey Frances - general assignment reporter
 * Lisa LaPlante - general assignment reporter
 * Emily Richett - weekday morning entertainment reporter
 * Lauren Unger - general assignment reporter
 * Robb Westaby - morning traffic reporter; also web producer

Former on-air staff

 * Dan Krauth (now at WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, FL)
 * Theresa Rashid
 * Brent Ashcroft (later at WLAJ-TV in Lansing; now at WZZM)
 * David Bailey (later at WOFL in Orlando; now at WWMT)
 * Mike Bloomberg (later at CLTV in Chicago and ESPN Radio)
 * Rachel Calderon (now at KTLA in Los Angeles)
 * Shelley Crenshaw (now at WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio)
 * Derricke Dennis (later at WDIV in Detroit; now an instructor at Wayne State University)
 * Tracy Forner (now at WISH-TV in Indianapolis as co-host of "Indy Style"[1])
 * Matt Kucinski (now media relations manager of Calvin College)
 * Pat McGonigle (now at WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York)
 * Monty Torres (a.k.a. "Monty Knight") (later at WNCN in Raleigh, North Carolina; now at KMPH-TV in Fresno, California)
 * Amy Turner (now communications director for Early Childhood Commission)
 * Christine VanTimmeren (now at WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York)
 * Lindsey Zabor (now associate director of strategic alliances and public relations at Zondervan Publishing: Zonderkidz Division)