WILX-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Lansing, 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 10 and in high definition on digital channel 232. Owned by Gray Television, it has studios on American Road in Lansing, while its transmitter is located in Onondaga. Syndicatedprogramming on WILX includes: Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Access Hollywood, and Live with Regis and Kelly.
| |
| Onondaga/Lansing/Jackson, Michigan | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WILX 10 (general)
News 10 (newscasts) |
| Slogan | The Breaking News and Weather Authority |
| Channels | Digital: 10 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 10.1 NBC
10.2 AccuWeather |
| Owner | Gray Television
(Gray Television Licensee, Inc.) |
| First air date | March 15, 1959 |
| Call letters' meaning | Ingham County/Lansing
X (Roman numeral 10) |
| Former channel number(s) | 10 (VHF analog, 1959-2009)
57 (UHF digital) |
| Transmitter power | 30 kW |
| Height | 298.5 m |
| Facility ID | 6863 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°26′33″N84°34′21″W |
| Website | wilx.com |
Digital programming
On WILX-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 294 is The Local AccuWeather Channel.
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | main WILX programming/NBC (HD) |
| 10.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WILX-DT2 "News 10 Weather Source" (SD) |
History
The station signed-on March 15, 1959 and was owned by Jackson Telecasters along with WJCO radio (AM 1510, now WJKN). The company was half-owned by Lansing Broadcasting along with WILS-AM 1320. WILX shared the analog VHF channel 10 frequency with WMSB, an educational station owned by Michigan State University. That outlet was originally WKAR-TV, broadcasting on UHF channel 60.
However, it had difficulty getting viewers because television sets were not required to have UHF tuning until 1964. Viewers had to buy an expensive converter to watch WKAR and the picture was not clear even with one. Looking for a way to increase its viewership, MSU agreed to share channel 10 with WILX. As such, WMSB was located on MSU's campus in East Lansing while WILX was licensed to Onondaga with studios in Jackson, the market's second largest city. However, both stations shared the same tower and transmitter in Onondaga.
WILX was on-the-air for 70 percent of the broadcast day including all of prime time. In the event breaking news occurred, or a sporting event, or special on NBC was scheduled during WMSB's time, that station would often give its time to WILX. This arrangement continued until WKAR changed broadcasting frequencies to UHF channel 23 in 1972. WILX was later sold to Figgie Communications. The station went through several more ownership changes (Adams Television, Brissette Broadcasting, Forward Communications, and Benedek Broadcasting) before it was acquired by current owner Gray Television.
Unlike most (then) two-station markets, WILX did not take a secondary affiliation with ABC. This was because WJRT-TV in Flint decently covered most of Lansing. Meanwhile, Jackson and Hillsdale would not get a clear signal from ABC until WUHQ-TV (now WOTV) signed-on from Battle Creek in 1971. The area would not have an ABC affiliate of its own until WLAJlaunched in 1990. For many years, WILX's main studios were on Springport Road in Jackson while it operated a newsroom in Downtown Lansing. In the early-1990s under the ownership of Brissette Broadcasting, the station's operations were consolidated into its current studio complex in Lansing on American Road. WILX-TV shut down its analog signal, on February 17, 2009, returning to channel 10. [1]
News operation
Nightly news open at 6.
Due to budget concerns, WILX's news staff has been cut over the last few years. As a result, the station features only one news anchor during its weekday morning and weeknight broadcasts. Its weekday morning show News 10 Today was launched in 1990 as a local news segment during Today eventually expanding to the current two-hour long broadcast. Since its weekday noon show was canceled in the late-1990s, the station has not offered a newscast during the midday hours unlike most other NBC affiliates.For most of its history, WILX was a distant runner-up to long-dominant WLNS-TV in the local Nielsen ratings. Sometime in the early-2000s, however, channel 10 overtook WLNS for the first time ever and has maintained a narrow if consistent lead since. WLAJ has made several attempts at operating a news department but none of them ever made any headway in the ratings or gained consistent viewership. In addition, difficulties of being the youngest network affiliate in the market do not help its case.
In 2004, WILX entered into a news share agreement with Fox affiliate WSYM-TV (owned by Journal Communications). This came about after that channel shut down its news department due to financial reasons. Under the arrangement, WILX produces newscasts for WSYM from a secondary set 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.
Due to the 5:30 broadcast airing on WSYM, there is no local news at that time on WILX. Although the two share most personnel, WILX and WSYM maintain separate weeknight meteorologists and a news anchor although the latter does general assignment reporting on this channel. On occasion such as severe weather, WSYM may carry the primary feed from WILX where its meteorologists appear on the other. This channel operates its own weather radar known as "Live Sky Search 10,000" at its studios. On January 28, 2011, WILX became the first station in Central Michigan to upgrade local newscasts to high definition. [2] It is unknown if or when the shows on WSYM will be included in the upgrade.
Newscast titles
- WILX-TV News
- Newscene 10 (1970s)
- Action News (late 1970s-1993)
- TV-10 News
- News 10 (1993-present)
Station slogans
- "Mid-Michigan's News Leader" (1970s-1980s)
- "WILX-TV, Proud As A Peacock!" (1979-1980; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "TV-10, Proud As A Peacock!" (1980-1981; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "WILX-TV, Our Pride Is Showing/TV-10, Our Pride Is Showing" (1981-1982; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "WILX-TV There, Be There" (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Come Home to WILX-TV" (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Come Home To The Best, Only on TV-10" (1988-1990; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "WILX-TV, The Place To Be!"
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (1993-2007)
- "The Breaking News and Weather Authority" (2007-present)
News team
Anchors
- Lauren Evans - weekday mornings
- "What's Going Around" and "Pet Pals" segments producer
- David Andrews - weeknights at 5 and 6
- "Neighborhood Crime Watch" segment producer
- A.J. Hilton - weeknights at 5:30 and 10
- reporter
- Jason Colthorp - weeknights at 11
- "11 P.M. Tease" segment producer
- Meaghan Norman - weekend mornings and reporter
- Liam Martin - weekend evenings
- reporter and video journalist
Sky Team 10 Meteorologists
- Darrin Rockcole - Chief seen weekday mornings
- Andy Provenzano - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11
- David Harker - weeknights at 5:30 and 10
- Julie Fuson - weekends
Sports
- Tim Staudt - weeknights at 5, 6, 10, and 11
- Sports Blitz and Staudt on Sports host
- sports reporter and heard on WVFN-AM 730
- Jeremy Sampson - weekend evenings and sports reporter
- Sports Blitz host
- Earle Robinson - Staudt on Sports host
Reporters
- Steve Coon - Chief Photographer
- Sherene Tagharobi
- Jennifer Weaver
- Jamie Edmonds
- Rachel Thomas
- Alex Goldsmith
References
- ^ http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/39392092.html
- ^ http://michiganmediacenter.com/2011/01/wilx-launches-hd-newscasts/