WXSP-CA
Encyclopedia
WXSP-CD is the Class A
MyNetworkTV
-affiliated television station
for Southwestern Michigan, licensed to Grand Rapids
. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 15 from a transmitter in Walker
along Interstate 96
. The station can also be seen on Charter
channel 15 and Comcast
channel 18. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, WXSP is sister to NBC
affiliate WOOD-TV
and ABC
affiliate WOTV
. All three share studios on College Avenue Southeast in the Heritage Hill
section of Grand Rapids.
programming on WXSP includes: TMZ on TV
, Family Feud
, Scrubs
, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
. Overnight, the station simulcasts WOOD-DT3, which is a live feed of the "Storm Team 8 Live Doppler Network". It may air NBC or ABC programming whenever WOOD-TV and WOTV preempt for breaking news, local specials, or the annual North American International Auto Show
charity preview. However, some of the preempted ABC programs are available on WZZM-TV
.
Part of WXSP's call letters comes from the word sports and for good reason. The station is known for its coverage of local sports in both the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas. It also carries the University of Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans
basketball
and football
teams. These broadcasts give WXSP more viewership than any other programming on the channel.
of WOOD-TV (from a transmitter in Middleville
near the Barry
and Allegan
County line), WXSP operates additional analog repeaters. WOBC and WOMS have construction permit
s to perform a flash-cut
to digital. The WOHO call letters were originally used for forty years by a Toledo, Ohio
radio station on AM 1470 that now uses the call sign WLQR
.
Normally per Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) regulations, low-powered stations are not eligible for must-carry
requirements. However, due to WXSP's coverage of Big Ten sports along with what was considered a major network until 2009, retransmission deals allow it to be carried by both cable and satellite systems. Additionally, LIN TV has the right under the retransmission consent section of the must-carry rules to require cable systems to offer WXSP as compensation for carrying WOOD-TV and WOTV.
As a result, the channel is available on almost every cable system in the market
and on DirecTV
. In September 2007, ownership of LIN TV denied access to WXSP's programming to some cable companies in South-Central Michigan
in a dispute over cable television revenue. The station's studio-to-transmitter link is WPOL564.
in South Bend, Indiana
, which is owned by LeSEA
. The station eventually switched to LIN TV's Local Weather Station (LWS) format with the call sign WOWD-LP (variation on WOOD-TV). WOWD and its low-power network of repeaters aired 24-hour weather information direct from WOOD-TV's weather center. This was in an early pre-digital format comparable to the now defunct NBC Weather Plus
.
The weather programming aired from the mid-1990s until WXSP's programming took over a few years later. It featured graphic displays of various conditions and forecasts as well as periodic forecasts from WOOD-TV's meteorologists. Short commercial breaks would feature local television spots as well as LWS's station identification
. A format change took place when UPN
was added in 2000, prompting the move of LWS to the early mornings and new calls, WXSP-LP. The call-sign WXSP-CA was acquired after it became a Class A station which meets stricter requirements than most low-powered television stations.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its soon-to-be corporate parents: CBS
(the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
unit of Time Warner
. On February 22, News Corporation
announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be sister to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW.
CBS affiliate WWMT
announced on April 4 that it would launch the area's CW affiliate on a new second
digital subchannel. WXSP became available as a MyNetworkTV affiliate partly because the (then) WB affiliate WZPX
was also an Ion Television owned-and-operated station
and ran WB programming on a 22-hour delay (prime-time shows ran at 6 o'clock the night after the original broadcast and the Kids' WB
Saturday block aired at 5 on Sunday mornings). As a result, Southwestern Michigan is one of the largest markets
in which The CW was only available via digital subchannel/cable and on an entirely new station. It was reported that WXSP was in talks to join The CW, but due to the station's heavy reliance upon prime-time professional sports and the network's concerns over preemptive programming, the two sides could not come to an agreement.
For the final two weeks of UPN's existence, Fox affiliate WXMI
aired WWE Smackdown until WWMT-DT2's launch. WXSP joined MyNetworkTV on September 5 while WWMT-DT2 signed on with The CW on September 18. On July 21, 2010, WXSP flash-cut
from analog to a digital signal. The call letters were changed to WXSP-CD on August 30. In late-October 2010, LIN TV discontinued the simulcast of WXSP on WOTV-DT2, replacing it with a new digital subchannel network, TheCoolTV
.
On October 21, 2007, WOOD-TV added the area's second prime-time newscast to WXSP. Known as 24 Hour News 8 at 10, it airs every night for thirty minutes and competed with a broadcast on Fox affiliate WXMI. On September 18, 2008, WWMT added the market's third 10 p.m. news to its new CW-affiliated second digital subchannel. On October 5, 2009, WOOD-TV became the second station in Southwestern Michigan to upgrade local newscasts to 16:9
enhanced definition widescreen
. Although not truly high definition, broadcasts match the ratio of HD television screens. The nightly show on WXSP was not included in the upgrade because this station only airs standard-definition digital signals.
Anchors
Reporters
Class A television service
The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" or "-CD" , although very many analog -CA stations have a digital companion channel that was assigned the -LD...
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Southwestern Michigan, licensed to Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 15 from a transmitter in Walker
Walker, Michigan
Walker is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Grand Rapids. The population was 23,537 at the 2010 census. Before incorporating as a city, it was known as Walker Township...
along Interstate 96
Interstate 96
Interstate 96 is an intrastate Interstate Highway that is entirely within the US state of Michigan. Its western terminus is at an interchange with US Highway 31 and Business US Highway 31 , on the western boundary of Norton Shores southeast of Muskegon. Its eastern terminus is at I-75 near the...
. The station can also be seen on Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
channel 15 and Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
channel 18. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, WXSP is sister to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WOOD-TV
WOOD-TV
WOOD-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Southwestern Michigan licensed to Grand Rapids. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter in Middleville near the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Charter channel...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WOTV
WOTV
WOTV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Southwestern Michigan that is licensed to Battle Creek. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter in Orangeville Township. The station can also be seen on Charter and Comcast channel 4. There is a high...
. All three share studios on College Avenue Southeast in the Heritage Hill
Heritage Hill
Heritage Hill is a neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is one of the largest urban historic districts in the United States. It is bound by Crescent Street , Union Avenue , Pleasant Street , and Lafayette Avenue . Its 1,300 homes date from 1848 and represent over 60 architectural styles...
section of Grand Rapids.
Overview
SyndicatedTelevision syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WXSP includes: TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV, or simply TMZ and TMZTV, is an American syndicated entertainment and gossip news television show that premiered on September 10, 2007. The program is generally aired on Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates, though a majority of the stations that carry the series are Fox affiliates...
, Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
, Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
. Overnight, the station simulcasts WOOD-DT3, which is a live feed of the "Storm Team 8 Live Doppler Network". It may air NBC or ABC programming whenever WOOD-TV and WOTV preempt for breaking news, local specials, or the annual North American International Auto Show
North American International Auto Show
The North American International Auto Show is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan at Cobo Center, usually in January. It is among the largest auto shows in North America.-History:...
charity preview. However, some of the preempted ABC programs are available on WZZM-TV
WZZM-TV
WZZM channel 13 is the Western Michigan affiliate television station for the American Broadcasting Company. It's based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, broadcasting at 16.5 kilowatts of power from a tower located in Newaygo County, near Grant...
.
Part of WXSP's call letters comes from the word sports and for good reason. The station is known for its coverage of local sports in both the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas. It also carries the University of Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State Spartans
The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic team that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 25 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and white...
basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
teams. These broadcasts give WXSP more viewership than any other programming on the channel.
Repeaters
In addition to its main signal and simulcast on a second digital subchannelDigital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
of WOOD-TV (from a transmitter in Middleville
Middleville, Michigan
Middleville is a village in Thornapple Township, Barry County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,721 at the 2000 census.- History :...
near the Barry
Barry County, Michigan
-Highways:* M-37* M-43* M-50* M-66* M-78* M-79* M-89* M-179-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 56,755 people, 21,035 households, and 15,986 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 23,876 housing units at an average density of...
and Allegan
Allegan County, Michigan
-Interstates:* I-196* I-196 Business Loop serves the city of Holland.-US highways:* US-31* US-131-Michigan State Trunklines:* M-40* M-89* M-179* M-222-Allegan County Intercounty Highways:* A-2* A-37* A-42* A-45-Demographics:...
County line), WXSP operates additional analog repeaters. WOBC and WOMS have construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
s to perform a flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
to digital. The WOHO call letters were originally used for forty years by a Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
radio station on AM 1470 that now uses the call sign WLQR
WLQR
WLQR is a sports/talk radio station on 1470 kHz in Toledo, Ohio. It is the Toledo affiliate of ESPN Radio and is owned by Cumulus Media. Since June 2009 the station has been simulcast on 106.5 MHz as WLQR-FM, calling itself "106-5 The Ticket"....
.
Normally per Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) regulations, low-powered stations are not eligible for must-carry
Must-carry
In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.- Canada :...
requirements. However, due to WXSP's coverage of Big Ten sports along with what was considered a major network until 2009, retransmission deals allow it to be carried by both cable and satellite systems. Additionally, LIN TV has the right under the retransmission consent section of the must-carry rules to require cable systems to offer WXSP as compensation for carrying WOOD-TV and WOTV.
As a result, the channel is available on almost every cable system in the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
and on DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
. In September 2007, ownership of LIN TV denied access to WXSP's programming to some cable companies in South-Central Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
in a dispute over cable television revenue. The station's studio-to-transmitter link is WPOL564.
| Call letters | Channel | City of license | Transmitter location |
|---|---|---|---|
| WOBC-CA | 14 | Battle Creek Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county... |
behind Family Altar Chapel on 6½ Mile Road |
| WOLP-CA | 27 | Grand Rapids | on top of Oakwood Manor Apartments in Heritage Hill section of city next to its studios (analog) |
| WOLP-LD | 41 | Grand Rapids | in Middleville near Barry and Allegan County line shared with WOOD-TV (digital); not to be confused with sister station WOTV, which transmits on digital channel 20 and maps to PSIP 41 |
| WOMS-CA | 29 | Muskegon Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 38,401. The city is the county seat of Muskegon County... |
Wolf Lake Wolf Lake, Michigan Wolf Lake is an unincorporated community in Egelston Township of Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place for statistical purposes, but has no official status as an incorporated municipality. The population was 4,455 at the 2000 census... section of Egelston Township Egelston Township, Michigan Egelston Township is a general law township of Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 9,537.-Geography:... |
| WOHO-CA | 33 | Holland Holland, Michigan Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River .... |
in Zeeland Zeeland, Michigan Zeeland is a city in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,805 at the 2000 census. The city is located at the western edge of Zeeland Charter Township which is politically independent. Its name is derived from the Dutch province of Zeeland... along I-196 Interstate 196 Interstate 196 is a long freeway spur route in the US state of Michigan linking Grand Rapids, Holland, South Haven, and Benton Harbor. I-196 is known as the Gerald R. Ford Freeway, or simply the Ford Freeway, in Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan Counties, after the 38th President of the United States,... |
| WOKZ-CA | 50 | Kalamazoo Kalamazoo, Michigan The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to... |
at WNWN WNWN (AM) WNWN is a radio station licensed to Portage, Michigan broadcasting an urban adult contemporary format, provided by ABC Radio Networks . The station serves the greater Kalamazoo, Michigan area.... -AM 1560 studios on M-43 M-43 (Michigan highway) M-43 is a state trunkline highway in southwestern and central parts of the US state of Michigan. The highway runs from South Haven to Webberville along an indirect path through both rural areas and larger cities... /West Main Street in Westwood Neighborhoods of Kalamazoo The city of Kalamazoo, Michigan is divided into multiple neighborhoods. While the number, borders, and naming of neighborhoods can vary by source, the list below gives the most widely agreed upon arrangement, as defined by the City of Kalamazoo... section of city |
History
The station signed on with an analog signal on UHF channel 29 on July 23, 1986 with the call letters W29AD. It moved to UHF channel 15 and acquired the W15AM calls on January 12, 1988. In the station's early days, it was a translator for World Harvest Television from WHME-TVWHME-TV
WHME-TV is a full-service Christian and general entertainment television station serving the South Bend market. The station is owned by LeSEA Broadcasting, also known as World Harvest Broadcasting, an organization founded by Assembly of God minister Lester Sumrall , whose sons are still active with...
in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
, which is owned by LeSEA
LeSEA
LeSEA Broadcasting , also known as World Harvest Television, is an American Christian television network with over 40 affiliate stations in a number of U.S...
. The station eventually switched to LIN TV's Local Weather Station (LWS) format with the call sign WOWD-LP (variation on WOOD-TV). WOWD and its low-power network of repeaters aired 24-hour weather information direct from WOOD-TV's weather center. This was in an early pre-digital format comparable to the now defunct NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
.
The weather programming aired from the mid-1990s until WXSP's programming took over a few years later. It featured graphic displays of various conditions and forecasts as well as periodic forecasts from WOOD-TV's meteorologists. Short commercial breaks would feature local television spots as well as LWS's station identification
Station identification
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name...
. A format change took place when UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
was added in 2000, prompting the move of LWS to the early mornings and new calls, WXSP-LP. The call-sign WXSP-CA was acquired after it became a Class A station which meets stricter requirements than most low-powered television stations.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its soon-to-be corporate parents: CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
(the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. On February 22, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be sister to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW.
CBS affiliate WWMT
WWMT
WWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Chief Noonday Road/M-179, northwest of Yankee Springs Township, along the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also...
announced on April 4 that it would launch the area's CW affiliate on a new second
WWMT-DT2
WWMT-DT2 is the CW-affiliated television station for West Michigan. It is a second digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WWMT, owned by Freedom Communications...
digital subchannel. WXSP became available as a MyNetworkTV affiliate partly because the (then) WB affiliate WZPX
WZPX
WZPX-TV is a television station affiliated with the Ion Television network . It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 44 in the Grand Rapids and Lansing / Jackson, Michigan markets...
was also an Ion Television owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
and ran WB programming on a 22-hour delay (prime-time shows ran at 6 o'clock the night after the original broadcast and the Kids' WB
Kids' WB
Kids' WB! was Warner Bros. American childrens programing division brand for The WB Television Network. In September 2006, the block moved to The CW Television Network. The CW is the result of The WB's merger with UPN in 2006...
Saturday block aired at 5 on Sunday mornings). As a result, Southwestern Michigan is one of the largest markets
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
in which The CW was only available via digital subchannel/cable and on an entirely new station. It was reported that WXSP was in talks to join The CW, but due to the station's heavy reliance upon prime-time professional sports and the network's concerns over preemptive programming, the two sides could not come to an agreement.
For the final two weeks of UPN's existence, Fox affiliate WXMI
WXMI
WXMI channel 17 is a Fox-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, owned by the Tribune Company. WXMI's studio and office facility is located in Grand Rapids and its transmitter is based southwest of Middleville, Michigan...
aired WWE Smackdown until WWMT-DT2's launch. WXSP joined MyNetworkTV on September 5 while WWMT-DT2 signed on with The CW on September 18. On July 21, 2010, WXSP flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
from analog to a digital signal. The call letters were changed to WXSP-CD on August 30. In late-October 2010, LIN TV discontinued the simulcast of WXSP on WOTV-DT2, replacing it with a new digital subchannel network, TheCoolTV
TheCoolTV
THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
.
Newscasts
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
enhanced definition widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
. Although not truly high definition, broadcasts match the ratio of HD television screens. The nightly show on WXSP was not included in the upgrade because this station only airs standard-definition digital signals.
Anchors
- Susan Shaw - weeknight news
- Brian Sterling - weeknight news
- Marc Thompson - weekend news and reporter
- Bill Steffen - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights
- Kyle Underwood - weekend meteorologist
- Jack Doles - Sports DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights - Jason Terzis - weekend sports and sports producer (also sports reporter)
Reporters
- Eva Aguirre Cooper - Communications Director
- Anne Schieber - "Your Money" investigative
- Henry Erb - Senior Investigative
- Larry Figurski - sports
- Rick Albin - political
- Crystal Hilliard
- Tony Tagliavia
- Joe LaFurgey
- Emily Linnert
- Leon Hendrix
- Dani Carlson
- Ken Kolker