WXSP-CA

WXSP-CA
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Branding	WXSP The X 24 Hour News 8
Slogan	The TV Station With Game
Channels	Analog: 15 (UHF) Digital: WOOD-DT 7.2 (VHF) WOTV-DT 20.2 (UHF)
Translators	see article
Affiliations	MyNetworkTV NBC (alternate) ABC (alternate)
Owner	LIN TV (WOOD License Company, LLC)
Founded	July 23, 1986
Call letters’ meaning	WXSP: Xtreme and SPorts (for sports coverage) WOLP: WOOD Low-Power other stations: WO + city of license initialized
Sister station(s)	WOOD-TV WOTV
Former callsigns	W29AD (1986-1988) W15AM (1988-1995) WOWD-LP (1995-2000) WXSP-LP (2000)
Former channel number(s)	29 (1986-1988)
Former affiliations	Local Weather Station (1995-2000) UPN (2000-2006)
Transmitter Power	9.42 kW (analog) 0.05 kW (future digital)
Height	121 m (analog) 342.7 m (future digital)
Facility ID	36851
Transmitter Coordinates	43°1′1″N 85°44′25″W / 43.01694°N 85.74028°W / 43.01694; -85.74028Coordinates: 43°1′1″N 85°44′25″W / 43.01694°N 85.74028°W / 43.01694; -85.74028
Website	wxsp.com

WXSP-CA, channel 15, is the Class A MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Its transmitter is located northeast of Walker along I-96. Owned by LIN TV, WXSP is sister to NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and ABC affiliate WOTV. The stations share studios on College Avenue Southeast in downtown Grand Rapids. Syndicated programming on WXSP includes: Scrubs, TMZ on TV, Bernie Mac Show, and Judge Joe Brown. The station 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, it should be noted that some of the preempted ABC programs are available on WZZM-TV. Part of WXSP's call letters come from the word "sports" and for good reason. The station is known for its coverage of sports in both the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas. It also carries the University of Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State University Spartans basketball and football teams. These broadcasts of regional sports give WXSP more viewership than any other programming on this channel.

Repeaters

In addition to its main analog and digital signals on second subchannels of WOOD-TV and WOTV, WXSP operates additional repeaters. Each repeater has a construction permit to flash-cut to broadcast Class A digital signals. WXSP has its own Class A digital television station construction permit with the calls WXSP-DC (the "DC" stands for digital Class A). The WOHO call letters were originally used for 40 years by a Toledo, Ohio radio station on AM 1470 kHz that now uses the callsign WLQR. Normally, per FCC regulations, low-powered stations are not eligible for "must-carry" requirements. However, due to WXSP's coverage of Big Ten sports along with a major network (MyNetworkTV), 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 carry WXSP as compensation for carrying WOOD-TV and WOTV. As a result, WXSP 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 (STL) link is WPOL564.

History

WXSP-CA itself started on channel 29 with the call letters W29AD on July 23, 1986. It moved to channel 15 and acquired the W15AM callsign on January 12, 1988. In the station's early days it was a translator for "World Harvest Television" which is owned by LeSEA. When it was an Local Weather Station (LWS) and four months as a UPN affiliate, it had the callsign WOWD-LP (a variation on WOOD-TV's calls). WOWD and its low-power network of repeaters used to air 24-hour weather information direct from WOOD-TV's weather center on a network called LWS. It aired in an early pre-digital format which is comparable to 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' ident. 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 current callsign 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 they would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network 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 they would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network 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 a 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 i network owned-and-operated station and ran WB programming on a 22-hour delay. As a result, West Michigan is one of the largest television markets in which The CW is not available by over-air broadcasts and one of the few to which The CW was awarded to a station not affiliated with either The WB or UPN. 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 (the programming that gets the highest ratings on the channel) and The CW's concerns over preemptive programming, the two sides could not come to an agreement. On May 18, 2007, LIN TV announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives that may result in the sale of the company.

Newscasts

WOOD-TV's meteorologists provide Local Weather Station updates on the station Saturday and Sunday mornings from 5am to 6am. It is the only surviving portion of the all-LWS schedule from the late-1990s. Meteorologist Terri DeBoer is seen during the week and Laura Velasquez is on the weekends. WOOD-TV's weeknight 6 o'clock newscast is repeated at 7 on WXSP. On October 21, 2007, that station began producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on the station. It was launched to compete with the 10 P.M. news that airs on Fox affiliate WXMI. CW Plus affiliate WWMT-DT2 also airs a 10 o'clock newscast seven nights a week.

24 Hour News 8 at 6
(Weeknights 7 to 7:30)

• Anchors:
  • Brian Sterling
  • Suzanne Geha
• Weather
  • Bill Steffen
• Sports:
  • Jack Doles

24 Hour News 8 at 10 (10 to 10:30 P.M.)
Weeknights

• Anchors:
  • Brian Sterling
  • Susan Shaw
• Weather
  • Bill Steffen
• Sports:
  • Jack Doles

Weekends

• Anchor:
  • Emily Linnert
• Weather:
  • Kyle Underwood
• Sports:
  • Jason Terzis

WXSP uses additional news personnel from WOOD-TV. See that article for a complete listing.

External links

• WXSP-CA channel 15
• WOOD-TV/DT
• WOTV channel 41
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WXSP-CA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOBC-CA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOLP-CA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOMS-CA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOHO-CA
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOKZ-CA