WMYD
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| WMYD | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Detroit, Michigan | |
| Branding | MyTV20 Detroit |
| Channels | Analog: 20 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | MyNetworkTV WCSN (DT2) 4Kids TV (children's programming) NBC (pre-empted WDIV programming) |
| Owner | Granite Broadcasting Corporation (WXON License, Inc.) |
| First air date | September 15, 1968 |
| Call letters’ meaning | MYNetworkTV Detroit |
| Former callsigns | WXON (1968-1997) WDWB (1997-2006) |
| Former channel number(s) | 62 (1968-1972) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1968-1995) ON-TV (1979-1983) The WB (1995-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 1500 kW (analog) 500 kW (digital) |
| Height | 324 m (both) |
| Facility ID | 74211 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.tv20detroit.com |
WMYD ("MyTV20 Detroit") is Detroit, Michigan's MyNetworkTV affiliate station, owned and operated by Granite Broadcasting. The station offers a blend of cartoons from 4Kids TV, off-network sitcoms, first-run syndicated reality/talk/court shows and first-run network programming. WMYD's transmitter is located on Eight Mile Road in Oak Park, Michigan. Its studios and offices are located on Franklin Road in Southfield, Michigan. WMYD transmits its signal from the same 1073-foot tower as WWJ-TV and WTVS' digital signal.
On cable, WMYD can be seen throughout Southeast Michigan including Detroit on Comcast channel 3, Bright House Livonia channel 6, WOW Plymouth channel 20 and Cogeco Windsor on channel 62. Although the station's website claims it is carried on Rogers London, also on 62, the channel lineups for London show that channel slot is taken up by Erie, PA's, ABC, WJET-TV. WMYD is also one of only three stations that mention Windsor and London as among their primary viewing areas, with the other two being WDIV, and WTVS.
Contents |
[edit] Digital channels
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 20.1 / 21.1 | Main/HD WMYD Programming (HD when shows air in HD) |
| 20.2 / 21.2 | World Championship Sports Network (formerly main WMYD programming in SD, until 10/15/2007)] |
[edit] Analog-to-digital conversion
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 [1], WMYD will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 21. [2] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WMYD's virtual channel as 20.
[edit] History
The station first took to the air on September 15, 1968 as WXON, broadcasting on channel 62, moving to channel 20 in 1972 after two short-lived stations abandoned the frequency in the 1950s and 60s. First, WPAG-TV in Ann Arbor, Michigan was assigned to Channel 20 and started broadcasting in April 1953.[3] Little is known about WPAG-TV, except that it was owned by the same people (Washtenaw Broadcasting) who operated WPAG radio (now WTKA), and that it suspended operations in December 1957 in a futile attempt to get an allocation for Channel 12.[4] WPAG-TV also may have been a DuMont affiliate [1].
In 1967, WJMY-TV in Allen Park, Michigan was awarded a construction permit for channel 20, but never made it to the air except for a brief test signal one night in 1968, consisting merely of a card displaying its calls and city-of-license. Finally, in November 1972 WXON took over WJMY's construction permit and shifted to channel 20 for good.
WGPR-TV (now CBS O&O WWJ-TV) took over the channel 62 frequency in 1975.
The station initially had its studios in Walled Lake (in southwestern Oakland County, north of Novi) but later moved to its present location in Southfield.
Through the 1970s, WXON aired cartoons, lower-rated sitcoms, off-network dramas, old movies, religious shows, an annual Variety Club of Detroit telethon hosted by Soupy Sales and live news updates.
[edit] ON-TV (1979-1983)
In 1979, WXON added subscription TV after 8 PM. The subscription programming was provided by a service called "ON-TV" and the broadcasts were encoded in a scrambled format requiring a rented set-top box for decoding. The service was not cheap -- $22.50 a month (more than $40 in 2006 money, more than most modern customers pay for multi-channel satellite or cable TV.) Many people, especially those living across the river in Windsor, Ontario, built their own decoder boxes and watched ON-TV for free. ON-TV carried uncut movies, concerts and local sports action. However, since many games began before 8 PM, fans missed the start of many contests. (In one famous incident, the hockey Detroit Red Wings racked up a 5-0 lead in a game against the Calgary Flames before ON began its coverage!) In 1982, WXON began airing ON-TV on weekend afternoons and faced a challenge from "In-Home Theatre", which aired 24 hours a day on what is now WPXD in Ann Arbor.
Still lagging far behind WKBD-TV in the ratings, WXON dropped ON-TV on March 31, 1983, and resumed a full-service entertainment format full time. It added a number of movies to its lineup. It also acquired several barter cartoons as the children's programming business peaked in 1984-85. WXON also brought The Ghoul back to Detroit TV. As the 1980s progressed, WXON began acquiring stronger off-network sitcoms. It got a significant boost after WKBD switched to Fox in 1986. It was an established independent station by 1991 and was unaffected by the network affiliation swaps at the end of 1994.
[edit] The WB Years (1995-2006)
On January 12, 1995, WXON joined the The WB Television Network at its inception. Granite Broadcasting bought WXON two years later in January 1997 -- and on October 14 of that year, the station's call letters were changed from WXON-TV to WDWB-TV. In 2004 the station shocked the Detroit media by becoming the new over-the-air broadcast home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons, taking them from longtime home WKBD. It is the new broadcast home for 15 to 20 games of Detroit Tigers baseball games produced by Fox Sports Net.
WDWB carried the full WB network schedule, but after joining the network, WDWB frequently preempted network programming that it rescheduled or did not air in favor of programming such as movies, Big Ten Conference basketball, the Detroit Pistons, the Detroit Tigers, and, since 1999, the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day telethon. Like the baseball and basketball games, the annual MDA telethon is broadcast live, but since the station has no studio to accommodate, the MDA telethon is produced out of WTVS' studios in the New Center area of downtown Detroit.
WDWB was the last remaining commercial television station in the Detroit market to broadcast children's programming every Monday through Friday (WTVS, a public television station, continues to broadcast such programming). The weekday afternoon kids block, known as "Kids' WB", was replaced by reruns of programs such as "Reba", a block known as "Daytime WB." The station also carries 4Kids TV on Sunday mornings, with the new branding of "MyTVKids".
[edit] From The WB To MyNetworkTV
On January 24, 2006, it was announced that CBS Corporation and Time Warner would close their respective UPN and WB networks and jointly launch the CW Network in September 2006. The network would be a 50-50 joint venture between the two companies. WDWB became a MyNetworkTV affiliate as WKBD has become sole Detroit outlet for the CW network.
Like many stations about to lose The WB or UPN affiliation due to CW, WDWB changed its on-air logo to remove "WB" from the logo. The station's new logo was introduced during a Pistons-Minnesota Timberwolves basketball game on February 1, 2006. The station has also announced that they would no longer promote any WB programing. The Station changed its call letters to WMYD on May 7 in recognition of its future affiliation.
On July 29, 2006, the new WMYD logo, shown below, was introduced during a Tigers-Minnesota Twins baseball game in preparation for WMYD's switch from the WB to MyNetworkTV in September. The station was then re-branded as "my TV20 Detroit". During the time before the actual launch, WMYD covered up all WB branding during programming and did not carry network promos.
Occasionally as time now permits, WMYD may carry network programming from Fox, NBC or ABC should either WJBK, WDIV or WXYZ, respectively, preempt for specials, breaking news stories or any other emergency.
[edit] Selling WMYD
In September 2005, Granite announced the sale of WDWB and sister station KBWB San Francisco to AM Media Holdings, Inc. (a unit of Acon Investments and several key Granite shareholders) for a price rated, on WDWB's end, to around $97 million. The low price (Granite had purchased the station for $175 million) was largely out of Granite wanting to cut down their debt load while wanting to keep control of the stations.
On February 15, 2006, Granite announced the restructuring of the sale considering the changing conditions of the station (see below)[2], but the sale eventually fell apart, and in May 2006 the stations were sold to DS Audible for a price of about $84 million on WDWB's end.
On July 18, 2006 this sale also fell apart and Granite has announced its intention to retain the station for the time being. [3]
On November 2006, Granite Broadcasting announced that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,but will continue to operate its stations (including WMYD).
[edit] Sports
As of 2006, WMYD is the new local home for Detroit Pistons sports games, and has also begun airing the "World Champions Sports Network" on its DT2 subchannel, as of October 15, 2007.
In 2006, the network aired about 15-20 Detroit Tigers games, which were broadcast by FSN Detroit to air on WMYD, Mario Impemba and Rod Allen were the announcers as is the case for FSN Detroit. In 2007, however these games aired on WJBK the FOX affiliate in Detroit.
It was announced that beginning with the 2008-2009 Basketball season , All Detroit Pistons games (not seen on ESPN/ABC or TNT) will now be shown exclusively on FSN Detroit [4]
[edit] Coverage
WMYD is carried on cable systems throughout Southeast Michigan and Southwestern Ontario.
| Station | Cogeco | Comcast | Charter Cable | WOW! | Bright House | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor Essex County |
Detroit | Flint | Lansing | Brooklyn, MI | Metro Detroit SE MI |
Metro Detroit SE MI |
Metro Detroit SE MI |
|
| WMYD | 62 | 3 | - | 20 | 20 | - | 20 206 HD |
6 |
| WMYD-DT.2 (WCSN) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 160 | - |
Coverage on cable systems outside the Detroit / Windsor market may be subject to syndex and network blackouts in the United States. WMYD is not available on any cable system in Ohio.
[edit] Station Presentation
 The test signal of short-lived WJMY-TV in 1968. |
 Late 70s ident |
 WXON ident, used from 1979 to 1995 |
 WXON Sign-On logo during the late 1980s and early 1990s. |
 WXON ident, used from 1995 to 1997 |
 Detroit's WB logo, used from 2003-2005. WDWB used various variations of this logo from 1997 to 2005. |
 TV20 logo, used from February to July 2006. This logo is very similar to its sister station, KBWB in San Francisco. |
Current WMYD "myTV20" logo, introduced on July 29, 2006. |
[edit] Exact Timeline of Events
| Date | Event |
| September 15, 1968 | The station takes to the air for the first time as WXON on channel 62. |
| November 1972 | WXON moves to channel 20 after its previous occupant WJMY was unable to receive a license to operate. |
| 1979 | WXON becomes WXON-TV. |
| WXON-TV becomes an ON-TV station with subscription programming at $22.95 a month. |
|
| 1980 | WXON-TV returns to being WXON. |
| 1982 | ON-TV programming expanded to include daytime programs on weekends. |
| March 31, 1983 | ON-TV ceases operations, allowing WXON to return to normal, unscrambled programming. |
| 1993 | WXON joins the Prime Time Entertainment Network, which was co-owned by Warner Bros. Television and Chris-Craft Industries. |
| January 12, 1995 | WXON joins The WB Television Network, which was co-owned by Warner Bros. and Tribune Company. |
| 1997 | In January, Channel 20 is acquired by Granite Broadcasting. |
| PTEN ceases operations. | |
| On September 15, Channel 20 becomes WDWB. | |
| August 1998 | The station filed an application to increase power to 5 megawatts, but was denied by the Federal Communications Commission shortly there after. |
| January 24, 2000 | The FCC allows the station to share towers with crosstown CBS station WWJ-TV, which were located in Oak Park. The construction permit also called for an increase of tower height to 324 m (or 1,062.99 ft), up from 293 (or 961.29 ft) and broadcast power to 1.5 megawatts, up from 1.25 megawatts. |
| September 2003 | Channel 20 acquires rights to FoxBox programming from independent WADL. FoxBox would become 4Kids TV in January of 2005. |
| December 2003 | Its analog transmitter is modified to directional status. |
| 2004 | Channel 20 along with crosstown NBC affiliate WDIV-TV both gain local broadcast rights to Detroit Pistons basketball games. The rights were acquired from then-UPN, now-CW affiliate WKBD. |
| October 2005 | The FCC approves sale of WDWB from Granite Broadcasting to AM Media Holdings. |
| May 2, 2006 | Granite Broadcasting announces the sale of the station to DS Audible. The sale to AM Media Holdings was aborted. |
| May 7, 2006 | Channel 20 becomes WMYD. |
| June 2006 | The FCC approves sale of WDWB from Granite Broadcasting to DS Audible. |
| July 18, 2006 | The sale of the station to DS Audible is aborted. |
| September 1, 2006 | WB programming on WMYD is discontinued, but the network would continue with reruns with September 15 as its final day of broadcasting. |
| September 5, 2006 | MyNetworkTV programming begins on WMYD. MyNetworkTV is owned by News Corporation, Who Ironically, Owns Fox affiliate WJBK. |
| November 2006 | Granite Broadcasting plans to keep the station even during financial reconstruction. |
[edit] External links
- WMYD Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WMYD
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WMYD-TV
[edit] References
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231744&formid=387&fac_num=74211
- ^ St. Joseph Herald Press, 4 March 1953, p. 5
- ^ Ironwood Daily Globe, 28 December 1957, p. 2
| Preceded by WJMY-TV |
Channel 20 Detroit occupant 1973-present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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