| Lansing/Jackson, Michigan | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WLNS-TV 6 6 News |
| Slogan | Your Local News Leader |
| Channels | Digital: 36 (UHF) Virtual: 6 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 6.1 CBS |
| Owner | Young Broadcasting (Young Broadcasting of Lansing, Inc.) |
| First air date | May 1, 1950 |
| Call letters' meaning | LaNSing |
| Sister station(s) | WHTV |
| Former callsigns | WJIM-TV (1950-1984) |
| Former channel number(s) | 6 (VHF analog, 1950-2009) 59 (UHF digital, 2001-2009) |
| Former affiliations | NBC (1950-1959) ABC (1950-1958) DuMont (1950-1955) all secondary |
| Transmitter power | 984 kW |
| Height | 288 m |
| Facility ID | 74420 |
| Website | wlns.com |
WLNS-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central Michigan licensed to Lansing. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 (virtual channel 6.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Van Atta Road in Meridian. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and Broadstripe channel 13. There is a high definition feed offered on Comcasst digital channel 233 and Broadstripe digital channel 450. Owned by Young Broadcasting, the station operates MyNetworkTV affiliate WHTV (owned by Venture Technologies Group, LLC) through a joint sales agreement (JSA). The two outlets share studios on East Saginaw Street/Business Loop 69/M-43 in Lansing along U.S. 127. Syndicated programming on WLNS includes The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, and Anderson among others.
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Until about November 1, 2011, The Country Network was broadcast on WLNS-DT2 and Comcast channel 297. There's no word yet on what (if anything) will replace The Country Network on 6.2.
| Channels (virtual/physical) | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1/36.1 | WLNS-HD | 1080i | 16:9 | main WLNS programming/CBS (HD) |
The station signed-on May 1, 1950 as WJIM-TV and was owned by Harold F. Gross along with WJIM radio (1240 AM). It is Michigan's second-oldest television station outside Detroit (behind WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids). Gross had started WJIM, the first commercial radio station in Lansing, in 1934 and both stations were named after his son Jim. Rumour has it that Gross won the original radio license in a card game. WJIM-TV originally aired an analog signal on VHF channel 6 from a transmitter from the top of a bank in Downtown Lansing before moving to its current location on Saginaw Street (known as "the country house") in 1953. Gross was skeptical of the success of television, so the new facility was designed as a motel complete with a pool in case the station did not catch on. Needless to say, the pool had very little use except for the occasional employee party.
WJIM-TV originally carried programming from all four major networks, although it was and always has been a primary CBS affiliate. ABC disappeared from the schedule in 1958 when WJRT-TV signed-on from Flint. It served as Lansing's default ABC affiliate until WLAJ launched in 1990. Meanwhile, WXYZ-TV in Detroit served as the default affiliate for Jackson. WKZO-TV (now WWMT) then a partial ABC affiliate, and WSJV in Elkhart, Indiana served as default outlets for Battle Creek until WUHQ-TV (now WOTV) went on-the-air.
DuMont programming disappeared when the network ceased operations in 1956. NBC would also later disappear from the schedule in 1959 when WILX-TV signed-on leaving WJIM with just CBS. In 1960, Gross added WJIM-FM to his holdings.
The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the station's license in 1973 on allegations Gross prevented a number of prominent political figures from appearing on WJIM-TV [1] An Federal Communications Commission (FCC) judge ordered the license revoked in 1981--only the second time a station had its license revoked for violating the FCC's fairness guidelines. The first instance was WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi which lost its license in 1969 due to blatant bias against the Civil Rights Movement. Unlike WLBT, however, WJIM kept its license after the initial revocation was reversed by a three-member review board at the FCC in 1982. The ACLU would eventually agree to a cash settlement in 1984.
The stress of the decade-long licensing dispute led Gross to sell the television station to Unicom, a unit of Forstmann Little, doing business as Backe Communications soon after the cash settlement was approved. After the sale, the station adopted its current call letters WLNS. However, Unicom's ownership of the station was short-lived; in 1986 it sold WLNS and WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin to current owner Young Broadcasting (the latter has since been sold to Morgan Murphy Media). Young filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early-2009.
The company will soon be taken over by its secured lenders and have operations of most of its stations outsourced to Gray Television. WLNS will not be part of the management agreement because Gray already owns-and-operates WILX. The station shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009 as part of the DTV transition. The station moved its digital broadcasts to channel 36 from the pre-transition channel 59 allotment using PSIP to be displayed as virtual channel 6.1. WLNS was not allowed to use 36 initially because WJRT was previously using 36 for its digital transmissions. However, on June 12, that station moved its digital broadcasts to VHF channel 12 allowing WLNS to use UHF channel 36 without causing interference.
Channel 6 doubled as Flint's CBS affiliate for many years, as its signal (the second strongest in Michigan at the time it began broadcasting) decently covers the city and surrounding Genesee County. For many years, it identified on-air as "Lansing/Flint/Jackson". In 1972, Saginaw's WEYI-TV, then the CBS affiliate for the rest of Mid-Michigan, moved its studios and transmitter to Clio. just north of Flint. Until the early-1980s, Flint was served by two CBS stations. However, later in the 1980s, WLNS chose to concentrate more on Lansing. Comcast would eventually drop WLNS in Flint as a result. However, it is still easily viewable in Flint and Saginaw with a good antenna.
The station's signal also reaches as far as the Detroit area, although mostly in the northwestern and western suburbs. In the Detroit market, its digital signal is strongest in fast growing Livingston County where some parts actually get city-grade coverage. This is because WLNS' transmitter is only ten miles west of the Ingham/Livingston County. For many years, it was rumored viewers in Livingston County positioned antennas towards Lansing to pick up Detroit Lions games blacked-out on WJBK. In fact, during the 1950s and 1960s, the NFL blacked out home telecasts for all its teams. The blackout covered a 50-mile radius whether the games were sold out or not. Since WLNS (then WJIM) was a CBS affiliate and CBS had rights to the NFL, it carried every Detroit Lions game since it was beyond the blackout radius. During these years, the Detroit newspapers frequently carried ads for "Channel 6 antennas" through which viewers in the northern and northwestern suburbs could watch Lions games that were otherwise blacked out. The blackout raduis was subsequently expanded to 75 miles, making WLNS subject to the blackout rule. For many years, WLNS' programming was seen on low-powered analog repeater W67AJ in Ann Arbor (which is also part of the Detroit market). This translator was owned by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. W67AJ's license was canceled in January 2007 by the FCC. [2]
Traditionally, WLNS had been the most watched outlet in Central Michigan regularly beating rival WILX in Nielsen ratings. Sometime in the early-2000s, however, that station overtook WLNS for the first time and has maintained a narrow (if not consistent) lead ever since then. Throughout its history, WLAJ has made three attempts to offer Lansing a third option of local newscasts but none ever made any headway in the ratings and/or gained consistent viewership. Since it was the area's last big three network-affiliated station to launch, it has to compete with well established news departments at WLNS and WILX. Currently, WLAJ airs short news and weather updates on weekdays produced and taped in advance by sister station WWMT in Kalamazoo.
In recent years due to budget concerns, WILX's news staff has been reduced. As a result, that station only features one news anchor during its weekday morning and weeknight broadcasts unlike other outlets that usually have a two anchor team. Since its weekday noon show was canceled in the late-1990s, WILX has not offered a newscast during the midday hours resulting in WLNS having the only local broadcast in the time slot. Unlike most CBS affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, this station does not air a newscast weeknights at 5:30. Therefore, Fox affiliate WSYM-TV is the only outlet for local news which is actually produced by WILX through an outsourcing agreement that has been in place since 2004.
On January 28, 2011, WILX became the first station in Central Michigan to upgrade local newscasts to high definition (WSYM would eventually follow on June 13). In July 2011, WLNS began airing all of its news programming from a temporary set in the station's breakroom while a new one is constructed in preparation for its own launch of HD newscasts. The brand new set debuted on August 26, 2011 during the 5 p.m. newscast, while HD newscasts debuted during the 5 p.m. newscast on October 26, 2011. Several on-air personalities (Jane Aldrich, Sheri Jones, Ann Emmerich, Lauren Thompson, and Brittany Gray) host a monthly lifestyle show on this station. Known as 6 in the City, the program airs in a magazine-type format. Since Lisa Byington left the station in September for the Big Ten Network, special guest hosts have filled-in. The first 6 in the City installment aired in May 2011.
On September 12, 2011, 6 News This Morning expanded to 2 1/2 hours, now beginning at 4:30 a.m. As a result CBS Morning News now airs at 4 a.m. locally.
Anchors
StormTracker 6 Meteorologists (all have AMS Seal of Approval)
Sports
Reporters
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