WOIO had no interest in airing local news at first, but changed their minds. Luckily, there was WUAB and the newsroom that station established in 1988.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Can you believe it's been 30 years?
- Thread starter vjm
- Start date
Malrite had toyed with setting up a news department for WOIO as early as 1992. By the spring of 1994 (just before the New World deal was announced) they had already experienced success starting a 10 p.m. news for WXIX, and had Fox network president's Lucie Salahany's support with establishing news on WOIO.
The only problem they had at the time was a lack of space. Their original Shaker Square studios were not big enough to support a newsroom.
News was probably going to show up on WOIO if they had remained with Fox. They had already been deep in talks to take over WUAB via lease which would have supplied news anyway. Then-CBS News president Eric Ober even noted WOIO would have "a temporary news deficit", but the network was very much satiated by their plans from the get-go.
It wasn't really ironic. WGPR had a news department from day one in 1975 until the staff attempted to unionize in 1992, by which the Black Freemason group that owned the station cancelled all local news. But it was entirely focused on Detroit's Black community.
@Sammi Brie and I did the entire story on channel 62 in Detroit and it'll be the featured article on Wikipedia for MLK Day:
WWJ-TV - Wikipedia
To say that WGPR had no history in a market, as one CBS exec did, is unwitting erasure of what WGPR was. Did it live up to what it should have been? No. Would it likely have lasted much longer than 1995? Probably not, because I bet the Masons would have seen the high value of TV stations (or possibly an affiliation gap with UPN) and looked for a buyer. Did it provide programming important to many people, if not a mass market? Absolutely yes.
Meanwhile, Maglio is now the main evening co-anchor at 6pm and 10pm. He has been on at 6 since 2005 after Tim Taylor retired.
Exactly this. Even with the obvious limitations being a Black-owned station in a major city with significant economic and societal/racial strife, the station was a springboard for Black on- and off-air talent and executives that would have never existed otherwise.
WJW was already a hallmark of continuity and consistency even before New World-Fox. That it has remained that way through four successive owners is no small achievement.
I bet he wishes he still had that thing now considering he's chained up in that lady's basement.Presented without comment
Enjoy a Tribute to Zack Morris’s Many Vintage, Oversize Cell Phones - Clickable - Vulture
"Dad, is this the only way I can get through to you?"www.vulture.com
Nice.@Sammi Brie and I did the entire story on channel 62 in Detroit and it'll be the featured article on Wikipedia for MLK Day:
WWJ-TV - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Kudos to you and Sammi
Here is another one that was part of the affiliation switch of 1994-1995.
This time from Sacramento
KXTV traded affiliations with KOVR as in KOVR converted into a CBS affiliate and ABC moved to KXTV. That deal took place right when Disney was in talks to take over ABC when that happened. That deal is not tied to the Fox affiliation deal it's something else that happens to take place as the Disney/ABC was being planned at that time.
This time from Sacramento
KXTV traded affiliations with KOVR as in KOVR converted into a CBS affiliate and ABC moved to KXTV. That deal took place right when Disney was in talks to take over ABC when that happened. That deal is not tied to the Fox affiliation deal it's something else that happens to take place as the Disney/ABC was being planned at that time.
CBS 62 just started their full newscasts in 2023. Ironically, or at least interestingly if I'm not using that term correctly, Ronnie Duncan is their sports reporter. Ronnie was one of the sports reporters for 19/43 news when they moved to Reserve Square.
He's a consummate professional and it was nice to see him on the air when I was in the Big D last summer.
CBS also appears to control WKBD 50. WKBD and WKBF 61 here were sister Kaiser stations when they first when on the air in the 60's.
He's a consummate professional and it was nice to see him on the air when I was in the Big D last summer.
CBS also appears to control WKBD 50. WKBD and WKBF 61 here were sister Kaiser stations when they first when on the air in the 60's.
Correct, CBS does own WKBD 50, and until last year was Detroit's CW affiliate, having previously been the UPN station pre WB merger.
Once Nexstar bought CW from CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery, WKBD dropped the affiliation and became an independent (as lot of CBS owned CW affiliates did post sale)
And as the topic of this thread is the 30th anniversary of the big network swap, let me tie it all together by pointing out that channel 50 was Detroit's Fox affiliate when the announcement was made, and after Fox migrated to WJBK TV 2, WKBD shortly thereafter became a charter UPN affiliate
Back in the day, WKBD aired The Ghoul, syndicating him from the aforementioned channel 61, and outside of Cleveland, Detroit was the Ghoul's most successful market after Kaiser syndicated him to all their stations in the early 70s.
Ronnie Duncan outside of his work on WOIO/WUAB, had a stint as morning host on WERE (still at 1300 then), and was the Cavs' P.A. announcer for a spell during the first LeBron era. He even briefly came back to 19/43 in the period right before the pandemic as a general assignment reporter.
WJW has managed to become even more popular than ever, even after the initial struggles right after the network switch. Fox 8 is now the most dominant station in Cleveland (with WKYC tops at 11pm).
WOIO struggled right out of the gate, and still likely struggle to this day, with the exception of a period in the 2000s where "19 Action News" was much more competitive in terms of ratings and buzz.
WKYC got more popular and competitive as the years went on, while WEWS was #1 in the ratings, but eventually faluted in the ratings. So much that there was talent and imaging changes constantly. (Same with WOIO)
WUAB is now carrying WOIO's bags and continues to fall behind WJW at 10pm, and even lost a lot of audience to WBNX, which also became more popular and competitive, even after going back to being independent.
WOIO struggled right out of the gate, and still likely struggle to this day, with the exception of a period in the 2000s where "19 Action News" was much more competitive in terms of ratings and buzz.
WKYC got more popular and competitive as the years went on, while WEWS was #1 in the ratings, but eventually faluted in the ratings. So much that there was talent and imaging changes constantly. (Same with WOIO)
WUAB is now carrying WOIO's bags and continues to fall behind WJW at 10pm, and even lost a lot of audience to WBNX, which also became more popular and competitive, even after going back to being independent.
Ronnie left WWJ/WKBD last month. Jericka (who grew up in Aurora) is now CBS News's lead correspondent and anchor of CBS Weekend News.
When 60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager was accused of sexual harassment in 2018, Jericka covered it for the network, causing Jeff to send her threatening text messages in return. She reported on those text messages, which got him fired.
Surprising seeing that many over-the-air viewers still have trouble receiving their broadcast, which moved from pre-transition UHF 31 over to VHF 8 when the digital transition took effect, all because someone thought broadcasting digitally on VHF was going to be better after the analog broadcasts ceased, and to save a few $ on their electric bill as well. I'm not sure how well their over-the-air viewership has rebounded since the digital transition.
Never liked the Action News format with their tabloid reporting and the two cent comments. Still remember the one news anchor calling someone a "fish face", and every bad guy in their stories was considered guilty before their court hearing took place. Surprised this format lasted as long as it did, as I think it chased more viewers away.
WUAB for a long time has been nothing more than a dumping ground for the less desirable shows in syndication. They have gotten somewhat better over time, but it still needs improvement. The more popular shows are buried in the late night hours, and The Simpsons only air once a week on Saturday, where practically every other station airs them on a M-F basis.
I have been picturing MyNetwork TV on WBNX in primetime. It would fit with their independent format.
The super mega game show block (highlighted by Family Feud) has become their bread and butter...no way they bust that up.