In 1994, when Fox was new and the then-CBS affiliate in Detroit (WJBK) switched to them, CBS raced to get on the air, ultimately buying low-powered UHF station WGPR-TV, then upgrading the signal and converting it to the current WWJ-TV.
After some half-hearted stabs over the years at creating local news programming, such as partnering with WWJ-AM radio and the Detroit Free Press, the station gave up on local news and just plays sitcoms or other programs in those traditional time slots. (They do have a five-minute 11 pm weather forecast in the additional hole before the sitcom at 11:05-11:35.) I seem to recall reading quotes from a previous station manager gloating about the profitability of them not running local news. Now the station claims it will launch 40 hours of weekly local news coverage in the late summer or early fall of 2022 ... along with live streaming news for an additional 97 hours per week (?!?). https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/television/2021/12/14/cbs-and-wwj-tv-launch-local-news-department-detroit-2022/8892091002/ https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2021/12/14/cbs-news-detroit-streaming-tv-newscasts/6506166001/ It sounds like reporters will have to be a one-person crew, including shooting and editing their own reports. Earlier this year, sister station WKBD-TV launched a 30-minute local newscast at 10 pm M-F, so it's not like they're starting completely from scratch ... but it all sounds pretty ambitious. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/52b42699-9354-426c-a756-3dd636c54a58n%40googlegroups.com.
