This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Wcquidditch (talk | contribs) at 23:29, 6 March 2018 (restore 2016–on information removed in what was an outright revert to December 2015 (when Media General still existed), with some modifications (including some new pruning of off-topic and potentially too-schedule-like material in the news operation section)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 23:29, 6 March 2018 by Wcquidditch (talk | contribs) (restore 2016–on information removed in what was an outright revert to December 2015 (when Media General still existed), with some modifications (including some new pruning of off-topic and potentially too-schedule-like material in the news operation section))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff){{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:
- Template:Infobox broadcasting network
- Template:Infobox television channel
- Template:Infobox television station
Topics referred to by the same term
This is an unused template to list other templates associated with a similar title or shortcut.If an internal transclusion led you here, you may wish to change it to point directly to the intended page.
{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.
WLNS-TV is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Lansing, Michigan, United States and serving the Central Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 (or virtual channel 6 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Van Atta Road in Meridian Charter Township. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also operates ABC/CW affiliate WLAJ, channel 53 (owned by Shield Media, LLC) through joint sales and shared services agreements. The two stations share studios on East Saginaw Street (along U.S. 127/BL I-69/M-43) in Lansing's Eastside section.
History
WJIM-TV
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 oldest continually operated commercial radio station in Lansing, in 1934. Both stations were named after his son Jim. According to local legend, 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. As it turned out, the pool had very little use except for the occasional employee party.
WJIM-TV originally carried programming from all four networks: ABC, DuMont, NBC, and CBS; 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. DuMont programming disappeared when the network ceased operations in 1956. NBC disappeared from the schedule in 1959 when WILX-TV signed-on. Thus, at the start of the fall 1959 television season, WJIM-TV was broadcasting only CBS.
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. A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) judge ordered the license revoked in 1981. WJIM kept its license when the initial revocation was reversed by FCC in 1982. The ACLU would eventually agree to a cash settlement in 1984.
WLNS
The stress of the decade-long licensing dispute made Gross decide to get out of broadcasting. He sold WJIM-TV to Backe Communications in 1984. The station adopted its current call letters, WLNS-TV, on July 16, 1984. Backe's ownership of the station was short-lived; in 1986 it sold WLNS to Young Broadcasting.
Young filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 2009. The company was subsequently taken over by its secured lenders and outsourced most of its operations to Gray Television. WLNS was not part of the management agreement because Gray already owned WILX. Young merged with Media General in November 2013, and in turn, Media General merged with Nexstar in January 2017.
Following the other Young stations that launched the Country Network in late November 2010, WLNS added that network to its .2 subchannel in the first quarter of 2011. On January 30, 2012, WLNS changed its .2 affiliation to the Live Well Network along with 7 other Young stations. After Live Well folded, it was replaced as the .2 subchannel by GetTV in January 2016; as of March 2018, WLNS does not offer programming on the second subchannel. Ion Television can be seen on the .3 subchannel which was added in 2015.
Flint and Detroit
Channel 6 doubled as Flint's CBS affiliate for many years. Its signal (the second strongest in Michigan at the time it signed on) decently covers Flint itself 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 dropped WLNS from its Flint cable systems as 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, but this is limited mostly to the northwestern and western suburbs. In the Detroit market, its signal is strongest in fast growing Livingston County, where some parts actually get city-grade coverage. This is because WLNS' transmitter is only 10 miles (16 km) west of the Ingham County line. It is believed that many viewers in Detroit's western suburbs pointed their antennas toward Lansing to pick up Detroit Lions games that were blacked out in Detroit.
Beginning in 1994, WLNS' programming was seen on a low-powered analog repeater, W67AJ channel 67, 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.
Digital television
Analog-to-digital conversion
WLNS-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 59, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to UHF channel 36, using PSIP to display WLNS-TV's virtual channel as 6 on digital television receivers.
WLNS was not allowed to use 36 initially because WJRT-TV was previously using 36 for its digital transmissions. However, on June 12, 2009, that station moved its digital broadcasts to VHF channel 12 allowing WLNS to use UHF channel 36 without causing interference.
Programming
WLNS carries syndicated programming in time periods not programmed by CBS on its main channel. During the 2015–2016 television season, this included a two-hour afternoon pair of talk shows, The Meredith Vieira Show and Dr. Phil. In the prime access hour, the station broadcast the show business and pop culture programs Entertainment Tonight and The Insider. An additional syndicated show carried by the station was The Doctors.
News operation
Traditionally, WLNS had been the most watched television station in Central Michigan regularly beating rival WILX in Nielsen ratings. Sometime in the early 2000s, however, the NBC outlet overtook WLNS for the first time.
In July 2011, WLNS began airing all of its news programming from a temporary set in the station's breakroom while a new one was constructed in preparation for its own launch of HD news programing. The brand new set debuted on August 26, 2011 during the 5 p.m. newscast while HD newscasts debuted during the 5 p.m. show on October 26, 2011.
On September 12, 2011, 6 News This Morning expanded to two and a half hours and now begins at 4:30 a.m. As a result the CBS Morning News now airs at 4 a.m. locally. On April 1, 2013, WLNS began simulcasting its weeknight 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts on WLAJ. Their morning newscast started simulcasting (from 5 until 7 a.m.) on WLAJ on April 15 and includes separate, recorded cut-ins during ABC's Good Morning America. In addition to its main studios, WLNS operates a bureau within the Jackson Citizen Patriot newsroom on South Jackson Street in downtown Jackson.
References
- ^ "WLNS-TV Channel 6 Lansing". Station Listings. michiguide.com. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
- Troubling Times - WLNS TV 6 Lansing Jackson Michigan News and Weather - WLNS.COM |
- "Young Files for Chapter 11", from televisionbroadcast.com, posted 3/4/2009
- "Media General, Young Now Officially One". TVNewsCheck. November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- "FCC Approves Nexstar's $4.6B Acquisition Of Media General". Deadline.com.
- "The Country Network Adds Four Young Broadcasting Stations". All Access. All Access Music Group. November 22, 2010. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
- Malone, Michael (January 24, 2012). "Young Broadcasting Stations Look to Live Well". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media, LLC. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- REC Broadcast Query | REC Networks
- List of Digital Full-Power Stations
- Hughes, Mike (October 4, 2015). "TV landscape contains endless variety". Lansing State Journal. Gannett. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
- http://www.mlive.com/business/jackson-lansing/index.ssf/2013/03/citizen_patriots_media_partner.html
- http://www.wlns.com/story/21844014/6-news-to-run-on-abc-station
- http://www.mlive.com/business/jackson-lansing/index.ssf/2013/03/citizen_patriots_media_partner.html
External links
| Broadcast television in South Central Michigan (Greater Lansing Urban Area) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Local stations |
|
| Cable channels |
|
| ATSC 3.0 station(s) | |
| Defunct stations |
|
| Broadcast television in Western Michigan | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||
| Local stations |
| ||||||||||
| ATSC 3.0 digital | |||||||||||
| Cable channels |
| ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| CBS network affiliates licensed to and serving the state of Michigan | |
|---|---|
| Primary* | |
| Secondary** | |
| (*) – indicates station is in one of Michigan's primary TV markets (**) – indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Michigan
| |
| Ion Television network affiliates licensed to and serving the state of Michigan | |
|---|---|
| Primary* | |
| Secondary** | |
| (*) – indicates station is in one of Michigan's primary TV markets (**) – indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Michigan
| |
.svg){kind=logo}
