WLNS-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WLNS-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Your News Leader
station_branding = WLNS 6
analog = 6 (VHF)
digital = 59 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = CBS
network =
founded =
airdate = May 1, 1950
location = Lansing, Michigan
callsign_meaning = LaNSing
former_callsigns = WJIM-TV (1950-1984)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Young Broadcasting, Inc.
licensee = Young Broadcasting of Lansing, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = All secondary:
NBC (1950-1959)
ABC (1950-1958)
DuMont (1950-1955) [http://members.aol.com/jeff99500/1952tv.html]
effective_radiated_power = 100 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 305 m (analog)
288 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 74420
coordinates = coord|42|41|18.6|N|84|22|34.8|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wlns.com/ www.wlns.com]

WLNS-TV is the CBS television affiliate serving the Lansing/Jackson, Michigan television market in the United States. It broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 6, and its digital signal on UHF channel 59 from a 306-meter (1,004-foot) transmitter located midway between East Lansing and the town of Williamston, giving it a signal footprint in many parts of southern and central Michigan.

The station's studio facility is also home to the operations of the market's MyNetworkTV affiliate, WHTV.

History

WLNS signed on the air on May 1, 1950 as WJIM-TV, owned by Harold F. Gross along with WJIM-AM 1240. It is Michigan's second-oldest station outside of Detroit (behind Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV). Gross had started WJIM-AM, the first commercial radio station in Lansing, in 1934, and both stations were named after his son Jim. It originally broadcast 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.

WJIM-TV carried programming from all four major networks, though 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 signed on in 1990. WXYZ-TV in Detroit served as the default affilate for Jackson. WKZO-TV, now WWMT (then a partial ABC affiliate), as well as WSJV in Elkhart, Indiana served as default affiliates for Battle Creek until WUHQ-TV (now WOTV) went on the air.

DuMont programming disappeared when that network ceased operations in 1956. NBC would also later disappear from the schedule in 1959 when WILX-TV signed on as an NBC affilate, 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 that Gross prevented a number of prominent political figures from appearing on his station, among other accusations. [http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=711181] An FCC judge ordered WJIM's license revoked in 1981--only the second time a station has 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 its 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 agreed to a cash settlement in 1984.

The stress of the licensing dispute led Gross to sell the station to Unicom Inc, a unit of Forstmann Little, d.b.a. Backe Communications, at which point the station adopted its current call letters of WLNS. Unicom's ownership of the station was short-lived as in 1986 they sold WLNS and WKBT in La Crosse, Wisconsin to its current owner, Young Broadcasting (however, WKBT has since been sold to Morgan Murphy Stations).

Flint and Detroit

WJIM doubled as Flint's CBS affiliate for many years, as its signal--the second-strongest in Michigan at the time it signed on--decently covers the city and surrounding Genesee County. For many years, it identified as "Lansing/Flint/Jackson/Battle Creek" on-air.

In 1972, Saginaw's then-CBS affiliate WEYI-TV moved its studios and transmitter to Clio, just north of Flint. Until the early 1980s, Flint was served by two CBS stations, though during the 1980s, WJIM/WLNS chose to concentrate more on Lansing. Comcast dropped WLNS in Flint as a result. WLNS can still be seen in Saginaw County with a good receiver.

WLNS' signal also makes it to Detroit, albeit it is very weak except in fast-growing Livingston County (where WLNS is city-grade to Grade B); despite WLNS's transmitter being only ten miles west of the Ingham / Livingston Line, Livingston County is part of the Detroit DMA. (It is rumored Detroiters, in order to watch home Detroit Lions games that were blacked out, used to position their antennas towards Lansing in order to pick up their signal.) In that area, WLNS is best viewable in Detroit's west suburbs and areas of northwest Detroit.

W67AJ, the former WLNS repeater, was based in Ann Arbor, part of the Detroit DMA, and owned by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. W67AJ's license was cancelled in January 2007 by the Federal Communications Commission. [http://www.recnet.com/cdbs/fmq.php?facid=18392]

Digital Television

According to the FCC database, WLNS has applied for a construction permit for digital channel 36, which will be used after the digital transition date of February 17, 2009.

WLNS6 News Staff

Anchors

* WLNS6 News this Morning: Greg Adaline

Lauren Thompson

* WLNS6 News at Noon: Greg Adaline

Lauren Thompson

* WLNS6 News at Five: Sheri Jones

* WLNS6 News at Six: Sheri Jones

Dave Akerly

* WLNS6 News at 11: Sheri Jones

Dave Akerly

* WLNS6 News at 6 and 11 Weekends:Ann Emmerich

Meteorologists

* WLNS6 News this Morning and 6 News at Noon: Jake Dunne

* WLNS6 News at 5, 6, and 11: David Young (chief meteorologist)

* WLNS6 News 6 & 11 Weekends: Rob Dale

Weather radar called "Live StormTacker 6 Doppler Radar"

ports

* WLNS6 News at 6 and 11: Fred Heumann

* WLNS6 News weekends: Lisa Byington

*Sunday Sports Overtime:Lisa Byington

*The 5th Quarter: Fred Heumann

Lisa Byington

"Friday nights at 11:15pm during high school football and basketball season"

Past Personalities

* Tetiana Anderson - former reporter; now with the Weather Channel
* David Andrews - former anchor; now with WILX
* Brad Edwards - former weekend anchor/reporter; now with WJBK
* Jim Geyer - former meteorologist; now with WEYI
* Mara MacDonald - former reporter, now with WDIV
* Jo Anne Paul - former anchor; now with WJIM
* Andy Provenzano - former meteorologist; now with WILX
* Amy Rao - former weekend anchor/reporter; now with WTVF Nashville
* Terry Stanton - former anchor; now Deputy Spokesperson for Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm
* Tim Staudt - former sports anchor; now with WILX
* Anya Tucker - former morning anchor; now with WTEN Albany
* Emily Wagner - former morning anchor; now with WOOD-TV (known as Emily Linnert)
* Jeff Campbell - former weekend anchor/reporter; now with WCNC

References

* [http://www.wlns.com/global/category.asp?c=25744 History of WLNS]
* [http://www.michiguide.com/dials/tv/wlns.html Michiguide.com: WLNS-TV]

External links

* [http://www.wlns.com/ WLNS.com]
*TVQ|WLNS
*BIA|WLNS|TV|TV
* [http://www.broadcast.net/~sbe102/towers/wlns.html Photos of the tower]