WLAJ

WLAJ

Lansing–Jackson, Michigan United States
City	Lansing, Michigan
Channels	Digital:14 (UHF), shared withWLNS-TV Virtual:53
Branding	ABC 53 Lansing CW5 (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	53.1:ABC 53.2:CW+
Ownership
Owner	Mission Broadcasting, Inc.
Operator	Nexstar Media GroupviaSSA
Sister stations	WLNS-TV
History
Founded	March 8, 1982
First air date	October 13, 1990(1990-10-13)
Former call signs	WLAJ-TV (1982–1990)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:53 (UHF, 1990–2009) Digital:51 (UHF, 2004–2015), 25 (UHF, 2015–2020)
Call signmeaning	Lansing and Jackson
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	36533
ERP	950kW
HAAT	289.8 m (951 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	42°41′19″N84°22′35″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.wlns/my-abc-is-wlaj-53

WLAJ(channel 53) is atelevision stationinLansing, Michigan,United States, affiliated withABCandThe CW Plus.It is owned byMission Broadcasting,which maintains ashared servicesagreement (SSA) withNexstar Media Group,owner ofCBSaffiliateWLNS-TV(channel 6), for the provision of certain services. WLAJ and WLNS-TV share studios on East Saginaw Street in Lansing'sEastsidesection; through achannel sharing agreement,the stations transmit using WLAJ's spectrum from a tower on Van Atta Road inOkemos, Michigan.There is no separate website for WLAJ; instead, it is integrated with that of sister station WLNS-TV.

History

WLAJ began broadcasting on October 13, 1990, operating from a converted appliance store. The station was originally owned by Joel Ferguson, the founding owner of the market's first independent station, WFSL-TV (nowFoxaffiliateWSYM-TV). Ferguson had used the proceeds from the sale of WFSL to launch WLAJ.

Prior to its sign-on in 1990, Lansing had been one of the biggestmarketsin the United States without a full-time ABC affiliate, even though it had been large enough to support three full network affiliates since at least the 1960s. However, only two VHF licenses were assigned to the city—channels 6 and 10, occupied by CBS affiliate WLNS and NBC affiliateWILX-TV.UHF was not considered viable even after the FCC mandated all-channel tuning in 1964. Although Lansing is a fairly compact market geographically, it is sandwiched betweenDetroitto the east,Flint–Saginaw–Bay Cityto the north,Toledoto the south, andGrand Rapids–Kalamazoo–Battle Creekto the west. Therefore, it was not likely there would have been room to drop in a third VHF allocation. By the 1980s, cable and satellite had gained enough penetration in Mid-Michigan to make a UHF "Big Three" affiliate viable.

Before WLAJ signed on,WJRT-TVin Flint had served as the default ABC outlet for the area from its 1958 sign-on until WLAJ debuted. WFSL had briefly carried a few ABC programs in an abortive attempt to become Lansing's ABC affiliate. Other parts of the market received ABC from WUHQ-TV (nowWOTV) in Battle Creek andWXYZ-TVin Detroit. As a condition of WLAJ receiving an ABC affiliation, its transmitter had to be located so there was minimum overlap with WJRT.

Ferguson eventually sold a half-stake in WLAJ toGranite Broadcastingin 1996. Granite had the option of buying out the rest of WLAJ, which it exercised six months later after a brief court battle when the owners of the transmitter site tried to stop the sale from taking place. The station was sold toFreedom Communicationsin 1999. In 2005, a company-wide consolidation of operations at its stations resulted in the move of WLAJ'smaster controland most other internal operations to the studios of sister stationWWMTin Kalamazoo. This left a skeleton crew of six people out of what began with eighty staffers in Lansing. Additionally, WWMT's president and general manager, James Lutton, took over the same capacity at WLAJ after the departure of Ross Reardon.

On September 24, 2007, WLAJ was re-branded as "ABC 3" since most Lansing-area cable providers carry it on channel 3. The logo introduced at that time featured the number "53" but emphasized its cable slot ( "3" ) more than the over-the-air channel, with the "5" innegative space.WOTV used a similar logo at the time. On April 7, 2008, a new image makeover including a new logo, similar to WWMT's, but with the hidden "5" like the previous logo was launched. It eventually dropped the hidden "5". WLAJ was unusual for airingThe Oprah Winfrey Showat 5 p.m. instead of her traditional 4 p.m. timeslot. The series ended on May 25, 2011, andThe Ellen DeGeneres ShowreplacedOprahon WLAJ.

WLAJ also airedESPN Plus'Big Tencollege footballcoverage until the launch of theBig Ten Network.While most ABC affiliates in Michigan saw their college football coverage reduced primarily to the network's games, WLAJ and WLAJ-DT2 have in recent years become the Lansing affiliate of theCentral Michigan UniversityChippewasand theWestern Michigan UniversityBroncos.Today, whenever a football game involving either CMU or WMU kicks off at noon, the game airs on WLAJ as a lead-in toABC's college footballcoverage. All other CMU and WMU football games air on WLAJ-DT2.

Freedom announced on November 2, 2011, that it would bow out of television and sell its stations, including WLAJ, to theSinclair Broadcast Group.The deal closed on April 2, 2012, but only six months later (on October 11), Sinclair filed to sell WLAJ to Shield Media (owned by White Knight Broadcasting vice president Sheldon Galloway). After the sale's completion, the station then entered into a shared services agreement with Young Broadcasting-owned WLNS.TheFederal Communications Commission(FCC) granted its approval of the license assignment on December 4; the sale was completed on March 1.This transaction resulted in Young controlling four of the six largestEnglish-languagenetwork affiliates in Lansing (CBS, ABC, The CW, and MyNetworkTV).On April 1, 2013, WLAJ's master control moved from WWMT's studios to the WLNS facility in Lansing. Most internal operations moved to WLNS as well. WLAJ also shut down its local advertising sales office and former news studio on South Pennsylvania Avenue. In effect, the move reunited WHTV's intellectual unit with WLAJ since the former station was once housed at the ABC outlet's studios. However, WLNS technically operated WHTV through an already established separate outsourcing arrangement from WLAJ.

In August 2013, WLAJ returned to branding itself as "ABC 53" using the updated ABC logo. Young Broadcasting merged with Media General on November 12, 2013.As a result of these changes, WHTV announced it would not renew its operational outsourcing agreement with WLNS.In July 2014, WHTV entered into a new local marketing agreement with WSYM (then owned by theJournal Broadcast Group) and relocated its advertising sales operation to that outlet's studios.

On August 21, 2020, it was announced thatMission Broadcastingwould acquire WLAJ.The acquisition was completed on November 23.

WLAJ-DT2

On September 21, 1998, alongside the launch ofThe WB 100+ Station Group(The WB 100+), WLAJ began operating acable-only affiliate ofThe WBwhich was part of the national service. This was available exclusively onComcastchannel 30, had its own logo, and used the "WBL"call signin a fictional manner. From 2002 until 2006, the internal operations (such as advertising sales) ofUPNaffiliateWHTVwere housed at WLAJ's studios. That station then relocated to the WLNS facility after entering into a joint sales agreement with WLNS' then-ownerYoung Broadcasting.Prior to 1998, The WB programming was available in the Lansing market via WGN's national feed, or off-market stations, such as WXON (nowWMYD) in Detroit. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation (which split from Viacom after 2005) and Warner Bros. Television (the company which owned The WB) announced they then would cease operating the UPN and The WB networks and combine their resources to create a programming service entitled The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of the new network's respective corporate parents.

On February 22,News Corporationannounced that it would start up another new network calledMyNetworkTV.This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated byFox Television Stationsand its syndication division20th Television.MyNetworkTV was launched on September 5 and former UPN affiliate WHTV joined the network. This left WBL to affiliate with The CW viaThe CW Plus,a service similar to The WB 100+, on September 18. On that date, WLAJ created a new seconddigital subchannelto simulcast WBL and offer non-cable subscribers access to The CW. That channel then began using the WLAJ-DT2 call letters in an official manner and relocated to Comcast channel 5.

News operation

WLAJ launched a news department (under the branding53 Newsbeat) a month after it began operations. However, after only fifteen months, station management decided to pull the plug on the production and replace it with simulcasts ofAction Newsfrom WXYZ. Due to continual lowratings,this was eventually replaced by syndicated programming. In 1997, it re-launched a news operation but still found itself with few viewers having to compete with established broadcasts at longtime dominant WLNS and runner-up WILX-TV.

New weeknight 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts were branded asABC 53 News Nowand featured anchor Joe Parker, sports with Shaun Broyls, and weather outsourced to the National Weather Network (now known asWeatherVision) ofJackson, Mississippi.Kirk Montgomery eventually took over asmeteorologistafter an in-house weather department was added. After Freedom bought the station in 1999, a management change occurred andsales managerMike King (from sister station WWMT) was brought in as the new general manager at WLAJ.

During this time, the news department won several awards including Best Newscast from theAssociated Press.Initially retaining theABC 53 News Nowbranding, the shows were eventually relaunched asABC 53 News Expresswhich consisted of ten minutes of news, weather, and sports followed by an interview segment. Parker left in 2002 to become the main weeknight anchor at Freedom'sWRGBinAlbany, New York,and was replaced by Darcy Sullivan. Despite the new format and the critical acclaim, WLAJ was still unable to make significant headway in the ratings. It frequently found itself as the third station in a two-station market, with WLNS and WILX waging a fierce battle for first. Eventually, Suzanne Wangler (using her on-air name "Suzanne Page" ) from Detroit'sWDIV-TVreplaced Darcy Sullivan as producer and news anchor. Cathy Younkin from WWMT replaced Jim Fordyce asnews directorand Hondo Carpenter remained sports director.

On September 24, 2007, a significant change occurred at WLAJ after the station dropped theNews Expressformat for its newscasts. The news production returned to a more traditional presentation complete with a newly renovated set at its South Pennsylvania Avenue studios. The station began producing full-length newscasts branded asABC 3 News(referring to its on-air identification based on its universal cable channel location). By this point, WLAJ was airing local news weeknights at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and also introduced a prime time newscast at 10 p.m. on its CW-affiliated second digital subchannel. The half-hour prime time program on the subchannel, calledABC 3 News Live at 10 on CW 5,competed with another sixty-minute local newscast seen every night at the same time on Fox outlet WSYM (which has all of its news programming produced by WILX).

On February 15, 2008, Suzanne Wangler (who anchored under the name "Suzanne Page" ) resigned as the anchor/producer/news director of WLAJ. Wangler cited the "stress" of the job serving in her position leading to her resignation. She previously had a week-long absence due to family problems. Her resignation, however, may have been due to an investigation where she was accused of taking almost $150,000from anOakland Countyman named Les Pingilley. The charges led to anInvestigatorsreport at WXYZ by Heather Catallo.On February 23, Wangler was found dead in her home by police. According to Detroit's Foxowned-and-operated stationWJBK(channel 2), it was an "apparentsuicide"and she" had hanged herself. "Also according to that station, she went to a local police department to get her blood alcohol level checked for a previousdriving under the influencecharge. Herblood alcohol contenttested at 0.05% (0.08% is legally drunk in Michigan). However, due to prior offenses, she was not allowed to have any alcohol in her system. A family member discovered her dead around 3 p.m. that day and called police.An autopsy to find the exact cause of death was scheduled;it was confirmed by the autopsy as suicide by hanging.

Since WLAJ lacked a weather department, allweather forecastswere taped in advance by meteorologists from WWMT's studios on West Maple Street in Kalamazoo. Except for a news anchor and sports director based in Lansing, WLAJ maintained a very minimal news presence in Lansing with only two news reporters. Additional reporters from WWMT were included when coverage was presented that featured a regional and/or statewide interest. On weekdays from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m., WLAJ aired news and weather cut-ins (at:25 and:55 past the hour) duringGood Morning Americathat were recorded in advance by WWMT personnel. At some point in time, its 6 p.m. broadcast was expanded to an hour displacingABC World News With Charles Gibsonto a 30-minutedelayat 7 p.m. Despite a credible effort to offer a third option of newscasts in Lansing, WLAJ finally discontinued its news department altogether on September 25, 2009.

As a result, WWMT began producing a five-minute news and weather brief seen weeknights at 11 p.m. (which was taped earlier in the evening) featuring rotating WWMT personalities. Known asABC 3 News Update,regional and state coverage was presented during the show since WLAJ no longer maintained any news-related personnel at its studios in Lansing. WWMT also continued to provide WLAJ with taped local weather cut-ins duringGood Morning Americaon weekday mornings. All news and weather updates on this outlet were upgraded to high definition level on April 16, 2011, after WWMT made the switch.

At some point in March 2013 after WLNS took over operations of WLAJ, all of the WWMT-produced news and weather cut-ins were dropped. On April 1, WLNS began simulcasting its weeknight 6 p.m. and 11 pm newscasts on WLAJ. Their morning newscast started simulcasting (from 5 a.m. until 7 a.m.) on April 15 and includes separate, recorded cut-ins duringGood Morning America.In addition to its main studios, WLNS operates a bureau within theJackson Citizen Patriotnewsroom on East Michigan Avenue in downtown Jackson. Unlike most ABC affiliates, WLAJ does not air midday news during the week, a 5 p.m. weeknight show, or weekend newscasts.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WLAJ

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
53.1	720p	16:9	WLAJ-DT	ABC
53.2				The CW Plus

In 2014, WLAJ began carrying theJustice Networkon a newly created third subchannel.

WLNS sold its spectrum in the FCC spectrum auction, and reached a channel sharing agreement with WLAJ. On June 11, 2018; WLNS discontinued broadcasting from its transmitter inOkemosand began broadcasting from WLAJ's transmitter inRives Junctionon channel 25; it continues to appear asvirtual channel6.This created a situation where the senior partner in an operating agreement transmits on the spectrum of its junior partner. As a consequence of the WLNS channel share, and the need to transmit three high-definition signals (1080i for WLNS, and 720p for WLAJ's two ABC and CW channels), WLAJ dropped Justice Network from its third subchannel. In 2020, the transmitter was moved to the old WLNS transmitter location in Okemos.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WLAJ shut down its analog signal, overUHFchannel 53, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 51, using virtual channel 53. On May 22, 2015, WLAJ relocated its digital signal to UHF channel 25, with the FCC license issued on June 5, 2015.

See also

• Channel 14 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 53 virtual TV stations in the United States

External links

• Official website