WZZM
 |
|
|
Grand Rapids/Muskegon, Michigan United States |
|
|---|---|
| City | Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Branding | WZZM 13 (general) WZZM 13 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | On Your Side |
| Channels |
Digital: 13 (VHF) Virtual: 13 () |
| Affiliations |
|
| Owner |
Tegna Media (Combined Communications of Oklahoma, LLC) |
| First air date | November 1, 1962 |
| Call letters' meaning | call letters form an ambigram |
| Former channel number(s) |
|
| Transmitter power | 24.5 kW (digital) |
| Height | 324.3 m (1,063 ft) |
| Facility ID | 49713 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°18′35″N 85°54′45″W / 43.30972°N 85.91250°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www |
WZZM, VHF digital channel 13, is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. The station is owned by Tegna. WZZM maintains studios on 3 Mile Road NW in Walker (with a Grand Rapids address), and its transmitter is located in Grant.
The station's transmitter is about 40 miles (64 km) north of other stations in the Grand Rapids market, and its over-the-air signal is unavailable in the two southwestern tiers of Michigan as a result. Since April 2009, however, WZZM has been available on most cable providers in Southwest Michigan, even though Battle Creek-based WOTV (channel 41) serves as the ABC affiliate for that part of the Grand Rapids market. Until then, viewers outside of the reach of WZZM's signal relied on out-of-market stations from South Bend, Indiana or Lansing to view syndicated programs carried by WZZM.
A local group known as West Michigan Telecasters received a construction permit to operate a television station on VHF channel 9 in 1961. However, later that year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revised the channel positions in the area, resulting in the VHF channel 13 allocation moving from Cadillac to Grand Rapids.WWTV in Cadillac, then on channel 13, was required to move to channel 9 as a result of the action.
WZZM-TV officially signed on the air at 6:30 p.m. on November 1, 1962. The station went off the air just 20 minutes later, after a tube on its transmitter failed; it returned to the air 10 minutes later. The celebratory opening show anchored by news director Jack Hogan. WZZM certainly had humble beginnings; its first broadcasts were from a banquet room-turned studio at the Pantlind Hotel (now the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel). Live broadcasts included This Morning with Bud Lindeman, Shirley's Show and an evening news program, though the station's most notable show is The Bozo Show, which was broadcast on the station for more than 30 years. Bill Merchant was the original Bozo, with Dick Richards as "The Ringmaster"; Richards took over the role of Bozo shortly thereafter.
...
Wikipedia