WJBK studios in Southfield, MI

WJBK, Fox 2, is the Fox network owned-and-operated television station for Detroit, Michigan. It broadcasts on VHF digital Channel 7 in high definition from its studios and 1,003 foot (305.7 m) tower located in the Detroit suburb of Southfield, Michigan.^[1] WJBK's terrestrial television signal, displaying virtual Channel 2 covers the entire Metro Detroit and Windsor, Ontario areas and is carried on most cable television systems in Southeast Michigan, Southwestern Ontario and Northwest Ohio. It's also carried on some out of market Canadian cable systems.

History[link]

As a CBS affiliate[link]

WJBK became Detroit's third television station to sign-on when it first aired on October 24, 1948. The station became an affiliate of both the CBS and DuMont television networks. It was originally owned by George B. Storer's Storer Broadcasting, Inc. along with WJBK-AM (now WLQV) and WJBK-FM (now WDRQ). Its original studios were in Detroit's Masonic Temple until 1956 when they moved to WJBK's own building on Second Avenue in Detroit's New Center area. In 1970 the station moved to its current broadcast facilities on West 9 Mile Road in Southfield.^[2] The station would eventually become an exclusive CBS affiliate by 1955 at the time CKLW-TV became a DuMont affiliate.

Even though WJBK was one of CBS' stronger affiliates, it would pre-empt or reschedule some network programs. As the flagship station of Detroit Tigers baseball from the 1950s to the 1970s it would preempt network programming to televise games. From 1970 until the early 1980s the station would air its own local morning newscast, TV 2 Eyewitness News at 7 (am) and then Good Morning, Detroit instead of the CBS Morning News. In 1992 it chose again not to air CBS This Morning in favor of its own local newscast.^[3] The station would regularly reschedule CBS daytime game shows and it would also move the soap opera Guiding Light from its usual network start time of 3:00pm ET to 10:00am the next weekday.^[4] WJBK would also pre-empt the CBS late night schedule with syndicated reruns including Cheers and late night movies until the debut of the Late Show with David Letterman in 1993 when the station cleared the show at 11:35pm ET.

The station went through a number of ownership and management changes with its parent companies in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1985 the equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) acquired Storer Communications Inc. in a leveraged buyout. KKR then sold all of the former Storer broadcast assets, including WJBK, to Gillett Communications in 1987. When Gillett went bankrupt in 1992 it reorganized the ownership of its television stations into SCI Television. The following year SCI was acquired by the film and television production company New World Communications in 1993.

As a Fox station[link]

In May 1994, the Fox network's parent News Corporation purchased a 20 percent ownership (a $500 million investment) in WJBK's owner New World Communications. Fox made the investment to comply with their winning bid for the broadcast rights to the NFL's National Football Conference. Fox outbid CBS for the NFL broadcast rights on the condition that they would improve their affiliates in the larger media markets . As a result of Fox's investment New World agreed to switch their stations' affiliations to Fox.

WKBD-TV would lose its Fox affiliation and WJBK would end its 45-year affiliation with CBS in favor of Fox on December 11, 1994 when the station's CBS affiliation contract ended. The switch would also mean the Detroit Lions' regular season games would continue to air on WJBK. CBS was forced to scramble to find a home in Detroit and would end up purchasing low rated UHF station WGPR-TV (now WWJ-TV) As a result of the network change WJBK changed its branding from TV 2 to Fox 2 by the autumn of 1995.^[5] In 1997, WJBK became a Fox O&O when Fox completely acquired New World Communications.

After the affiliation switch WJBK maintained its schedule format except for the move of its 11 p.m. newscast to an hour at 10:00pm. With the Fox network offering less programming, especially daytime, WJBK would fill its schedule with more syndicated programs and off network reruns. However, the station, like its fellow former New World stations, would never run the syndicated Fox Kids children's programming. That programming would remain on former Fox affiliate WKBD before eventually moving to stations WADL and then WMYD. As a Fox O&O WJBK has almost consistently cleared the Fox network's entire schedule. WJBK is among one of six network O&O full-power television stations in Metro Detroit. The other stations are CBS owned WWJ-TV (CBS) and WKBD-TV (CW), Ion Media Networks' WPXD (Ion) and CBC owned CBET (CBC) and French language CBEFT (Radio-Canada).

Digital television[link]

As part of the transition from analog to digital television WJBK shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009 after broadcasting on Channel 2 for more than 60 years. The same day, the station began broadcasting its digital signal on Channel 7. It displays its virtual channel as 2.1 on digital receivers through the use of PSIP.^[1] Before the analog shutdown WJBK broadcast its digital signal on Channel 58. However, the FCC would reclaim Channels 52-69 for public safety and advanced wireless services. Prior to the transition WJBK was assigned Channel 7 on May 7, 2007 for its digital broadcasts, the channel formerly occupied by WXYZ-TV's analog broadcast. As of 2012 WJBK is the only VHF digital television station broadcasting in the Detroit television market.^[5]

WJBK also has future plans for a Mobile DTV feed of its subchannel 2.1.^[6][7]

Programming[link]

WJBK's aired CBS programs on its schedule from its first day of broadcasting on Sunday, October 24, 1948:^[4]

• 6:15pm - Lucky Pup
• 6:30pm - Face The Music
• 7:00pm - Places, Please
• 7:30pm - Years Ago (The Ford Theater Hour)
• 8:30pm - Winner Take All
• 9:00pm - Kobb's Corners
• 9:30pm - Captain Billy's Mississippi Music Hall

Some of WJBK's early productions included popular children's shows. Milky's Movie Party starring Milky the Clown, played by magician Clarence R. Cummings, Jr, was one of the station's first locally produced children's programs from 1950 to 1955. The endearing program was sponsored by the Twin Pines Dairy and featured a mix of cartoons and Westerns with Cummings performing his magic tricks with other acts and a live audience. Cummings would eventually take the Milky character to WXYZ-TV and the former WWJ-TV.^[8]

Other original WJBK children's programs included a cowboy themed show with Sagebrush Shorty, played by ventriloquist Ted Lloyd, with his sidekick dummy Skinny Dugan that aired from 1956 to 1960. The show was another mix of children's activities and various other characters that interacted with Lloyd.^[8] That program was followed by another WJBK children's favorite, Jungle-La with wildlife expert “B'wana” Don Hunt that aired from 1960 to 1963. Hunt with his sidekick chimpanzee Bongo Bailey hosted cartoons and taught viewers about various wildlife. Hunt moved to Africa in 1964 and manged a wildlife preserve in Kenya responsible for saving some species from extinction.^[9]

After airing first on the former WWJ-TV and CKLW-TV, performer Art Cervi would obtain the Bozo the Clown franchise for Detroit and perform the character at WJBK beginning in 1975. During its run at the station the program would be syndicated from WJBK to cities including News York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Wichita, Kansas^[10]

WJBK also produced one of Detroit's first morning talk shows, Ladies' Day with Chuck Bergeson that aired from 1952 to 1959. The hour long show included games and contests and interviews with the biggest stars of the time including Lucille Ball and Red Skelton. Bergeson also hosted other WJBK shows in the 1950s including Your TV Golf Pro and The Name Game.^[8]

From 1967 to 1983 Sir Graves Ghastly, played by actor Lawson J. Deming, hosted WJBK's assorted sci-fi and horror movies on Saturday afternoons. The humorous character became a popular figure in Detroit television. Deming had originally come to the station as a puppeteer and voice actor for the children's program Woodrow the Woodsman when that show moved from WKYC-TV Cleveland to WJBK in 1966. He would also play the character in Cleveland and on WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C. at the same time.^[11]

With This Ring was a nationally syndicated religious program produced at the studios of WJBK from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s. The weekly 15 minute show hosted by Roman Catholic priest Raymond Schlinkert featured lectures and advice about marriage and family life. The program appeared on several U.S. commercial stations, usually shown immediately following the station's sign-on or before sign-off on Sundays.

WJBK would also produce Sunday public affair/interview shows over the years including Focus Detroit hosted by reporters Woody Willis and Beverly Payne in 1973.^[12] Sunday in Detroit hosted by news anchor Kathy O'Brien would air around 1980 and WJBK business reporter and news anchor Murray Feldman also hosted a Sunday business and financial program in the mid 1990s.

WJBK had the Detroit franchise for the local version of PM Magazine from 1978 to the mid 1980s. The show changed titles and hosts over the years starting as PM Magazine and then PM Detroit. Its hosts included Ronnie Klemmer, Lorrie Kapp, Gary Cubberly and Mattie Majors.^[12] The station was also the Detroit home and active participant for comedian Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day MDA Telethon for several years.

From 1983 to 1986, popular WJR morning radio host J. P. McCarthy hosted an evening interview show with newsmakers and people of interest called JP. He also previously hosted sports interview show specials through the 1970s.^[12] In 1995 former WXYZ-TV news anchor Bill Bonds hosted the 11:00pm talk/interview show, Bonds Tonight. Bonds eventually would end up anchoring and reporting on WJBK's newscasts.^[8]

WJBK has also aired some of television's most popular syndicated programming over the years including The Phil Donahue Show, The Muppet Show, Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Family Feud, The Mike Douglas Show, Too Close for Comfort, The Merv Griffin Show, The People's Court, The Arsenio Hall Show and The Martha Stewart Show as well as reruns of Cheers, Taxi and Seinfeld.^[12]

Sports programming[link]

From the 1950s to the 1970s, WJBK was a pioneer in Detroit sports broadcasting. In 1949 it was the first television station in Michigan to broadcast live games of Detroit Tigers baseball and Detroit Lions football.^[2] From 1953 thru 1974, WJBK served as the first flagship station of the Tigers Television Network with games broadcast on stations throughout Michigan, northern Indiana, and northwest Ohio.^[13] In the 1960s long time Tigers broadcaster and former player George Kell hosted the pregame show Tigers Warm Up on the field during batting practice.^[14] During the 2007 baseball season the station aired some regular season Tigers games produced by Fox Sports Detroit. Currently, the only Tigers games aired on WJBK are the Tigers' season home opener and the national coverage of the Major League Baseball on Fox telecasts.

WJBK also televised Detroit Pistons games from the time of the team's relocation to Detroit from Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1957, until 1972 when they began airing on WKBD-TV the following season. The Pistons would also air on WJBK during nationally televised games on the NBA on CBS. Some Detroit Red Wings NHL hockey games, produced again by Fox Sports Detroit, would also be aired on the station from 2003 to 2007. In March 2007, WJBK began showing Red Wings games in high definition. Previously the Red Wings aired on the station various times between 1956 and 1980 on the NHL on CBS and again from 1995 to 1999 on the NHL on Fox.

With Fox's broadcast rights to the NFL's National Football Conference most of the Detroit Lions regular season games air on WJBK. This was also the case prior to 1994 when CBS held those broadcast rights when the station was a CBS affiliate. However, regular season home games are subject to the NFL's local television blackout policy. This occurred five times during the Lions' 2008 season when 5 home games were blacked out due low ticket sales. In previous years WJBK has also televised Lions preseason games as the flagship station of the Detroit Lions Television Network and produced pregame and post game shows. Those preseason broadcast rights are now held by WXYZ-TV.

WJBK's sportscasters have also been team play-by-play announcers through the years with Van Patrick doing Tigers, Lions and Notre Dame Football games, Ray Lane on Tigers' radio broadcasts and current Sports Director Dan Miller doing Lions radio play by play.

News operation[link]

WJBK currently broadcasts 52½ hours of live local newscasts each week. More than any other television station in Detroit and Michigan with 8½ hours each weekday, 5 hours Saturday and 3½ hours Sunday. Since 1997 the station's news department is branded as Fox 2 News and currently uses the 2006 Fox O&O local news branding with their music, graphics and studio set. Since April 2008, the station became the first Fox O&O and third Detroit television station to air its newscasts in HD. It has a fleet of Ford E350 ENG vehicles with microwave transmission and video editing capabilities. The station also has (SNG) mobile satellite uplink capability. For aerial news coverage WJBK shares a Eurocopter AS350BA A-star news helicopter with WXYZ-TV and WDIV as part of a Local News Service (LNS) agreement. The aircraft has HD video capability and goes by the callsign "Red Bird". It brands its aerial coverage as Sky Fox. In 2009, WJBK and WXYZ-TV entered into a LNS video pool agreement.

In an effort to cut expenses both station's parent companies, Fox and E.W. Scripps, respectively, established an LNS in all TV markets where both companies own stations. The stations pool news gathering resources and share video during coverage of general news events.^[15] In 1998 the station adopted the slogan News That Works for You and branded its investigative and consumer advocate reporting as The Problem Solvers. The station also brands its weather forecasts as the Weather Authority and sports reporting as Sports Works. The news department's focus for local news coverage is in its primary DMA which includes the Michigan counties of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Monroe, Livingston, Lenawee and St. Clair. It will also provide news coverage of larger stories in southwestern Ontario, northern Ohio and the rest of Michigan. In 2006, WJBK revamped its Fox2Detroit.com website and debuted the MyFox website myfoxdetroit.com that is a format similar to websites adopted by all the other Fox stations.

[edit] TV 2 Eyewitness News

Through much of the 1960s and 1970s WJBK's TV 2 Eyewitness News was the top rated newscast in the Detroit television market.^[16] The station's ratings dominance began with news anchor Jac LeGoff and grew when LeGoff was paired with newscaster John Kelly. Other longtime popular Detroit TV personalities including Joe Weaver, Jerry Hodak, Van Patrick and Marilyn Turner would also be a part of WJBK's ratings success. The station's ratings would begin to wane in the mid 1970's after, then ABC O&O, WXYZ-TV hired away WJBK's and WWJ-TV's top talent including Kelly and Turner and then eventually LeGoff and Hodak.^[16] WJBK's Eyewitness News remained competitive in the 1970s with a new stable of talent including anchors Joe Glover, Robbie Timmons, Harry Gallagher, Murray Feldman and Terry Murphy. The station also had correspondents in bureaus at the Detroit City-County Building, the Michigan state capital in Lansing and Washington, D.C..^[12] Nationaly syndicated radio host George Noory was even a news producer at WJBK from 1974 to 1978 before becoming a news director at stations in Minneapolis and St. Louis.^[17] However, by 1980 the station's news ratings were in step decline with the growing dominance of WXYZ-TV. Also by this time WDIV's new owners, Post-Newsweek Stations, were making aggressive changes to bolster its station's image and ratings from third place. By 1982, management at WJBK replaced most of the staff which sunk the station's news ratings further into third place from where it would almost never recover.^[16]

With new management WJBK's news department would see a resurgence by 1990 with new staff that included Sherry Margolis, Huel Perkins and the rehiring of former anchor Joe Glover. The station would also hire away news staff and talent away from top rated WXYZ including Rich Fisher, Dayna Eubanks, Catherine Lehan, Jerry Hodak and investigative reporter Vince Wade.^[8] The station revised its image with a new logo, graphics, music and news set and began airing Detroit's first 4:00pm newscast as part of a three hour evening news block with half hour newscasts at 4:00pm, 5:00pm and 6:00pm. At the same time the station would also be the first Detroit television station to launch a weekend morning newscast. Overall WJBK's news ratings would not improve enough to surpass WXYZ and WDIV who would continue to go head to head for first place in the news ratings. The station would also continue rerunning its late newscast at 2:00am and also began to simulcast their late newscast on WADL until 1998. It would also be among the first television stations in the country to air obituaries in 1995 during the Detroit newspaper strike.

[edit] Fox 2 News

When WJBK changed from a CBS to a Fox affiliate in December 1994 it would keep its newscast schedule intact but move its 35 minute 11:00pm newscast to an hour at 10:00pm and eventually expand its morning newscast. WJBK would now have a late local newscast in first place as it immediately overtook WKBD's 10:00pm newscast in the ratings. WKBD at the time had a news department for its only newscast at 10:00pm. Eventually WJBK had dropped the 4:00pm newscast but the station's profile and ratings for its morning and 10:00pm newscasts would surge with it out of direct competition from its main competitors WDIV and WXYZ.^[16] In 1995 the station would hire Detroit's top rated news anchor Bill Bonds after his departure from WXYZ-TV. Bonds would fill the 11:00pm time slot with a news/interview show, Bonds Tonight.^[8]

The newscasts would be branded as Fox 2 Eyewitness News until 1997 when Fox would take full ownership of the station and rebrand the news department as Fox 2 News. By that time the station would also release its previous hires from WXYZ. At the same time Fox's news management would bring on new talent including Dan Miller, Allen Lee and Monica Gayle from Seattle. By 1998 the station would bolster its image by improving its investigative and consumer advocate unit and branding it as The Problem Solvers which has become a recognizable brand in the area. It also adopted a slogan complimentary to Detroit's working class heritage, News That Works for You. On September 24, 2007, WJBK relaunched an 11:00pm newscast, using the NewsEdge format originally used by Fox Tampa station WTVT. It also changed its logo and image to the current Fox O&O branding which is identical to other Fox stations including WNYW New York and WTTG Washington, D.C.

Mornings[link]

WJBK has had a tradition of producing its own morning news shows in favor of CBS's network morning news beginning with a 7:30am newscast in 1969. The newscast would soon expand to an hour as TV 2 Eyewitness News at 7 (am). It became a mix of news, interviews and features and would be renamed Good Morning, Detroit and eventually move to 8:00am.^[12] During its run Vic Caputo would co-anchor separately with Beverly Payne, Ken Ford and Kathy O'Brien. Payne would be the first African-American female news anchor in Detroit.^[8] . "Good Morning, Detroit" eventually became "Morning Magazine", hosted by Kathy O'Brien and Gary Cubberly. In 1982, Morning Magazine went off the air and briefly became "Two's Company," also hosted by O'Brien and Cubberly. In 1992 the station preempted CBS again in the morning when WJBK rehired Jerry Hodak from WXYZ to co-anchor Eyewitness News Morning. Just prior to that WJBK also debuted Detroit's first weekend morning newscast, Eyewitness News Weekend, first anchored by former PM Magazine host Gary Cubberly. Competitor WDIV would follow with their own weekend morning newscast as did eventually WXYZ. Since then the station has broadcast more hours of news in the morning than any of the other Detroit television stations. In September 2009 the morning newscast was expanded to five and a half hours, airing from 4:30am–10:00am. Since September 2011, Fox 2 News Morning now airs for 6 ½ hours from 4:30am to 11:00am where it joins the station's hour long midday newscast Fox 2 News Live at 11 (am). WJBK has also had the longest running midday TV newscast in the Detroit market with its noon newscast debuting in 1966 and having since been moved to 11:00am.^[18]

[edit] Sports Works

WJBK brands the sports segment of its newscasts as Sports Works. On Sunday nights, following the 10:00pm newscast, the station airs a sports highlights program with the Sports Works name. The show is hosted by either WJBK Sports Director Dan Miller or sports anchor/reporter Woody Woodriffe. There is also typically a roundtable discussion with members of the Detroit sports media including Sean Baligian and Bob Wojnowski from The Detroit News, Pat Caputo from the The Oakland Press and WXYT-FM and Tony Ortiz from WXYT-FM.

Ratings[link]

As of February 2012, WJBK's Fox 2 News Morning has consistently remained the Detroit market's highest rated local morning newscast (6:00am – 7:00am, 4.5 rating/17 share). After years of faltering as a distant third against WDIV and WXYZ, WJBK began to make gains in its audience growth in other newscasts. While WDIV continued to have the most watched evening and late newscasts WJBK's 10:00pm news (7.5 rating/12 share) remains the highest rated 10:00pm newscast in Metro Detroit. Its early evening 5:00pm and 5:30pm newscasts (6.0 rating/13 share) have surpassed WXYZ-TV's long time dominant 5:00pm newscast (5.8 rating/13 share) for second place. While WJBK's Fox 2 News at 6 (5.1 rating/10 share) has become a very close third moving within one rating point to WXYZ's 6:00pm newscast (6.1 rating/12 share). Since debuting in 2007 WJBK's 11:00pm newscast Newsedge has been in third place overall (5.0 rating/9 share).^[19]

News/station presentation[link]

Newscast titles[link]

• Your Esso Reporter (1948–1953)
• Detroit Newsreel (1953–1958)
• TV 2 Eyewitness News (1966–1977)
• TV 2 News (1977–1978)^[12]
• TV 2 Eyewitness News (1978–1983)
• Glover/Gallagher Report (1978–1979, used for the 11:00 pm newscast)^[12]
• Channel 2 Eyewitness News (1983–1988)
• TV 2 Eyewitness News (1988–1995)
• Fox 2 Eyewitness News (1995–1997)
• Fox 2 News (1997–present)

Station slogans[link]

• "Your Picture Window on the World" (1948–1956)
• "WJBK TV-2 in Color" (1965–1971)
• "Your Eyewitness News Station in Color" (1966–1971)
• "Catch the Brightest Stars on TV-2" (1975–1976; local version of the CBS Fall campaign)
• "TV-2 is Yours"/"Your TV-2" (1977–1978)
• "2's the One" (1980–1982)
• "Reach for Stars on TV-2" (1981–1982; local version of the CBS Fall campaign)
• "Great Moments, Here on TV-2" (1982–1983; local version of the CBS Fall campaign)
• "We've Got the Touch, You and Channel 2" (1984–1986; local version of the CBS Fall campaign)
• "Us Viewing You" (1986–1988)
• "It Takes Two, TV-2" (1989–1994)
• "Where the Facts Tell the Story" (1994–1996; news slogan)
• "Think News, Think Fox 2 News" (1996–1998; news slogan)
• "News That Works for You" (1998–present)

Newscast music[link]

• WJBK 1984 News Theme - Unknown (Unknown)
• Us Viewing You - Unknown (Unknown)
• WJBK 1988 News Theme - Unknown (1988–1990)
• Major Theme - Edd Kalehoff Productions (Unknown)
• WJBK-Evening News - Edd Kalehoff Productions (1990–1995)
• Dayna - Edd Kalehoff Productions (1990–1995)
• Eyewitness Primetime - Edd Kalehoff Productions (1995–1997)
• FOX '95 - Stephen Arnold Music (1997-Unknown)
• Absolute News - Non-Stop Music (1997–2007)
• FOX Affiliate News Theme - OSI Music (2007–Present)
• SkyFOX Field Trip Theme - Non-Stop Music (1998–2010)

On-air staff[link]

[edit] Current on-air staff^[20]

Anchors

• Amy Andrews - weekday mornings (4:30-6 a.m.); also general assignment and feature reporter
• Kam Carman - weekday mornings (4:30-5 and 9-11 a.m.); also fill-in weather anchor
• Jason Carr - weekday mornings (9-11 a.m.); also general assignment and feature reporter (married to Taryn Asher)
• Deena Centofanti - Friday mornings (9-11 a.m.) and Saturday mornings; also "HealthWorks" reporter
• Murray Feldman - weeknights at 5:30 p.m.; also business editor and feature reporter ("Job Shop" and "Money Works")
• Monica Gayle - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Anqunette Jamison - weekday mornings (6-9 a.m.) and weekdays at 11 a.m.
• Alan Lee - weekday mornings (5-9 a.m.)
• Maurielle Lue - weekend anchor; also reporter
• Sherry Margolis - weekday mornings at 11 a.m. and weeknights at 5:30 p.m.
• Huel Perkins - weeknights at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
• Roop Raj - Saturday mornings; also reporter
• Ron Savage - weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Robin Schwartz - weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Jay Towers - Sunday mornings; also feature reporter
• Taryn Asher - Sunday mornings; also reporter

Weather Authority

• Rich Luterman (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
• Ben Bailey (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (6:30 a.m.-12 p.m.)
• Kam Carman - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-6:30 a.m.)
• Alan Longstreet - meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Jessica Starr - meteorologist; weekend mornings
• Jackie Paige - weather anchor; fill-in

Sports Works

• Dan Miller - sports director; Sunday-Thursdays at 6 and 10, and Monday-Thursdays at 5 and 11 p.m.; also SportsWorks host
• Woody Woodriffe - sports anchor; Fridays at 5 and 11, and Friday-Saturdays at 6 and 10 p.m.; also Sunday-Thursday sports reporter
• Ryan Ermanni - sports reporter; also fill-in sports anchor
• Jennifer Hammond - sports reporter; also fill-in sports anchor

Reporters

• Al Allen - weekday morning reporter
• Taryn Asher - general assignment reporter
• Ronnie Dahl - general assignment reporter
• Andrea Isom - general assignment reporter
• Amy Lange - "Problem Solvers" investigative reporter
• Charlie Langton - legal analyst, panalist on Let it Rip
• Jackie Paige - feature reporter; also fill-in anchor weather anchor and traffic anchor
• Lee Thomas - entertainment reporter; also Fox 2 News Morning Extra anchor
• Rob Wolchek - "Problem Solvers" investigative reporter/"Hall of Shame" feature reporter

Notable former on-air staff[link]

• Bill Bonds – news anchor and interviewer (1995–1998), was top anchor at WXYZ from 1964–1995, (also anchored at KABC-TV and WABC-TV)^[8]
• Sonny Eliot – weathercaster (1981–1982), previously at WDIV since 1949, moved to WWJ-AM,^[8] retired in 2011 after 63 years in broadcasting.
• Ray Lane - sports anchor (1961–1982), became sportscaster at WKBD and for Detroit Red Wings, Pistons and Tiger games.^[8]
• Fred McLeod - sports anchor/reporter (1981–1989), moved to WDIV, now at Fox Sports Ohio
• Van Patrick - sports director (1960–1974) (died 1974)^[8]
• Charles Pugh - anchor/reporter (1999–2009) became Detroit City Council president.
• Jeff Rossen - reporter (1998–2001), moved to WABC-TV New York, now an NBC News correspondent
• Mark Wilson (radio broadcaster) - sports anchor/reporter (1992–1997)
• Jerry Hodak – meteorologist (1965–1977) and news anchor (1992–1996), went to WXYZ-TV after each time as meteorologist and science editor, retired in 2010 after having forecasted weather longer than anyone in Detroit television.^[8]
• Terry Murphy – News anchor (1974–1975), became news anchor at WLS-TV Chicago and host of A Current Affair.^[8]
• J. P. McCarthy – interview show host (occasionally 1972 -1986), morning show host on WJR (died 1995)^[8]
• Lawson J. Deming, played horror movie host Sir Graves Ghastly (1967–1983) (died 2007)^[8]

Out-of-market coverage[link]

Canada[link]

WJBK also serves as a Fox station for other Canadian cable systems, including on Rogers Cable in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. It was also one of five Detroit TV stations seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite provider. As of April 2009 Shaw (formerly CANCOM) replaced WJBK's signal with Rochester, New York Fox affiliate WUHF.^[21] As a CBS affiliate, WJBK was carried on Cable Atlantic, now Rogers Cable, in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia from 1985 until its affiliation to Fox. Both provinces are now served by CBS O&O WBZ-TV from Boston.

Coverage on cable systems outside the Detroit/Windsor market may be subject to syndex and network blackouts in the United States and simsubbing in Canada.

Newscasts[link]

When WJBK became a Fox station, Cadillac Fox affiliate WGKI/WGKU (now WFQX-TV/WFUP) would stop airing WKBD's 10:00pm newscast in northern Michigan in favor of WJBK's until WGKI began its own 10:00pm newscast in 2000. In January 2007 WFQX began simulcasting WJBK's morning newscast from 6:00am to 8:00am as Michigan's Fox News Morning. The simulcasts were made possible with an agreement that offered northern Michigan businesses advertising opportunities during the newscast. WFQX would also air the second half of WJBK's 10:00pm newscast following its own half-hour 10:00pm newscast. WFQX would drop WJBK's newscasts altogether in October 2007, after the station was sold and CBS affiliate WWTV would produce its own 10:00pm and morning newscasts for WFQX.

See also[link]

• Media in Detroit

References[link]

External links[link]

• MyFoxDetroit.com - Official Website
• Michiguide.com's listing for WJBK
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WJBK
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WJBK-TV

William John Gallagher (1863–1890) was a Major League Baseball outfielder and pitcher. He played in the American Association for the 1883 Baltimore Orioles, in the National League for the 1883 Philadelphia Quakers and in the Union Association for the 1884 Philadelphia Keystones.

External links[link]

• Baseball Reference.com page

This biographical article relating to an American baseball pitcher is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Kwame Kilpatrick
68th Mayor of Detroit
In office January 1, 2002 – September 18, 2008
Preceded by	Dennis Archer
Succeeded by	Kenneth Cockrel Jr.
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives from the 9th district
In office 1997–2002
Preceded by	Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick
Personal details
Born	Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (1970-06-08) June 8, 1970 (age 42) Detroit, Michigan
Political party	Democratic [1]
Spouse(s)	Carlita Kilpatrick
Residence	Grand Prairie, Texas
Alma mater	Florida A&M
Profession	Former politician
Religion	Church of God in Christ[2]

Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is a former mayor of Detroit, Michigan.^[3] Kilpatrick's mayorship was plagued by numerous scandals and rampant accusations of corruption, with the mayor eventually resigning after being charged with ten felony counts, including perjury and obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick was sentenced to four months in jail after pleading guilty to reduced charges, but with good time awarded to county jail inmates in Michigan, he was released on probation after serving 99 days. On May 25, 2010, he was sentenced to 18 months to 5 years in prison for violating his probation,^[4] and served time at the Oaks Correctional Facility in northwest Michigan. He is also under a 38-charge felony indictment on additional corruption charges, in what a federal prosecutor called a "pattern of extortion, bribery and fraud" by some of Detroit's most prominent officials.^[5]

Early life, education and family[link]

Kilpatrick attended Detroit's Cass Technical High School. Kilpatrick then graduated with honors from Florida A&M University (FAMU). Kilpatrick became of a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity while a student at FAMU.^[6]

His mother, former Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, represented Michigan's 13th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, but was not re-elected to office because she lost her primary election on August 3, 2010 to Michigan State Senator Hansen Clarke. NPR and CBS News both noted that throughout her re-election campaign, she was dogged by questions about Kwame Kilpatrick.^[7][8] Michigan Live reported that her election defeat could in part be attributed to the Kwame Kilpatrick scandals.^[9] Kilpatrick's father, Bernard Kilpatrick, served as Chief of Staff to former Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara and currently operates a consulting firm called Maestro Associates of Detroit.^[10]

Political career[link]

Michigan State Representative[link]

Kilpatrick was elected in 1996 to the Michigan House of Representatives after his mother vacated the seat to campaign for a position in the United States Congress.^[11]

His campaign staff consisted of high school classmates Derrick Miller and Christine Beatty, who became his legislative aide; later, Kilpatrick had an affair with Beatty. The campaign was run on a budget of $10,000 and did not receive endorsements from trade unions, congressional districts, or the Democratic establishment.^[11]

Kilpatrick was elected minority floor leader for the Michigan Democratic party, serving in that position 1998 to 2000, and subsequently house minority leader in 2001, the first African American to hold that position.^[12]

Mayor of Detroit[link]

First term[link]

In 2001, Kilpatrick became the youngest mayor of Detroit when elected at age 31. In his 2002 inaugural address, Kilpatrick said:

I stand before you as a son of the city of Detroit and all that it represents. I was born here in the city of Detroit, I was raised here in the city of Detroit, I went to these Detroit Public Schools. I understand this city. ... This position is personal to me. It's much more than just politics.^[12]

He was criticized for using city funds to lease a car for use by his family and using his city issued credit card to charge thousands of dollars worth of spa massages, extravagant dining, and expensive wines. Kilpatrick paid back $9,000 of the $210,000 credit card charges,^[12] less than 5% of the amount charged.

During his first term he closed the century-old Belle Isle Zoo and Belle Isle Aquarium. The City Council overrode his funding veto for the zoo and gave it a budget of $700,000. During the 2005 election 88% of Detroit voters approved the reopening of the aquarium; however this was nonbinding, and the aquarium remained closed.

Special administratorship[link]

Since the 1970s, a federal judge has made the Detroit mayor the special administrator of the Detroit Water Department because of severe pollution issues. When serious questions about water department contracts came to light in late 2005 Judge Feikens ended Kilpatrick’s special administratorship in his capacity as Mayor. In January 2006, the Detroit News reported that "Kilpatrick used his special administrator authority to bypass the water board and City Council on three controversial contracts." These included a $131 million radio system for the city's police and fire departments, as well as a no-bid PR contract to a close personal aide.^[13] Nevertheless, Judge Feikens praised the mayor's work as steward of the department, referring questions on the contracts to the special master in charge of that investigation.^[13]

2005 re-election campaign[link]

In May 2005, the Detroit Free Press reported that over the first 33 months of his term, Kilpatrick had charged over $210,000 on his city-issued credit card for travel, meals, and entertainment.^[14]

At a May 2005 campaign rally, Kilpatrick's father, Bernard, adamantly argued that the alleged party that the Mayor held at the Manoogian Mansion was a lie, and made a reference that "a lie" that Jewish people caused Germany's problems in the 1930s led to the Holocaust in Europe. Bernard later apologized.^[15]

In October 2005, a third-party group supporting Kilpatrick named The Citizens for Honest Government caused controversy with an advertisement which compared media criticism of him to lynch mobs.^[16]

Kilpatrick and his opponent Freman Hendrix, both Democrats, initially claimed victory, but as the votes were tallied, it became clear that Kilpatrick had come back from his stretch of unpopularity to win a second term in office. Only three months prior to that, most commentators declared his political career over after he was the first incumbent mayor of Detroit to come in second in a primary. Pre-election opinion polls predicted a large win for Hendrix; however, Kilpatrick won with 53% of the vote.^[17][18] Kilpatrick's re-election had a great deal of controversy, with nursing home workers claiming that Kilpatrick campaign workers came into the homes and "helped" elderly voters with Alzheimer's "fill-out" their ballots.

Second term[link]

Kilpatrick was hospitalized and diagnosed with diverticulitis in Houston, Texas, in July 2006. His personal physician indicated that Kilpatrick's condition may have been caused by a high-protein weight-loss diet.^[19] Detroit's city council voted unanimously to approve Kilpatrick’s tax plan, which he said he hoped would provide homeowners some relief from the city’s high property tax rates. The cuts ranged from 18% to 35%, depending on the property’s value.^[20]

Audit reports[link]

The city was 14 months late in filing its 2005–2006 audit and in March 2008 estimated that it would cost an additional $2.4 million because of new auditing requirements that were not addressed by the city. The 2006–2007 fiscal year audit due on December 31, 2007, was expected to be 11 months late.^[21]

The State Treasury chose to withhold $35 million of its monthly revenue sharing to the city and required Detroit to receive approval before selling bonds to raise money.^[21] Kilpatrick told the city council that he would take partial blame for the late audits because he laid off too many accountants, but he also blamed the firm hired to replace them.^[22]

2008 State of the City address[link]

On March 11, 2008, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick delivered his seventh State of the City Address to the city of Detroit. The speech marked a turning point in Kilpatrick's career. The majority of the 70-minute speech focused on positive changes occurring throughout Detroit and future plans. Kilpatrick specifically noted increased police surveillance, new policing technologies, and initiatives to rebuild neglected neighborhoods in the city. He received repeated standing ovations from the invitation-only audience.

Toward the end of the speech, Kilpatrick deviated from the transcript given to the media^[23] and posted on his official website^[24] to address the scandal and controversy surrounding his years in office. Kilpatrick stated that the media were focusing on only the controversies as a spectacle to increase their viewership. In closing, he addressed the city council members who chose not to sit behind him on the stage in protest, particularly Kenneth Cockrel Jr., and asked that people "say no more" about any of the controversy.

...And finally, and this may be the most talked-about part of this speech after laying out all of that, but I feel that I cannot leave this auditorium with my wife and my sons sitting there without addressing this issue. In the past 30 days, I've been called a nigger more than any time in my entire life. In the past three days, I've received more death threats than I have in my entire administration. I've heard these words before, but I've never heard people say them about my wife and children. I have to say this because it's very personal to me. I don't believe that a Nielsen rating is worth the life of my children or your children. This unethical, illegal lynch mob mentality has to stop. And it's seriously time. We've never been here before. And I don't care if they cut the TV off. We've never been in a situation like this before where you can say anything, do anything, have no facts, no research, no nothing and you can launch a hate-driven bigoted assault on a family. I humbly ask members of the council, I humbly ask the business community, I humbly ask the religious community, I humbly ask the brothers and sisters of the city of Detroit - I humbly ask that we say 'no more' together. I humbly ask that we say no more together. I love this city with every part of my being. I will continue to stay focused on building the next Detroit. God Bless you, Detroit. I love you. —Kwame M. Kilpatrick, 2008 Detroit State of the City Address

Michigan Governor and fellow Democrat Jennifer Granholm issued a statement in which she condemned the use of the N-word in any context.^[25] The statement noted that Granholm and Kilpatrick attended the ceremonial burial of the racial slur the previous summer.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox stated on WJR radio that he thought that using the word N-word was "reprehensible". Cox went on to say, "I thought his statements were race-baiting on par with David Duke and George Wallace, all to save his political career. I'm not a Detroiter, but last night crossed the line...those statements not only hurt Detroit, [but] as long as the mayor is there, he will be a drag on the whole region." Cox then said that whether he is brought up on criminal charges or not, Kilpatrick should resign.^[26]

Former Kilpatrick political adviser Sam Riddle labeled the address a race-baiting speech. "It's an act of desperation to use the N-word," said Riddle. "He's attempting to regain his base of support by playing the race card. He's gone to that well one too many times."^[26]

In response to Kilpatrick characterizing the media coverage of his scandals as a baseless "hate-driven bigoted assault on a family", Carmen Harlan, an African-American news anchor at Detroit's NBC affiliate, WDIV, stated the following:

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to address you directly. You were absolutely right tonight when you said that death-threats and racial slurs are wrong. I'll even go further, they're inexcusable and inappropriate, but to say that we, the media, are to blame for this mess isn't fair either. Using emotionally driven words, like the N-word, phrases like "hate-driven" and "bigoted assault", even "lynch mob mentality", stirs the very core of even my emotions. You see, I love the city too, as much as you do. Like you, we [the media] have a job to do. I've asked you to sit down with me; explain what we don't understand and how we may have gotten it wrong. I'm still waiting for that phone call, and I quote you, 'No more, I humbly ask! The Kwame Kilpatrick roller coaster has to stop! —Carmen Harlan, Response to Kwame Kilpatrick's 2008 Detroit State of the City Address^[27]

In March 2008, the National Conference of Black Mayors moved its meeting from Detroit to New Orleans due to Kilpatrick's legal travails.^[28]

Affiliations[link]

Kilpatrick is a member of the Democratic Party.^[1] He was listed as a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,^[29] a bi-partisan anti-gun group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. After his conviction, Klipatrick's membership status in the organization is not clear. As of September 2010, there has been no announcement of his resignation from Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Electoral history[link]

• 2005 Race for Mayor (Detroit)
  • Kwame Kilpatrick (D) (incumbent), 53%
  • Freman Hendrix (D), 47%

• 2005 Race for Mayor (Detroit) (Primary Election)
  • Freman Hendrix (D), 45%
  • Kwame Kilpatrick (D) (incumbent), 34%
  • Sharon McPhail (D), 12%
  • Hansen Clarke (D), 8%

• 2001 Race for Mayor (Detroit)
  • Kwame Kilpatrick (D), 54%
  • Gil Hill (D), 46%

Controversies, felony trials, and incarceration[link]

Alleged incidents of mayoral misconduct[link]

Manoogian Mansion party[link]

Kilpatrick's controversies started from a wild party alleged to have occurred in the fall of 2002, involving strippers at the official residence of the mayor—the city-owned Manoogian Mansion. It is alleged by former members of the mayor's Executive Protection Unit that the mayor's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, came home unexpectedly and upon discovering Kwame with the strippers began to attack one of the women.^[30] Allegations began to surface after Officer Harold C. Nelthrope contacted the internal affairs unit of the Detroit Police in April 2003 to have them investigate abuses by the mayor's Executive Protection Unit (EPU). Mayor Kilpatrick denied all allegations and rumors of any misconduct by him or his security team. An investigation by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox and the Michigan State Police found no evidence that the party actually happened, though the State Police investigation had been cut short.^[30] Nelthrope and Gary A. Brown, head of the Detroit Police Department's internal affairs unit allege that they were fired by the administration in retaliation for investigating the mayor and other superiors. Nelthrope and Brown filed a whistleblower lawsuit and were awarded an $8.4 million-dollar settlement.

Additionally, two other officers of the Detroit Police Department, Walt Harris and Alvin Bowman, correctly claimed they were retaliated against for their involvement in investigations that would highlight the mayor's misconduct. Harris was a former member of the EPU, who was identified by the administration as cooperating with the state's investigation of the mayor and subsequently suffered a smear campaign in the media by the Kilpatrick administration.^[30]

The murder of Tamara Greene[link]

Tamara Greene was a 27-year-old exotic dancer who went by the name "Strawberry", and who allegedly performed at the 2002 Manoogian Mansion party, where she was allegedly assaulted by the mayor's wife, Carlita.

In April 2003, while sitting in her car with her boyfriend, Greene was shot multiple times with a .40 caliber Glock pistol which, at the time, was the same model and caliber firearm issued by the Detroit Police Department. Although an official statement by Detroit Police Department claims that Ms. Greene was shot three times, sources from the department's Homicide Division claimed that she was shot 18 times. Her boyfriend was wounded when the white Chevrolet Suburban driven by the shooter or shooters made a second pass. This fact led Bowman to conclude that Greene was the intended target and not her 32-year-old boyfriend.^[31] She was murdered on April 30, 2003, at around 3:40 AM, near the intersection of Roselawn and West Outer Drive.^[31][32] Her murder came after a first attempt on her life failed. This led to the theory that this was a "deliberate hit" by a member of the Detroit Police Department,^[32] a theory that Bowman would investigate. He alleged his investigation was the reason that he was taken off of the case and transferred out of homicide.^[31]

Greene's family filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Detroit for $150 million based on their belief her murder was a deliberate attack to keep her from talking to officers who were investigating the rumored party at the mayoral Manoogian Mansion.^[32] A judge ruled that Norman Yatooma, the attorney representing Greene's 14-year-old son, could have access to text messages of Kilpatrick, police chief Ella Bully-Cummings and dozens of other city employees to ascertain if city officials blocked the investigation into Greene's murder.^[33] Yatooma also wanted the text messages and GPS positions of every city employee exchanged between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on April 30, 2003.^[33][34] The city's communications provider Skytel indicated it was prepared to release the text messages if the court ruled accordingly.^[33]

The lawyers for the city paid a retainer of $24,950 to the lawyers it hired to represent the city. City policy mandates that contracts $25,000 or more be approved by the city council.^[35] (Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel asserted that the amount paid "is small for a retainer" and "I think this is probably somebody's effort to get a deposit to a lawyer on an expedited basis in a case that's got a lot of scrutiny."^[35] This was at least the second time the Kilpatrick administration has avoided council approval by entering into contracts just below the $25,000 threshold: the Lincoln Navigator SUV leased for the Kilpatrick family in 2005 with city funds cost $24,995.^[35]

On March 1, 2008, a ten page sworn affidavit by former Detroit police lieutenant Alvin Bowman was filed by Yatooma in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. In that affidavit, Bowman states that "I suspected that the shooter was a law enforcement officer, and more specifically, a Detroit Police Department officer."^[31] Bowman contended that the high number of .40 caliber bullets that hit Greene but not her boyfriend would indicate that the shooter had firearms training. In the document, Bowman explains how the highest levels of the police department, including then-police chief Jerry Oliver and his successor, Ella Bully-Cummings, deliberately sabotaged his investigation. He claims that files were deleted from homicide computers, reports were removed from the homicide file, and the Greene murder file itself was locked up so Bowman could not access it. Bowman states that eventually he was transferred out of homicide because he had asked too many questions about the Greene murder and the Manoogian Mansion party.^[31] In the affidavit, Bowman says that Greene was employed with an associate of Kilpatrick, but did not name the associate. Bowman also stated that Greene's telephone records linked her to a high-ranking city employee not long before her April 2003 death. Mayer Morganroth, the lawyer representing the city, said, "The Bowman affidavit is a little less than idiotic and more than absurd."^[31]

In another sworn affidavit, Joyce Carolyn Rogers, a former employee for the Detroit Police Department, stated that she read a police report that came across her desk in the fall 2002 which involved the mayor's wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, assaulting Greene during the alleged Manoogian Mansion party. Rogers stated in the affidavit that Carlita had witnessed Greene touching the mayor "in a manner that upset the mayor's wife."^[36]

Rogers' affidavit said that Carlita Kilpatrick left the room and came back with a wooden object and began assaulting Greene; two other men then stepped in to restrain the mayor's wife.^[36]

Norman Yatooma, attorney for the Greene family, said that this new sworn affidavit shows that the Manoogian party was not "urban legend."^[36]

Three Detroit fire department EMS officers signed affidavits concerning Ms. Green. Lt. Michael Kearns said he spoke to Green around the time of the Manoogian party. Retired Lt. Walter Godzwon, said he saw Kwame Kilpatrick and his bodyguards at Detroit Receiving, where an injured woman was taken. Paramedic Cenobio Chapa said in an affidavit that he say he saw an injured woman brought to Detroit Receiving Hospital by three plainclothes Detroit Police officers in the autumn of 2002. He said he heard the woman say she had been physically attacked by Carlita Kilpatrick, the wife of then-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Chapa said in his affidavit that he ran into a medical technician that night named Doug Bayer and told him about what he had seen. Bayer previously had told State Police of such an encounter.^[37][38]

Detroit Free Press writer-columnist Carol Teegardin self-published in 2011 ^[39] portraying Greene as an industrous young woman whose murder and its investigation raised suspicions. Teegardin found most principals in the case unwilling to speak with her, suggesting to her a cover-up persisted.^[40]

Whistleblower trial[link]

In 2003, a civil lawsuit was filed against Kilpatrick by his ex-bodyguard Harold Nelthrope and former Deputy Chief Police Gary Brown. The police officers claim they were fired because of an internal probe into the mayor's personal actions and that the firing was a violation of the whistleblower law.^[41]

The trial began in August 2007 with Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty both denying they were involved in an extramarital affair.^[41] In his testimony, Kilpatrick expressed anger about claims of an affair between him and Beatty and under oath said:

I think it was pretty demoralizing to her—you have to know her—but it's demoralizing to me as well," he said. "My mother is a congresswoman. There have always been strong women around me. My aunt is a state legislator. I think it's absurd to assert that every woman that works with a man is a whore. I think it's disrespectful not just to Christine Beatty but to women who do a professional job that they do every single day. And it's also disrespectful to their families as well.^[42][43]