WZZM

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.

History

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.