Assignment of channel 13 to Grand Rapids; construction
In 1959, the Atlas Broadcasting Company was organized to pursue the addition of a third very high frequency (VHF) station in West Michigan. It applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), proposing the addition of channel 13 to Grand Rapids. The station would transmit from an area near Muskegon, north of Grand Rapids, where it would be appropriately spaced to WSPD-TV in Toledo, Ohio, and WREX-TV in Rockford, Illinois; FCC regulations required the transmitter to be located at least 170 mi from competing stations on that frequency. Atlas also proposed moving WWTV in Cadillac to channel 9, where it would still be appropriately spaced to CKLW-TV in Windsor, Ontario.[1] The FCC approved this allocation change in 1961; it replaced channel 9 in Alpena with channel 6.[2] The placement of the channel at Grand Rapids attracted interest even before the insertion was final. By the end of 1960, three groups had incorporated with an eye toward filing for channel 13, including West Michigan Telecasters—consisting of 24 shareholders with Lewis V. Chamberlain, Jr. as president—whose final application was filed in October 1961.[3] One of the shareholders was L. William Seidman, then on the board of directors of Grand Valley State College and later chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.[4] Some of the stockholders were from Muskegon; the group promoted the northerly transmitter site as a bonus, noting that there were no local stations in Muskegon and that other communities such as Grand Haven and Holland were also underserved.[5] West Michigan was one of six applicants to file by the end of 1961, alongside Atlas (which also owned Grand Rapids–area radio station WMAX); Grand Broadcasting Company, which counted former WLAV and WLAV-TV owner Leonard Versluis among its stockholders as well as former FCC counsel Mary Jane Morris; Major Television Company; MKO Broadcasting Company; and Peninsular Broadcasting Company.[6]
In its order assigning channel 13 to Grand Rapids, the FCC indicated its willingness to accept proposals for interim operating authority to hasten the construction of the station. This meant that the comparative hearing process and construction would run in parallel. Days after filing its permanent bid, West Michigan Telecasters also proposed interim operating authority.[7] Major and Atlas both withdrew in August 1962; the four remaining contenders formed Channel 13, Grand Rapids, Inc., which received interim authority that same month.[8] The interim station originally chose the call letters WIIM-TV, but WJIM-TV in Lansing objected, resulting in the choice of WZZM as the call sign.[9] Construction rapidly proceeded, and from studios in the Pantlind Hotel downtown, WZZM made its first broadcast on November 1, 1962, an ABC affiliate from the start.[10]
While WZZM was on the air, the applicants wrangled at the FCC over permanent authority to run it. In May 1963, an FCC hearing examiner gave Grand Broadcasting Company the nod in his initial decision, citing its superior integration of ownership and management, a comparative criterion analyzing the involvement of owners in station operations.[11] The FCC itself, however, instead selected West Michigan Telecasters in April 1964, citing its principals' involvement in civic affairs and research into local public service programming.[12] The company then settled with the other applicants, ultimately paying them between $360,000 and $390,000 apiece,[13] and on January 25, 1965, it became the sole owner of WZZM.[14] After the award, West Michigan Telecasters proceeded with its plans to build a studio in Muskegon.[15]
After a plan to merge with Basic Communications Inc. and Eccentric magazine in Birmingham, Michigan, fell through,[16] West Michigan Telecasters merged with two publishing companies in 1969 to form Synercom Communications Corporation. In 1971, WZZM-TV finally left the Pantlind and moved to purpose-built studios. The 38500 ft2 facility also housed WZZM-FM, which West Michigan Telecasters had acquired in 1966,[17] and the station's production arm.[18] Synercom then spun West Michigan Telecasters and the WZZM stations out as its own company in 1973, including Elinor Bunin Productions, a New York City film production house.[19]
Gannett/Tegna ownership
In 1996, the Gannett Company acquired Multimedia, Inc.. This created conflicts for the company in Cincinnati and Oklahoma City, where Multimedia had a newspaper-TV station combination and a TV station-cable system combination that were not permissible under FCC rules of the time. As a result, Gannett agreed to a trade with Argyle. Gannett sent Argyle the Cincinnati and Oklahoma City stations (WLWT and KOCO-TV) in exchange for $20 million; WGRZ in Buffalo, New York; and WZZM-TV.[27] In 1999, after a 33-year run, the station ceased producing its local children's show, Bozo's Big Top.[28][29]
From 1967 to 1987, a weather ball sat atop the Michigan National Bank building in Grand Rapids, using 288 colored neon lights to convey forecast precipitation or changes in temperature, until it was removed because its weight had caused structural damage.
