is the
NBC affiliate for
West Michigan (the
Grand Rapids -
Kalamazoo -
Battle Creek, Michigan television market). It is licensed to Grand Rapids and broadcasts on channel 8. WOOD's transmitter is located in western
Barry County near the town of
Middleville, Michigan . WOOD-TV8 transmits its signal from an antenna 991
Feet (302
M ) in height, and its signal reaches as far as
Lansing ,
Big Rapids , and
South Bend, Indiana .
The station first went on the air on
August 15 ,
1949 , as WLAV-TV on channel 7. It was the fourth television station in Michigan, and the first outside of
Detroit . The original owner was Leonard Adrian Verslius, who had signed on WLAV-AM, Grand Rapids' second radio station, in 1940.
In 1951, Versalius sold the station to Grandwood Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Bitner Group, owners of Grand Rapids' first radio station,
WOOD-AM 1300 , for
$ 1.37 million. WOOD-AM had applied for a television license in 1948, but it came just after the
FCC imposed a freeze on new television construction permits. In fact, WLAV had been one of the last construction permits issued before the freeze. Grandwood eventually tired of waiting and cut a deal with Verslius to buy his station. On
October 19 , WLAV-TV became WOOD-TV, broadcasting from a new site in northeast Grand Rapids.
On ) in
Chicago, Illinois .
In 1955, the station moved to its current facility in the Heritage Hill area of Grand Rapids.
Time-Life, Inc. bought WOOD-AM and WOOD-TV in 1957. The call letters became WOTV in 1972 when WOOD-AM was sold.
Channel 8 has been an NBC affiliate from the very beginning, though it had a secondary
CBS affiliation until WKZO-TV (now
WWMT ) in
Kalamazoo expanded its signal to cover Grand Rapids. It also had a secondary
ABC affiliation until 1962, when
WZZM-TV signed on.
In an area first, the station purchased electronic news equipment in 1975. Five years later, the station became the first to broadcast live news from outside the studio. When
LIN TV bought WOTV in 1983, the station introduced West Michigan's first news
Helicopter .
In 1992, the station reclaimed its old call letters with WOOD radio's permission, donating the
WOTV calls to WUHQ (channel 41), with whom it had a
Local Marketing Agreement . LIN would purchase WOTV outright in 2001.
The weekday noon newscasts and weekend 6:00 p.m. newscasts were expanded to one-hour formats in 1995, with the first 30 minutes are shown on sister station WOTV.
WOOD-TV recently activated translators in
Muskegon and
Holland , because the
Digital Television signal of
WMVS in
Milwaukee , also on channel 8, knocks WOOD-TV off the air in those areas under certain conditions.
Carol Duvall of
HGTV 's ''
Carol Duvall Show '' started her career at WOOD-TV.
- Monday-Friday: 5:00-7:00 AM during network morning program, 12:00-1:00 PM, 5:00-5:30 PM, 5:30-6:00 PM, 6:00-6:30 PM, and 11:00-11:00 PM. The 6:00 PM newscast is repeated on .
- Saturday: 7:00-7:30 AM during network morning program, 6:00-6:30 PM, and 11:00-11:30 PM.
- Sunday: 7:00-8:00 AM during network morning program, 6:00-7:00 PM, and 11:00-11:30 PM. ''To the Point'' airs from 10:00-10:30 AM.
- WOOD-TV's morning updates on shown during '' The Today Show '' on WOOD and during '' Good Morning America '' on WOTV.
''To The Point'' is a weekly Sunday morning political talk show hosted by Rick Albin, which airs at 10 AM.
- "West Michigan's News Leader" (current)
- "First. Best. Live." (1999)
- "Come on home to TV-8" (1988)
''Sports Overtime'' is a weekly half-hour sports broadcast, airing Sundays after the 11:00 PM newscast.
''Football Frenzy'' is a weekly program covering the Friday night high school football games, as well as other sports news of the day. The 11:00 PM newscast is shortened to allow the ''Frenzy'' to air during the regular newscast timeslot.
- Rick Albin is the Political Reporter. He currently hosts ''To The Point'', a political interview show airing on Sunday mornings.
- Jack Doles is Sports Director, and often anchors the 11:00 PM sports telecast.
- Suzanne Geha is the co-anchor of the 6:00pm and 11:00 PM news. She is a niece of former UPI correspondent Helen Thomas .
- Craig James is the chief Meterologist , usually appearing on the 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM newscasts.
- Larry Nienhaus is the co-anchor for the 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM newscasts, having replaced longtime anchor Tom Van Howe who retired in November 2005.
- Brad Edwards is the weekend anchor. He regularly does hard-hitting reports that anger the Chinese Mob. His roommate regularly fears for his life.
- Jennifer Moss is the Daybreak Anchor. She replaced Brian Sterling, who was killed in a freak goating accident.
The station was founded by Leonard Verslius. Over the years, the station was bought and sold three times:
LIN Broadcasting is the current owner of WOOD, as well as two other West Michigan stations,
WOTV and
WXSP , and numerous television stations across the United States.
