improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . september 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . september 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message not to be confused with wtvo or wtov . wotv battle creek kalamazoo grand rapids michigan united states city battle creek michigan branding wotv 4 general 24 hour news 8 during simulcasts of wood tv newscasts slogan abc for grand rapids and west michigan or my abc wotv 4 general watching out for you news channels digital 20 uhf virtual 41 psip subchannels 41.1 abc 41.2 gettv 41.3 grit 41.4 wood tv weather radar affiliations abc owner media general sale to nexstar broadcasting group pending wood television llc first air date july 24 1971 call letters meaning variation of wood tv sister station s wood tv wxsp cd former callsigns wuhq tv 1971 1992 former channel number s analog 41 uhf 1971 2009 former affiliations dt2 thecooltv 2010 2013 transmitter power 255 kw height 329 m class dt facility id 10212 transmitter coordinates 42 34 15 n 85 28 7 w 42.57083 n 85.46861 w 42.57083 ; 85.46861 website wotv4women.com wotv virtual channel 41 uhf digital channel 20 is an abc affiliated television station located in battle creek michigan united states . the station is owned by media general and is a sister station to nbc affiliate wood tv channel 8 and class a mynetworktv affiliate wxsp cd channel 15 . all three stations share studios on college avenue southeast in the heritage hill section of grand rapids wotv s transmitter is located on south norris road in orangeville township . the station brands based on its channel 4 positions on area cable systems though it is on channel 41 on dish along with at & t s directv and u verse . the grand rapids kalamazoo market is one of a few instances where there are two affiliates of the same network this situation exists in the tampa bay area of florida where wfts tv and wwsb both air abc programming in the same market . abc programming is also seen on wzzm channel 13 which is based out of grand rapids . although wzzm clears all network programming and operates a full news department its vhf digital signal can not reach the southern portions of the market battle creek and kalamazoo . this is because the transmitter is located northwest of grand rapids in grant farther north than the area s other network stations . while wotv once focused primarily on the southern portion of the market in a area between wzzm and south bend indiana s wbnd ld in recent years it has billed itself as a full market abc affiliate including grand rapids . in some cases commonly from late spring through early fall the signal from wotv can be received in parts of southeastern wisconsin and northern illinois via tropospheric propagation across lake michigan . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 news operation 3.1 notable former on air staff 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit the station signed on the air on july 24 1971 as wuhq tv standing for uhf headquarters . it was owned by channel 41 inc. a group of 19 investors from battle creek and kalamazoo . wuhq signed on because the southern portion of the market did not receive an adequate signal from wzzm . originally licensed on vhf channel 9 that station swapped channels with wwtv in cadillac and moved to channel 13 just before signing on in 1962 . as a result its transmitter is farther north than the other western michigan stations in order to protect wtvg in toledo ohio . before wuhq signed on viewers in kalamazoo and battle creek watched abc from either wsjv in elkhart south bend indiana wxyz tv in detroit or during the summer months with tropospheric propagation across lake michigan wls tv in chicago and witi in milwaukee then that city s abc affiliate . verification needed in its early days the station could not get abc to provide a direct network feed . this forced channel 41 to switch to and from wzzm s signal during the times when abc network programming was being shown . this practice however was less than satisfactory as wzzm often pre empted network shows in favor of locally originated or other programming such as billy graham crusades . in cases where wuhq had advance notice of such changes the station was able to procure filmed copies of the pre empted network programming for broadcast . however wzzm sometimes pre empted a program with no advance notice such as for breaking local news or severe weather coverage . when this happened wuhq had simulcast wsjv usually with less than satisfactory results . at times atmospheric conditions were not suitable enough to simulcast wsjv forcing wuhq to substitute a film or other non network programming . wzzm s owners northstar television planned to buy wuhq in 1991 and turn it into a satellite . this would have created a strong combined signal with about 40 % overlap . northstar received federal communications commission fcc approval to do this but the deal fell through when the company was unable to come up with the funds necessary to close the transaction . instead wuhq s owner entered into a local marketing agreement lma with lin broadcasting owner of wotv in grand rapids . the deal closed on november 11 1991 . shortly after channel 8 regained its heritage wood tv calls and moved the wotv calls to channel 41 . the previous wuhq call letters are currently used on a low powered daystar affiliate in grand rapids . in 1996 wotv boosted its transmitter power to five million watts making it the most powerful television station in west michigan . it now had at least grade b coverage throughout the entire market . at & t bought wood tv and the lma with wotv in 1994 when lin spun off its television division as lin tv . however lin continued to operate both stations . lin tv reacquired wood tv from at & t in 1999 and bought wotv outright in 2002 . by december 2006 all operations of the station were consolidated into wood tv s facilities in grand rapids . reporter gerry barnaby who joined wotv in 1993 left the station at end of the year . wotv s studios on west dickman road m 96 in battle creek were donated to a city entity battle creek unlimited and were later demolished in february 2014 . 1 the equipment went to the calhoun county vocational educational center . former logo used from 2003 until march 2012 based on wood tv s current logo . both wotv and wzzm have had a unique history of having one abc affiliate pre empt network programming during labor day weekend for the jerry lewis mda telethon while another aired the pre empted abc programming . in recent years wotv has aired the mda telethon while wzzm has aired abc programming preempted by the telethon . it was the other way around in previous years however . bill steffen was also the only current news personality to appear on the telethon on both stations having been employed by wzzm and wood tv . starting in 2013 however both wzzm and wotv aired the mda show of strength at the same time as the program switched from a syndication format to a network telecast on abc . on may 18 2007 lin tv announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives that could have resulted in the sale of the company . the last logo that the station used displayed both digits for channel 41 its defunct analog signal but highlighted the numeral four in positive space and displayed the numeral one immediately adjacent in negative space similar to the hidden numeral 11 in the former big ten conference logo . in march 2012 wotv launched a new logo website and daytime lineup under the brand wotv 4 women . 2 with the launch the station began to shift its focus towards the female demographic its website was redesigned to feature more lifestyle oriented content and its daytime lineup began featuring more female and lifestyle oriented programming such as dr. oz swift justice with jackie glass the nate berkus show better and the wendy williams show ; the format change was one of the first such instances in which a broadcast television station attempted to target a more specific demographic in this case based on gender . by the 2015 16 season the branding had changed slightly to my abc wotv 4 though more by the trends of the current market as fewer talk shows exist in the market . on early weekend mornings the station simulcasts wood dt3 which is a feed of wood tv s weather radar known as the storm team 8 live doppler network with audio from noaa weather radio station kig63 . the radar feed is carried full time on wotv s fourth subchannel on march 21 2014 it was announced that media general would acquire lin . 3 the deal closed on december 19 making wotv along with wood and wxsp siblings to cbs affiliate wlns tv and abc affiliate wlaj tv in lansing . on january 27 2016 media general announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by nexstar broadcasting group . the combined company will be known as nexstar media group and own 171 stations including wood and wotv serving an estimated 39 % of households . 4 5 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 6 41.1 720p 16 9 wotv main wotv programming abc 41.2 480i 4 3 radar gettv 41.3 grit tv 41.4 16 9 storm team 8 live doppler network wotv previously carried a simulcast of sister station wxsp cd on digital subchannel 41.2 ; in late october 2010 with lin tv beginning to launch digital translators of wood tv in the southwestern portion of the market and near universal availability of wxsp on cable and satellite wotv discontinued its simulcast of wxsp on its second subchannel . it was replaced with 24 hour music video network thecooltv . wxsp cd was also carried by wood dt2 until july 1 2013 . on july 15 2013 carriage of thecooltv ended as lin ended its agreement to carry the network and the subchannel was replaced with the same doppler radar loop seen on wood dt3 . once grit debuted on wotv the radar loop was moved to its fourth subchannel . analog to digital conversion edit wotv shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 41 on june 12 2009 as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . 7 the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 20 using psip to display wotv s virtual channel as 41 on digital television receivers . news operation edit channel 41 opened a news department soon after signing on . however the station had no luck whatsoever competing against wood tv and wwmt channel 3 since its viewer base was limited to the southern portion of the market . even with kalamazoo the market s second largest city there simply were not enough viewers in that