please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message wmyd detroit michigan united states branding tv 20 detroit general 7 action news on tv 20 detroit newscast slogan taking action for you channels digital 21 uhf virtual 20 psip affiliations .1 mynetworktv .2 antenna tv .3 escape owner e. w. scripps company scripps broadcasting llc first air date september 15 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 15 call letters meaning mynetworktv detroit sister station s wxyz tv former callsigns wxon tv 1968 1997 wdwb 1997 2006 former channel number s analog 62 uhf 1968 1972 20 uhf 1972 2009 former affiliations dt1 independent ontv 1968 1993 pten 1993 1995 the wb 1995 2006 4kids tv 2003 2008 dt2 universal sports 2007 2008 thecooltv 2011 2012 cozi tv 2013 2015 transmitter power 500 kw height 324 m facility id 74211 transmitter coordinates 42 26 52.5 n 83 10 23 w 42.447917 n 83.17306 w 42.447917 ; 83.17306 coordinates 42 26 52.5 n 83 10 23 w 42.447917 n 83.17306 w 42.447917 ; 83.17306 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.tv20detroit.com wmyd virtual channel 20 uhf digital channel 21 is the mynetworktv affiliated television station located in detroit michigan united states . the station is owned by the e. w. scripps company owners of abc affiliate wxyz tv channel 7 who operates wmyd as a duopoly . wmyd maintains studio facilities located at the american center building on franklin road in southfield ; 1 2 master control and traffic responsibilities for wmyd originate from centralcasting facilities at the studios of sister stations abc affiliate wxyz tv at broadcast house 4 miles southeast also in southfield ; wmyd maintains transmitter facilities located on eight mile road in oak park along the oakland and wayne county line . on cable the station is available on comcast channel 3 and in high definition on digital channel 235 . contents 1 history 1.1 as an independent station 1.2 ontv 1.3 the wb 1.4 planned sale 1.5 mynetworktv 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 sports programming 4 newscasts 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit as an independent station edit the station first signed on the air on september 15 1968 as wxon tv broadcasting on uhf channel 62 and operating as an independent station . it moved to channel 20 in 1972 after two short lived stations abandoned the frequency in the 1950s and 1960s . wpag tv in ann arbor was first assigned to channel 20 and started broadcasting in april 1953 . 3 wpag tv was owned by the same people washtenaw broadcasting who operated wpag radio 1050 am now wtka and they suspended operations in december 1957 in a futile attempt to get an allocation move to vhf channel 12 . 4 that station may have also been a dumont affiliate . 5 in 1967 wjmy tv in allen park was awarded a construction permit for channel 20 broadcasting for eight months in 1962 63 . after the previous owner died new owners tried several times to bring wjmy back on airing a series of test signals in the late 1960s ; they finally gave up in 1970 paving the way for wxon to purchase wjmy s construction permit and move to channel 20 in november 1972 . wgpr tv now cbs owned and operated station wwj tv took over the channel 62 frequency in 1975 . wxon initially operated from studio facilities located on decker road in the oakland county town of walled lake but later moved to its present location in southfield . through the 1970s wxon aired cartoons lower rated sitcoms off network dramas old movies religious programs and the annual variety club of detroit telethon hosted by soupy sales . it offered english dubbed versions of live action japanese sci fi children s programs such as ultraman johnny sokko and space giants . wxon also brought the infamous late night horror movie cult favorite the ghoul show back to detroit television after wkbd had canceled it in 1975 . in addition the station broadcast the anime series robotech initially as a 1985 summer replacement series with two consecutive episodes one in the morning and one in the afternoon each weekday . continuing much as channel 62 had earlier wxon also often aired a package of films primarily sourced from american international pictures and heavily balanced toward 1950s and early 1960s horror and science fiction features . citation needed ontv edit in 1979 wxon began to carry subscription television programming provided by ontv which aired daily after 8 p.m. the ontv broadcasts were encrypted requiring a rented set top box to decode wxon s signal during hours when the station ran ontv programming ; the service was not cheap at 22.50 a month equivalent to 70.32 in 2011 adjusted for inflation 6 . many people especially those living across the river in windsor ontario who figured out the technological simplicities in how wxon encrypted ontv programming built their own decoder boxes and watched the service for free illegally . the network carried uncut movies concerts and local sporting events . however since many games began before 8 in the evening fans missed the start of many contests . in one famous incident the detroit red wings racked up a 5 0 lead in a game against the calgary flames before ontv began its coverage . 7 in 1982 wxon began airing ontv on weekend afternoons and faced a challenge from in home theatre which aired 24 hours a day on wiht channel 31 now wpxd tv in ann arbor . still lagging far behind wkbd tv channel 50 in the ratings wxon dropped ontv on march 31 1983 and resumed a general entertainment format full time . it added a number of movies to its lineup . the station also acquired several barter cartoons as the children s programming business peaked between 1984 and 1985 . as the 1980s progressed the station began acquiring stronger off network sitcoms . it got a significant boost after wkbd became a fox charter affiliate on october 6 1986 . channel 20 was an established independent station by 1991 . when fellow detroit outlet wjbk dropped its cbs affiliation in favor of fox the former network approached wxon for an affiliation deal which the station rejected ; 8 though abc would also briefly court channel 20 out of fear of losing wxyz tv to cbs without success as wxon was more interested in joining the wb when it launched ; thus channel 20 was unaffected by the network affiliation swaps that occurred in december 1994 . until that year the station signed off the air early each morning from 1 to 5 a.m. ; the station has generally broadcast a 24 hour schedule ever since although it has signed off and signed back on periodically during the late 1990s . the wb edit on january 11 1995 wxon became a charter affiliate of the upstart wb television network . granite broadcasting bought wxon two years later in january 1997 and on october 14 of that year the station s call letters were changed to wdwb . in 2004 the station became the new over the air broadcast home of the nba s detroit pistons taking the rights from the team s longtime broadcaster wkbd and was the broadcast home for 15 to 20 detroit tigers baseball games produced by fox sports net detroit . wdwb carried the full wb network schedule but after joining the network it frequently preempted programming that it rescheduled or did not air in favor of programming such as movies big ten conference basketball the pistons the tigers and from 1999 until 2012 the jerry lewis mda telethon . like the baseball and basketball games the annual mda telethon is broadcast live but since the station has no studios to accommodate the local telethon segments it was produced out of the studios of wtvs channel 56 in the new center section of downtown detroit . planned sale edit in september 2005 granite announced its intention to sell wdwb and its san francisco sister station kbwb now kofy tv to am media holdings inc. a unit of acon investments and several key granite shareholders for a price rated on wdwb s end to around 97 million . the low price granite had purchased the station for 175 million was largely out of granite wanting to cut down its debt load while keeping control of the stations . on february 15 2006 granite announced the restructuring of the sale considering the changing conditions of the station 9 but the sale eventually fell apart . in may 2006 ds audible announced its intent to purchase the stations for about 84 million on wdwb s end . on july 18 2006 this sale also fell apart and granite announced its intention to retain the station . 10 in november granite broadcasting announced that it had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy but would continue to operate its stations including wmyd . mynetworktv edit on january 24 2006 the warner bros. unit of time warner and cbs corporation announced that the two companies would shut down the wb and upn and combine the networks respective programming to create a new fifth network called the cw . 11 12 one month later on february 22 news corporation announced the launch of a new sixth network called mynetworktv which would be operated by fox television stations and its syndication division twentieth television . mynetworktv was created to give upn and wb stations that were not mentioned as becoming cw affiliates another option besides converting to independent stations . 13 14 like many stations about to lose a wb or upn affiliation due to the cw s launch wdwb changed its on air logo to remove the wb logo ; its new logo was introduced during a pistons minnesota timberwolves basketball game on february 1 . the station had also announced that it would no longer promote any wb programing . the station changed its call letters to the current wmyd on may 7 in recognition of its future affiliation . on july 29 2006 the new wmyd logo was introduced during a tigers minnesota twins baseball game in preparation for its switch ; the station was then re branded as my tv 20 . during the time before the actual launch wmyd covered up all wb branding during programming and did not carry network promos . it became a mynetworktv affiliate on september 5 and wkbd joined the cw on september 18 . occasionally as time now permits wmyd may carry network programming from fox nbc or abc should either wjbk channel 2 wdiv tv channel 4 or wxyz tv channel 7 preempt any shows for special programs or extended breaking news or severe weather coverage ; as of now it has not done so . in april 2008 wmyd began airing wolfman mac s nightmare sinema now known as wolfman mac s chiller drive in a 90 minute comedic horror host series hosted by wolfman mac kelly featuring vintage sci fi and horror films skits and cartoons . it is the first original locally produced show of its kind to be seen in detroit in over a decade . the program was dropped from wmyd s schedule on february 14 2010 three months after chiller drive in reached a deal with the retro television network to show reruns as well as new episodes . 15 on february 10 2014 the e. w. scripps company announced that it would acquire wmyd and abc affiliate wkbw tv in buffalo new york from granite broadcasting for 110 million . 16 if approved by the federal communications commission the purchase will create a duopoly