call sign see wjbk disambiguation . 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 . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message wjbk detroit michigan united states branding fox 2 detroit general fox 2 news newscasts slogan news that works for you newscasts fox 2 working for you general channels digital 7 vhf virtual 2 psip affiliations .1 fox o & o .2 movies .3 buzzr .4 heroes & icons owner fox television stations new world communications of detroit inc. first air date october 24 1948 ; 67 years ago 1948 10 24 call letters meaning jesus be kind derived from former sister station wjbk radio now wlqv sister station s fox sports detroit former channel number s analog 2 vhf 1948 2009 digital 58 uhf 1998 2009 former affiliations primary cbs 1948 1994 secondary dumont 1948 1955 paramount 1952 1955 transmitter power 27 kw height 314 m 1 030 ft facility id 73123 transmitter coordinates 42 27 38.3 n 83 12 49.2 w 42.460639 n 83.213667 w 42.460639 ; 83.213667 coordinates 42 27 38.3 n 83 12 49.2 w 42.460639 n 83.213667 w 42.460639 ; 83.213667 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.fox2detroit.com wjbk virtual channel 2 vhf digital channel 7 is a fox owned and operated television station located in detroit michigan united states . the station is owned by the fox television stations subsidiary of 21st century fox . wjbk maintains studio and transmitter facilities located on west 9 mile road in the detroit suburb of southfield . 1 2 wjbk s over the air signal covers the entire metro detroit area along with the southwestern portion of the canadian province of ontario surrounding the city of windsor . the station is carried on most cable television systems in southeast michigan southwestern ontario and northwest ohio . it is also carried on certain canadian cable television providers . contents 1 history 1.1 as a cbs affiliate 1.2 as a fox station 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 sports programming 4.1 detroit tigers 4.2 detroit pistons 4.3 detroit red wings 4.4 detroit lions 5 news operation 5.1 tv 2 eyewitness news 5.2 fox 2 news 5.3 mornings 5.4 ratings 5.5 notable current on air staff 5.6 notable former on air staff 6 out of market coverage 6.1 canada 6.2 newscasts 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit as a cbs affiliate edit wjbk s studios in southfield michigan . the station first signed on the air on october 24 1948 as wjbk tv the tv suffix was removed from the call letters in 1998 ; it was the third television station to sign on in detroit after wwj tv channel 4 now wdiv tv ; and wxyz tv channel 7 . the first program broadcast by wjbk was a presentation of lucky pup at 6 15 p.m. that evening . 3 the station was originally an affiliate of both cbs and the dumont television network . it was originally owned by george b. storer s storer broadcasting along with wjbk radio am 1500 now wlqv and fm 93.1 now wdrq . the station originally operated from detroit s masonic temple until 1956 when its operations were moved to a purpose built studio facility on second avenue in detroit s new center section . wjbk tv would eventually become an exclusive cbs affiliate by 1955 when windsor ontario based cklw tv channel 9 now cbet dt became a dumont affiliate . wjbk first broadcast in color around 1956 . in 1970 the station moved to its current broadcast facilities at 16550 west 9 mile road in southfield . 4 like most studio facilities built by storer during that time it resembles an antebellum mansion . the wjbk circle 2 logo used from 1978 to 1983 . even though wjbk was one of cbs stronger affiliates it would pre empt or reschedule some network programs . as the flagship station of detroit tigers baseball from the 1950s to the 1970s it would preempt network programming to televise games . from 1970 until the early 1980s the station would air its own local morning newscast from 7 8 a.m. and then good morning detroit instead of the cbs morning news . in 1992 it chose again not to air cbs this morning in favor of its own local newscast . 5 the station would regularly reschedule cbs daytime game shows and it would also move the soap opera guiding light from its usual network airtime of 3 p.m. et to 10 a.m. with episodes airing on a day behind basis . 3 wjbk would also pre empt the cbs late night schedule with syndicated reruns including cheers and late night movies until the debut of the late show with david letterman in 1993 when the station cleared the show at 11 35 p.m. the station went through a number of ownership and management changes with its parent companies in the 1980s and 1990s . in 1985 the equity firm kohlberg kravis roberts kkr acquired storer communications incorporated in a leveraged buyout . kkr then sold all of the former storer broadcast assets including wjbk to gillett communications in 1987 after an attempt to sell the stations to lorimar telepictures in 1986 failed . when gillett went bankrupt in 1992 it reorganized the ownership of its television stations into sci television . the following year in 1993 a few other station owners scripps howard owner of cross town wxyz tv ; federal broadcasting owners of wwj am fm ; group w ; and network owner cbs showed interest in the station . scripps considered trading wxyz back to its former network owner in order to bid for the gillett stations as a group though this would have put them well over the limit of stations they could own even if scripps sold off its smaller market stations so this was abandoned . so in 1993 sci was acquired by the film and television production company new world communications . as a fox station edit see also 1994 united states broadcast tv realignment in may 1994 news corporation then parent of the fox network purchased a 20 % ownership stake amounting to a 500 million investment in wjbk s owner new world communications . fox made the investment to comply with their winning bid for the broadcast rights to the nfl s national football conference . 6 fox outbid cbs for the nfl broadcast rights on the condition that it would improve the network s affiliate coverage in the larger television markets . as a result of fox s investment new world agreed to switch the network affiliations of most of the company s stations including wjbk to fox . 7 wjbk became detroit s new fox affiliate on december 11 1994 after the station s affiliation contract with cbs ended ending its 45 year affiliation with that network . despite a three month interruption in coverage due to cbs losing the nfc rights the games instead aired on wkbd tv channel 50 for the first three months of fox s nfc telecasts with the switch the detroit lions regular season games would continue to air on wjbk . cbs was forced to scramble to find a home in detroit and had a contingency plan in place to import affiliates from nearby markets on area cable providers due to its struggle finding a new affiliate within the detroit market ; cbs would end up purchasing low rated uhf independent station wgpr tv channel 62 now wwj tv in september 1994 . former fox affiliate wkbd briefly became an independent station before becoming a charter affiliate of upn in january 1995 . as a result of the network switch wjbk changed its branding from tv 2 to fox 2 by the fall of 1995 8 becoming one of the few new world stations that switched to the network to adhere to the network s branding conventions before fox s buyout of new world . fox television stations bought new world s ten fox affiliated stations including wjbk in july 1996 ; 9 the purchase was finalized on january 22 1997 with channel 2 becoming a fox owned and operated station as a result . after the affiliation switch wjbk maintained its existing schedule with the exception of the expansion of its news programming including the move and conversion of its 11 p.m. newscast to an hour long broadcast at 10 p.m. as fox offered less network programming especially during the daytime hours wjbk would fill its schedule with more syndicated programs and off network reruns . however the station like its fellow former new world stations never ran the fox kids children s programming block . that block would remain on former fox affiliate wkbd before eventually moving to wadl channel 38 and then wdwb tv channel 20 now wmyd . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 10 2.1 720p 16 9 wjbk main wjbk programming fox 2.2 480i movies movies 2.3 4 3 buzzr buzzr 2.4 16 9 h & i heroes & icons wjbk also has a mobile dtv feed of its subchannel 2.1 . 11 12 analog to digital conversion edit wjbk began airing its digital high definition feed wjbk dt on uhf 58 starting on october 1 1998 . 13 the station shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 2 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition vhf channel 7 2 14 which was formerly occupied by wxyz tv s analog signal and was assigned to wjbk for its post transition digital signal on may 7 2007 . through the use of psip digital television receivers continues to display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 2.1 . as of 2012 wjbk is the only american television station in the detroit windsor television market that broadcasts its digital signal on the vhf band . 8 cbet broadcasting from windsor is on vhf channel 9 . all other detroit windsor dtv market stations are on the uhf band currently channels 14 to 51 excepting 37 which is reserved for radio astronomy use . as part of the safer act 15 wjbk kept its analog signal on the air until june 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the national association of broadcasters . programming edit syndicated programs currently seen on wjbk include judge judy the real the wendy williams show tmz on tv access hollywood and extra among others . some of wjbk s early productions included popular children s shows . milky s movie party starring milky the clown played by magician clarence r. cummings jr. was one of the station s first locally produced children s programs from 1950 to 1955 . the program featured a mix of cartoons and westerns with cummings performing magic tricks with other acts in front of a live audience . cummings would eventually take the milky character to wxyz tv and the former wwj tv now wdiv . 16 other original wjbk children s programs included a cowboy themed show with sagebrush shorty played by ventriloquist ted lloyd with his sidekick dummy skinny dugan that aired from 1956 to 1960 featuring a mix of children s activities and various other characters that interacted with lloyd . 16 that program was followed by another wjbk children s favorite jungle la with wildlife expert b wana don hunt that aired from 1960 to 1963 . hunt with his sidekick