WXMI - History

History

The station signed on-the-air March 18, 1982 as a locally-owned independent with the call sign WWMA. The call letters are said to have stood for We're West Michigan Alternative. The station was originally owned by Heritage Broadcasting Company. Approximately a year after signing on, additional shareholders bought control of the station and changed the calls to the current WXMI on August 15, 1983. The "XMI" at the time were said to stand for EXtreme Michigan. It became a charter affiliate of FOX after signing an affiliation deal in 1987. In 1989, the station's stock was purchased by a New York-based company headed by Robert Dudley called Odyssey Television Partners.

Nine years later, WXMI was purchased by Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications which traded the station with sister KTZZ in Seattle, Washington to Tribune in 1998 in exchange for FM station WQCD in New York City. From August 2006 to September 2007, The Tube aired on a second digital channel. Three months later, cartoons were dropped from the WXMI schedule with the cancellation of 4KidsTV and leaving local programs are aired on Saturday Mornings.