FOX 47 News - WSYM

FOX 47 News - WSYM FOX 47 News "In Your Neighborhood" showcases mid-Michigan through the lens of a lifelong local.

Scripps News spoke with former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Friday, to learn more about how FEMA typically resp...
07/12/2025

Scripps News spoke with former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Friday, to learn more about how FEMA typically responds to natural disasters such as the floods in Texas.

Michigan Elections Bureau Director Jonathan Brater's cross-examination included questions about the legality of his inst...
07/12/2025

Michigan Elections Bureau Director Jonathan Brater's cross-examination included questions about the legality of his instructions regarding preservation of voter records.

Summer reading programs at the Charlotte library are helping local students maintain and build their reading skills duri...
07/12/2025

Summer reading programs at the Charlotte library are helping local students maintain and build their reading skills during the break from school

A Charlotte family is moving forward after a tornado destroyed their historic barn that had hosted dozens of community e...
07/11/2025

A Charlotte family is moving forward after a tornado destroyed their historic barn that had hosted dozens of community events over the years, but the future of rebuilding to continue the tradition remains uncertain.

Lansing School District celebrates improved reading scores, with proficiency rates rising from 11% to 16% over three yea...
07/11/2025

Lansing School District celebrates improved reading scores, with proficiency rates rising from 11% to 16% over three years, showing the highest achievement growth in Michigan.

Walmart urges consumers to return or discard Ozark Trail bottles after reports of lid malfunctions causing serious eye i...
07/11/2025

Walmart urges consumers to return or discard Ozark Trail bottles after reports of lid malfunctions causing serious eye injuries. Affected bottles sold since 2017.

The state of New Mexico is suing the U.S. Air Force over "forever chemical" pollution from a military base.
07/11/2025

The state of New Mexico is suing the U.S. Air Force over "forever chemical" pollution from a military base.

Police and EMS were called to a community center in Ohio earlier this week to help remove a child trapped from a stuffed...
07/11/2025

Police and EMS were called to a community center in Ohio earlier this week to help remove a child trapped from a stuffed animal claw machine.

A new HHS directive reverses decades-old interpretation of a 1996 law, restricting undocumented immigrants' health care ...
07/11/2025

A new HHS directive reverses decades-old interpretation of a 1996 law, restricting undocumented immigrants' health care services.

President Trump visits Texas to survey flood damage and discuss relief efforts amidst scrutiny over emergency alert syst...
07/11/2025

President Trump visits Texas to survey flood damage and discuss relief efforts amidst scrutiny over emergency alert systems and FEMA's efficiency.

Under Trump's directive, major U.S. trading partners face increased import taxes, as international tensions rise.
07/11/2025

Under Trump's directive, major U.S. trading partners face increased import taxes, as international tensions rise.

A Charlotte family is moving forward after a tornado destroyed their historic barn that had hosted dozens of community e...
07/11/2025

A Charlotte family is moving forward after a tornado destroyed their historic barn that had hosted dozens of community events over the years, but the future of rebuilding remains uncertain.

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The story of FOX 47 News

WSYM signed on for the first time on December 1, 1982, as WFSL-TV. It was owned by Lansing businessman Joel Ferguson and his company, F&S Development Company, and aired an analog signal on channel 47. WFSL was the first new commercial station in the area since WILX-TV signed-on 23 years earlier. Conventional wisdom suggested it should have debuted as an ABC affiliate. Lansing was one of the largest markets in the nation that still didn't have full service from all three major networks. Indeed, Lansing had been large enough to support three full network affiliates since the 1960s. However, after all attempts to land an ABC affiliation failed, it signed on as an independent. Flint's WJRT-TV (channel 12) had long been the default ABC affiliate in Lansing, since it covered the immediate area with an adequate signal.

During its pre-sign-on test pattern, an on-screen crawl thanked numerous people and companies for their help including "All the people who said 'No way will that station get on-the-air by December 1st.'" WFSL was a typical UHF independent airing syndicated cartoons, game shows, movies, and off-network sitcoms. For a time, the station also simulcasted the ABC game show Family Feud and soap opera The Edge of Night from eventual sister station WXYZ-TV in Detroit in hopes of eventually landing a full-time ABC affiliation.

Ferguson sold the station to the Journal Company, then the broadcast arm of the Milwaukee Journal, in 1985, as the second broadcast asset for that company outside of Milwaukee. The new owners changed the call sign to WSYM-TV—an acronym meaning We Say Yes to Michigan, in reference to the "Yes Michigan!" tourism campaign of the 1980s from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (the station still uses that phrase as part of its on-air imaging today). The call letters once belonged to a ship but that registration was cancelled by the United States Coast Guard to allow channel 47 to use them. Five years later, Ferguson used the proceeds from the sale of this station to start Lansing's first ABC affiliate, WLAJ.

WSYM affiliated with Fox in 1990. Previously, Detroit's WKBD served as the "fourth" network's default affiliate in Lansing; it had been available on cable in Lansing for decades. Some parts of the market could also receive Fox from WXMI in Grand Rapids and WSMH in Flint. WSYM is also part of the Detroit Lions Television Network which airs Detroit Lions pre-season games and the syndicated Ford Lions Report during the regular season. It airs Lions games during the regular season as part of the NFL on Fox contract. Since portions of the Lansing area are within 75 miles (121 km) of Ford Field (home of the Lions).