WSYM-TV

WSYM-TV

Lansing–Jackson, Michigan United States
City	Lansing, Michigan
Channels	Digital: 28 (UHF) Virtual: 47
Branding	Fox 47 47+ (DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	47.1: Fox 47.2: MyNetworkTV for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC)
History
First air date	December 1, 1982 (41 years ago) (1982-12-01)
Former call signs	WFSL-TV (1982–1985)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 47 (UHF, 1982–2009) Digital: 38 (UHF, 2001–2020)
Former affiliations	Independent (1982–1990)
Call sign meaning	We Said Yes to Michigan, as in the "Say Yes to Michigan" slogan used by the state in the 1980s and 1990s
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	74094
ERP	642 kW 1,000 kW (CP)
HAAT	305 m (1,001 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	42°28′3″N 84°39′6″W / 42.46750°N 84.65167°W / 42.46750; -84.65167
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.fox47news.com

WSYM-TV (channel 47) is a television station in Lansing, Michigan, United States, affiliated with Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has studios on West Saint Joseph Street (along I-496) in downtown Lansing, and its transmitter is located in Hamlin Township along M-50/M-99/South Clinton Trail.

Channel 47 in Lansing went on the air December 1, 1982, as WFSL-TV. Owned by real estate developers Joel Ferguson and Sol Steadman, the station was an independent station even though Lansing lacked a full-time ABC affiliate. ABC refused to affiliate with the new station to avoid encroaching on the service area of three nearby affiliates. Ferguson and Steadman sold WFSL-TV to The Journal Company in 1985; the new owners changed the call sign to WSYM-TV. In spite of the 1986 launch of Fox, WSYM-TV's continued courtship of ABC led it to avoid the new network. This changed when Ferguson started a second Lansing station, WLAJ, in 1990; it was designed to meet ABC's signal requirements and won that network's affiliation, leading WSYM-TV to become a Fox affiliate.

Under Journal, WSYM-TV began a 10 p.m. newscast in 1997 but turned over production of its newscasts to local NBC affiliate WILX-TV in 2004. The station eventually aired morning, early evening, and late evening newscasts produced by WILX. After Journal's stations merged into the E. W. Scripps Company in 2015, the station began producing its own local newscasts at the start of 2021.