executive editor Kurt Luedtke, and reporters Jay Schadler and Martha Teichner. In addition to being the news and revenue leader in West Michigan in spite of its coverage shortfalls, it was nationally respected: the Associated Press said in 1980 that "WZZM has a quality news operation that should be the envy of many stations in larger markets", while it won six straight "News Station of the Year" honors within Michigan from United Press International. However, after the Price purchase, the station experienced several high-profile defections to other stations. The firing came less than two weeks after the 1988 Michigan Republican presidential caucus. Price, a Republican, demanded information on delegate counts; from New York City, he ordered Hogan out of bed and to station offices to keep him informed until 3 a.m., accused the station's staff of poor reporting despite not having seen its coverage, and threatened to fire the entire news department. The 1990s brought changes in the newsroom. The station debuted an hour-long morning news program in 1992 and a 5:30 p.m. newscast in February 1993. However, WOOD-TV became the news leader in the highly fragmented market: though WZZM-TV was stronger within the immediate Grand Rapids area, WOOD's availability in the Kalamazoo–Battle Creek area more than offset the Muskegon and northern area coverage unique to channel 13. WOOD-TV's sales manager likened the advertising sales power of his competitor to "a vehicle with two wheels" because of its inability to cover the full market. Another obstacle, particularly with older viewers, was that WOOD-TV predated WZZM in Grand Rapids by more than a decade. In 2016, WZZM added eight and a half hours a week of new newscasts, including morning and noon news extensions and a 5 p.m. newscast. In 2004, the station debuted a 5 p.m. talk show, Take Five Grand Rapids. The program was originally produced outside the news department, mixing features and sponsored segments. The show was moved to 4:30 p.m., retitled Take Five & Company, and then moved to an hour at 9 a.m. in 2008. It was replaced with a new hour-long program known as My West Michigan in 2015. The program was put on a continuing hiatus in July 2020 because of COVID-19-related restrictions that made the show's format unworkable. Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: Analog-to-digital conversion WZZM shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, on June 12, 2009,