41 in favor of seeking a relocation of its transmitter from Grant to Hudsonville, improving the signal in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. However, the spacing considerations that resulted in the northerly location of WZZM in the first place were an insurmountable obstacle; the FCC denied the proposal because it would have been too close to the channel 13 station in Toledo. Channel 41, Inc., received its construction permit in July 1970 and went on the air as WUHQ-TV on July 24, 1971. The Battle Creek cable system removed WZZM-TV from its lineup to accommodate the new ABC affiliate; in spite of the competition, WUHQ-TV depended on WZZM to receive ABC network programming. The FCC then ordered WZZM-TV to cease using its Kalamazoo translator on February 7, 1972. WZZM-TV was restored to Battle Creek cable in 1975 over objections from WUHQ-TV, then discontinued in 1986 along with two out-of-market network affiliates. In 1990, WZZM owner Northstar Television announced it had entered into a merger agreement with Channel 41, Inc., the owner of WUHQ-TV, which would have seen WUHQ-TV and WZZM share almost all programming with the exception of split local news programming. John Lawrence, president of WUHQ, said at the time, "It is now appropriate that ABC service in this market be combined." The FCC approved of the merger in June 1991, with Northstar announcing a plan to continue airing separate news coverage, but a planned August closing was delayed and never took place. WUHQ-TV's owners then signed an agreement for WOTV (channel 8) to provide news coverage for channel 41, part of an 11-year time brokerage agreement by which WOTV assumed many of the station's operating functions but not ownership. WUHQ-TV then changed its call sign to WOTV in June 1992 when WOTV became WOOD-TV. Dish Network began offering local channel service in the market in 2002 and offers WZZM and WOTV in all areas. WZZM was readded to several Comcast systems in southwest Michigan, including Battle Creek, in 2009. News operation WZZM had one news director for the first 25 years of its history. Jack Hogan—who was the first voice heard on the station when it started—remained the news director until Price Communications owner Robert Price fired him in February 1988. During Hogan's tenure, the station was a stop on the careers of journalists including sportcaster John Keating (known as Steve Knight in Grand Rapids), future Detroit Free Press