start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division 20th Television. MyNetworkTV was launched on September 5 and former UPN affiliate WHTV joined the network. This left WBL to affiliate with The CW via The CW Plus, a service similar to The WB 100+, on September 18. On that date, WLAJ created a new second digital subchannel to simulcast WBL and offer non-cable subscribers access to The CW. That channel then began using the WLAJ-DT2 call letters in an official manner and relocated to Comcast channel 5. News operation WLAJ launched a news department (under the branding 53 Newsbeat) a month after it began operations. However, after only fifteen months, station management decided to pull the plug on the production and replace it with simulcasts of Action News from WXYZ. Due to continual low ratings, this was eventually replaced by syndicated programming. In 1997, it re-launched a news operation but still found itself with few viewers having to compete with established broadcasts at longtime dominant WLNS and runner-up WILX-TV. New weeknight 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts were branded as ABC 53 News Now and featured anchor Joe Parker, sports with Shaun Broyls, and weather outsourced to the National Weather Network (now known as WeatherVision) of Jackson, Mississippi. Kirk Montgomery eventually took over as meteorologist after an in-house weather department was added. After Freedom bought the station in 1999, a management change occurred and sales manager Mike King (from sister station WWMT) was brought in as the new general manager at WLAJ. During this time, the news department won several awards including Best Newscast from the Associated Press. Initially retaining the ABC 53 News Now branding, the shows were eventually relaunched as ABC 53 News Express which consisted of ten minutes of news, weather, and sports followed by an interview segment. Parker left in 2002 to become the main weeknight anchor at Freedom's WRGB in Albany, New York, and was replaced by Darcy Sullivan. Despite the new format and the critical acclaim, WLAJ was still unable to make significant headway in the ratings. It frequently found itself as the third station in a two-station market, with WLNS and WILX waging a fierce battle for first. Eventually, Suzanne Wangler (using her on-air name "Suzanne Page") from Detroit's WDIV-TV replaced Darcy Sullivan