back to WJBK the next week). On occasion (and regularly during preseason games), WKBD produced broadcasts of Detroit Lions football games, as well as Detroit Pistons basketball games, until the late 1980s when the Pistons decided to produce and distribute the games itself, with WKBD responsible for advertising. Both teams' games were simulcast on a handful of other stations across Michigan. On April 16, 2008, CBS O&O sister station WWJ-TV entered into an agreement to carry Detroit Lions exhibition games. The departure of longtime sports producer Toby Cunningham (whose termination was part of budget cuts imposed by CBS Corporation at all of its television stations) closed the book on the storied history of sports coverage by WKBD. WWJ-TV broadcast preseason Lions games until 2010, when WXYZ-TV was signed as the team's new flagship station. News operations Under Kaiser Broadcasting ownership, in 1968, WKBD began producing a nightly newscast at 10 p.m.; this was part of a large investment by Kaiser into forming news departments for most of their stations. Ultimately, the entire news operation was closed after only two years, due to a weak economy and reluctance to embrace UHF stations; WKBD's news operation was the only one of Kaiser's news departments to turn a profit, though ratings were still much lower than expected. During Field Communications' tenure as owner, WKBD only aired brief newscasts at various times of the day, typically called Newscene (or alternately News Scene), similar to that of other Field-owned stations at the time, such as its Chicago outlet WFLD. It was not until 1985 that the station, now under Cox ownership, opted to try again at a 10 p.m. news. The new newscast launched in the summer of that year, with news/public affairs director Amyre Makupson—previously the anchor of the Newscene updates under Field, as well as the producer and co-host of the local talk show Morning Break—appointed lead anchor alongside Glenn Ray (previously of WILX-TV in Lansing), weathercaster Randy Bhirdo (also of WILX) and former WJBK sportscaster Ray Lane. Originally a half-hour program, The Ten O'Clock News expanded to a full hour in 1989. The program received competition in December 1994 when WJBK launched its own hour-long prime time newscast at 10 p.m. after that station took the Fox affiliation from channel 50; indeed, the first week after the switch saw channel 50's prime time ratings virtually collapse without Fox programming (as UPN would