WZZM Expands Weekend, Weekday News

Gannett-owned ABC affiliate WZZM  Grand Rapids, Mich. (DMA 39), is adding newscasts.

On Sunday, Aug. 10, it will launch a 9 a.m. Sunday newscast. This is in addition to the two-hour broadcast it currently airs at 6-8 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. “Our goal is to provide a better overall viewer experience on Sunday mornings linking programming during the hour between GMA and This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” said Janet Mason, WZZM president-GM. 

Then, on Monday, Aug. 18, the station will debut a 4:30 a.m. newscast.

“There is clearly an interest among early-rising viewers in a newscast that helps them prepare for the day ahead and we want to make sure we’re there for our audience,” said Taz Painter, WZZM news director. “This is a great time for WZZM 13 to expand earlier to 4:30 a.m. since we now have our full morning team in place with Lauren Stanton, Dan Harland and meteorologist Aaron Ofseyer.”

In May WZZM added a half hour of local news content to the weekday noon broadcasts. The midday news now runs from noon to 1 p.m. daily.