on january 16, 1995, weyi and wnem-tv traded network affiliations, resulting in weyi becoming an nbc station. this came as part of the larger u.s. television network affiliate switches of 1994 that saw cbs' longtime affiliate in adjacent detroit, wjbk, switch to fox. cbs was having trouble getting a replacement affiliate in detroit after it failed to affiliate with wxyz-tv (which renewed its affiliation with abc as part of a deal that caused three other stations to switch to the network) and wxon-tv (wdiv was not an option as that station was in the middle of a long-term affiliation contract with nbc); it ultimately landed on wgpr-tv (channel 62, now wwj-tv), which at the time broadcast at very low power and was practically unviewable outside detroit's inner ring. since wnem's vhf signal penetrated further into detroit's outer suburbs than weyi's uhf signal, cbs persuaded wnem's owner, meredith corporation, to switch to cbs. it is one of the few known instances during this period where cbs moved its affiliation from a uhf station to a vhf station.