WLAJ-T By Dave Hoger Staff Writer Viewers in the Lansing-Jackson television market now have an ABC-TV affiliate to call their own. WLAJ-TV, Channel 53, was awarded the ABC affiliate late Wednesday and should be on the air as early as Oct. 1, said Lansing developer Joel I. Ferguson, head of the yet-unnamed corporation that owns Channel 53. The addition of an ABC affiliate ends years of domination by CBS and NBC in Jackson and would be a boon to non-cable viewers who have difficulties picking up ABC. In last week’s Nielsen ratings, r easy as ABC had the number 1 and 3 shows with “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (one) and “Ro- seanne” (three). There has never been an ABC affiliate station in the market, re portedly due to what is termed “spill-over” from outside markets such as WUHQ-Channel 41 in Battle Creek and WXYZ-Channel 7 in Detroit, both ABC affiliates. Not penetrating the Battle Creek market may have been one of the facets that most impressed ABC, said Ferguson, who owned WSYM-Channel 47 for years be fore it was sold to the Milwaukee Journal, its present owner. ABC for “When I owned WSYM, we had a powerful signal. When I went to buy a station in Las Vegas, I real ized I didn’t need all that powerful stuff. Once the signal was out of the city, all there was was desert, anyway. “So when I designed WLAJ, I cut the signal down to just the ar eas we are targeting. It will miss Battle Creek entirely.” Both WLAJ and WSYM-Chan nel 47, an independent station based in Lansing, were in conten- tion for the ABC affiliation. WSYM general manager Peter Bannister could not be reached for comment this morning. Jackson It is not the first time WSYM has applied to be an ABC affiliate. Lansing and Jackson are the prime areas for Channel 53’s main news coverage — “that’s why we made the call letters what they are, Lansing and Jackson,” Ferguson said. “We plan on having a real pres ence in Coldwater and Hillsdale, too,” he said this morning. That will be made possible by extra signal translators. “We have to give people a rea son to change their viewing habits, and I think we’ll do that,” Fergu Please see WLAJ, A-2