FOX 17 has announced that Michele DeSelms, who has anchored FOX 17 NEWS AT TEN since it debuted on January 11, 1999, will be leaving the market’s first 10PM newscast in June. Michele DeSelms began her FOX 17 career on December 30, 1998 as one of the founding members of the FOX 17 News staff. Michele will continue in her role as co-anchor of FOX 17 NEWS AT SIX, along with Christian Frank. 

“Michele is a fixture here at FOX 17 and someone that all of West Michigan has come to know and appreciate,” said FOX 17 News Director, Tim Dye. “Her credibility and her professionalism are unmatched. Her desire to spend more time with her family is understandable, so we tried to come up with an arrangement where she could continue to be a part of our Station.

“I have spent 11 years working to build a great 10PM newscast (first and still best in the market) and now it’s time to focus on my family,” said Michele DeSelms.  “With my kids getting older, the hours the job requires are taking me away from them. With this new arrangement, I’ll still get to work in news, but now I’ll get to be home at night, to have dinner with my family, and put my girls to bed. It will be different not anchoring FOX 17 NEWS AT TEN, which I have been part of since day one. But I’m excited to focus on the 6PM newscast, and to move on to the next chapter of my life.”

FOX 17 NEWS AT TEN debuted as West Michigan’s first 10PM newscast in January 1999. FOX 17 NEWS AT TEN was expanded to an hour in March 2004. In April 2009, FOX 17 launched West Michigan’s first local HD news operation. Shortly after that, in September 2009, FOX 17 NEWS AT SIX was launched.