WGN-TV
From Sports Library
| WGN-TV | |
|---|---|
| Image:Wgncwlogo.PNG | |
| Chicago, Illinois | |
| Slogan | Chicago's Very Own WGN |
| Channels | 9 (VHF) analog, 19 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | CW The Tube (on digital subchannel 9.2) |
| Owner | Tribune Company (WGN Continental Broadcasting Company, Inc.) |
| Founded | April 5, 1948 |
| Call letters meaning | World's Greatest Newspaper (referring to its owner, the Chicago Tribune) |
| Former callsigns | None |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1948-1953) DuMont (1948-1956) Independent (1956-1995) WB (1995-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 110 kW/415 m (analog) 645 kW/453 m (digital) |
| Website | wgntv.trb.com |
WGN-TV, channel 9, is a television station in Chicago, Illinois. It has has been owned by the Tribune Company since its inception, and is currently the Chicago affiliate of the CW Television Network. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago, and the station transmitts its signal from the John Hancock Center.
WGN Television is the flagship station of the Tribune Company (through its television station division), which also operates radio station WGN (720 kHz.) and publishes the Chicago Tribune, whose slogan ("World's Greatest Newspaper") was the basis for the call letters used by both stations. Locally in Chicago, Tribune also operates cable news channel Chicagoland Television (CLTV), which shares resources from both WGN-TV and the Tribune.
WGN-TV is also a pioneering superstation, and continues to program an alternate feed for cable and satellite subscribers in the United States, known as Superstation WGN. WGN-TV also carries the digital television music channel, The Tube, on its second digital subchannel (9.2). They also carry the broadcasts of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and the Chicago Bulls.
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History
WGN Television began test broadcasts in February 1948 and began regular programming on April 5 with a two-hour special, "WGN-TV Salute to Chicago", at 7:45 p.m.
The station has also had a long association with the Chicago Cubs baseball team, which has been aired on WGN-TV since the station's inception. (The Tribune Company purchased the National League franchise in 1981.) During its history, WGN-TV has also been the over-the-air home of Chicago's American League franchise, the White Sox, the NBA's Chicago Bulls, and the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, and has often broadcast football and basketball games of local college teams, such as Northwestern University, DePaul University, Loyola University, and other teams of the Big Ten Conference.
The station began broadcasting via satellite in 1978. This signal was picked up by many fledgling pay-cable television systems as well as directly by satellite dish owners. This continent-wide exposure elevated WGN-TV to superstation status. Along with WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV) in New York City and WTBS in Atlanta, WGN-TV was among the first local stations to become a superstation.
In November 1999, WGN-TV and WCIU-TV entered into a programming arrangement involving sports coverage. Selected Bulls and White Sox games produced by and contracted to air on WGN-TV, and a handful of Cubs contests, air on WCIU-TV for the Chicago market only. This is due to network affiliation contracts limiting the number of programming preemptions per year [1], and also due to rights restrictions put in place by the National Basketball Association which limit Superstation WGN's national feed to air only fifteen Bulls games per season [2]. The remaining games produced by WGN-TV are only carried on channel 9 in Chicago and WCIU-TV.
Sports Reporters
- Rich King - WGN News at Nine (weekends)
- Dan Roan - WGN News at Nine (weeknights)
- Pat Tomasulo - WGN Morning News
Notable news alumni
See also
References
- ↑ Confirmed by WGN-TV "WGN-TV Contact Page". Accessed June 8 2007.
- ↑ Chicago Professional Sports L.P. & WGN Continental Broadcasting Co. vs. National Basketball Association. 961 Fed. 2d 667 (7th Cir. 1992)
