Chicago's Very Own WGN turns 65; WGN Superstation turns 35

[simmytbone]

Hey guys,

This year, WGN is celebrating 2 milestones:

65 years as a TV Station and 35 years as a Superstation

WGN Television, whose call letters are derived from the Chicago Tribune’s first slogan, “World’s Greatest Newspaper”, hit the airwaves on April 5, 1948 on Channel 9 in Chicago from its studios at Tribune Tower. Colonel Robert McCormick led the Tribune Company into the TV era, believing that “in television, we have embarked upon another of America’s adventures.”

In addition to carrying Chicago Cubs and White Sox baseball games in the 1950s, WGN-TV made its first attempts at producing entertainment series to air on the station while also distributing them to TV stations across the country. Although initially an affiliate of the DuMont and CBS television networks, WGN-TV realized it could better serve the Chicago area audience as an independent station. By 1957, WGN became one of the first local television stations to offer a full schedule of live programs in color. One year later, the station had scored many firsts, including the first televised appearance of President Truman in Chicago as well as mobile coverage of General MacArthur’s visit to the city.

In 1961, WGN-TV began broadcasting from new facilities at 2501 West Bradley Place on Chicago’s northwest side and premiered its own version of “Bozo’s Circus”, which became the most popular and successful locally produced children’s series in the history of television. Also in the 1960s, WGN expanded its “10th Hour News” newscast to a half-hour (the first Chicago TV station to do so), produced programs such as “Garfield Goose and Friends” and “Ray Rayner and His Friends,” sports telecasts that included Chicago Blackhawks hockey and Chicago Bulls basketball, and developed a vast movie library that was featured on a number of showcases such as “Family Classics.” In 1966, the Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Board of Directors awarded Ward Quaal, then President of WGN Continental Broadcasting Company, the Governors’ Award “for developing the finest independent TV station in the U.S.”

The 1970s introduced “Donahue” to Chicago and the rest of the nation as Phil Donahue moved his groundbreaking daytime talk show from Dayton, Ohio to the WGN-TV Studios. The show’s unique format featured discussions on controversial social issues, celebrity guests, and audience participation. The station also recognized the importance of the farm sector by starting a weekly series for the farm belt, “U.S. Farm Report.” During this time, new technology was changing the TV industry with lighter, more advanced cameras for the news staff as well as advancement in cable TV and satellites. The latter transformed WGN-TV from a regional power to a national Superstation in October 1978.

In 1980, WGN-TV launched the Midwest’s first hour-long newscast in prime time, “The 9 O’clock News”, by expanding its half-hour 10:00 p.m. “Newsnine” newscast to an hour and shifting it to 9:00 p.m. In 1981, Tribune Company formed Tribune Broadcasting Company, indicating the growing importance of broadcasting to the company. In 1983, WGN-TV adopted its promotional identity, “Chicago’s Very Own”, stressing the philosophy of the station and its relationship to its community. Indeed, many at WGN-TV believe that a key factor responsible for the continued success of the station is its close association with the community. In 1984, Bob Bell retired as the lead star of “The Bozo Show” with the program still #1 in its timeslot and was replaced by Joey D’Auria.

In the 1990s, WGN-TV scored big with the 1989 return of the Chicago Bulls as a broadcast partner and the six NBA World Championship seasons with Michael Jordan that followed. 1990 also marked the return of Chicago White Sox baseball to WGN. In 1994, WGN News launched a weekday morning news-hour, which expanded to three hours in 1996. In 1995, WGN-TV became the primetime affiliate of The WB Television Network and the first TV station with its own website, WGNTV.com
Also in 1990, WGN became the first Chicago TV station with a local charitable foundation, WGN-TV Children’s Charities, a fund of the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation. Since its inception, the charity distributed over $31 million in grants to Chicago area charitable organizations.

WGN-TV ushered in a new millennium in 2000 with a new 29,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art newsroom facility and upgraded digital equipment. In 2004, all Chicago Cubs, White Sox and Bulls home game telecasts on WGN aired in the high definition format on WGN’s Chicago area digital multicast signal, WGN-DT 9.1, making WGN one of the leading HD sports programmers in the country. Also in 2004, “WGN Morning News” expanded to a four-hour newscast. In 2006, WGN-TV became the Chicago affiliate of The CW Television Network. 2008 marked the launch of the half-hour “WGN Evening News” Weekdays @ 5:30, the return of the NHL and Chicago Blackhawks hockey to WGN-TV, and all WGN News and WGN Sports telecasts (home and away games) began airing in HD. Also in 2008, Superstation WGN transitioned to digital and HD, and was renamed WGN America. 2009 marked the completion of full-power U.S. television stations’ transition from analog to digital signals, while “WGN Midday News” and “WGN Evening News” were expanded, and WGN News merged with CLTV (Tribune Broadcasting’s Chicago cable TV news channel).

In 2010, WGN-TV became the first Chicago TV station to offer iPhone users live streams of WGN-TV newscasts, expanded “WGN Morning News” to four-and-a-half-hours, and launched “WGN Saturday Morning News” and “WGN Sunday Morning News.” On December 31, 2010, WGN-DT 9.2 became Chicago’s home of Tribune Broadcasting’s new classic TV network, Antenna TV. In 2011, “WGN Morning News” expanded again to five hours and “WGN Evening News” was renamed “WGN News at Five.” WGN News programs more news than any other Chicago TV station for WGN-TV and cable news channel CLTV in Chicago; Rockford, IL; and South Bend, IN.

WGN-TV has received numerous awards for programming excellence and community service. The station is proud of the many contributions it has made to television, and is recognized as a leader for creativity, innovation, quality programming and integrity in operation.

Becoming a Nationally Superstation

In October 1978, United Video Satellite Group uplinked the signal of Chicago independent station WGN-TV (channel 9) to the Satcom-3 satellite for cable and satellite subscribers throughout the United States turning WGN-TV into one of the first superstations, alongside New York City's WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV) and Atlanta's WTBS (now WPCH-TV) and later SuperStation TBS (now TBS SuperStation).

as WGN-TV gained national exposure, the station became vulnerable in the Chicago area and underestimated the ability of UHF competitor WFLD (channel 32) to acquire top-rated syndicated programs (such as M*A*S*H, Happy Days and All in the Family). As a result, WFLD edged ahead of WGN-TV in the ratings by the end of 1979. WGN-TV continued with its programming format, competing with WFLD and another UHF independent station, WSNS-TV (channel 44).

For about eleven years afterward, the national WGN-TV signal ran the same program schedule as that seen in the Chicago area; the national feed also used the same on-air branding as the Chicago area signal (which was referred to on-air at the time as either "Channel 9" or "WGN Channel 9") until 1997, when it became known as simply "WGN" outside of Chicago (though it retained the varied forms of the WGN logo wordmark until 2008). After United Video launched Prevue Guide in the late 1980s, it utilized WGN's audio subcarrier channel – which was unheard by viewers – to transmit programming schedules in a 2400 bit/s data stream to local cable providers.

In 1989, the Federal Communications Commission passed the Syndication Exclusivity Rules (or "SyndEx") into law – which required cable providers to black out syndicated programs shown on any out-of-market stations carried by the provider, when a television station within a media market obtains the exclusive rights to air that particular program. In response, a separate national feed of WGN-TV was launched on January 1, 1990 to avoid any potential blackouts, save for some sports programming (the feed was similar in structure to the WWOR EMI Service, a superstation feed of Secaucus, New Jersey-based WWOR-TV that launched seven months after WGN-TV achieved superstation status, only with fewer programming blackouts). By the early 1990s, WGN began to increase its national cable coverage when many cable systems began to swap WWOR and its New York City area rival (and WGN-TV sister station) WPIX for the WGN superstation feed.

On May 24, 2008, Superstation WGN changed its name to WGN America (initially, the use of the WGN America name was limited to on-air promos, as the Superstation WGN channel IDs remained in place). The new name and logo went into full-time use on May 26, 2008. The new logo was also the first used by the superstation feed to not incorporate WGN-TV's on-air logo branding in some capacity, and its design featured the eyes of a female (similar in resemblance to The Movie Channel's 1988-1997 logo), used alongside the new slogan "TV You Can't Ignore".

WGN was the place for many television programs

Adventure Shows and Dramas like Trapper John, M.D., Magnum, P.I., Simon & Simon, Knight Rider, Cimarron Strip, Charlie's Angels, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Wiseguy, HUNTER, The Original Hawaii Five-O, Star Trek: TNG, The Incredible Hulk and many others

Sitcoms like One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Archie Bunker's Place, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, Welcome Back Kotter, WKRP, Cheers, Barney Miller, SOAP, Benson, Night Court, The Andy Griffith Show, Three's Company, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House, It's a Living, One Big Family, Charles in Charge, Mama's Family, Love American Style, The Love Boat, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-offs Rhoda, Phyllis and Lou Grant, Blossom, Empty Nest and so many others

It was also the place for Bustin' Loose: The Series Starring Jimmie "J.J." Walker

WGN was the place for Cartoons like Heathcliff, Rocky & Bullwinkle, The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, Ghostbusters, Transformers, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Jem, BraveStarr, Spiral Zone, M.A.S.K., C.O.P.S., Smurfs, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, TaleSpin, DuckTales, Chip 'N' Dale Rescue Rangers, Superfriends, Bugs Bunny and Friends (the syndicated version of The Bugs Bunny Show), Porky Pig and Friends (the syndicated version of The Porky Pig Show), Darkwing Duck, The Pink Panther, Jonny Quest, Captain N and the Video Game Masters, The Archies and so many others

WGN was also the place for Kids and Family Programming from the Sunday Afternoon Family Classics to The Ray Rayner Show to The Muppet Show to The Legendary Bozo Show

WGN was also the place for Teen Shows like Saved By the Bell, California Dreams and City Guys

WGN was even the place for Game Shows like The Hollywood Squares w/Peter Marshall, The $50,000 Pyramid wthe late Dick Clark, Know Your Heritage, Fun House w/JD Roth, Triple Threat w/Jim Lange and many others

WGN was even the place for other TV Variety Shows like The Music Machine, FTV and Puttin' on the Hits

WGN was even the place for TV Shows produced by Tribune Entertainment from the likes of Tales From the Darkside, Monsters, Geraldo, At the Movies w/the late Roger Ebert, the late Gene Siskel, Rex Reed, Bill Harris and Former Entertainment Tonight News Anchor Dixie Whatley, Comedy Break w/Mac and Jamie Featuring the All-Girl Band Big Trouble Featuring Soap Star and Country Singer Bobbie Eakes and Cece Worrall and of course, Soul Train w/the late Don Cornelius, Shemar Moore of The Young and the Restless Fame and Dorian Gregory of Charmed Fame

WGN was also the place for Movies from the Weekend Theater to the Morning Movie to the 7 O'Clock Movie to WGN Presents to The Late Movie to the Saturday Night Action Theater to even the Sunday 5 O'Clock Movie

WGN was even the place for News, Weather and Sports from WGN Newscope/Midday News to the Nine O'Clock News to even the Morning News and the 5 O'Clock News from many News Personalities from the likes of Rick Rosenthal, Pat Harvey, Bob Hillman, Larry Roderick, Roseanne Tellez to Longtime Legendary News Anchors like Dina Bair, Allison Payne, Steve Sanders, Legendary Weekend Anchor Robert Jordan, Jackie Bange, Legendary Morning News Anchors Larry Potash and Robin Baumgarten, Legendary Meteorologists Tom Skilling, Jim Ramsey and Paul Konrad and Legendary Sports Anchor Now Sports Director Dan Roan and Longtime Sports Anchor Rich King as well as the Legendary Voice of the Chicago Cubs-The Late Harry Caray, Jr.

WGN also launched the TV Careers of Bob Costas and Bill Weir

WGN also aired INN-The Independent News and later USA Tonight during the 80's with Morton Dean, Brad Holbrook and Marvin Scott

WGN also featured the voices of Floyd Brown and Doug Paul

However, WGN would not be complete w/o THE TRUE voice of WGN-Merri Dee

WGN has been on the air for a longtime and it is still going strong and for the past 30 years, their slogan has always been "Chicago's Very Own"

WGN America is now showing Matlock, In the Heat of the Night, Law & Order: CI, Walker, Texas Ranger, The NEW AFV w/Daisy Fuentes of MTV, John Fugelsang of VH1 and Tom Bergeron of Dancing with the Stars as well as Classic Sitcoms as part of Outta Sight Retro Night hosted by Rick Dees (Casey Kasem was the original host)

and so, here's to 65 years of WGN-TV and here's 35 years of WGN Superstation now known as WGN America

Happy Anniversary WGN, God Bless You and Thanks for always being "Chicago's Very Own"







and now, here are some Video Clips:

Video Clips from fuzzytvmemories.com
http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?m=xxwgnxx

WGN-TV News Openings Throughout the years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGzGIO5eO-Y

WGN-TV Promos, Bumpers and Intros (1980s-2000s)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBJ8ms1z7yQ

WGN-TV 7 O'Clock Movie-The African Queen Opening from 1987
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W_FlQcDZEQ

WGN-TV Sunday 5 O'Clock Movie-The Lost World from 1988
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIvjmrDIamo

WGN-TV Channel 9 Promo: "Welcome Home to Channel 9" Sung by the late Lou Rawls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWqKiLw4rKw

WGN-TV Channel 9 Promo: "Through the Years" 40 Years Anniversary from 1988
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgA9Krsfh30

WGN-TV Channel 9: Chicago Cubs Broadcast Opening from 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVnvHtKRF0g

WGN Barney Miller promo, 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAt-dPJrshc

WGN-TV Promo of SOAP Starring Katherine Helmond & the late Cathryn Damon from 1982
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxSXxfNlxSA

WGN-TV Promo of Alice Starring Linda Lavin from 1983
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knXsGi1pGeM

WGN-TV Promo of Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1983
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqPeCJ7E7k0

WGN-TV Promo of The Original WKRP in Cincinnati from 1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BUxRtZOutE

WGN August 4, 1984 Promos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKCPRmvbl-g

WGN The Nine O'Clock News (4/9/1993)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0RZlvX4mCw

WGN Nine O'Clock News w/Robert Jordan and Larry Roderick from 1985
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIOnsT5dhbQ

WGN Midday News Opening w/Robert Jordan filling in for Steve Sanders and Jim Ramsey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euyKyXBxrjk

WGN Nine O'Clock News Opening from 1991 w/Rick Rosenthal and Allison Payne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pco1-FmJBA0

More WGN Promos and News Clips from tv.ark.org.uk
http://www2.tv-ark.org.uk/International/usa/wgn.html

WGN-TV Promo for Benson Starring Robert Guillaume from 1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gVDFlFtq3A

Another Promo of Benson #2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROjsjuXVD2M

Another Promo of Benson Scene from the Pilot Episode
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFvycbp_Dfk

WGN-TV Promo of M.A.S.K.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l8p7xQ8Wt0

WGN-TV Promo of Transformers: Generation 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6vvke2fd4A

WGN-TV Promo of Cheers - Coach and Woody Week
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eUYmPCKcK4

WGN-TV Promo of Bogart Week from 1984
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoZAQC9qd1Y

WGN-TV Promo of Charlie's Angels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYpaLm6n1ZE

WGN-TV Promo of Channel 9 Summertime '88
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39RxXVyBAS0

WGN Comedy Promo from 1989
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0GwL58S_WE

WGN Saturday Night Action Theater Opening w/the voice of WGN Merri Dee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d48gA2ng-0o

WGN Presents Preview w/the voice of WGN Merri Dee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4t7JOVBFgY

WPLG/ABC Sunday Movie Ad Breaks (5/17/87) Part 11, WGN-TV Intershow & WGN Presents Open
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQHiZlshMnA

WGN Tribute to Merri Dee - THE VOICE of WGN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMgtp7p5e_A

WGN Pays Tribute to John Drury
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cZPxFwIHYc

Merri Dee on You and Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9psQJPqL3I

[Zoneboy]

Interesting info but you didn't mention WGNL nor the fact that WGN was one of the few stations to air The Twilight Zone uncut and without annoying voiceovers and split-screen credits. WGNL refers to the local feed which varied slightly from the national cable feed. If you had a C-Band satellite dish during the 80's-90's then you had access to both. They may have a dual feed today but I got rid of my satellite dish years ago so I have no idea. I wish I had some back issues of OnSat or Satellite Orbit to give some examples of the different programs between the 2 channels but I no longer have them.

[tlc38tlc38]

Sitcoms like One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Archie Bunker's Place, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, Welcome Back Kotter, WKRP, Cheers, Barney Miller, SOAP, Benson, Night Court, The Andy Griffith Show, Three's Company, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Odd Couple, The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House, It's a Living, One Big Family, Charles in Charge, Mama's Family, Love American Style, The Love Boat, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-offs Rhoda, Phyllis and Lou Grant, Blossom, Empty Nest and so many others

I don't remember hardly any of these shows airing on WGN, must've been before I started watching it. The only shows I watch on the channel are "In the Heat of the Night" and "Matlock".

[1960'sTVfan]

WGN was a great station in the 60's & 70's. They had a lot of great childrens programs, Ray Rayner, Garfield Goose, Bozo's Circus. Their regular schedule had a lot of great programs too. In the 80's WGN started going downhill, but they still would air some cool stuff once in a while.

For example, I have a collection of Bowery Boys and East Side Kids movies that I recorded from WGN during 1983 to 1987. The masters are on VHS tapes, I have since made DVD's from the tapes so I have the collection in both formats, VHS and DVD.

Nowadays, pretty much the only thing worth watching on WGN is their newscasts. Nothing beats Tom Skilling and his weather forecasts. LOL

[simmytbone]

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

Interesting info but you didn't mention WGNL nor the fact that WGN was one of the few stations to air The Twilight Zone uncut and without annoying voiceovers and split-screen credits. WGNL refers to the local feed which varied slightly from the national cable feed. If you had a C-Band satellite dish during the 80's-90's then you had access to both. They may have a dual feed today but I got rid of my satellite dish years ago so I have no idea. I wish I had some back issues of OnSat or Satellite Orbit to give some examples of the different programs between the 2 channels but I no longer have them.

Thanks for the info brother

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

WGN was a great station in the 60's & 70's. They had a lot of great childrens programs, Ray Rayner, Garfield Goose, Bozo's Circus. Their regular schedule had a lot of great programs too. In the 80's WGN started going downhill, but they still would air some cool stuff once in a while.

For example, I have a collection of Bowery Boys and East Side Kids movies that I recorded from WGN during 1983 to 1987. The masters are on VHS tapes, I have since made DVD's from the tapes so I have the collection in both formats, VHS and DVD.

Nowadays, pretty much the only thing worth watching on WGN is their newscasts. Nothing beats Tom Skilling and his weather forecasts. LOL

I grew up in the 80's watching WGN when it became a SuperStation along with WTBS (later TBS)

I LOVED every minute of it, I enjoyed WGN Presents and all the other shows as well as Soul Train

and yes, I agree with you about Tom Skilling, he's been on WGN for 35 years and don't forget about Steve Sanders and Robert Jordan, they are still reporting the news and still goin' strong and I LOVE Jackie Bange and Dina Bair as well as Robin Baumgarten, she is hilarious

I watch WGN sometimes these days, I wish that they would bring back classic shows and old WGN Classics

In the Heat of the Night was one of my dad's favorite shows

May my father, R.I.P.

Originally Posted by tlc38tlc38

I don't remember hardly any of these shows airing on WGN, must've been before I started watching it. The only shows I watch on the channel are "In the Heat of the Night" and "Matlock".

Well it's true, that was on back in the 80's and I remember them well, but the Cable Station in my area at the time took WGN off of our Cable System in 1989 and replaced it with TNT, I would get WGN in Shreveport whenever I go visit my Aunt and Uncle, but thankfully, WGN came back on our Cable Station in the spring of 2003 after nearly 14 years

When WGN was still on cable back in the 90's, that's when The WB came out and later the CW

I use to watch One Day at a Time on WGN in the afternoons with my mother along w/Welcome Back Kotter and sometimes, I would watch WGN Late Nights for WGN Presents as well as Comedy Break, plus I would watch Cartoons in the Morning and in the Afternoons with my Little Brother

[1960'sTVfan]

Before Tom Skilling arrived, Roger Triemstra was the main weather guy at WGN TV. They had another weatherman too, I think his first name was Jerry, I forget his last name. Ned Locke, ringmaster of Bozo's Circus, also used to be a weatherman too in the early years. After Skilling arrived, I believe there was a rift between he and Triemstra. Triemstra was eventually assigned doing the weather on WGN Radio only, while Skilling was on the TV side. Triemstra eventually left WGN altogether, I don't remember exactly when he left, probably sometime in the late 1980's or early 1990's.

Bob Jordan has been with WGN a long time, he left for a time to work for CBS, but then he went back to WGN. Bob is a good guy, a good reporter.

Some WGN news personalities of the past are Jack Taylor, he used to anchor the newscasts. WGN used to have a cool late night newscast called "Nightbeat", usually anchored by the great Carl Greyson, sometimes anchored by Marty McNeeley.

[Dr. Jazz]

I remember watching "One Day at a Time" every afternoon and for the longest time, they aired "The Jeffersons" from 7-8pm weeknights. They also aired reruns of "Fame" for many years. What a great channel in it's heyday. I believe I've had it the entire time it's been a superstation.

[installLSC]

This is what I remember from WGN (late 80s/early 90s)
Harry Cary and Steve Stone doing Cubs games
Dick Van Dyke in the afternoon
Bozo in the morning
Good Times and Soul Train Saturday morning
The Bud Biliken(?) parade every fall
...oh yeah and this commercial

[schmave]

For WGN America viewers like me (I have family in the Chicago area and am a big Chicago sports fan), WGN News at Nine has been dropped from the superstation feed effective this past weekend. The superstation is adding the 4-5 a.m. CT hour of WGN Morning News, I suppose to make up for dropping the evening news.
I've been steadily fed up with the national feed in recent years shedding all of its Chicago ties. If WGN loses the Cubs after 2014, I might never watch the national channel again.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by schmave

For WGN America viewers like me (I have family in the Chicago area and am a big Chicago sports fan), WGN News at Nine has been dropped from the superstation feed effective this past weekend. The superstation is adding the 4-5 a.m. CT hour of WGN Morning News, I suppose to make up for dropping the evening news.

Yea I noticed that too, I don't like it either. WGN America has been gradually phasing out the evening newscast, a terrible decision. The morning news is on way too early, I don't like the morning newscast anyway, they spend too much time trying to be funny. The only WGN news I'm able to see now is the Monday to Friday midday news, which airs at 1 PM for me since I'm on Eastern time.

WGN America is not a good station. Aside from the only time I can see the news now which is weekday midday, the only show they air that's worth watching is AFV, which isn't saying much.

[simmytbone]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

Yea I noticed that too, I don't like it either. WGN America has been gradually phasing out the evening newscast, a terrible decision. The morning news is on way too early, I don't like the morning newscast anyway, they spend too much time trying to be funny. The only WGN news I'm able to see now is the Monday to Friday midday news, which airs at 1 PM for me since I'm on Eastern time.

WGN America is not a good station. Aside from the only time I can see the news now which is weekday midday, the only show they air that's worth watching is AFV, which isn't saying much.

Well just so ya know, you can still catch WGN News online anytime on their website

http://wgntv.com/live

You can also catch the 5 O'Clock News on Weekdays online as they do the news in the newsroom, plus you can catch the Weekend Morning News on Saturday Mornings @ 6AM online as well

I agree about WGN America dropping their 9 O'Clock News on their network

BAD DECISION

Even though I love WGN, I still wish that WGN America would go back to bringing back classic shows as well as putting their 9 O'Clock News BACK on their network

Before WGN and WTBS started splitting into 2 (that being TBS SuperStation and WGN SuperStation and WGN-TV airing in Chicago and WTBS now WPCH-TV airing in Atlanta), they use to show WGN Morning News and others in their program, but in 2002, they started WGN SuperStation and later SuperStation WGN and now, WGN America

also, I hope that WGN will still keep the Chicago Bulls Basketball Games on their network as Neil Funk and Stacey King does a great job calling the action

I think that we need to write to either WGN-TV or Tribune Broadcasting and let them know that we need WGN to back to the way things are, IMO

I do catch the Morning News, but not @ 4AM, I do like Larry Potash and Robin Baumgarten, but still, 4AM is waaaay too early for me

TBS is even worse, IMO as it became known as a ripoff Comedy Central, especially since I am not a Tyler Perry Fan

I think that all this superstation law is a joke

[1960'sTVfan]

^ Thanks for your suggestion, but I prefer to watch TV on an actual TV set, not online thru the internet and computer monitor.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't like the WGN morning news. The people on there are all annoying and lamely attempt to be funny, the worst one is the guy they have doing the sports, Tomasulo, my god is he annoying. I think that morning newscast is geared towards the 20 and 30 something year old hooligans who think the news has to be funny.

Anyhow, I'll just catch the WGN news at midday whenever I can. Hopefully WGN America won't take that away, it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

[simmytbone]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

^ Thanks for your suggestion, but I prefer to watch TV on an actual TV set, not online thru the internet and computer monitor

Well I can respect that

also, the problem with WGN Morning News is that they play 6 hours of news, I mean, as I said before, it was good back in the day and I do like Larry Potash and Robin Baumgarten (since they have been on the program for years since the beginning), but 6 hours of news from 4-10 is too much and WAY too early and that's my opinion

I sometimes catch it online like 8 or 9 am since I don't live in Chi-Town, plus I hate to break this to ya, but WGN Morning News has been the #1 Morning News in Chicago and this fall, they are celebrating its 20th Anniversary on the air

also, whoever @ Tribune Broadcasting put in charge of WGN America Programming needs to be booted, IMO

I know that WGN has been entertaining america for 35 years as of 2013 ever since they started the SuperStation after the success of WTBS (now TBS the SuperStation), but if they want to entertain people like me, they need to bring back so many good shows as well as the Outta Sight Retro Night and maybe even some Classic Cartoons and put them on either Weekday Mornings or Afternoons and/or on Saturday Mornings after the Weekend Morning News and they need to stop airing too many marathons of the same thing

I mean, showing marathons of AFV, How I Met Your Mother and Rules of Engagement is NOT all that entertaining, IMO

I stopped watching AFV when Tom Bergeron took over, and nothing against him, he's a good emcee, but some of the videos are not all that funny, IMO

as much as I like Neil Patrick Harris on Doogie Howser, M.D. and he was alright on Stark Raving Mad and plus, I enjoyed his performance on the TNT Original Movie Cold Sassy Tree, How I Met Your Mother is overrated and Rules of Engagement is not all that funny to me either

Matlock and In the Heat of the Night are now on Weekends on WGN America and Matlock can also be seen on INSP

But getting back, WGN America needs to go back to the way WGN was back in the 70's, 80's, 90's and the early 2000's

We use to have WGN back in the 80's an then they took it off of our Cable System in 1989 to replace it with TNT, but I would go watch it in Shreveport, but thank GOD that they brought it back in the spring of 2003 with SuperStation WGN (WGN-TV was still affiliated with The WB before merging with The CW) and we also had The WB Television Network and later the CW Television Network on another TV and I use to watch California Dreams and Soul Train among others, but still, they need to improve a lot with their entertaining america

[jonathan c herron]

I remember watching Charlie chan movies i think it was on sunday in the mid to late 80"s
and who could forget Frazier thomas family classics movie

i remember some of the old shows like fact of life and charlies in charge on WGN
but i remember 3 things about wgn
1 charlie chan movies on sunday
2 frazier thomas family classics movie
3 the bozo show waking up in the morning getting ready to go to school and watching the bozo show

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by jonathan c herron

I remember watching Charlie chan movies i think it was on sunday in the mid to late 80"s
and who could forget Frazier thomas family classics movie

i remember some of the old shows like fact of life and charlies in charge on WGN
but i remember 3 things about wgn
1 charlie chan movies on sunday
2 frazier thomas family classics movie
3 the bozo show waking up in the morning getting ready to go to school and watching the bozo show

I have a collection of East Side Kids and Bowery Boys movies, many of them I recorded from WGN in the 1980's, I was a Chicago resident at the time. From about 1983 to 1987, WGN occasionally aired an East Side Kids or Bowery Boys movie on Mondays at 3 AM.