WLS-TV

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Template:Infobox Broadcast WLS-TV ("ABC7 Chicago") is the ABC owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. It transmits from the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago.

Contents

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History

The station first went on the air in September 1948 as WENR-TV. It was named after WENR-AM, ABC's Chicago radio affiliate.

In 1953, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, the former theater division of Paramount Pictures. UPT owned WBKB on channel 4 (which shared a CBS affiliation with WGN-TV) but the new ABC could not keep both. As a result, WBKB was sold to CBS and renamed WBBM-TV CBS 2, while WENR was renamed WBKB-TV. The old WBKB's talent stayed at WBBM, while the old WBKB's call letters and management moved to channel 7. The station became WLS-TV in 1968, after WLS-AM, which ABC had owned since 1959.

Today, the WBKB calls are used by a CBS affiliate in Alpena, Michigan.

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Logos

WENR-TV logo from 1948 to 1953

WBKB logo from 1958 to 1962

WBKB logo from 1962 to 1968 (one of the earliest known images of the circle 7 logo)

WLS-TV identfrom 1982 to 1983

WLS-TV ident from 1983 to 1984

WLS-TV's opening for Eyewitness News used from 1984 to 1997

The Present ABC 7 logo, used since 1997

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News operations

Image:ABC7NewsWLS2005.jpg WLS, like the other ABC owned-and-operated stations, adopted the Eyewitness News format in the late 1960s after it became a hit at flagship WABC-TV in New York. Fahey Flynn, a local broadcaster known for his bow ties and Joel Daly served as the anchormen of the newscasts from the late 1960s until the early 1980s. For much of the 1970s and 1980s, it waged a spirited battle for second place in the Chicago news ratings with WMAQ-TV.

In 1983, two big changes came to WLS. First, it commissioned Frank Gari to write an updated version of the Cool Hand Luke theme widely associated with the Eyewitness News format. The result was News Series 2000, which was quickly picked up by the other ABC O&Os. The other was the hiring of Bill Applegate as news director. Those two changes bore fruit in March 1986, when it passed longtime leader WBBM-TV as the highest-rated news station in Chicago. It has held the lead ever since, aside from a brief period when WBBM managed to forge a tie for first. Applegate left for WABC soon afterwards and took that station from third to first as well.

Other changes that contributed to WLS-TV's success were the re-hiring of anchorman John Drury, who had previously worked at WLS, WBBM and WGN-TV and the hiring of Floyd Kalber, who had led WMAQ-TV to the top of the ratings in the 1960s. Drury and Mary Ann Childers were a popular anchor team at WLS during the 1980s and 1990s, accompanied by weatherman Steve Deshler and sportscaster Tim Weigel.

In May 2005, ABC 7 News had a rating of 11.4 and 19 share, beating out rivals WMAQ (9.5/15), WFLD-TV who airs a rerun of The Simpsons(5.6/9) and WBBM(5.1/8).

A promo run during the 2006 Super Bowl hinted that the "future is near" for ABC 7 in March. Many believe this means that WLS will start broadcasting in high definition, making it the first in Chicago and one of the few nationally to do so. If this were to happen, it would coincide with the station's new streetfront studio on State Street and a new Chopper 7 helicopter. (Interestingly, KABC in Los Angeles changed over to HD-TV broadcasts by first implementing a new helicopter and later adding a new studio in February 2006.)

The new State Street studio is a former storefront that had been used through the 1980s (including for the original Oprah Winfrey show, which started on WLS).

The station currently calls itself "ABC7 News," even though it still uses the same basic format from its Eyewitness News days. Their current news music package is News Series 2000 Plus, also by Gari. It also updated the on-air look for their newscasts in July 2005.

The new ABC7 State Street Studio officially debuted Monday, April 10, 2006, on ABC7 News This Morning from 5-7am. ABC7 began broadcasting from the new studio on Saturday, April 8, 2006, on ABC7 News at 5pm. [1]

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ABC7 News Broadcasts

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Weekdays

  • ABC7 News This Morning - 5-7am
  • ABC7 News at 11AM - 11am-12pm
  • ABC7 News at 4PM - 4-5pm
  • ABC7 News at 5PM - 5-5:30pm
  • ABC7 News at 6PM - 6-6:30pm
  • ABC7 News at 10PM - 10-10:35pm
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Weekends

  • ABC7 News Saturday Morning - 6-7am
  • ABC7 News Sunday Morning - 6-7am and 8-9:30am
  • ABC7 News at 5PM - 5-5:30pm
  • ABC7 News at 10PM - 10-10:35pm
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ABC7 News Bios

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Current ABC7 News Anchors

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ABC7 Weather Team

  • Jerry Taft - Meteorologist - 5pm, 6pm, and 10pm
  • Tracy Butler - Meteorologist - 5am and 11am
  • Mike Caplan - Weather Anchor - 4pm
  • Phil Schwartz - Weekend Meteorologist - 5pm and 10pm; Sunday 6am and 8am
  • Mark Bishop - Weekend Meteorologist - Saturday 6am
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ABC7 Sports Team

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ABC7 Local Programs

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ABC7 Reporters

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Past personalities

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Other locally produced programs

  • 190 North - local entertainment program named after the station's studio address at 190 N. State St. in the Loop
    • airs Sundays 10:35pm and reruns Saturdays 11:05pm
  • The Oprah Winfrey Show - originally created by WLS-TV
    • airs weekdays 9am and reruns 11:05pm
  • Ebert & Roeper - film review program

    • airs Saturdays 10:35pm and reruns Sundays 10:30am
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See also

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References

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External links

Template:Chicago TV

Template:Disney

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