“Chicago Tonight” reduced to twice a week

The decline of linear TV claims another victim as WTTW pairs back public affairs show

With the news Nexstar is looking to buy ABC and its owned stations – which could eliminate a local newsroom in Chicago in a possible merger of WLS-TV and WGN-TV, comes this bit of unwelcome news: WTTW is reducing the number of episodes of its flagship news show Chicago Tonight to just two nights a week – to only Mondays and Tuesdays starting in October according to Axios Chicago. The rest of the week would be filled with reruns of other WTTW public affairs programming with The Week In Review show remaining on Fridays at 7 p.m. 

The move comes as the public television station is looking to expand its digital presence. 

A local TV mainstay for nearly 40 years, Chicago Tonight lost its nightly 7 p.m. time slot in January under pressure from PBS corporate to clear its prime-time programming in-pattern, or synced with other primary PBS stations around the country. The program moved to 10 p.m. but a few months later moved the show to 5:30 p.m. up against the Big 3 networks’ nightly news shows and made the 10 p.m. airing a repeat of the earlier show. 

The news wasn’t met with enthusiasm. “I think it’s a serious civic mistake,” Carol Marin told Axios, a former contributor to the show. “‘Chicago Tonight’ is a go-to place for newsmakers, a reliable place to hear more than one sentence on an issue. To lose it is to sell off a PBS jewel.”

Axios notes WTTW’s revenues have fallen steadily the last few years as the decline of linear TV consumption has accelerated as viewers are shifting to streaming. WTTW brought in an estimated $43 million in revenues, down nearly 12 percent from 2015. WTTW also noted the expense of producing the show due to hefty union contracts as in March 2022, WTTW technical personnel went on strike and the effects of the labor disruption showed-up on air in the form of technical glitches and some guests refusing to cross the picket line. The strike lasted three weeks, with WTTW technicians receiving “fair economic gains” in a new contract lasting until July 2025.  

While WTTW told Axios “We are committed to offering a high-quality, local television news program to our viewers as we continue to meet audiences where they are”, cutting Chicago Tonight back to two episodes a week for a daily news show makes no sense. It could be a signal WTTW may reduce the program further to just the Friday Week In Review show, which is a shell of itself since Joel Weisman retired and isn’t really “must-see TV” for the civically minded anymore. The decline of linear TV has consequences, and with Nexstar looking to buy ABC and now the Chicago Tonight cutbacks, the future of Chicago journalism is increasingly looking more feeble than ever.