WGN pulls upset in the mornings

The CW may be tanking, but Tribune’s WGN-TV is thriving – its morning show ranked number one in the daypart (second item), besting ABC-owned WLS-TV in the recently concluded February book from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. – though it tied WLS at 6 a.m. Meanwhile, not even the presence of American Idol and the Super Bowl has helped Fox-owned […]

WLS-TV hit with fine from FCC

As well as every other ABC affiliate in the Central and Mountain time zone for airing a episode of NYPD Blue on Feb. 25, 2003 that contained partial nudity. The fine being proposed is $1.4 million. Only two ABC O&Os (WLS and KTRK-TV in Houston) are named in the action, since the rest of the O&Os fall in the Pacific […]

WLS goes NextGen

ABC-owned WLS-TV here in Chicago has a new feature on its website you can use to keep track of the Presidential Candidates. WLS (Channel 7) is using the NextGenPolitics feature so users can interact with candidates , not only in the Presidential race, but soon local races as well, including the hotly contested State Attorney’s race. Only problem is the […]

"I wanted to be on the news"

That’s what the driver of the van said after he crashed it into WLS-TV’s studios on Sunday night during the station’s newscast. He has been charged with criminal damage to property over $100,000. Man, that phrase is so 1976. Son, have you ever heard of YouTube?

Minivan crashes into WLS-TV’s studios – during a newscast!

A van crashes into WLS-TV’s studios – three minutes into the station’s 10 p.m. newscast. Notice what the ticker says on the photo to the left. Ironic, isn’t it? Tonight’s top story… Is right here at the station! A minivan crashed right into our studio… right when we are on the air! A minivan crashed into the studios of ABC-owned […]

News and notes

– The game between the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins that aired on WPWR-TV last Thursday night from the NFL Network averaged a 16.6 rating – the highest number on that station since at least 1994, when WPWR aired the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. But it’s not so good for the Bears: The 16.6 rating and […]

John H. Idler to head WTVD

Current WLS-TV vice president and general sales manager John H. Idler has been promoted to president and general manager of WTVD in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Idler succeeds Bernie Prazenica, who was promoted to the same positions in Philadelphia at WPVI. WLS, WPVI and WTVD are owned and operated by Disney/ABC. WTVD is a solid number two in the Raleigh-Durham market, behind […]

WLS-TV relaunches website

WLS, and other ABC owned-and-operated stations, including top-rated outlets WABC-TV in New York, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and KTRK-TV Houston relaunched their websites over the weekend, with large Flash video players and added more video to make their websites “more like a TV newscast”. Check out WLS’ new website here. (Thought: I like the new site. It’s […]

John Drury dies

A melancholy happy trails to John Drury. The former WBBM-TV, WLS-TV and WGN-TV news anchor who retired in 2002, lost his battle with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He died last night at the age of 80. Drury got his started in television at Milwaukee’s WTMJ, where he was a staff announcer. He began anchoring the news at the station […]

WLS, WGN clear new weekend shows

New weekend off-network hours that are making the rounds for syndication in 2008 have cleared Chicago stations. Boston Legal, the Emmy-award series from Twentieth Television, has cleared WLS-TV in Chicago for weekend runs next fall, as well as fellow ABC O&O’s in Los Angeles (KABC), San Francisco (KGO), and Houston (KTRK). Other stations clearing the hour include Scripps’ WXYZ-TV in […]

WBBM-TV continues to struggle in the ratings

This week’s issue of Crain’s Chicago Business details the continuing ratings struggle of CBS-owned WBBM-TV. Joe Ahern, who helped rocket competing WLS-TV into a ratings powerhouse in the ’80’s and ’90’s, is finding it a difficult task to repeat the same feat at WBBM. At issue is the station’s poorly-rated newscasts, which places behind not only ABC-owned WLS and NBC-owned […]

Chicago is "Family Guy’s" kind of town

It looks like Family Guy has succeeded where The Simpsons succeeded. According to numbers supplied by Twentieth Television (from a banner ad that appeared on TV Week’s website), Family Guy’s airing at 10 p.m. on WGN-TV finished number one in the time period between Sept. 17 and Sept. 21 among men 18-34 (2.2) and women 18-34 (2.6). It beat not […]

Time to do the "Chicago Huddle"

A new local TV show is debuting this weekend on ABC affiliate WLS-TV. Starting this Saturday night, the station will air a new sports-variety show called Chicago Huddle, which is being taped at ESPN Zone in Chicago’s River North area. The program will air Saturday nights after the station’s late news, at 11:05 p.m. (time approximate.) WLS-TV, ABC, and ESPN […]

WPWR’s fall schedule

We’re gonna turn it on… we’re gonna turn on the power… at Fox-owned WPWR this fall. But the power’s been off for a few years now at the station. Like other big-market MNT affiliates (WWOR and KCOP in N.Y. and L.A., respectively), WPWR has performed poorly, often placing last in total-day ratings among Chicago’s English and Spanish commercial TV stations. […]

"Wheel" spinning back to Chicago

Wheel of Fortune, syndication’s No. 1 show, is coming back to the Windy City to celebrate its 25th anniversary in nighttime. The long-running game show, hosted by South Lawndale/Little Village native and Columbia College alum Pat Sajak and letter-turner (or toucher)Vanna White, will be taping at Navy Pier in March of 2008 for three weeks’ worths of shows that will […]