'Chicago’s Very Own' goes national: The rise and fall of the superstation

Рет қаралды 10,093

Жыл бұрын

By the 1970s, the era of total dominance by the big three national networks - CBS, ABC, and NBC -- was coming to an end, and TV audiences would soon have more choices.

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@501764727 Жыл бұрын

Sad to see the death of the Superstation…a sign of the changing times and how people watch TV now. WGN in its hay day of the 80’s & 90’s was Fantastic. Reruns, movies and baseball- 1 stop shopping. That’s all gone now as WGN is a shell of its former self.

@NinaAngelina25 Жыл бұрын

Wow! Great story! That was AMAZING! I'm SO proud to be a Chicagoan!! I miss watching Bozo The Clown and all of the 90s shows on WGN.

@sdb53 Жыл бұрын

I'm from Chicago and loved seeing the WGN News at 9. Don't watch Newsnation. Did watch WGN. Call sign was the old slogan of the Chicago Tribune "World's Greatest Newspaper."

@JimmySand9 Жыл бұрын

I grew up with WGN, in spite of the fact I grew up in Tampa, Florida. That's the power of the superstation. At it's best, it could transport you to another city with the flick of a switch.

@brian_b_music 11 ай бұрын

I grew up about 6 hours away from you in Panama City. I watched WGN all the time.

@mikebarnes2294 9 ай бұрын

Suburbs of Detroit, Michigan for me. Ironically when I was a kid it was easier to see Cubs games than Tigers games with a basic cable package.

@xavierking2745 3 ай бұрын

So true . Growing up in Greenville SC. We didn't have a WB affiliate so WGN was the channel to watch

@bena.3955 Жыл бұрын

I watch WGN and the Cubs throughout my entire childhood and I never lived a day in Chicago. I lived in Ogden, Utah; Puxico, MO; White Swan, WA, Middleton,ID and finally Tempe, AZ. Now I live in Southern Arizona but no more WGN 😢

@joeljohnson3515 4 ай бұрын

This was the reason that I became a Cubs fan. Back then the Cubs didn’t have lights. I would come home from school (SW Indiana) and watch the Cubs play in the afternoon!

@devares2006 4 ай бұрын

As was I. They were the reason I started watching baseball.

@ericsamuelson5656 9 ай бұрын

Growing up in Deposit, New York, we had WGN next door to TBS on cable. I watched the Chicago news as a kid. Whenever the Chicago Cubs play the Atlanta Braves, I flipped back & forth between the two at the same time just to hear Harry & Skip Caray at the same time. Watched the Chicago Bulls until Michael Jordan retired the second time. I watched U.S. Farm Report with Orion Samuelson (no relation) every Saturday morning.

@sj7624 Жыл бұрын

When I was a kid there were three Superstaions that I know and loved watching. They were WGN, WTBS or Superstation TBS and here in my hometown of Dallas, Texas KTVT Ch. 11 the Super Ones!

@matthewcampbell7985 Жыл бұрын

Wow! Me too ktvt is now a cbs affiliate since July 2nd,1995

@lchaney Жыл бұрын

I grew up with WGN in Wichita, KS!

@crBudgetWatches 6 ай бұрын

Something very few people know . WGN was transmitted over the air here in Costa Rica in channel 19 uhf, in the late 80s and most of the 90s. It was the only US channel freely available to my country . People bought antennas specifically to get WGN Chicago . That’s why we have a huge Cubs fan base . I have an autographed card Harry Caray sent me after I wrote him a letter in the 90s.

@patcadle2599 Жыл бұрын

When I was a kid in the very late 70’s, cable tv was just getting started and by the time 1980 came around, WGN and WTBS were available in my little WV town’s cable system. It was really a major change - without paying an additional charge we suddenly had access to mlb baseball games every day, classic tv reruns and great old movies. Before WGN and WTBS became superstations, the three networks were it - unless you paid extra for HBO. Before VCR’s, DVD’s and streaming services, these two superstations widened my world for me. I thank WGN for first introducing me to many of my favorite classic movies - from Casablanca to the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, and a lot of my favorite old tv shows, particularly the Dick Van Dyke Show.

@danielcrawley8407 9 ай бұрын

As a weather and sports fanatic I miss the days of Superstation WGN. Our cable system here in the mountains of North Carolina added WGN in the late 1980's. Watching the Cubs during the day and then the Braves at night on TBS, there was no better combination. And then from a weather standpoint, to watch Tom Skilling for so many years was an honor.

@AlexAcostaArt Жыл бұрын

I miss WGN's national feed.

@denelson83 9 ай бұрын

It still exists, in a way. It is now called "NewsNation".

@kevinjones7273 Ай бұрын

I miss WGN national feed too I could care less about news national

@denelson83 9 ай бұрын

And in fact, United Video used WGN as the original data conduit for the Electronic Program Guide, which later became the Prevue Guide, and is now known as the "Pop" network.

@rkmklz7562 3 ай бұрын

The Cubs Game was always fun from Wrigley Field.... just magic.....

@DeAngeloStevens Жыл бұрын

In Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New York City, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Detroit, Denver, Little Rock, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, Jackson (Mississippi), Birmingham, Washington D.C., AND the List Goes On.

@Mario500NOW 10 ай бұрын

@realbrown3723 7 күн бұрын

WGN TV IS Chicago -- a broadcast treasure and legacy television station.

@khuongkhuu7559 Жыл бұрын

I Watch Chicago’s Very Own WGN 9 Chicago, Illinois 🇺🇸 in Edmonton, Alberta 🇨🇦 in July 2010 Before Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott!

@heymannyg 10 ай бұрын

Glad we still get WGN Chicago up here in Canada (not the Superstation or NewsNation) 😅

@DeAngeloStevens Жыл бұрын

I'LL Know Tom Skilling since the Summer of 1999 when we had Cable outside the Chicago area in Southside Clairmont Apartment front of the Highland Golf Course in Birmingham, Alabama across the streets towards Avondale Elementary School.

@matthewcampbell7985 Жыл бұрын

That's was same year when wgn America stopped airing WB programming starting kids WB in September and primetime in October.

@DeAngeloStevens 10 ай бұрын

That brings the debut of Big Ticket Movie that same year.

@buckeyeschmave 3 ай бұрын

I've never seen a company destroy its own property quite like Tribune did with WGN America. They threw away the very thing that made WGN unique.

@4HBirtcher 7 ай бұрын

In my home state of Ohio, we had WGN until you took it away and it’s why I have NewsNation instead!

@goldeneve 4 ай бұрын

In Los Angeles….WGN Superstation really introduced me to Chicago from cubs Sox and bulls and of course bozo the 90s was amazing

@mattmcrae1458 9 күн бұрын

Growing up in Vegas Cubs on WGN was my after school babysitter.

@faststop4 Жыл бұрын

Boy do I miss wgn tv with bozo cubs white Sox bulls DePaul basketball I mean now I don't watch anymore

@davidmichael4002 2 ай бұрын

I miss Frazier Thomas hosting Family Classics Whole family watched this...together!

@matthewcampbell7985 Жыл бұрын

I was 4 I'm watching bozo, cubs baseball and Jerry Lewis mda telethon on WGN America since my father brought cable from TCI (now spectrum) in 1995 WB arriving and lasly til 99 my favorite WGN America show is Walker Texas ranger a crime drama from my hometown of Dallas.

@rkmklz7562 3 ай бұрын

I remember when Cable was a utility not a business.....i watched WGN 9....in Chicago....it was cool to see a local outside of L A....it was far more fun than WTBS Atlanta....I remember WGN 9....And WOR 9 New York....I wished I was able to get KBHK 44 and KTSF 26 San Francisco...and KEYT 3 and KCOY 12 Santa Barbara.... there was the Boston WBSK 38..too...but when it all became a business...the whole cable thing went down...then it was replaced by garbage 🗑️

@juliansmith1951 Жыл бұрын

I miss WGN channel 9 Chicago bulls basketball my late grandfather and myself would watch Chicago cubs baseball and reruns of saved by the bell wrkp in cincinnati and more

@tsartz Жыл бұрын

Yet, i live in Chicago and can't get WGN on my HULU live local TV. Seems like we're going backwards, no? Fox 32, yep. NBC5, check. CBS2, got that too. ABC7, sure. WGN9, NOPE! Please sort out that contract!

@nicksideris2600 3 ай бұрын

RIP Alison Payne

@MatthewCampbell-pd1qr 2 ай бұрын

My favorites from wgn national superstation Kids WB Bozo shows Cubs games Star trek tng Walker Texas ranger Noon and 9pm newscasts Illinois lottery game shows 7th heaven And Jerry lewis mda labor day telethon I was 5 I saw wgn's logo it's looks like 9 and announcer said at the end: this is wgn tv Chicago. Matthew Campbell Dallas Texas

@xavierking2745 11 ай бұрын

I miss the wgn national feed. Nexstar messed up big time

@devares2006 4 ай бұрын

It would've been worse had Sinclair acquired WGN instead.

@mharris5047 3 ай бұрын

The big problem with superstations like WGN or WTBS was that the government changed the law so programming shown on a local channel (at any time of the day) had to be blocked from view on the superstations. This problem made it onerous to continue to have superstations on cable and satellite as (then) Tribune and Turner had to block different programs in every local area, causing them to have to eliminate most of the local syndicated programming and replace it with programming that they could own the national rights to. Sports had the additional problem of having to be blocked for everyone within 75 miles of the stadium hosting the games. You can thank your Congressmen for that one. They didn't have to remove the local news, though -- that was a mistake.

@xavierking2745 3 ай бұрын

@@devares2006 why you say that?

@RickyPaquiot284 Ай бұрын

@@xavierking2745 *Sinclair Broadcast Group has a bad history.* Particularly one where they forced their local journalists to participate in a promo that takes about *"Fake News"* which occurred in 2017 and 2018 again. *Oh that and SBG didn't want it's local stations to air a national TV broadcast on the war in Iraq.* And Sinclair has a known history of shutting down it's TV stations news departments. Therefore due to Sinclair's mismanagement there would be no local news broadcast. That's why no one wants Sinclair Broadcast Group. Plus, there is really nothing wrong with Nexstar as they are the better fit for it.

@CarbideSix Жыл бұрын

NewsNation is trash guy. PLEASE, for Chicago, for America, bring back the Superstation!

@daviddavenport1485 6 ай бұрын

Bring back the superstation

@evandylan Жыл бұрын

Nope I’m never gonna call it anything else but WTN. Willis Tower News 😎

@rkmklz7562 3 ай бұрын

They should of kept the original station... not branded for cable garbage 🗑️

@montana_patriot 9 ай бұрын

Nexstar killed WGN, turned it into another unnecessary cable news channel. When Nexstar purchases your station, it's like the finger of death. See what happened when they bought WCIA in Champaign. 1st place by miles for years, after Nexstar, became an also ran. Shame on Nexstar for ruining WGN, and every other station they touch.

@devares2006 4 ай бұрын

Same with KSHV here in Shreveport. They're now have a triopoly with the NBC station, KTAL, which actually improved in quality, and the Fox affiliate KMSS.

@realbrown3723 7 күн бұрын

WCIA is no longer what it used to be. Neither is KTVI or KPLR

@montana_patriot 7 күн бұрын

@@realbrown3723 KTVI and KPLR moved to Maryland Heights, as did KMOV, leaving KSDK the only station with studios physically in the city of St Louis. WCIA was more popular in Bloomington-Normal, and the residents fought to keep it on cable there. Nexstar said screw what the people want and kept WMBD and took off WCIA. Nexstar also fired the respected Jerry Slabe and his wife, and wouldn't even acknowledge their existence on their 50th anniversary special. Nexstar is truly an evil company in the world of local television.