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77-508: WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois , United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (channel 44). The two stations share studios at the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city's Streeterville neighborhood and broadcast from

154-504: A barter in some cases. NBC Tower The NBC Tower is an office tower on the Near North Side of Chicago, Illinois located at 454 North Columbus Drive (455 North Cityfront Plaza is also used as a vanity address) in downtown Chicago's Magnificent Mile area. Completed in 1989, the 37-story building reaches a height of 627 feet (191 m). NBC 's Chicago offices, studios, and owned-and-operated station WMAQ-TV are based in

231-586: A half-hour delay . The LMA ended on July 1, 2005, upon Pax's rebranding as i: Independent Television. On September 6, 2003, WMAQ agreed to lease 4,000 square feet (372 m) of space at the Equitable Building at 401 North Michigan Avenue (one block east of the NBC Tower), with the intent to build a streetside studio for the Chicago market, the first to be used for live broadcasting purposes by

308-601: A local marketing agreement (LMA) with WCPX-TV (channel 38) that indirectly resulted from NBC's partial ownership interest in WCPX-TV network partner Pax TV (now Ion Television ) and a related management agreement with that network's owned-and-operated stations . Under the LMA, the two stations shared certain programs, while WMAQ handled advertising sales services for channel 38. The agreement also allowed WCPX to air rebroadcasts of channel 5's 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on

385-523: A Chicago television station. On February 26, 2004, WMAQ-TV garnered national attention when Katie Couric , Al Roker , and Lester Holt hosted the Today show on Cityfront Plaza to unveil the new studio (known as "Studio 5") at the building's northwest corner. The station's morning and noon newscasts were broadcast from the Michigan Avenue facility until February 2013, when the studio was closed and

462-537: A callsign that was closer to co-owned NBC Red Network radio station WMAQ (670 AM, now WSCR ) and WMAQ-FM (101.1, now WKQX ) as the reasons for the change. The station's first mid-week broadcast occurred the month following its sign-on when Paul Winchell and Joseph Dunninger were featured on the NBC variety series, The Floor Show. The half-hour program was recorded via kinescope and rebroadcast on WNBQ at 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays. WNBQ originated several programs for

539-412: A host for the news series, and remained until their last report in 2005. Veteran newsman Len O'Connor worked his way up from a news writer for NBC Radio's Blue Network to be the commentator at WMAQ-TV. O'Connor, who was well known for his often-acerbic political commentary, ran afoul of the station's management in 1974, when he reported on Governor Dan Walker 's appointment of Bruce Sagan as head of

616-498: A minimum of two hours of programming per day. The station originally proposed WNBY as its call letters. However, at NBC's request, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an application filed by the network to change the station's calls to WNBQ. This move was announced on March 3, 1948. NBC officials cited the need to avoid possible confusion with WMBI (1110 AM, now WXES ) and to obtain

693-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

770-505: A news partnership with Merlin Media's WIQI (now WKQX) to use audio from all of WMAQ-TV's newscasts, including morning, noon, afternoon, 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts, as well as the sharing of assignments and online content between the two stations. The news partnership ended on July 17, 2012, when WIQI switched to an adult hits format, branded as "i101". On July 27, 2013, WMAQ expanded its weekend morning newscasts, with

847-484: A one-hour daily lifestyle and entertainment show. The program was hosted by Rosati and Nesita Kwan alongside meteorologist Byron Miranda . The show was reduced to a half-hour on April 26, 1999. In the spring of 1999, after negotiations between WMAQ-TV management and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), nearly all of the station's on-air talent went on strike. On March 30, 1999,

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924-465: A priest at St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham and a group of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders and clergy as part of the "Dump Jerry Springer !" coalition, called for a viewer and advertiser boycott of WMAQ-TV due to one of its syndicated shows, The Jerry Springer Show , which was filmed at the station's NBC Tower studios until 2009. On April 23, 1998, Pfleger and the coalition organized

1001-550: A rally at the station's NBC Tower studios. On May 1, 1998, WMAQ-TV announced that they would cancel the show. Studios USA (now NBCUniversal Syndication Studios ), one of the show's distributors, said that the show would move to Fox-owned WFLD the following month. The show moved production to Stamford, Connecticut , in 2009, and ended in 2018. On June 5, 2000, to improve station reception, the station extended its Sears Tower (now Willis Tower ) transmitter's western antenna height to 1,730 feet (527 m). In July 2000, NBC entered into

1078-630: A result. On January 18, 2011, the FCC and the Department of Justice approved the acquisition of WMAQ-TV's parent company NBCUniversal by Comcast (one of the largest cable providers in Chicago), with the deal being closed on January 28. As a result, WMAQ, WSNS, and regional sports network Comcast SportsNet Chicago (later NBC Sports Chicago ; now defunct) became sister stations. On March 18, 2013, longtime WVIT president and general manager David Doebler

1155-404: A short time after his broadcasts. O'Connor left the station and continued his political commentaries, on WGN-TV, until his retirement from broadcasting in 1980. On January 14, 1989, a missing persons poster with a grainy black-and-white photo of Joanna Lopez, a presumably Hispanic adolescent, and a white banner reading "MISSING" in black letters was displayed after the station signed off . Below

1232-506: A special correspondent until she stepped down from the station for the second time in 2020. Lyle Banks, who had hired Springer as a commentator, was fired from his position as general manager in January 1998 and was replaced by Larry Wert, who served as WMAQ's president and general manager until 2013, when he left to become president of WGN-TV parent Tribune Broadcasting. Five months later, on May 20, 1998, Cheatwood resigned as news director and

1309-405: A temporary basis during the holiday season; then it became permanent on January 3, 2022). On March 16, 2020, WMAQ-TV announced that the 6 p.m. newscast would expand to a full hour with a half-hour extension at 6:30 pm, making channel 5 the second station in Chicago to have a 6:30 p.m. newscast (after WGN-TV 's hour-long 6 p.m. weeknight newscast which debuted in 2017). This extension

1386-572: A three-story annex to the north of a planned 34-story, 1,000,000-square-foot (93,000 m) skyscraper—a project developed by the Equitable Life Assurance Society and Tishman-Speyer Properties —that would be constructed as part of the Cityfront Center development on the northwest corner of Columbus Drive and North Water Street, in which WMAQ-TV's operations would occupy 251,000 square feet (23,000 m) of

1463-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

1540-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

1617-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

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1694-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

1771-669: The Chicago Sun-Times that they did not comment on the labor-related issues affecting the station. In October 1994, prior to the boycott of the station, the union, along with Republican candidate George Larney, had joined forces to boycott WMAQ-TV due to its negotiations involving its national contract with the network. In the summer of 1987, a handful of technicians at WMAQ-TV, WMAQ radio, and WKQX went on strike ; technicians at other NBC-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Cleveland also went on strike as

1848-555: The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle . On June 15, 2017, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K, and WMAQ-TV announced they will extend their partnership. Sister Telemundo station WSNS-TV announced they would air the marathon in Spanish beginning with the 40th anniversary of the running of the marathon on October 8, 2017. On December 10, 2020, the marathon,

1925-610: The Central Time Zone in that it did not carry a newscast in the weekday midday time period. This changed on September 12, 2011, when it debuted a half-hour newscast at noon (the program returned to 11 a.m. when it was reformatted as an hour-long newscast on September 8, 2014). On December 6, 2011, WMAQ-TV announced a partnership with The Chicago Reporter as part of a larger effort by NBCUniversal to partner with non-profit news organizations, following its acquisition by Comcast. In January 2012, WMAQ-TV announced testing

2002-629: The Illinois Arts Council . O'Connor was troubled by the council's funding grant to the Chicago Dance Foundation, which was headed by Sagan's wife. Following O'Connor's original, January 1974 commentary on the grant, Sagan was invited to appear on the station and rebut O'Connor's statements. He declined and subsequently filed a complaint with the FCC in May 1974. Sagan claimed that he had been personally attacked and felt that

2079-531: The Merchandise Mart to a new studio in the tower. WKQX and WLUP-FM operated temporarily from the former WLS studios at 190 N. State St. On August 4, 2016, the move of WKQX and WLUP-FM to the tower was finalized. CBS Media Ventures ' Chicago branch is located in Suite 2910. From the tower's opening to 2006, WMAQ/WSCR radio studios were also located in the building. The stations relocated. The tower

2156-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

2233-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

2310-477: The 5 p.m. newscasts. On January 14, 2008, WMAQ-TV became the second television station in the Chicago market (after WLS-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition . Only in-studio footage and some of the remote footage, from the field, were presented in HD, while most remote footage was in standard definition , using a mixture of 16:9 ( widescreen ) and 4:3 cameras. In March 2008, Johnson

2387-823: The 8K shuffle, WMAQ and WSNS announced that they will extend their partnership again for three more years beginning in 2021 and will cover it through least 2023. In 2012, WMAQ-TV partnered with the Chicago Fire Soccer Club (now Chicago Fire FC ) to carry its matches in the 2012 season live on its NBC Chicago Nonstop subchannel. The local free-to-air rights to the Chicago Fire Soccer Club matches moved to WPWR-TV in 2013 . In 2023, WMAQ simulcast two Blackhawks and two Bulls game broadcast by sister network NBC Sports Chicago. WMAQ-TV presently broadcasts 41 hours, and 25 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 hours, 35 minutes each weekday, four hours on Saturdays, and 4½ hours on Sundays). In addition,

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2464-1343: The FCC's approval, the station determined that Terry did not have the bona fides of a serious candidate. The ad included the term " Democrat Party ", which the Democratic National Committee considers a pejorative label, and it was contrary to the party's pro-choice platform in general. In February 2015, WMAQ and the other NBC-owned stations offered live, web-based streaming of programming to subscribers of participating cable and satellite television providers, as provided through TV Everywhere Mobile apps . A month later, in March 2015, WMAQ, WSNS, and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, along with sister stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas – Fort Worth , Miami, Philadelphia , and San Francisco, went live on Sony 's internet television service PlayStation Vue as part of its Access package. Two years later, in April 2017, WMAQ-TV, WSNS and NBC Sports Chicago, along with sister stations in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, went live on YouTube TV . On April 20, 2021, Kevin Cross,

2541-621: The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Freddie Mac Foundation to create a news series called Wednesday's Child , which is aired on the 6 p.m. newscast on Wednesdays and on the Sunday morning newscasts. The mission of the news series is to bring the children to the living rooms of about 500,000 Chicago area residents that have never adopted. Allison Rosati, a former foster child, served as

2618-411: The NBC television network from its original studio facilities—a 170,000-square-foot (15,794 m) studio on the 19th floor of the Merchandise Mart on the city's Near North Side —during the 1950s, including Kukla, Fran and Ollie , featuring Burr Tillstrom and Fran Allison ; Garroway at Large , starring Dave Garroway ; and Studs' Place , hosted by Studs Terkel . Television critics referred to

2695-430: The Sunday morning newscasts due to budget cuts at the station. The Sunday morning newscasts were revived on November 7, 2010. In May 2009, the station announced that it would conclude the public affairs program City Desk after 57 years; the show had its final broadcast on May 17, 2009. Two weeks later, on May 31, 2009, The Talk debuted on WMAQ with Brooks as host. Prior to this, Sunday morning anchor Ellee Pai Hong left

2772-559: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

2849-554: The banner was her name and an outdated Chicago Police Department youth division phone number. This very same poster was displayed in 1991 for a much shorter time than the original 1989 broadcast, but Lopez's whereabouts have never been discovered and there have been no leads since. This has been subject to controversy within the online community with frequent YouTube deciphers and conspiracy posts to online applications such as Reddit , Quora , and others. WMAQ achieved notoriety in 1997 when, in an effort to boost ratings for its newscasts,

2926-523: The broadcasts—often low-budget with few celebrity guests but a good deal of inventiveness—as examples of the "Chicago School of Television". Although NBC had long owned the WMAQ radio stations, the television station continued to maintain a callsign separate from those used by its co-owned radio outlets; this changed on August 31, 1964, when the network changed the station's calls to WMAQ-TV. The call letters of its sister radio station were initially assigned by

3003-450: The building contains 850,000 sq ft (79,000 m ) of space and three floors of underground parking with 261 spaces. Connected to the main tower is a four-story radio and television broadcasting facility where WSNS's newscasts and WMAQ's newscasts are currently taped, and was the former recording facility for Jerry Springer and The Steve Wilkos Show before their tax credit-influenced move to Stamford, Connecticut in 2009. It

3080-409: The building. At 10 o'clock on the evening of October 1, 1989, WMAQ-TV broadcast its first newscast from the new home, with the then-weeknight news team of Ron Magers , Carol Marin , John Coleman , and Mark Giangreco . Telemundo O&O WSNS-TV has also occupied the building since its purchase by NBC in 2001, and NBC's former radio properties, WKQX , and WLUP-FM , continue to maintain studios in

3157-551: The building. Under the plans for the project, NBC was given the option of acquiring an approximately 25% interest in the building. On October 1, 1989, after 40 years at the Merchandise Mart, the station officially relocated its operations and began broadcasting from the NBC Tower , located on 455 North Columbus Drive, six blocks east of the Mart. The Jenny Jones Show was taped at WMAQ-TV's Studio A from 1991 to 2003. In

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3234-515: The early edition of the program on both days expanding to two hours with the addition of an hour-long broadcast at 5 a.m. (from a previous 6 a.m. start) and an additional half-hour added at 10 a.m. on Sundays. On February 9, 2014, the Chicago Sun-Times announced that it would end its content partnership with WMAQ-TV, and enter into a new content agreement with ABC-owned station WLS-TV on February 10, 2014. In 2015, WMAQ became

3311-671: The exception of 2020 due to the event's cancellation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic), WMAQ has served as an official broadcaster of the Chicago Marathon , which is held annually every second Sunday in October. Because of its commitments to air the event, the station has had to reschedule NBC News programs preempted or delayed by the telecast of the marathon. Since 2012, WMAQ, through their station's official website NBCChicago.com, currently serves as an official web broadcaster of

3388-472: The fall of 2008, WMAQ-TV's website was relaunched, including a new layout, as part of a larger revamp of the websites of NBC's entire owned-and-operated station group. In December 2009, the Chicago local division of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communication Workers of America (NABET) launched a boycott of WMAQ-TV. The station spokeswoman told Lewis Lazare of

3465-434: The first television station in the Chicago market to upgrade its news helicopter's camera system to shoot footage in ultra high definition . On August 24, 2015, WMAQ expanded its weekday morning newscast to three hours, with the addition of a half-hour at 4 am, becoming the second Chicago television station to expand into the timeslot – possibly to compete with WGN-TV, which began expanding its weekday morning newscast into

3542-519: The government but were creatively used to form the phrase "We Must Ask Questions", which the radio station took as its motto in the 1920s. Although the station's role as a program provider to NBC diminished in the 1960s, WMAQ-TV gathered and distributed more than 200 news footage feeds per month from overseas and the Central United States to NBC News . On December 3, 1985, NBC signed a $ 100 million+ agreement to lease office space in

3619-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

3696-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

3773-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

3850-410: The matter. O'Connor proceeded to deliver three commentaries on the 10 p.m. newscast from September 25 to 27, 1974, which were severely critical of the situation's handling by WMAQ-TV station management. In the commentaries, O'Connor claimed he had been deprived of his freedom of speech , that the station compromised his integrity, and that station management had made secret plans to fire him within

3927-663: The newsroom behind her—WMAQ's newscasts at that time originated from a studio that opened into the station's newsroom—in a symbolic show of support for her decision to resign. Ratings declined, with the station's newscasts losing 20% of its audience share by the November 1997 sweeps period. Springer only made two commentaries before he resigned on May 8, feeling unhappy with the criticism he received. Magers wound up at rival WLS-TV, where he remained until his retirement in 2016. Marin, meanwhile, joined rival WBBM-TV, while contributing reports for CBS News , before returning to WMAQ in 2004 as

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4004-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

4081-746: The same transmitter atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop . The station first signed on the air on October 8, 1948, as WNBQ; it was the fourth television station to sign on in Chicago. It was also the third of NBC's five original owned-and-operated television stations to begin operations, after WNBC-TV in New York City and WRC-TV in Washington, D.C., and before WKYC in Cleveland and KNBC in Los Angeles. WNBQ initially broadcast

4158-735: The senior vice president and general manager of NBC Sports Chicago, was officially appointed as president and general manager of WMAQ-TV, beginning in June, taking over from David Doebler, who retired after eight years at the station. Cross became the first president of NBCUniversal's Chicago broadcasting properties and the second Black president of the station in 25 years. As of September 2021, syndicated programming broadcast by WMAQ-TV includes Access Hollywood (including its afternoon counterpart ) and The Kelly Clarkson Show (all of which being distributed by corporate sister NBCUniversal Syndication Studios). From 2001 to 2002, and again since 2008 (with

4235-411: The service was to be distributed to Centel Videopath systems in Chicago's northern, northwestern, and southern suburbs. However, the service's launch was postponed three times due to logistical issues and demands by cable providers to gain a share of the service's advertising revenues. Station management scrapped plans for the channel in June 1991. On August 24, 1998, WMAQ debuted NBC 5 Chicago Daytime ,

4312-472: The space within the 401 Michigan Avenue building was put up for sale, at which time production of both newscasts was moved back to the NBC Tower. In November 2007, the FCC proposed to fine WMAQ-TV $ 10,000 for "failure to publicize the existence and location of its children's television programming reports " because the station did not keep adequate records on commercial limits in children's TV programs. In

4389-554: The spring of 1992, the NBC-owned television stations, including WMAQ-TV, announced that they would no longer air paid programming . The last local infomercial aired on the station was a local weekly real estate show aired in 1992. Paid programming has since returned in a much more reduced capacity, but as an NBC O&O with a fully-filled schedule otherwise on weekdays, is usually limited to overnights on weekends and occasional Sunday mornings. On April 10, 1998, Rev. Michael Pfleger ,

4466-420: The station after six years. On June 12, 2009, Bob Sirott left WMAQ-TV for the second time, as his contract with the station had not been renewed. Later, on July 29, 2009, Davlantes' contract with the station was not renewed. On August 10, 2009, WMAQ promoted Stafford to main anchor. He, along with Rosati, co-anchored the 5 pm, 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. newscasts. For years, WMAQ-TV's 10 p.m. newscast

4543-405: The station hired Jerry Springer as a commentator. Though Springer was once a two-term mayor of Cincinnati before becoming a news anchor for that city's NBC affiliate WLWT , his association with his infamous syndicated talk show (which, until 2009, was recorded at WMAQ's NBC Tower studios, and later distributed by NBCUniversal through its syndication division) led to the belief that the newscast

4620-547: The station produces the half-hour sports highlight program Sports Sunday , which airs Sunday evenings after the 10 p.m. newscast. In January 1991, WMAQ announced plans to launch the Suburban News Source, a 24-hour local cable news channel featuring 4½-minute-long inserts of news headlines specific to suburban localities, placed within live simulcasts of the station's noon, 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. newscasts. Originally scheduled to debut on January 14, 1991,

4697-448: The station was not enforcing the FCC's Fairness Doctrine . He was again offered an opportunity to refute O'Connor's comments but declined once again after the FCC dismissed the charges he levied. Sagan appealed the FCC's decision, and O'Connor believed that the company's attorneys had secretly met with Sagan and offered him airtime in exchange for Sagan withdrawing his appeal. WMAQ-TV management stated that they had been open with O'Connor on

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4774-416: The station's on-air talent planned to authorize a strike vote, if a bargaining session with the station scheduled for late April failed. On May 14, 1999, four of the station's high-profile personalities—including 6 p.m. & 10 p.m. anchor Allison Rosati, chief meteorologist Brant Miller, sports anchor Mike Adamle and weekend evening meteorologist Shelly Monahan—broke ranks with the union, following

4851-545: The streaming service since its April 2020 launch. The streaming channel was later launched on The Roku Channel on June 28, 2022. Carol Cooling-Kopp, WMAQ-TV's longtime community relations assistant and longtime vice president for Special Projects & Community Relations died on October 30, 2013, after a battle with Lung Cancer; longtime WVIT Community Projects director Emma Asante appointed as WMAQ-TV's Vice President for Special Projects & Community Relations in March 2014, following her death. In 1999, WMAQ-TV partnered with

4928-400: The strike authorization vote. In early fall 2006, additional changes were made to WMAQ's early evening lineup. On September 18, the station moved the afternoon newscast, with Sirott and Brooks, to 4 p.m. and moved the newsmagazine show Extra to 4:30 pm. The early evening newscast remained at 5 pm. A week later on September 25, 2006, Saunders and Rosati were promoted to anchor

5005-512: The time period in July 2011. On August 8, 2016, the station's hour-long 4 p.m. newscast was revived after a 21-year absence, serving as a replacement for Extra , which moved to WFLD after a 20-year absence. WMAQ-TV became the third station in Chicago to expand into the time period, following WGN-TV (which began its 4 p.m. newscast in September 2014) and WLS-TV (which began expanding into

5082-514: The time period in the 1980s), indicating a decreased reliance on syndicated programming. With this addition, WMAQ-TV was reduced to only three hours of syndicated daytime shows to back up its newscasts outside of NBC network programming. On August 23, 2019, WMAQ-TV announced that they were cutting the 11 a.m. newscast to a half-hour on Fridays in favor of its new lifestyle show Chicago Today effective September 6 (The Monday to Thursday editions later cut them to 45 minutes on December 6, 2021, on

5159-537: The tower. The design, by Adrian D. Smith of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill , is in the Art Deco style and bears a marked similarity to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City , which is NBC's global headquarters. The tower is further enhanced by the use of limestone piers and recessed tinted glass with granite spandrels . The building takes additional cues from the nearby landmark Tribune Tower with

5236-528: The use of flying buttresses . A 130 ft (40 m) broadcast tower and spire tops the skyscraper . WMAQ and WSNS have STL and satellite facilities on the roof; the STLs link to WMAQ and WSNS's transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower . WMAQ radio/WSCR studios and STL were located in the building until 2006 when they relocated to Two Prudential Plaza . Located in the Cityfront Plaza area,

5313-462: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

5390-458: Was also home to the 1990s syndicated improv/sketch show Kwik Witz , The Jenny Jones Show until its cancellation in 2003, Steve Harvey until its move to Los Angeles in 2017, and Judge Mathis until its cancellation in 2023. The following TV and radio stations are located in the building: In February 2016, alternative station WKQX and sister classic rock station WLUP-FM announced that they will be moving from their longtime home in

5467-410: Was appointed president and general manager of WMAQ-TV, replacing longtime president and general manager Larry Wert, who later became president of WGN-TV's parent Tribune Broadcasting . On February 3, 2012, the station rejected a political advertisement that contained anti-abortion talking points from activist and Democratic presidential candidate Randall Terry to air during Super Bowl XLVI . With

5544-402: Was being dumbed down. There were a handful of Springer supporters; nevertheless, the incident triggered a lot of negative publicity, on both the local and national levels. The station's longtime anchor team of Carol Marin and Ron Magers resigned in protest (with Marin resigning on May 1, and Magers following suit on May 16). As Marin signed off her last newscast, station personnel stood en masse in

5621-478: Was demoted from the weekday newscast but continued his reporting work; Elgas was promoted to weekday morning anchor. On January 12, 2009, WMAQ and Fox owned-and-operated station WFLD entered into a Local News Service agreement, in which the two stations would share helicopter footage. This agreement reportedly paved the way for a larger pooling effort between the two stations. In spring 2009, WMAQ-TV laid off an undisclosed number of employees. In addition, they canceled

5698-602: Was in second place behind WBBM-TV and, later, WLS-TV, with WBBM-TV third. At the conclusion of the November 2009 Nielsen ratings sweeps period, WBBM-TV's 10 p.m. newscast overtook WMAQ-TV for second place for the first time in many years, largely due to the low ratings of the latter station's lead-in The Jay Leno Show , as WLS-TV continued to dominate the local newscast ratings in the Chicago market. For five years, beginning in 2006 when WMAQ canceled its 11 a.m. newscast, WMAQ differed from most NBC stations in

5775-399: Was intended to be temporary due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 20, 2022, WMAQ-TV launched a new 24-hour streaming channel on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock . "NBC Chicago News" features simulcasts and encores of the station's newscasts as well as original content made for the channel. Prior to the launch of the streaming channel, the station had a curated playlist available on

5852-451: Was replaced by former WLS-TV news director Frank Whittaker, who served as WMAQ's news director until 1999, when he was promoted to vice president of news, where he remains today. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it

5929-574: Was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

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