A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.
154-623: WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois , United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Street in the Loop , and it transmits from atop the Willis Tower . WBBM-TV traces its history to 1940 when Balaban and Katz , a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures , signed on experimental station W9XBK,
308-667: A barter in some cases. Duopoly (broadcasting) A duopoly (or twinstick , referring to "stick" as jargon for a radio tower ) is a situation in television and radio broadcasting in which two or more stations in the same city or community share common ownership . In the United States , the practice of duopolies has been frowned upon when using public airwaves, on the premise that it gives too much influence to one company. However, rules governing radio stations are less restrictive than those for television, allowing as many as eight radio stations under common ownership in
462-496: A digital multicast network . The network soft launched in the Chicago market on WBBM digital channel 2.2, when that subchannel launched on February 1, 2015, with the network making its formal national debut four months later on May 25. Decades moved to WCIU-DT4 on September 3, 2018, with WBBM-DT2 becoming the home of a second Weigel/CBS concept network known as Start TV , which specializes in airing procedural dramas with women in
616-571: A CTV station in a larger market, to which the small market's existing CBC affiliate would be granted the advertising sales rights. As the company's advertising revenue grew, the CTV transmitter would eventually become an originating station in its own right, and in theory would eventually be sold to another broadcaster. However, in many cases the subsequent sale never happened, as the community's economic growth failed to lend itself to competition between multiple television broadcasters. In other markets where
770-510: A Cubs' game, on April 21, 1946, was unsuccessful, due to electrical interference in the State-Lake building where the station's transmitter was located. The July 13, 1946, contest between the Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers marked Chicago's first successful telecast of a Major League game. In 1956, when CBS began televising National Football League (NFL) games, WBBM became the primary station for
924-678: A broadcaster from some portion of the existing restrictions on common ownership in order to acquire and operate a station which otherwise would be economically non-viable or would be forced to cease operations . Requests for failing station waivers have historically met with variable reception; in general, the FCC views requests favorably if: Waivers under these criteria were granted to sell WASV-TV in Asheville to Media General , owner of CBS affiliate WSPA-TV in that market, and KWBA in Tucson to
1078-713: A construction permit for the channel 26 repeater on January 18, 2012. WBBM's translator on UHF channel 26 signed on the air on March 13, 2014, with its signal operating at low power to prevent signal interference with ABC affiliate WKOW in Madison, Wisconsin . In February 2017, in a channel sharing partnership reached to address channel 2's ever-persistent reception problems in the market, Weigel and CBS Television Stations announced that WBBM-TV and its Decades subchannel would respectively be simulcast on digital subchannels 48.3 and 48.4 of Weigel-owned independent station WMEU-CD . With WBBM-TV's ATSC 1.0 signal moving to WGN-TV's spectrum,
1232-684: A continuing and strong overall partnership with WBBM-TV). In August 2018, Jeff Harris took up the helm as news director of WBBM-TV. Long-time evening anchor Rob Johnson was let go in March 2019, replaced by Brad Edwards. Edwards joined Irika Sargent in the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts. Edwards shifted to the morning newscast in May 2022 as part of a talent adjustment when former WGN-TV and inaugural NewsNation anchor Joe Donlon took over his former position, months after inaugural NewsNation news director Jennifer Lyons became WBBM's president and general manager after
1386-640: A duopoly with WLVI after purchasing the station from Tribune Broadcasting in 2006), the junior partner's news department is shut down completely, with the senior partner subsequently taking over production of its news content using only their existing staff. In many cases, news programming on a junior partner is structured to avoid direct competition with a senior partner affiliate of either ABC , NBC or CBS (one notable exception involves WTTV and WXIN in Indianapolis , which carry competing morning and evening newscasts as Tribune Broadcasting opted to launch
1540-462: A few isolated cases, the CRTC has permitted "triple-sticks", or triopolies , where a single broadcaster operates three stations in a market. These are only possible under unusual circumstances which are discussed as they arise below. Twinsticks were first allowed in 1967, as a way to help expand CTV service to smaller markets. In the original twinstick model, the second station was a rebroadcaster of
1694-416: A half-century (with the periods from 1992 to 1994, 1998 to 1999, and 2009 as said exceptions). The tune has also been adopted by several other stations across the country—mostly CBS-owned-and-operated stations and affiliates—and became the de facto official newscast theme package for CBS's O&Os. From 1994 to 1997, 2000 to 2001, 2002 to 2008 and since 2010, WBBM-TV used an updated and synthesized version of
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#17327946253141848-612: A legal duopoly involving its existing Fox affiliate WAWS (now WFOX-TV ) and WTEV-TV (now WJAX-TV ), a UPN affiliate that it had been managing under a local marketing agreement since 1994; WTEV's viewership gradually rose after it became a CBS affiliate in July 2002, putting it in the top four threshold with WAWS, resulting in Newport Television – upon purchasing the Clear Channel television group in 2007 – restructuring
2002-639: A local over-the-air CTV station, and a provincial or regional cable channel that broadcasts CTV Two programming. In Alberta, CTV stations CFCN in Calgary and CFRN in Edmonton co-exist with CTV Two Alberta , which is officially licensed as the provincial educational broadcaster and is therefore technically exempt from the CRTC's common ownership policy (prior to September 2011, CTV Two Alberta also operated over-the-air transmitters in Calgary and Edmonton). In
2156-489: A local real estate agency to air programming. A similar situation exists in Lima, Ohio , where Block Communications controls a quadropoly of stations owned by itself ( WLIO , a full-powered NBC affiliate which also carries Fox and MyNetworkTV on a digital subchannel) and low-power stations owned by West Central Ohio Broadcasting, Inc. (which owns ABC affiliate WPNM-LD / WOHL-CD , and CBS affiliate WAMS-LD ) under an LMA. One of
2310-455: A low-power fill-in repeater on UHF channel 26 (the former allocation of the analog signal of WCIU-TV). However, the FCC notified WBBM that the channel 26 allocation would interfere with low-power station W25DW; on April 1, 2010, WBBM was given a 30-day notice by the agency to address the issue or have the application dismissed. It applied only for a repeater on that channel and not a full-powered signal move (as WLS-TV did). The FCC granted WBBM-TV
2464-500: A market provided that the stations broadcast in different languages. In recent years, this has been interpreted as meaning that a single company may own both an English-language station and one or more multicultural stations with some English-language content, which in itself may be considered a form of "exemption". CBC / Radio-Canada owned-and-operated stations (O&Os) are also often deployed in pairs in major cities on both television and radio, separated only by language. In addition,
2618-415: 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
2772-439: A new hour-long 4 p.m. newscast which will debut on January 24, 2022, along with meteorologist Mary Kay Kleist and sports anchor Marshall Harris. In February 2022, reporter Dana Kozlov will replace Williams as weekend anchor. On September 12, 2022, WBBM-TV debuted a 9 a.m. half-hour weekday morning newscast as a lead-in to The Drew Barrymore Show at 9:30 am. From 9:30 to 10 am, the newscast streams on CBS News Chicago. It
2926-412: A new standardized graphics package that was rolled out across CBS' O&Os, WBBM-TV brought back "Enforcer" with an orchestrated "New Generation" version originally commissioned by New York City sister station WCBS-TV. In 2022, CBS News and Stations began to phase out the "Enforcer" music from its stations, replacing it with a new theme by Antfood that incorporates the network's new sound mark . With
3080-454: A new studio complex in 1998 (with areas on North Fairbanks Court, North Michigan Avenue and West Jackson Street as potential sites for the planned facility); however, the plans were postponed due to transition to high-definition broadcasting. On September 21, 2008, WBBM-TV moved to new facilities in the "Block 37" studio at the corner of Dearborn and Washington streets, with a 30-by-19-foot (9.1 m × 5.8 m) LED screen that adorns
3234-491: A proposal to CBS and WBBM-TV station management that called for the station to implement a 40% minority hiring quota, hire two black male anchors to its news staff and have CBS grant a financial commitment of $ 11 million to minority interests) that lasted until August 1986; in the midst of the boycott, Gary Cummings resigned as WBBM vice president and general manager in March 1986, and was replaced two weeks later by one-time assistant news director Johnathan Rodgers , who became
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#17327946253143388-569: A result of E!'s demise in August 2009, with Canwest retaining the Global O&;Os (CIII and CHAN) and selling off the E! stations (CHCH and CHEK). Additionally, Canwest previously owned the now-defunct CHCA in Red Deer , which was available on cable and via rebroadcast transmitters in both Calgary and Edmonton, where Canwest respectively already owned CICT and CITV . This was not considered
3542-691: A result of the FCC's 2017 spectrum incentive auction. As of 2020, WNET currently owns or operates six television stations in the New York region, two (WNJN and WNJB) of which are owned by Public Media NJ and operated by WNET through the NJTV state network, which replaced the New Jersey Network (NJN) as New Jersey's public television service in July 2011; the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority retained
3696-650: A rollout of similar services (each a localized version of the national CBSN service) across the CBS-owned stations. The service was initially planned to launch by the end of March 2020, but was delayed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, WBBM-TV was honored with a Peabody Award for the report "Unwarranted", a 2019 investigation into botched police raids in Chicago and the impact they left on families and their homes. On December 16, 2021, WBBM-TV announced that Jim Williams and Marie Saavedra will co-anchor
3850-653: A separate slate of newscasts for WTTV when it became a CBS affiliate in January 2015, rather than shift those seen on sister Fox affiliate WXIN to the station; WXIN and WTTV largely maintain their own anchors, but share a news department and most reporting staff). This situation is uncommon in duopolies involving only Big Three affiliates, as stations affiliated with those networks are more inclined to carry newscasts in overlapping time periods in order to fulfill local programming requirements included in affiliation agreements. Certain syndicated programs are also shared between
4004-399: A settlement agreement with CBS in which Center City agreed not to challenge the license renewal of any CBS station for a five-year period, in return for a $ 187,500 payment by CBS. The challenge sparked calls for the FCC to reform its comparative renewal process, which certain broadcasters claim was used solely for the purpose of "extort[ing]" large cash settlements from stations. The station
4158-437: A shift in that network's news philosophy the two disagreed on carrying forward for Nexstar . From 1946 to 1951, WBKB telecast Chicago Cubs home games. Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley believed baseball could benefit from television if a system could be developed that would appeal to housewives as well as their husbands. Wrigley gave the rights to WBKB to air the Cubs for the first two years for free. The first attempt to telecast
4312-530: A simpler studio and corresponding graphics set. That March, former Good Morning America newsreader Antonio Mora were appointed as WBBM's main anchor; former WLS-TV anchor Diann Burns joined Mora at the anchor desk in October 2003. In January 2006, WBBM-TV earned its best finish at 5 p.m. in 13 years, when it surpassed WMAQ for second place in the timeslot, although it was still far behind WLS. Channel 2's 10 p.m. news remained in last place, however it
4466-447: A single market by one company, so long as eight unique station owners remain in the market once the duopoly is formed, and the four highest-rated stations (based on local monthly viewership reports for the market) remain under separate ownership. The FCC only requires the severance of an existing duopoly in which a once lower-rated station falls within the ratings criteria that prohibits such ownership over time if an ownership transaction
4620-463: A solo anchor format with Anne State being relegated to the 5 p.m. newscast, while Rob Johnson continued as anchor of the later editions. With its 10 p.m. newscast committed to enterprise reporting, that newscast began year-to-year growth that continues to this day. Harry Porterfield returned to WBBM-TV after 24 years at WLS-TV on August 3, 2009, to anchor the 11 a.m. news with Roseanne Tellez, and also to continued "Someone You Should Know",
4774-508: A standalone station). In addition, the FCC permits common ownership of three or more television stations if there are low-powered stations that are involved. For example, in the New York media market, a full-power duopoly was formed between WNET and WLIW once the two stations merged their operations with each other in 2003; this would be expanded into a physical quadropoly in early 2018 after WNET's owner acquired WNDT-CD and WMBQ-CD as
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4928-1040: A true twinstick as CHCA was not based in the larger markets, and did not have permission to solicit local advertising in those markets. It did, however, have simultaneous substitution rights. CHUM Television operated the CITY /CKVR twinstick in Toronto-Barrie and the CKVU /CIVI twinstick in Vancouver-Victoria under the Citytv and A-Channel brands prior to its acquisition by CTVglobemedia in 2006. Following this acquisition, Rogers Media briefly held twinsticks in Vancouver (CKVU and CHNU ) and Winnipeg ( CHMI and CIIT ), formed from its newly acquired Citytv stations and its Omni -branded religious stations; these two sets of twinsticks were dissolved in 2008 following
5082-425: 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
5236-496: 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,
5390-485: Is anchored by morning co-anchors Ryan Baker and Audrina Bigos with meteorologist Laura Bannon and traffic reports from Kris Habermehl. In 1975, Chicago-based jingle composer Dick Marx wrote a theme music piece for WBBM-TV's newscasts that was based on the song "Chicago" (or "This is my City, Chicago's My Town"), a folk song written by Chicago folk singer Tary Rebenar. The popular theme, known as "Channel 2 News", and several variations on it would be used by WBBM for nearly
5544-470: 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
5698-421: Is despite the strong lead-in by CBS' prime time lineup, which nationally has placed first among the major broadcast networks for most of the time since the 2005–06 season. In the May 2015 local Nielsen ratings, WBBM's newscasts placed fourth overall among Chicago's television stations. The 10 p.m. newscast saw continued decline in viewership among the market's late newscasts, scoring a 3.5 rating (down .1 from
5852-437: Is necessary "due to specific circumstances in a local market or with respect to a specific transaction on a case-by-case basis." The said changes were put into practice on two occasions: Some broadcasting companies have used loopholes to establish duopolies in smaller markets by way of a local marketing agreement, shared services agreement or joint sales agreement ; where a station effectively brokers its entire airtime to
6006-792: 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
6160-418: Is under review (such as a piecemeal or group sale of stations, or necessary license transfers during an ownership transaction involving the stations' existing owner); a company is required to sell one of the stations in the duopoly to another licensee if it is no longer compliant with one or both provisions. Currently, an entity is permitted to own up to two television stations in the same media market if either
6314-542: The 2010 Winter Olympics . By May 2012, WBBM-TV's 10 p.m. newscast finished second behind WLS. On February 1, 2010, WBBM replaced its weekday morning newscast with Monsters and Money in the Morning , a roundtable talk show hosted by Mike North and Dan Jiggetts (former hosts at radio station WSCR (670 AM) and of Comcast SportsNet Chicago 's Monsters in the Morning ) that focused on sports and financial topics, along with news and weather segments. The program – which
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6468-721: The American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which already owned WENR-TV (channel 7). As the newly merged entity could not keep both stations since FCC regulations enforced during that time forbade the common ownership of two television stations licensed to the same market , WBKB was sold to CBS for $ 6.75 million. On February 12, one day after the merger was finalized, the station changed its call letters to WBBM-TV, after WBBM radio ( 780 AM and 96.3 FM ), which CBS had owned since 1929. The WBKB call letters were subsequently assumed by channel 7 (that station would eventually change its callsign to WLS-TV in 1968, and
6622-627: The Chicago Bears , carrying most of the team's regular-season games (as well as preseason games off and on through the years), and until they moved to St. Louis in 1960, they were also the primary station for Chicago Cardinals regular-season games as well; the WBBM-Bears partnership continued until the end of the 1993 season , when the network lost the rights to the National Football Conference (NFC) to Fox with
6776-630: The Journal Broadcast Group , owner of that market's ABC affiliate KGUN-TV . A similar waiver was refused to KNIN-TV in Boise as the station, a CW affiliate at the time the waiver application was filed, appeared to have reasonable prospects of financial break-even without a takeover by Journal-owned ABC affiliate KIVI-TV ; that decision was subsequently appealed, with the waiver being granted upon further review (Journal Broadcast Group would eventually be required to sell KNIN in 2014, as
6930-809: The June 2009 digital conversion . As such, low-power stations can also be formed to create duopolies; for instance, Weigel Broadcasting maintains triopolies in three markets surrounding the southern part of Lake Michigan ( Chicago, Illinois ; Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; and South Bend, Indiana ) using a combination of full-power and low-power television stations. In Chicago, it maintains one full-power signal (CW-affiliated station WCIU-TV ) and two low-power stations ( MeTV flagship station WWME-CD and independent station WMEU-CD ). In Milwaukee, Weigel has two full-power stations (CBS affiliate WDJT-TV and full-power independent station WMLW-TV ) and two low-power stations (MeTV station WBME-CD and Telemundo affiliate WYTU-LD ,
7084-795: The MCTV system, and CKBI and CKOS in Saskatchewan ); these were sold to the CBC in 2002. Similarly, until August 2008, Cogeco owned three twinsticks in Quebec: CKTV and CFRS in Saguenay , CKSH and CFKS in Sherbrooke and CKTM and CFKM in Trois-Rivières . These twinsticks were dissolved when Radio-Canada decided to acquire its former affiliates (CKTV, CKSH and CKTM), while
7238-745: The Maritime Provinces , Bell Media operates both the over-the-air CTV Atlantic group of stations and the cable-only CTV Two Atlantic , which have been jointly owned (under various parent companies) since the latter's launch in 1983. Canwest operated the CIII / CHCH twinstick in Toronto- Hamilton and the CHAN / CHEK twinstick in Vancouver-Victoria until 2009, under the Global and E! brands. These two sets of twinsticks were separated as
7392-562: The Montreal media market, Bell Media Radio owns six radio stations, of which two operate in French and four in English. Officially, CRTC policy mandates that a broadcaster may only own one television station in a particular language in any given market. However, there are two types of exemptions which may be granted: The policy does not prevent companies from owning multiple stations in
7546-479: The VHF band of basic cable throughout much of southwestern Ontario for several decades. Hence, presumably as a result of this duplicated coverage, their current owner has elected to continue airing distinct programming on both stations (on the other hand, Kitchener is also about 100 km from Toronto; nevertheless both CKCO and Toronto's CFTO operate as CTV stations). Finally, in some markets, Bell Media operates both
7700-571: The Viacom name. In 2003, WBBM signed a lease agreement with Chevy Chase, Maryland –based developer Mills Corporation to build a "media center" for the station in the " Block 37 " developments in the Loop business district, with plans to include a street-level studio that would overlook Daley Plaza . WBBM had earlier considered selling the McClurg Court facility with the intent to relocate into
7854-405: 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
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#17327946253148008-534: 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
8162-611: The multiplexed signals of other Chicago television stations: WBBM-TV is currently the only "full-power" television station in Chicago that operates its digital signal on the VHF band (as it had done prior to the June 2009 digital transition). WBBM-TV's rival station, WLS-TV, was the only other station to have operated its full-power digital signal on a VHF allocation until the station moved its digital broadcasts to UHF channel 44, to alleviate reception problems, although it retained VHF channel 7 as
8316-520: The 10 p.m. newscast with Johnson. Mora continued to co-anchor the 6 p.m. newscast and hosted Eye on Chicago , before leaving WBBM-TV in January 2008 to become evening anchor at Miami sister station WFOR-TV ; Johnson then added the 6 p.m. newscast and Eye On Chicago to his duties. On March 31, 2008, WBBM announced that Diann Burns' contract would not be renewed; she, along with medical editor Mary Ann Childers , sports director Mark Malone , and reporters Rafael Romo and Katie McCall were among
8470-455: The 18 staffers laid off from the station due to budget cuts enforced by CBS Television Stations. That month, WBBM hired Ryan Baker (formerly of WMAQ-TV) to serve as its sports director. On April 30, 2009, WBBM-TV laid off an undisclosed number of additional employees; in addition, the station canceled its weekend morning newscasts and the public affairs program Eye On Chicago , while also restructuring its weeknight 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts to
8624-664: The 1990s. Up until February 2010, twinsticks of this type outside of Quebec involved CTV and CBC Television affiliates. Currently both small-market twinsticks in English Canada consist of Global and CTV affiliates. Within Quebec, twinsticks consist of TVA and V affiliates: From 1997 to 2002, CTV directly owned several CBC twinstick stations that it had inherited from Baton Broadcasting ( CKNC , CHNB , CJIC and CFCL in Northern Ontario, which were part of
8778-717: The 2014 home game against the Buffalo Bills ), and NFC vs. NFC games that are conversely shifted from Fox to CBS (such as a 2019 home game against the Minnesota Vikings ). Additionally, Super Bowl XLI , where the Bears played against the Indianapolis Colts , was televised on CBS and WBBM. From 1973 to 1990, WBBM-TV aired select Chicago Bulls games via the NBA on CBS . From 2003 to 2007, WBBM-TV served as
8932-495: The CRTC had licensed competing broadcasters, such as Northern Ontario , twinstick mergers were subsequently allowed to permit the survival of both television stations after similar economic difficulties were encountered. With the cross-national consolidation of media ownership, nearly all of the original twinstick stations no longer share ownership with their former twin stations. However, the second type of twinstick, involving media consolidation in larger markets, began to arise in
9086-530: The CTV and CTV Two brands: In addition to these "true" twinsticks, in some areas, Bell Media has taken a twinstick-type approach with two stations deemed to be in adjacent media markets, but which in practice serve both markets. For example, Bell operates both CTV station CKCO-DT in Kitchener, Ontario and CTV Two station CFPL-DT in London , about 100 kilometres (62 mi) away. Both have been carried on
9240-768: The Eastern Time Zone to affiliate with a major network. One of the station's early highlights was its telecast of the National Football League 's championship game between the Chicago Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles on December 28, 1947. In December 1948, WBKB began sharing the market's CBS affiliation with WGN-TV (channel 9), after that station affiliated with the network. In 1949, Balaban and Katz became part of United Paramount Theatres , after Paramount Pictures
9394-437: The FCC eliminated the "Eight-Voices Test" requirement, allowing media companies to form duopolies regardless of the number of full-powered stations licensed to each market. It also allows media companies to form duopolies comprising two of the four highest-rated stations in a particular market, provided that companies can prove to the FCC that the transaction "would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity," and that it
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#17327946253149548-510: The FCC's decision meant neither Paramount nor DuMont could acquire any more television stations. Paramount even launched a short-lived programming service, the Paramount Television Network (no relation to today's cable-only Paramount Network ), in 1949, with KTLA and WBKB as its flagship stations ; however, the service never gelled into a true television network. In February 1953, United Paramount Theaters merged with
9702-402: The May 2014 sweeps period) and at a distant third in the timeslot in the coveted demographic of adults ages 25–54, earning a 0.9 (with prime time newscasts factored in, WBBM-TV's 10 p.m. newscast placed fourth among the Chicago market's late-evening newscasts, behind WGN-TV's 9 p.m. newscast). The distant third-place standing for the 10 p.m. newscast among the market's late newscasts
9856-931: The Navy school, Eddy continued to lead W9XBK and wrote a book that defined commercial television for many years. On September 6, 1946, the station received a commercial license as WBKB (for Balaban and Katz Broadcasting) on VHF channel 4, becoming the first commercial station located outside the Eastern Time Zone ; it was also the sixth commercial TV station in the United States behind WNBT (now WNBC), WCBW (now WCBS-TV ), WABD (now WNYW ) all in New York City; WRGB in Schenectady, New York ; and WPTZ (now KYW-TV ) in Philadelphia . WBKB aired some of
10010-606: The Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS ), were the only licensees allowed to sign-on or acquire a second television station that did not repeat the parent station's signal in the same market where they already owned a station (some of these acquired stations were originally licensed as commercial outlets). On August 5, 1999, the Federal Communications Commission voted 4-1 to allow common ownership of two television stations within
10164-559: 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
10318-490: The United States is operated from the Canadian studios of Kingston, Ontario 's CIKR-FM , a broadcaster already at the two-station limit in its own market, under an LMA. Broadcasters such as Entravision have often entered into local marketing agreements with Mexican border stations (such as Tecate 's XHDTV-TDT for content directed at San Diego ). It is also possible to obtain a "failing station waiver," which can exempt
10472-592: The V affiliates (CFRS, CFKS and CFKM) were acquired by Remstar Corporation , the new owner of V (then known as TQS). One "triple-stick" also exists, in which a single company, Télé Inter-Rives , operates all three licensed stations in Rivière-du-Loup : CKRT , CIMT and CFTF . RNC Media also formerly had an effective "triple-stick" in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, with ownership of CFEM-DT (TVA) and CKRN-DT (Radio-Canada) in
10626-414: The allotment for its digital fill-in translator when it launched on October 31, 2009. Some viewers have had trouble picking up VHF signals after the June 12 transition; as a result, WBBM's newscasts were simulcast over WWME-CA (channel 23), which served as a low-power analog nightlight service on its analog signal following the transition. In addition, WBBM-TV applied for a construction permit to build
10780-644: The anchor desk (Jacobson eventually left for WFLD in April 1993) and controversially made the newscasts much flashier than they had previously been; the reporting staff during this period notably included Elizabeth Vargas (formerly with ABC News ), Rob Stafford (now at WMAQ-TV), Jim Avila (now at ABC), Larry Mendte (now a commentator at WPIX in New York City) and Dawn Stensland (a former 10 p.m. anchor at Fox-owned WTXF-TV in Philadelphia). It
10934-481: The callsign now resides at a CBS-affiliated station in Alpena, Michigan ). While the old WBKB's talent remained with the new WBBM-TV under the radio station's longtime general manager, H. Leslie Atlass, the UPT-era management of the old WBKB moved to channel 7. As a result of WBBM-TV's purchase by CBS, it picked up all CBS programming previously carried by WGN-TV, after a two-month cancellation clause in channel 9's affiliation contract with CBS; this left channel 9 with
11088-415: The challenge may have been related to the then-recent boycott by Operation PUSH surrounding the lack of diversity with the station's staff and allegations that WBBM's hiring practices were not fair towards Blacks; Minor (who is African American) later cited that the station did not fulfill obligations to public affairs programming. Center City dropped its challenge three months later in July, after reaching
11242-528: The city of Rouyn-Noranda and CFEM-DT (V) in Val-d'Or — although technically licensed to separate cities, in actual practice all three stations served both cities through rebroadcast transmitters. As of 2018, however, CKRN is no longer in operation. These unusual situations arise because of the unique circumstances of francophone television stations in Quebec: with virtually no sources for syndicated programming ,
11396-455: The company a nominal "triple-stick" in that market. The two Omni stations in Toronto each serve different segments of the market's multicultural audience, and thus are also permitted under the language exemption. In Montreal, Canwest owned both Global station CKMI and multicultural station CJNT until August 2009, when the latter was sold to Channel Zero . CTV was formerly a part-owner of
11550-574: The demise of E! and the subsequent dissolution of the Global/E! twinsticks. In many major markets, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation operates both CBC Television (English) and Ici Radio-Canada Télé (French) stations, as listed below. Prior to the CBC decommissioning all of its television rebroadcasters in 2012, both networks were available over-the-air in numerous other markets not listed below, but one or both of
11704-537: The earliest CBS programs, including the 1947 debut of Junior Jamboree (later renamed Kukla, Fran and Ollie after it moved to NBC in 1948). Channel 4 originally operated as an independent station , since at the time it was not clear that it would be an affiliate of either CBS or the DuMont Television Network ; eventually, KSD-TV (now KSDK ) in St. Louis became the first television station west of
11858-445: The first African American GM at the station. WBBM-TV later hired African-American journalist Lester Holt (later of NBC News ) to replace Porterfield as evening anchor. Kurtis left WBBM for the second time in 1996. In March 1986, WLS-TV, which had been third for many years, overtook WBBM at number 1. In 1990, WBBM hired Bill Applegate, who had taken WLS to first place as its news director, as general manager. Applegate took Jacobson off
12012-497: The first all-electronic television facility in Chicago. Balaban and Katz was already well known for owning several movie theaters in the Chicago area. To establish the station, the company hired television pioneer William C. "Bill" Eddy away from RCA 's experimental station W2XBS in New York City. When World War II began, Eddy used the W9XBK facilities as a prototype school for training Navy electronics technicians. While operating
12166-465: The first and only station in the Chicago media market to have a 6 p.m. newscast on Saturdays; WLS-TV, WMAQ-TV, and WGN-TV are the three remaining stations in the market to carry syndicated programming and locally produced programming or specials (and occasionally, infomercials) during the 6–7 p.m. hour on Saturdays. It was only temporary however. WBBM-TV launched a streaming news service, CBSN Chicago (now CBS News Chicago) on April 21, 2020, as part of
12320-553: The former Chicago Arena, a renovated 62,000-square-foot (5,760 m), three-story building at 633 North McClurg Court in the Streeterville neighborhood; the property was built in 1924 as a horse stable , and had operated as an ice rink and bowling alley prior to CBS' approximately $ 1.3 million purchase of the building. That year, an episode of What's My Line? originated from the WBBM studios, airing one day prior to
12474-416: The four major broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox), it does not prohibit duopolies involving stations affiliated individually with any two of them, unless both are among the four highest-rated in the market at the time of a sale. As such, several Big Four duopolies exist based on certain market conditions that originally allowed them to be formed under the criteria (such as a company having acquired one of
12628-469: The francophone V network (formerly TQS) in Quebec, meaning that V's owned-and-operated CFJP in Montreal was a partial twinstick with CTV's CFCF for most of the 2000s. CFCF was, in fact, the original owner of TQS, meaning that the stations were once a true twinstick under the language exemption, although the two stations went through very different sequences of ownership changes after 1995. Bell Media,
12782-505: The future because of his aspirations to become a police officer. The portion where the child listed his future career aspirations was not shown during newscasts, which critics say makes the child appear as if he wants to engage in criminal acts in the future. Station management later apologized for the video, saying they have taken steps to make sure the video will not air in subsequent newscasts, and that management have followed up with employees. The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on
12936-420: 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
13090-545: The host broadcaster of the Chicago Marathon , which is held annually in October, taking over from NBC owned-and-operated station WMAQ-TV; to accommodate the telecast, some CBS News programs were preempted or delayed . Marathon coverage returned to WMAQ-TV in 2008. WBBM-TV broadcasts 41 hours, 55 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 hours, 35 minutes each weekday; 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours on Saturdays and 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours on Sundays). In
13244-436: The junior partner, those in which both stations are major network affiliates typically involve a Fox station (which serves as the junior partner in all but a few instances) and an ABC, CBS or NBC affiliate, with some limited arrangements where two Big Three affiliates are jointly owned or managed. One of the few markets where two major network duopolies exist in some form is Jacksonville, Florida , where two companies once owned
13398-507: The largest U.S. media markets . Ownership of television stations with overlapping coverage areas was normally not allowed in the United States prior to 2002, even those that were not duopolies under the present legal definition, by way of being located in separate albeit adjacent markets; this required broadcasters to apply for cross-ownership waivers in some cases to retain full-power stations based in adjacent markets. Non-commercial educational broadcasters, mainly those that were members of
13552-451: The late 1970s, WBBM-TV's newscasts surged past WMAQ-TV for first place; its news department during that time had become one of the most respected local news operations in the country, and was considered a bastion of serious journalism. Led by anchors Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson , weatherman John Coughlin and sports director Johnny Morris , WBBM dominated the news ratings during the late 1970s and early 1980s. At one point, its dominance
13706-463: The late 1990s, when production migrated to the studios of WLS-TV on State Street ). In October 1987, Center City Communications—a locally based investor group led by attorney Brenda Minor—filed a challenge to the FCC's renewal of WBBM-TV's station license . However, in asking the agency not to renew the station's license through 1992, Center City never detailed any specific objections to the station's license renewal, although it had been speculated that
13860-486: The latter company's heads, Allan J. Block, is the chairman of Block Communications. The group is the sole over-air provider of secular network television programming in the Lima market, though area cable systems also carry out-of-market affiliates from Toledo , Columbus and Dayton . As mentioned above, current FCC rules limit the number of radio stations a single entity may own in a certain market. As of May 2020, these are
14014-539: The latter of which signed on in 1991 as a Llano -based satellite of KXAN to serve western portions of the market where reception of that station's UHF signal was impaired by the hilly terrain within the area. Even though KBVO was converted into a separately programmed station in October 2009 (and therefore no longer acts as a KXAN repeater, even by way of a subchannel), the FCC granted Media General permission to acquire its license under an existing satellite waiver during that company's merger with LIN Media in 2014 (without
14168-424: The latter of whom joined WBBM on September 13, 2010, to co-anchor the 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts, where she remained until September 2015 – assumed anchor duties for the program. WBBM's evening newscasts showed significant growth afterward, often battling with WMAQ-TV for second place behind dominant WLS-TV. Weekend morning newscasts returned to WBBM on September 22, 2012; with the relaunch, Ed Curran also returned to
14322-548: The latter stations of which use subchannels of WDJT as its main conduit for full-power carriage). Weigel also takes advantage of digital subchannel broadcasting heavily in addition to MeTV, it also owns MeTV+ , Heroes & Icons , Start TV , Decades , Movies! , and Story Television , all of which air on its stations, in addition to other station groups; the company had also previously executed time share agreements on other subchannels with ethnic broadcasters, and in Milwaukee,
14476-508: The lead roles. On February 2, 2017, CBS agreed to sell CBS Radio to Entercom (now Audacy ), currently the fourth-largest radio broadcasting company in the United States. The sale was completed on November 17, 2017, and was conducted using a Reverse Morris Trust so that it was tax-free. While CBS shareholders retained a 72% ownership stake in the combined company, Entercom was the surviving entity, with WBBM radio and its sister stations now separated from WBBM-TV (though WBBM Newsradio maintains
14630-882: The licenses of the Big Four stations they respectively controlled. In 2000, the Gannett Company , owner of NBC affiliate WTLV , purchased ABC affiliate WJXX , which had struggled in the local ratings since its sign-on in February 1997 (when it took the ABC affiliation from WJKS through a group affiliation deal with the Allbritton Communications Company ) due to its status as a relatively new station and issues with signal interference from PBS station WJCT on its Mediacom cable channel slot. The following year, Clear Channel Communications created
14784-409: The limitations on radio ownership in a certain market, according to the FCC website: Unlike television, there is no limit on the percentage of the population to that an entity may reach. In radio, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) policy generally allows broadcasters to operate no more than three radio stations in any given market, of which no more than two may be on
14938-400: 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
15092-617: The lower facade of the 17-story building (which some residents complained is "tacky and visually hyperactive"). This move coincided with the upgrade of channel 2's newscasts to high definition , making WBBM the fourth television station in the Chicago market to begin broadcasting their newscasts in the format (field footage converted to the format over a period of years); in early 2006, the WBBM radio stations moved into new studio facilities within Two Prudential Plaza on North Stetson Avenue. The former McClurg Court facility building
15246-419: 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
15400-418: The major network stations as a low-rated affiliate of a smaller network prior to an affiliation switch or the ratings of a non-English station placing among the top four over a Big Four network affiliate). While most duopolies are made up of a senior partner that is affiliated with one of the four major networks and an affiliate of a minor network (such as The CW and MyNetworkTV ) or an independent station as
15554-557: The majority of games being carried since then by that network's Chicago O&O WFLD. Presently, WBBM-TV carries Bears regular season games only during weeks in which the team is scheduled to host an American Football Conference (AFC) opponent at Soldier Field in a Sunday afternoon timeslot. However, beginning in 2014 with the introduction of "cross-flex" scheduling (and with it the end of determining broadcast rights by conference), exceptions exist for certain game telecasts that CBS originally held rights to which are shifted to Fox (such as
15708-449: The market had fewer than eight unique owners ). Low-power and Class A television stations are not subject to ownership caps in the United States, as their broadcast signals do not reach as many homes as full-power stations. In areas with high cable television penetration, this distinction is essentially meaningless. LPTV stations were also exempt from digital television transition requirements imposed on full-service broadcasters upon
15862-468: The market, and the stations are normally licensed to serve different communities in the metropolitan market or different programming niches. The stations must also be operated independently of each other, although they are permitted to cross-promote each other's programming. They may also air a very limited amount of common programming, although in practice this privilege is rarely used. Currently, Bell Media operates twinsticks in three major markets, using
16016-497: The market; as such, Los Angeles and San Francisco are the only two U.S. markets which can legally have a true full-power triopoly, though Sinclair owns a legal de facto triopoly in Salt Lake City with CBS affiliate KUTV , independent station KJZZ-TV , and MyNetworkTV station KMYU . The Federal Communications Commission otherwise only permits common ownership of three full-power television stations within one market if
16170-474: The newscast was hailed as a return to quality in-depth journalism in the best CBS tradition at a time when tabloid journalism and " soft news " were becoming the norm in broadcast news. However, plummeting ratings led to the newscast's format being dropped in October after only nine months, with the program reverting to a more traditional late news format. In April 2002, the station eliminated its year-old computer-intensive graphics and "newsplex" studio in favor of
16324-680: The newsmagazine program Chicago Tonight on PBS member station WTTW (channel 11)—were also employed as reporters for WBBM-TV during this period. Parker and Zekman both remained with the station until their respective departures in 2016 and 2020; Drummond also still contributes occasional reports. In 1982, Kurtis left WBBM-TV to join CBS News as anchor of the CBS Morning News ; he was replaced as anchor of WBBM's weeknight newscasts by former WMAQ-TV anchor Don Craig. When Kurtis returned to channel 2 three years later in October 1985, he
16478-416: The official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal moved from pre-transition VHF channel 3 to the current, post-transition VHF channel 12, using virtual channel 2. On October 21, 2014, CBS and locally based Weigel Broadcasting announced that they would partner to launch Decades ,
16632-542: The operation as a virtual duopoly by selling WTEV to shell licensee High Plains Broadcasting (WFOX and WJAX are now respectively owned by the Cox Media Group and Bayshore Television, LLC, but remain under common management through JSA/SSA in which WJAX is the junior partner). The use of digital subchannels has been termed an "instant duopoly," because of the ease by which a single digital station can deliver multiple channels of programming from different networks at
16786-464: The original theme specially written for the station titled "The CBS Enforcer Music Collection", composed by Frank Gari . From 2006 to 2008, WBBM-TV used an updated version of the theme, composed by Frank's son Christian Gari. Following the station's upgrade to high-definition newscasts, WBBM-TV commissioned a new theme ("Heart of the City") composed by inthegroovemusic. On June 21, 2010, with the adoption of
16940-433: The other news staffers employed with WBBM-TV during this period were film critic Gene Siskel ; police and crime reporter John "Bulldog" Drummond; women and consumer issues reporter Susan Anderson; feature reporter Bob Wallace; investigative reporter Pam Zekman ; medical reporter Roger Field; political reporter Mike Flannery; and reporter/weekend news anchor Mike Parker . Bob Sirott and Phil Ponce —who would both later host
17094-530: The other side of Lake Michigan ), which itself broadcast on channel 3. The channel 2 allocation was coincidentally freed up at the same time as the state capital of Springfield was forced to let the allocation relocate to St. Louis, where the allocation was assigned to KTVI . The reshuffling also forced Zenith to shut down KS2XBS, an experimental station on channel 2 in Chicago that the company maintained for its pioneering pay-per-view service Phonevision . In 1956, CBS consolidated its Chicago operations into
17248-584: The owner of CTV, reacquired V in 2020, reuniting CFJP to co-ownership with CFCF. NBCUniversal formerly owned three full-power stations in Los Angeles , NBC owned-and-operated station KNBC , Telemundo O&O KVEA and Spanish language independent station KWHY-TV , before selling KWHY to the Meruelo Group in January 2011. The FCC allows common ownership of three full-power television stations if there are 18 stations that are licensed within
17402-554: The owner of another station in the market, which becomes responsible for handling its programming and advertising sales – and in effect, operations. These are termed as "virtual duopolies" as the station's license is held by one company, while its operations are handled by another. Through a 2014 FCC ruling, joint sales agreements in which the senior partner sells a minimum of 15% of the advertising time for its junior partner are counted toward ownership caps. Some larger broadcasting companies have controversially built business models around
17556-494: The policy is not interpreted as preventing a single company from owning both a "commercial" general-interest station and an educational station in the same market, even if the latter airs advertising, as with Access in Alberta. Although the small and large market exemptions have a financial criterion in common, there are notable differences between the two. A small market twinstick may involve major network affiliates licensed to
17710-467: The practice, by funding the acquisition of stations by what are effectively shill companies or shell corporations ; for example, Sinclair Broadcast Group operates the stations of Cunningham Broadcasting and Deerfield Media under LMAs, JSAs, or SSAs. Nearly all of Cunningham's stock is held by trusts in the name of Sinclair's founders and owners, the Smith family. Similarly, Nexstar Media Group funds
17864-476: 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
18018-426: The purchase of stations by Mission Broadcasting and Vaughan Media , which forms duopolies with their stations through shared services agreements with a Nexstar station. In some cases, the senior partner may acquire a station's physical assets and intellectual property (such as the station's facilities and programming rights), but spin off the license itself to a shell corporation and enter into an agreement to operate
18172-660: The quickly crumbling DuMont as its sole network affiliation. In accordance with the VHF channel allocation realignments imposed by the FCC in its issuance of the Sixth Report and Order , WBBM-TV relocated to channel 2 on July 5, 1953, to eliminate interference with WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and WHBF-TV in the Quad Cities . WTMJ-TV concurrently moved to VHF channel 4—from channel 3—to avoid interference with fellow CBS affiliate WKZO-TV (now WWMT ) in Kalamazoo, Michigan (on
18326-454: The respective stations often being folded into one unit, subject to hiring determinations made by management; anchors and reporters are usually shared between the two stations, though in some cases, certain anchors may be employed to appear only on each station's own newscasts. In some cases (like with WHDH and WLVI in Boston, Massachusetts , when the former's owner Sunbeam Television formed
18480-421: The sales of CHNU and CIIT to S-VOX . Unlike the situation in smaller markets, this type of " consolidation " twinstick had been increasingly common up to the late 2000s, concurrently with the rise of secondary television systems (such as CH/E! and A-Channel) launched by their parent companies to complement their primary networks or systems (such as Global and Citytv). This trend was partially reversed in 2009 with
18634-617: The same community, and is not obligated to provide distinct local news programming on the two stations, while in a large market the stations must be licensed to serve different communities or different programming niches, and cannot merge their news programming into a single operation. Small market twinsticks commonly share their branding across both stations, while twinsticks in large markets generally do not. As well, while small market twinsticks generally involve private affiliates , major market twinsticks are virtually always owned-and-operated stations of their associated networks or systems . In
18788-458: The same radio band — that is, a company may own two AM stations and an FM station, or two FM stations and an AM station, but may not own three AMs or three FMs. However, in major metropolitan markets where a large number of radio stations are already broadcasting, the limit is increased to four stations with a maximum of two on each band. A company may also exceed these limits if it owns stations broadcasting in both English and French; for instance, in
18942-575: The same time. One station can carry four or more standard definition digital channels; multiple high definition feeds typically require too large a bitrate size to be carried on different subchannels of the same station simultaneously without loss of image quality. On November 20, 2017, in its reconsideration order to the Quadrennial Regulatory Review regarding media ownership, the FCC voted to make significant changes, particularly to local television ownership. In its decision,
19096-411: The senior partner is unable to broadcast because of long-form breaking news or severe weather coverage or a locally produced special airing in a scheduled program's normal timeslot, or in the case of certain non-prime time network programs, because the senior partner chooses not to carry it on its regular schedule to carry other scheduled programming. Although the FCC bars common ownership of any of
19250-497: The series of feature reports he began at WBBM in 1977. On November 13, 2009, as main anchor Rob Johnson was away on vacation, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson returned to channel 2 to anchor the 10 p.m. newscast; Jacobson later remained to continue his trademark "Perspective" commentaries. During the November 2009 sweeps period , WBBM-TV's 10 p.m. newscast overtook WMAQ-TV for second place, behind market dominant WLS-TV, and
19404-432: The service areas of the stations do not overlap, or at least one of the stations is not rated among the top four rated stations in the media market. There is no limit on the number of television stations a single entity may own as long as the stations group collectively reaches no more than 39% of U.S. households. Once a duopoly is formed, the acquiring company takes over the operations of its new property. The operations of
19558-519: The simulcast ended in 2024. WBBM-LD (RF 26) signed off April 19, 2017. 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 was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often
19712-425: The sole remaining locally owned twinstick anywhere in English Canada. The aforementioned Télé Inter-Rives is similarly unique in Quebec, although Quebecor holds a minority stake in the company. In the mid-1990s, the CRTC also began to allow private companies operating in large markets to acquire smaller stations. In all such cases, the twinsticks are permitted because a diversity of broadcast voices already exists in
19866-469: The start of the 1956 Democratic National Convention . Between the late 1940s and early 1970s, Columbia Records housed an office and recording studio in the building. On September 26, 1960, WBBM's McClurg Court studios served as the site of the first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon . WBBM-TV also served as production home to the syndicated programs Donahue (from 1982 to 1985) and Siskel & Ebert (from 1986 to
20020-418: The station as meteorologist for the new Saturday and Sunday morning newscasts. Following the station's best ratings turnout on Sunday morning since the introduction of Nielsen's Local People Meters , WBBM expanded its Sunday morning newscast to two hours – with an additional hour-long broadcast at 6 a.m. – on September 22, 2013. On February 17, 2018, WBBM added a 6 p.m. newscast on Saturdays, becoming
20174-434: The station's aforementioned weaknesses in total day ratings since the mid-1990s, WBBM-TV's newscasts are among the lowest-rated out of the news departments operated by CBS' owned-and-operated stations, generally rating fourth among the market's English language stations behind WLS-TV, WMAQ-TV and (particularly with that station's expansion of news programming since 2008) WGN-TV, but still ahead of perennial last placer WFLD; this
20328-401: The station's financial condition improved enough in its post-2011 existence as a Fox affiliate to make it unsuitable for the E. W. Scripps Company – which was in the process of purchasing Journal's broadcasting unit in a deal in which Journal simultaneously merged with Scripps' publishing unit – to acquire it under a renewed waiver, in addition to the fact that it could not acquire it legally as
20482-401: The station, making it the de facto owner, but not the legal owner. Following the purchase, the station's operations and programming are often merged into that of its new parent station. Similarly, a company that acquires an existing legal duopoly that is no longer complies with FCC rules on duopoly ownership may spin off the junior partner station's license to a shell, rather than sell one of
20636-575: The stations are effectively constrained to network programming at virtually all times, meaning that despite being owned by a single company, the stations are still able to meet the guiding principles behind the CRTC's policies on media ownership. As noted above, historically, twinstick operations were locally owned. With the cross-national consolidation of media ownership in Canada, however, most twinstick operations are now owned by major media conglomerates. The Thunder Bay Television stations (CHFD/CKPR) are
20790-578: The stations to a licensee that would also assume operational responsibilities, allowing the restructured duopoly to remain under common operation through a resulting management agreement. In some cases, the use of an adjacent-market city of license has been used on a secondary station to avoid a limit on the number of stations controlled by the same broadcaster in the same market. Occasionally, those arrangements cross international borders. For instance, radio station WLYK in Cape Vincent, New York in
20944-399: The stations, in the form of either same-day repeat airings of programs seen on the one which holds primary rights or separated runs of programs that air on each station, although each station maintains separate syndication inventories as well. The junior partner, unless it is affiliated with a major network, may also be used to carry network (and occasionally, first-run syndicated) programs that
21098-400: 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
21252-461: The tertiary station is licensed under a satellite station waiver (the FCC constitutes a full-power station that is licensed as a satellite as the same entity as its parent station, and therefore does not count them toward market ownership caps). A unique instance exists in Austin, Texas , involving the de facto triopoly of NBC affiliate KXAN-TV , CW affiliate KNVA and MyNetworkTV affiliate KBVO ,
21406-553: The transmitters was a rebroadcaster of a station originating in a different city; these were not usually considered true twinsticks. Nevertheless, both networks continue to be available as part of the basic programming tier on all cable and satellite providers nationwide. In Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary , Rogers Media's acquisition of the Citytv system put those stations in twinsticks with the multilingual Omni Television stations. In Toronto, Omni Television has its own twinstick, giving
21560-461: The two stations are usually consolidated into one facility, depending on the size and age of the facility chosen to house their operations. Since the stations involved in the duopoly are not restricted by FCC law from consolidating their operations, duplicative jobs at one of the stations are often terminated as the consolidation takes effect. News departments are also often consolidated into a singular operation, with anchoring and reporting staffs from
21714-457: The waiver, Media General/LIN would have been forced to sell either KBVO or KNVA, which would not have been viable in any event, since there are not enough unique full-power station owners in the Austin market to permit a second legal duopoly with an owner of one of the market's three English language major network affiliates and neither would have likely had long-term financial survivability as
21868-399: 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
22022-442: The years—from its longtime brand of Channel 2 News to News 2 Chicago in 1997 and later to the present CBS 2 News . The most notable of many changes WBBM-TV has made to its news operation occurred in 2000, when it revamped its 10 p.m. newscast by ditching the traditional news format in favor of a focus on in-depth "hard news" features, a staple of the station's glory days. Anchored by former longtime WMAQ anchor Carol Marin ,
22176-424: Was also apparent in the February 2015 local ratings, with the program earning a 4.3 rating (down a share of 0.7 compared to February 2014). In 2011, the station drew controversy over an interview with a four-year-old child. The interview was conducted by a freelance video stringer in the aftermath of a drive-by shooting, and when the child was asked if he would stay away from guns, the child replied he will get one in
22330-463: Was brought back under common ownership with Paramount Pictures when Viacom —which acquired the studio from Gulf and Western in 1994—merged with (the original) CBS Corporation in a $ 36 billion deal in February 2000. This union was broken up again in December 2005 when Viacom became CBS Corporation and spun off Paramount Pictures and Viacom's cable networks into a separate company that assumed
22484-756: Was demolished over a two-month period from February to April 2009. WBBM-TV moved its news set upstairs to a more traditional studio in September 2017 after an obligation to maintain its main studio in the streetside space for ten years was fulfilled, with CBS eventually removing the LED screen and putting the space up for retail lease in 2019, though with no interest coming in during the COVID-19 pandemic , WBBM-TV returned to using it late in 2020 to allow for wider social distancing of station workspaces. WBBM-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on June 12, 2009,
22638-498: Was enough for a rebound the station to a first-place tie with WLS-TV by 1993. The momentum did not last as Vargas, Avila, Mendte, Stafford and Stensland all left the station within a short time; by the mid-1990s, however, WBBM-TV had fallen to last place. For most of the next decade, WLS and WMAQ fought for first place, while WBBM-TV's news division languished, with its newscasts often trailing syndicated reruns on WFLD. The station has undergone several different on-air branding schemes over
22792-848: Was forced to divest its chain of movie theaters by order of the United States Supreme Court . WBKB played an indirect role in DuMont's demise. At the time, Paramount Pictures owned a stake in DuMont. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that Paramount's holdings were large enough that the studio effectively controlled DuMont. Paramount also owned KTLA in Los Angeles; since DuMont already owned WABD (now WNYW) in New York City, WTTG in Washington, D.C., and WDTV (now sister station KDKA-TV ) in Pittsburgh ,
22946-437: Was produced independently from the news department to allow revenue from endorsements and product placement – was canceled due to low ratings after seven months later, ending on August 27; it was replaced on August 30 by a more conventional morning news program, anchored by former WCBS-TV anchor Steve Bartelstein. In March 2010, Anne State's contract was not renewed, while longtime meteorologist and technology reporter Ed Curran
23100-432: Was relieved of his duties (though he continued to be paid for the remaining 14 months of his contract). Longtime political editor Mike Flannery also left the station after 30 years to join rival WFLD. On September 1, 2010, Kurtis and Jacobson were paired together again as anchors of WBBM's 6 p.m. newscast, where they remained until February 2013, at which time Rob Johnson and former WCBS-TV morning anchor Kate Sullivan –
23254-448: Was so absolute that the station titled its 10 p.m. newscast, THE Ten O'Clock News . Kurtis and Jacobson were first teamed together in 1973 by general manager Robert Wussler and news director Van Gordon Sauter , who introduced a hard news format and began using the newsroom as the set for all of channel 2's newscasts. Kurtis became known for his "Focus Unit" in-depth reports, and Jacobson for his "Perspective" commentaries. Among
23408-441: Was teamed with Craig on the hour-long 6 p.m. newscast; Harry Porterfield , who had co-anchored that newscast for several years, was concurrently demoted to weekend evenings. Porterfield—who is African American—later left to become a reporter and part-time anchor at WLS, but his earlier demotion led Jesse Jackson and his locally based civil rights organization Operation PUSH to begin a boycott of WBBM-TV (at one point, drafting
23562-707: Was the only late newscast to increase its audience share during the first month of 2006. WBBM-TV also finished second from sign-on to sign-off (from 6 a.m. to 2 am), leapfrogging from fourth for its best monthly performance in 23 years. In August 2006, WBBM-TV added Rob Johnson (who had previously served as weekend anchor at WLS-TV beginning in 1998) to co-anchor the 5 p.m. newscast alongside Burns, while Mora and Burns continued to co-anchor at 6 and 10 pm. In May 2007, WBBM-TV slipped to fourth from sign-on to sign-off behind WLS-TV, CW affiliate WGN-TV and NBC station WMAQ, and just barely ahead of Fox station WFLD. Immediately following that, WBBM replaced Antonio Mora on
23716-425: Was the only late-night newscast in Chicago to see a viewership increase over the November 2008 sweeps period. In January 2010, ratings for the 10 p.m. newscast remained in second place, increasing from the previous year from a 4.3 to 6.0 rating. During the February 2010 Nielsen ratings sweeps period, the 10 p.m. news slipped back to third place behind WMAQ due in large part to the latter network's airing of
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