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151-529: Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses [ edit ] Prospect Park (production company) , entertainment production company Prospect Park Productions NZ , theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places [ edit ] New Zealand [ edit ] Prospect Park, New Zealand , a portion of Maori Hill suburb, Dunedin, New Zealand United Kingdom [ edit ] Prospect Park, Reading ,

302-582: A "passive" superstation, asserting a neutral position over United Video's national retransmission of its signal and holding no oversight over national promotion of the WGN signal. (This was in contrast to WTBS, which handled nationalized promotional responsibilities rather than leaving those duties to its satellite carrier, as WGN had done.) This allowed WGN Continental/Tribune Broadcasting to continue paying for syndicated programming and advertising at local rates rather than those comparable to other national networks. Tribune

453-475: A $ 25 million lawsuit against ABC over One Life to Live , alleging ABC failed to honor its part of the licensing agreement. Among the issues named in the lawsuit are allegations of ABC's attempts to sabotage Prospect Park's revival of the soaps by killing off One Life to Live characters loaned to General Hospital , failure on ABC's part to consult Prospect Park on storylines involving One Life to Live characters, and claiming that one One Life to Live character

604-609: A CBS owned-and-operated station) in Dallas – Fort Worth in July 1984 and, after it assumed retransmission rights from Eastern Microwave, KTLA in April 1988. (Although all three were intended for national distribution, WPIX, KTLA and KWGN have primarily been distributed within their respective regions of the United States; Dish Network made them all available nationally for those who subscribed to

755-418: A Copyright Act exemption clause regarding "passive" carriers in the compulsory license statute of Section 111 effectively defined that satellite carriers were not required to seek direct the express permission of a television station or its licensee (such as WGN-TV/WGN Continental Broadcasting) to redistribute out-of-market broadcast signals. Publicly, Daniel T. Pecaro, president of WGN-TV at the time, opined that

906-561: A borough in Passaic County, New Jersey Prospect Park (Troy, New York) Prospect Park, Cameron County, Pennsylvania Prospect Park, Pennsylvania , a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania See also [ edit ] Prospect Park station (disambiguation) Prospect Park Historic District (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

1057-632: A broadcast network focusing on classic television series that Tribune launched on January 1, 2011. During the early 2000s, WGN America acquired sub-run syndication rights to series that had previously aired in their original broadcast runs during the channel's affiliation with The WB, including 7th Heaven , The Wayans Bros. , Sister, Sister and The Parent 'Hood . Between 2006 and 2009, WGN America ran teen- and preteen-oriented sitcoms during mid-afternoon timeslots such as Lizzie McGuire , Even Stevens and Sister, Sister , only for these shows to quickly be moved to overnight graveyard slots (when

1208-485: A broader agreement with Sling parent Dish Network which ended a three-week impasse in which the satellite provider lost access to Nexstar's broadcast stations) and Vidgo (reached on January 14) to expand the channel beyond its existing wireline and satellite distribution footprint, and increase exposure for NewsNation . ( AT&T TV had already carried the channel since October 2019). On January 25, 2021, Nexstar Media Group announced it would relaunch WGN America under

1359-467: A contingency feed to allow United access to WGN programming in the event of any problems with the microwave link-up. Separate national advertising or per inquiry ads also began to be inserted over the satellite feed in place of local advertisements intended for broadcast in the Chicago market (which, with a few exceptions, became exclusively carried by channel 9 locally). This also allowed the station to increase

1510-687: A controlling interest in United Video, eventually expanding its share in the company to an approximate 73% equity and 93% stock and voting interest by January 1998 – and convert it into a basic cable channel (similar to what WTBS had done that same year and similar to Tribune's conversion of WGN America into a basic service that began in 2014). The proposal would have also seen TCI provide additional programming (including library content from distributors through which parent company Liberty Media had held investments) and receive subscriber fees paid by participating cable systems. This proposal ultimately did not yield

1661-415: A conventional cable-originated channel became formal on December 13, 2014, when simulcasts of WGN-TV's Chicago-originated local newscasts, news specials and public affairs programs, special events and sports telecasts (although a simulcast of the first hour of the station's then five-hour-long morning newscast was carried early weekday mornings during the transitional period) immediately ceased being shown on

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1812-494: A de facto national network feed intended for American media markets that did not initially have a local affiliate; this would bide The WB enough time to fill remaining gaps in affiliate coverage in "white area" regions that lacked a standalone independent station following its launch. In exchange, Time Warner agreed to reduce the network's initial program offerings to one night per week (from two) to limit conflicts with WGN's sports broadcasts. The superstation feed, which reached 37% of

1963-413: A deal with World Wrestling Entertainment to broadcast WWE Superstars as an hour-long weekly program on WGN America. The program started airing on WGN America on April 16, 2009, airing on the channel for two years until Superstars was dropped from its lineup after the April 7, 2011, telecast. In April 2010, WGN America announced it would begin carrying Earl Pitts Uhmerikun , a television version of

2114-613: A deal, with Tribune and United Video maintaining stewardship of the national channel. Into the late 1990s, The WB began to expand its local broadcast coverage in American media markets that had previously relied on the WGN national feed to receive the network's programming; it signed affiliation agreements with local broadcast stations (including UPN charter affiliates, leftover independents, former noncommercial stations adopting an entertainment format, and dual affiliations with stations already affiliated with other networks [such as UPN]) within

2265-452: A debt load of around $ 13 billion – making it the largest media bankruptcy in American corporate history – that it accrued from the Zell buyout and related privatization costs as well as a sharp downturn in revenue from newspaper advertising. In April 2009, WGN America underwent another rebrand, with a new retro-style logo (which was updated on July 1, 2010 to a more minimalistic graphic style),

2416-464: A die-cut "S" emblem to represent its superstation status. On April 1, 2007, Chicago-based real estate investor Sam Zell announced plans to purchase the Tribune Company in a leveraged buyout worth $ 8.2 billion, under which Tribune employees were awarded stock and given effective ownership of the company. The transaction and concurring privatization of Tribune was completed upon termination of

2567-485: A former Fox and Discovery Communications executive who joined the Tribune Company in December 2012 – stated that with its new programming strategy, about 50% of participating American multichannel television providers would begin offering WGN America as a conventional cable-originated channel by the end of 2014, with all providers offering it on a higher-end basic programming tier by around 2016. WGN America's conversion into

2718-440: A general news and discussion format in July 2024, as contracts for syndicated entertainment programs held over from the predecessor WGN America service (and originally purchased for the network by Tribune) expired. WGN America traces its origins to WGN-TV , a broadcast television station in Chicago, Illinois that began operating over VHF channel 9 on April 5, 1948 as the second commercial television station to sign on in both

2869-689: A larger amount of shared programming.) Of the four United Video-distributed superstations, WGN was the only one to have its national coverage expand post-Syndex, adding 2.2 million households with cable or satellite service to its total reach by July 1990; some systems also began to swap out New York City-area rivals WPIX and WWOR in favor of offering the WGN superstation feed in the years immediately following that feed's launch as it offered fewer blackout-subjected programs than other affected superstations. The national feed's distribution gradually expanded further to direct broadcast satellite through agreements with DirecTV , Dish Network and Primestar throughout

3020-503: A local-specific media company, and has spun off most of the more national or extraneous assets of companies that it has acquired in the recent past. Following the Tribune purchase announcement, representatives for Nexstar stated that the company would consider the sale of certain "non-core" assets tied to the sale during or after the acquisition process, though it instead decided to wind those non-core operations down, including Zap2It and TV by

3171-624: A majority interest in UVTV – one of three satellite carrier units, along with Superstar/Netlink Group and Netlink USA, that were operated by the company – from TV Guide, Inc. unit of Gemstar–TV Guide (which was refocusing its assets around TV Guide magazine, the TV Guide Interactive interactive program guide platform and the TV Guide Channel) for $ 106 million in cash, shifting responsibility for retransmission, distribution and promotion of

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3322-419: A mix of comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoon shorts and in-studio audience participation games), Ray Rayner and His Friends (a variety show which featured animated shorts, arts and crafts segments, animal and science segments and a viewer mail segment) and Garfield Goose and Friends (a series hosted by Frazier Thomas as the "prime minister" to the titular clacking goose who designated himself as "King of

3473-448: A national basis. On December 15, Tribune reached a carriage agreement with Comcast Xfinity that saw WGN America move from limited to expanded basic tiers effective the following day (December 16) on its systems in Boston , Philadelphia , Washington, D.C., Seattle and Chicago. Despite the reduction in common programming between WGN-TV and WGN America towards the end of their joint existence as

3624-415: A national feed of Chicago independent station WGN-TV , making the station's programming available to cable and satellite providers throughout the United States as the second nationally distributed " superstation " (after Atlanta station WTCG , now operating as the cable -originated TBS , which had become a national service almost two years earlier). It maintained a nearly identical program schedule as

3775-758: A national pay television audience—United Video would later uplink WPIX (now a CW affiliate) in New York City in May 1984; Netlink began distributing KWGN-TV (now a CW affiliate) in Denver in October 1987; and Eastern Microwave began distributing KTLA (now a CW affiliate) in Los Angeles in February 1988 —and the first superstation to be distributed by United Video—with WGN and WPIX being joined by Gaylord Broadcasting -owned KTVT (now

3926-511: A national superstation, the channel's addition to Comcast's Chicago systems marked the first time that WGN America had been available on cable television – instead of just on direct-broadcast and C-band satellite, as had been the case for about two decades – in the home market of its former parent station. The three Tribune-owned superstations that remained, WPIX, KTLA and KWGN-TV, were confined in their remaining U.S. distribution to wired subscription television services to their respective regions of

4077-475: A new five-note sounder (based on the sound ID used by WGN Radio in Chicago), new graphics, a new slogan ("Everywhere America Calls Home"), and the introduction of some original programming to its schedule. The changes were made to increase its cable distribution outside the channel's traditional coverage area and position itself as a general entertainment network that programs to the entire nation, not just Chicago and

4228-673: A nightly basis again – except on certain nights throughout the year to accommodate WGN-TV-produced sports telecasts cleared for national retransmission – once WB programming was dropped. Films were later removed from Sunday nights with the launch of the "Outta Sight Retro Night" block in August 2007, and from Thursday nights between 2009 and 2010 to accommodate original programs such as WWE Superstars . WGN America then relegated its movie telecasts to Sunday afternoons and weekend late nights from September 18, 2010, until prime time films returned on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in May 2013. Until 2012,

4379-558: A park in Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom United States [ edit ] Prospect Park (Brooklyn) Prospect Park (Buffalo, New York) Prospect Park, Pasadena, California Prospect Park (Holyoke, Massachusetts) Prospect Park (Ypsilanti, Michigan) or Pulaski Park Prospect Park, Minneapolis Prospect Park, Mercer County, New Jersey , a neighborhood in Ewing Township Prospect Park, New Jersey ,

4530-700: A personality-based programming in the mid-2010s), MSNBC (which gravitated toward liberal opinion/talk programs beginning in 2008), and Fox News (developed in 1996 with a conservative-leaning format). The program draws partly from the broadcast and digital resources of Nexstar's television stations (including those acquired by Tribune Media, in addition to WGN America, several months prior). During December 2020 and January 2021, Nexstar reached carriage agreements that added WGN America to virtual multichannel television providers YouTube TV (reached on December 1), FuboTV (reached on December 11), Hulu (reached on December 18), Sling TV (reached on December 24, through

4681-433: A revamp may not be fiscally viable, as it would risk piling on additional debt on top of that which Sinclair had already accrued through the spate of station purchases it has made since the 2011 acquisition of Four Points Media Group (estimated at $ 3.268 billion as of March 31, 2017), and the debt it would have assumed through the Tribune deal. Former professional wrestling executive Eric Bischoff spoke in favor of

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4832-476: A rolling news format on June 1, 2024, completing its transition to a 24/7 news network as contracts for the remaining syndicated programs acquired under the WGN America brand that were on its schedule expired. (Immediately prior to the conversion to 24/7 news, Blue Bloods was the sole remaining entertainment program airing on NewsNation.) WGN-TV’s locally produced programming continues to be available through

4983-497: A separate national feed of WGN that featured the WGN-TV-transmitted and separately acquired programs cleared for "full-signal" carriage. However, it continued to run much of the same programs as the Chicago broadcast signal with limited programming differentiation from its parent station for most of the 1990s. (This feed was originally structured similarly to the concurrently launched WWOR EMI Service feed of WWOR-TV, albeit with

5134-571: A service that he launched as President of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Foxnet , which operated from June 1991 until September 2006. The use of WGN as a national relay feed gave The WB an early advantage over the United Paramount Network ( UPN ) – another fledgling network that made its national debut on January 16, 1995, as a joint venture between Chris-Craft/United Television and Paramount Television – which declined to allow

5285-488: A six-year, $ 100 million advertising contract with Gemstar in exchange for selling its stake in WGN to Tribune.) On September 10, 2001, the channel's name was changed to WGN Superstation , in an effort by Tribune Broadcasting to emphasize the channel's national programming prominence; the WGN-TV Chicago signal, meanwhile, continued to use the callsign-only "WGN" branding with the "Channel 9" identification remaining as

5436-479: A sub-brand. On November 11, 2002, the superstation feed underwent another name change, becoming known as Superstation WGN to reflect the strong national standing of the channel; this change coincided with the introduction of the Akzidenz Grotesk "arrow G" logo introduced by WGN-TV at that time (and used until May 15, 2017), which was stylized for the superstation feed's logo design to also incorporate an oval with

5587-471: A superstation into a conventional cable-originated entertainment channel, similar to TBS's transition to a traditional cable channel—albeit in a hybrid form as it continued to relay its programming over its Atlanta parent station for nine years afterward—in January 1998. Ironically, it was the national TBS channel's separation from its parent Atlanta station WTBS (which was concurrently re-called WPCH-TV as part of

5738-425: A three-hour-long prime time newscast, NewsNation . Development of the program began in October 2019, when Nexstar management commissioned research from television subscribers that would determine that a share of survey participants were dissatisfied with opinion-based programming on cable news channels such as CNN (which had previously offered straight news programming within its evening lineup, before shifting into

5889-456: A week until September 1999, the superstation feed filled the 8:00 to 10:00 pm. Eastern Time slot on nights without WB network programming with either sports telecasts from WGN-TV that were cleared for national broadcast – which, as The WB expanded its programming to other nights over a four-year period beginning with the September 1995 launch of its Sunday lineup, would result in pre-emptions of

6040-445: A woman's eyes, designed similarly to the "eye-and-profile" logo scheme used by premium service The Movie Channel from May 1988 until June 1997) went into full-time use on May 26 , 2008. On-air promotions began identifying the channel as WGN America on a limited basis since the beginning of May 2008, although channel IDs using the "Superstation WGN" moniker remained in place during the transitional period. (The logo adopted as part of

6191-513: Is based around the Salem witch trials ), which premiered on April 20, 2014. The network debuted its first unscripted series , Wrestling with Death , on January 13, 2015. Tribune began shifting WGN America's development slate away from scripted content under the stewardship of interim Tribune President/CEO Peter Kern, shortly after he replaced Peter Liguori as head of the company in March 2017, beginning with

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6342-481: Is carried alongside local and, in some areas, non-superstation-structured out-of-market broadcast television stations and public access channels) to the "expanded basic" tiers of cable and other wired multichannel television providers, and forego its longstanding royalty payment structure to adopt a retransmission consent model in future carriage agreements in which Tribune would receive subscriber-based fees from its multichannel television distributors for carriage of

6493-657: The FX Network series Wilfred and the WGN America series, Salem . The music division is divided into the management department, which guides the careers of music artists, and Prospect Park Records, an independent record label which has served as the label home to artists such as Five Finger Death Punch , Korn , and Mindset Evolution . In 2014, it added British chart toppers You Me at Six and New York rapper Azealia Banks to its roster. In 2013, Prospect Park launched its own web channel, The Online Network, with revivals of

6644-570: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted authority to four common carrier satellite relay firms – Tulsa, Oklahoma -based Southern Satellite Systems and United Video Inc. (later United Video Satellite Group), Lansing, Michigan -based American Microwave & Communications and Milwaukee -based Midwestern Relay Company – to uplink the WGN-TV signal to satellite to cable television providers serving various locations throughout

6795-404: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in January 1990 to reduce programming duplication between local and out-of-market television stations carried by local cable systems, and served as the national carrier of The WB (part-owned by WGN-TV founding owner Tribune Broadcasting , which would acquire the national feed from United Video in 2001) during the latter half of the decade. WGN America

6946-554: The NewsNation brand on March 1. The name change coincided with an initial expansion of its news programming to eight hours per day (from six): the revised news schedule was fronted by a splintered expansion of the flagship NewsNation broadcast (adding an hour-long early evening edition, alongside the existing and reduced prime time broadcast, to be reduced to two hours from three) and two host-centered news and interview programs anchored respectively by Joe Donlon (who had been co-anchoring

7097-517: The Northeastern and Western United States (including in select major markets like Pittsburgh and the immediate New York City area ). In May 1995, United Video shifted retransmission responsibilities for the WGN, WPIX and KTLA superstation feeds to its newly incorporated UVTV subsidiary. In 1997, Tele-Communications Inc. and Tribune discussed a proposal to sell a 50% ownership stake in the WGN superstation feed to TCI – which, in January 1996, acquired

7248-633: The Syndication Exclusivity Rights Rule ("SyndEx"), a rule – previously repealed by the agency in July 1980 – that allows television stations to claim local exclusivity over syndicated programs and requires cable systems to either black out or secure an agreement with the claimant station or a syndication distributor to continue carrying a claimed program through an out-of-market station. To indemnify cable systems from potential blackouts, Tribune and United Video began to secure national retransmission rights to certain programs featured on

7399-562: The United States Copyright Office for retransmission of any copyrighted programming over which it held ownership (including news, public affairs, children's and sports programs). Since United Video did not seek the Tribune Company's permission to relay the WGN-TV signal, for many years, WGN and United Video's relationship was described as being "not particularly friendly," going as far as Tribune even attempting legal challenges to stop retransmission of its signal, even though

7550-510: The University of Illinois , DePaul University and Notre Dame University ) as well as Big Ten Conference schools, among other events in aired at various points over the years. The station was also known locally for its lineup of children's programs including Bozo's Circus (which became the most well-known iteration of the Bozo franchise through its local and, later, national popularity, featuring

7701-524: The call sign WGNA – was founded by WGN, Incorporated, the broadcasting subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune Company (owned by Robert R. McCormick , then the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune ), which had also owned local radio stations WGN (720 AM) and WGNB (98.7 FM; frequency now occupied by WFMT ). WGN America and its Chicago-based broadcast television and radio siblings borrow

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7852-629: The communications satellite 's operator, RCA American Communications (now SES after GE's sale of the former RCA Americom, purchased in the aftermath of its parent RCA , to Société Européenne des Satellites), had refused a request to assign it a new transponder unless Satellite Communications Systems (a joint venture between SSS and Holiday Inn ) agreed to dismiss a lawsuit it filed against RCA on October 16 over retaining use of Satcom Transponder 18 after January 1, 1979. On November 9, 1978, United Video Inc. – which stepped in to oversee uplink responsibilities in lieu of Southern Satellite Systems – uplinked

8003-748: The three-letter "WGN" initialism from the " W orld's G reatest N ewspaper" slogan used by the Tribune from August 29, 1911 until December 31, 1976. (The calls were initially obtained by the Tribune in 1924 for use on the former WDAP radio station, which it had then recently acquired from Zenith-Edgewater Beach Broadcasting, by permission of the owners of the then-under-construction SS Carl D. Bradley .) Initial programming on WGN-TV consisted of local newscasts and various other local programs (including children's programs and music series), older feature films and sporting events from Chicago-area professional and collegiate teams (including Chicago Cubs baseball games,

8154-558: The 1970s until the early 2000s via TBS and TNT. Had that been the case, Ring of Honor Wrestling would have been third weekly series to be carried by the network, after WWE Superstars and Ring Warriors . On August 9, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal; concurrently, Tribune filed a breach of contract lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court , alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with

8305-430: The 1990s. (A separate feed of WGN-TV was also uplinked in March 1989 by Netlink – a carrier firm operated by cable television provider Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), which began distributing WGN as part of a satellite program package to C-band dishes in October 1987 – for distribution to home satellite dish owners.) In January 1992, WGN-TV signed an agreement with A.C. Nielsen Co. to provide monthly measurements of

8456-454: The 1999–2000 season, which saw The WB consequently fall to sixth place (behind UPN) in the Nielsen ratings . For similar reasons to those that necessitated the channel's decision to remove WB programming, WGN America also did not carry any programming from The CW when WGN-TV became its Chicago charter affiliate upon that network's September 2006 launch, as that network is widely available throughout

8607-405: The 48 contiguous U.S. states. Southern Satellite Systems – founded in 1975 by Ted Turner and subsequently sold to former Western Union marketing executive Edward L. Taylor to comply with FCC rules prohibiting a common satellite carrier from having involvement in program origination – was the leading contender to uplink the WGN signal for availability to a nationwide audience, intending to make it

8758-772: The Bradley Place studios with WGN Radio until the latter moved its operations to the Pioneer Court extension on North Michigan Avenue in 1986.) In May 1969, the main transmitter was moved to the west antenna tower of the John Hancock Center on North Michigan Avenue. WGN-TV became most associated with its heavy schedule of sporting events, which, in addition to its signature Cubs telecasts, included Chicago White Sox baseball, Chicago Bulls basketball, Chicago Blackhawks hockey, and college football and basketball games from individual regional universities (including

8909-414: The Chicago market and the state of Illinois – after WBKB-TV (channel 4, now CBS owned-and-operated station WBBM-TV on channel 2), which began experimental operations as W9XBK in 1940 and converted into a commercially licensed independent station on September 6, 1946 – and the 19th commercial station to sign on in the United States. The station – which, until January 1948, had initially planned to use

9060-425: The Chicago feed among the initial offerings of its LinearTV over-the-top streaming service.) On June 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm. Eastern Time, Dish Network removed Tribune Broadcasting's 43 television stations and WGN America from its lineup, after the two companies were unable to reconcile terms on renewing their existing carriage contract. WGN America's channel slot was replaced by a duplicate feed of TNT during

9211-460: The Chicago feed—to ensure that the national feed would not face blackout issues. United Video also made contingency plans to put alternative programming on a second satellite to which it could switch to absolve any holes in the WGN-TV national feed's schedule by leasing part-time space for the affected time periods. When the Syndex rules went into effect on January 1, 1990, United Video formally launched

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9362-556: The Chicago station, airing a variety of programming including films, syndicated series , programs intended for local broadcast in the Chicago market (including local newscasts, public affairs shows and children's programs), and sports (including Chicago Cubs and White Sox baseball , Chicago Bulls basketball , and regional collegiate events). By the 1990s, the WGN superstation feed began substituting some syndicated programs (and starting in 1996, selected sporting events) in accordance with syndication exclusivity rules implemented by

9513-591: The Dow Jones service in a manner which resulted in United Video exercising direct control over the content in violation of Section 111(a) (3) of the 1976 Copyright Act and in interference with an agreement between WGN-TV and Albuquerque, New Mexico , cable provider Albuquerque Cable Television Inc. to supply the EPG teletext to subscribers. United Video contended that the Copyright Act's passive carrier rules applied to how it used

9664-625: The FCC and the DOJ over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties, and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell. On December 3, 2018, Irving, Texas -based Nexstar Media Group announced it would acquire Tribune's assets including WGN America for $ 6.4 billion in cash and debt. Nexstar traditionally has structured itself as

9815-597: The Midwest. With the Tribune Company undergoing ownership and management changes following its exit from protracted Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization proceedings on December 31, 2012, under the control of senior debt holders Oaktree Capital Management , JPMorgan Chase and Angelo, Gordon & Co. (a reorganization which also led to the eventual spin-off of the company's publishing division in August 2014 to focus on its broadcasting, digital media and real estate units), Tribune announced plans to convert WGN America from

9966-606: The Numbers . There was a possibility that WGN America and WGN Radio (which would ultimately become the first radio property ever to be owned by the group) would have been sold off, though Nexstar eventually decided to retain and strengthen both properties. The purchase was finalized between the two groups on September 19, 2019. Upon completion of the purchase, Nexstar expanded the responsibilities of WGN America president/general manager Matt Cherniss to include oversight of WGN Radio and Antenna TV . On September 1, 2020, WGN America launched

10117-563: The Sinclair-Tribune deal during a Q&A session on his official Periscope account on March 14, 2018, noting that Sinclair could use WGN America to expand the reach of Sinclair-owned professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor in a similar manner that the Turner Broadcasting System used World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and its predecessors including Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling from

10268-410: The Tribune Company's upstart national syndication unit, Tribune Entertainment . Beginning in the mid-1970s, the WGN-TV signal began to be retransmitted via microwave relay to cable television systems in much of the central Midwestern United States , enabling the station to reach far beyond the Chicago television market and reach areas that lacked access to an entertainment-based independent station. By

10419-525: The Tribune-owned Indianapolis duopoly of Fox affiliate WXIN (channel 59) and CW affiliate WTTV (channel 4, now a CBS affiliate). The program debuted on WGN America on November 3, 2008, originally airing in a standard late night slot, before being shifted to an overnight graveyard slot until the Bob & Tom television broadcast ended on September 13, 2010. On December 19, 2008, Tribune reached

10570-607: The United States (the Pacific and Desert Southwest for KTLA, the Intermountain West for KWGN and the Northeast for WPIX), but remained available nationally through Dish Network, albeit restricted to existing subscribers who purchased its a la carte superstation tier before Dish halted the tier's sale to new subscribers in September 2013. (WGN-TV would regain national availability in the spring of 2015, when Channel Master included

10721-459: The United States via over-the-air broadcast stations and affiliations with digital subchannels and local cable outlets (including through The CW Plus in smaller markets) when that network launched in September 2006. Between 1998 and 2005, the amount of common programming shown on both the Chicago signal and national superstation feeds steadily decreased, an issue that continued well after the WGN America rebrand. Comparatively, approximately 50% of

10872-405: The United States," which is considered to be the longest running puppet show on local television) as well as a robust lineup of feature films (showing as many as four movies – one in the morning, and two to three films per night – each weekday, and between three and six movies per day on weekends). Channel 9 was Chicago's leading independent station for much of the period between the early 1960s and

11023-612: The VBI became the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Tribune Broadcasting against United Video in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that April, alleging that it retransmitted the station's prime time newscast, The Nine O'Clock News (now titled WGN News at Nine ), as well as other WGN-TV programs in a "mutilated and altered" fashion to use profitable teletext content from

11174-415: The VBI, also maintaining that transmitting extraneous material to cable systems did not constitute a public performance and the teletext material was a separate transmission from the copyrighted program since it required a standalone decoder to view it over television receivers. On October 8, 1981, District Court Judge Susan Getzendanner denied injunctive relief to WGN Continental Broadcasting and dismissed

11325-415: The WGN America schedule (such as longtime staples U.S. Farm Report and Soul Train ), primarily due to the Tribune Company dissolving its television production and distribution unit, Tribune Entertainment . The network's on-screen logo bug was revised in late July 2008, to feature the eye-and-profile element of the logo morphing into the "WGN America" text; the eye-and-profile element remained part of

11476-518: The WGN Chicago signal—particularly, local and some syndicated programs as well as sporting events not subjected to league restrictions pertaining to the number of games that could be shown on out-of-market stations annually—and substitute programs not subjected to exclusivity claims—mainly syndicated reruns of recent and older comedy and drama series, select first-run syndicated shows, and acquired theatrical feature and made-for-television films not shown on

11627-425: The WGN branding ran a mixture of entertainment programs (consisting of comedy and drama series, and theatrical feature films) for most of the broadcast day and, beginning in March 2020, a straight-news format —via a daily national prime time newscast, NewsNation —during the evening and early overnight hours. Nexstar relaunched the network as NewsNation on March 1, 2021, eventually converting its entire schedule to

11778-410: The WGN superstation feed to Tribune and effectively transitioning WGN from a "passive" to an "active" superstation, as TBS had been since it was first uplinked in December 1976. (The transaction would be the subject of a 2004 Securities and Exchange Commission securities fraud investigation against co-president Peter Boylan that determined that Gemstar failed to inform investors that Tribune committed to

11929-512: The WGN-TV signal from a satellite relay facility in Monee, Illinois to the Satcom-3 communications satellite for redistribution to cable systems and C-band satellite providers throughout the United States. This resulted in WGN-TV joining the ranks of WTBS to become America's second national superstation and becoming the first of three independent stations to be redistributed on a national basis before

12080-546: The WWOR EMI Service to act as its national carrier despite UPN having similar gaps in its broadcast affiliate coverage initially. The WGN superstation feed accounted for roughly 18% of the national coverage that The WB had at launch, with the rest of the network's initial 62% total reach coming from the 60 broadcast affiliates (including WGN-TV) that were willing to adhere to its reverse compensation plan for prospective affiliates. In some areas where cable systems did not carry

12231-510: The amount of advertising revenue it accrued by charging separate rates for the Chicago-area signal and a higher fee for advertisers purchasing airtime on the national signal, and offering advertisers exclusive commercial avails for either the Chicago-based audience or the national cable audience, or uniform avails for both the national and local audiences. Despite the feed restructuring, most of

12382-500: The announcement. On May 8, 2017, Hunt Valley, Maryland -based Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire Tribune Media for $ 3.9 billion in cash and stock, plus the assumption of $ 2.7 billion in Tribune-held debt. Following the announcement of the purchase, Sinclair CEO Christopher Ripley disclosed plans to reposition WGN America around acquired series and "cost-effective" original programs in an effort to orient

12533-663: The basis of the "Prime Crime" programming block. The first of these licensing agreements was announced on July 31, 2017, when WGN America acquired the U.S. television rights to the Anna Paquin -led Canadian drama Bellevue . This was followed on August 8, when it acquired the U.S. rights to the Canadian crime dramas Pure and Shoot the Messenger and the German-Swedish co-production 100 Code , with proposed American premieres set for

12684-541: The blackout. (The company's broadcast television stations, such as WGN-TV, were replaced with a repeating recorded video message prepared by Dish Network notifying viewers of their removal.) After having its television properties off the satellite provider for 1½ months, Tribune and Dish Network reached a deal to return the Tribune Broadcasting stations and WGN America to the Dish lineup on September 3, commencing hours after

12835-521: The branding overhaul marked the first time that the superstation feed used an on-air logo that did not incorporate the visual branding used by WGN-TV in some capacity, although promotional advertising logos for the national channel used prior to 1993 differed from that of the Chicago signal.) The channel began to slowly revamp its programming lineup, acquiring additional recent and older television series and adding marathon -style blocks of acquired series on weekend mornings. A few shows were also dropped from

12986-401: The cancellation of the drama series Outsiders . When Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its proposed purchase of Tribune Media, Sinclair CEO Christopher Ripley's plans for the channel to focus on "cost-effective" original programs were cited as being based on the assertion that the network's then-current original programming budget was unjustified based on the channel's ratings (while not among

13137-536: The case against United Video, citing that it was not required to carry the station's teletext transmission. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Northern District of Illinois reversed Getzendanner's decision on August 12, 1982, ordering in a narrowly defined ruling that United Video must retransmit WGN-TV's VBI Teletext where the transmission was directly related to and part of the 9:00 p.m. news simulcast. The court pointed out that "purely passive [intermediary]" carriers cannot make any changes or outright remove any part of

13288-405: The channel began to develop original programming – some of which will be produced through Tribune Studios, a production and distribution unit formed in March 2013 to develop syndicated programs that would be seen primarily on Tribune Broadcasting's television properties. On June 4, 2013, WGN America placed a 13-episode order for its first original scripted program, the drama series Salem (which

13439-518: The channel's morning and early afternoon schedule heavily relied on reruns of television series produced between the 1960s and the early 1990s. These programs were also prominently featured as part of the classic sitcom block "Outta Sight Retro Night," which aired Sunday nights (incorporating a one-hour breakaway within the block's designated nine-hour-long time period for the 10:00 pm. Eastern Time simulcasts of WGN News at Nine and Instant Replay ) from August 26, 2007, until September 5, 2010. Some of

13590-475: The channel's shift towards operating as a conventional cable network. Movies formed much of the superstation's prime time schedule for much of its existence until the "Superstation WGN" branding era, though there have been exceptions: fewer prime time movies aired during the week during its four-year run as a cable-only affiliate of The WB from January 1995 to October 1999, particularly as that network's programming expanded to additional nights, with films airing on

13741-500: The companion Kids' WB children's programming block when it debuted on September 11, 1995. Conversely, in the Chicago market, WGN-TV chose only to air the network's prime time lineup, and exercised a right of first refusal to decline Kids' WB to offer a local morning newscast and an afternoon block of syndicated sitcoms aimed at a family audience on weekdays and a mix of locally produced news, public affairs and children's programs as well as paid programs on weekend mornings; this cleared

13892-524: The company's stock at the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on December 20, 2007, at which time Zell formally became the company's chairman and chief executive officer (CEO). The "Superstation" identifier was removed from the cable channel's on-air branding and promotions on May 24, 2008, when it adopted the name WGN America . The new name as well as its accompanying slogan ("TV You Can't Ignore") and logo (an illustration of

14043-430: The copyrighted transmission and that United Video had no grounds to claim exemption from copyright liability as the definition of what the Copyright Act constitutes as a public performance was broad enough to encompass indirect transmission through cable systems that received the WGN satellite feed. In 1985, Tribune Broadcasting began providing a direct microwave relay link of the WGN-TV signal to United Video to serve as

14194-529: The country by that time, would extend the network's initial coverage to 73% of all U.S. households that had at least one television set. The WGN-TV local and superstation feeds became WB charter affiliates when the network launched on January 11, 1995. (In the case of the Chicago signal, this marked the first time that WGN-TV was affiliated with a major broadcast network since DuMont ceased operations in August 1956.) The WGN cable agreement resulted in The WB becoming

14345-505: The early 1990s, although it was briefly overtaken in this distinction from 1979 to 1981 by rival independent WFLD (channel 32, now a Fox owned-and-operated station), which forced WGN-TV parent subsidiary Tribune Broadcasting (previously known as the WGN Continental Broadcasting Company from 1956 until 1981) to initiate efforts to beef up the station's inventory of off-network syndicated programs and add product from

14496-453: The end of 1979: KTVU (now a Fox owned-and-operated station) in Oakland, California was uplinked by Satellite Communications Systems in December 1978 and WOR-TV (now MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station WWOR-TV ) in New York City was uplinked by Newhouse Newspapers subsidiary Eastern Microwave Inc. in April 1979. It was also the first Tribune-owned independent station to be distributed to

14647-544: The end of his initial run as host of NBC 's The Tonight Show that year, intending to use the Tribune television stations as a major distribution arm and WGN America as a national broadcaster of the show. However, in December 2008, NBC reached a deal with Leno for him to host a new prime time talk show to fill the 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time slot on Monday through Friday evenings. (Low national viewership and concerns about its effects on late local newscasts prompted NBC to cancel The Jay Leno Show in February 2010, leading to

14798-450: The fall of 1978, WGN-TV was being distributed to 574 cable systems – covering Western, Central and Southern Illinois and large swaths of Indiana , Wisconsin , Michigan , Minnesota , Iowa and Missouri – reaching an estimated 8.6 million subscribers. On October 26, 1978, one day after the agency implemented an "open entry" policy for transponder resale carriers to feed distant television station signals to cable television systems,

14949-557: The first half of 2018. Bellevue was the first of these licensed series to make their U.S. debut on WGN America, premiering on the channel on January 23, 2018. Pure would not make its U.S. debut on WGN America until January 23, 2019. The network returned to unscripted reality programming with the July 2019 premiere of Dog's Most Wanted , featuring Duane "Dog" Chapman , his wife Beth , and their team of bounty hunters dubbed "The Dirty Dozen", pursuing some of America's most wanted fugitives. In September 2018, WGN America began airing

15100-427: The general logo in all other uses until January 2009, when it was deemphasized in favor of using the channel's wordmark text as the primary logo. In June 2008, Zell and Tribune co-chief executive officer at the time, Randy Michaels , disclosed to the media during a nationwide tour promoting the Tribune properties that the company was interested in producing a late night talk show hosted by comedian Jay Leno , following

15251-428: The impact that the potential of having to phase them out to fulfill network commitments would have on the superstation feed's appeal to cable and satellite providers elsewhere around the United States. Tribune would reverse course on December 3, 1993, reaching a separate agreement with Time Warner to allow WGN-TV to become The WB's charter affiliate for the Chicago market and allow the WGN superstation feed to serve as

15402-444: The implementation of the now-defunct local/national News Central hybrid format in 2003, Sinclair has produced national must-run segments for its stations that have been cited as having a noticeable conservative slant, a major concern levied by Democratic members of Congress, anti-consolidation media activist groups and even some conservatives who were opposed to the deal.) However, Variety reporter Cynthia Littleton noted that such

15553-420: The late 1940s and the first half of the 1950s (including The Al Morgan Show , Chicagoland Mystery Players , The Music Show , They Stand Accused , Windy City Jamboree and Down You Go ). CBS programming moved exclusively to the rechristened WBBM-TV in February 1953, upon completion of that station's sale to CBS by Balaban and Katz Broadcasting , then owned by United Paramount Theatres , which

15704-414: The launch of The WeB.) United Video intended to provide an alternate feed of WGN with substitute programming for markets that had a WB-affiliated station; however, no such measure was taken, creating network duplication in markets where over-the-air WB affiliates were forced to compete with the WGN cable feed. The WGN superstation feed carried The WB's prime time lineup from the latter's launch, and added

15855-529: The launch of the morning news program Morning in America in September 2021, additional news content has gradually been added to the lineup to replace the acquired entertainment shows as the channel's syndication contracts inherited by Nexstar through the Tribune purchase expire. NewsNation switched to all-news programming on weekdays on April 24, 2023, and in the run-up to that year's presidential and legislative elections , formally converted its weekend schedule to

16006-494: The licensing of its soaps to Prospect Park, who intended to continue production of the shows in a new paid online TV and interactive media network . On September 27, 2011, Prospect Park announced that it would produce new episodes of the two daytime soap operas, which would air on its new Internet channel starting in January 2012. On November 10, 2011, it was announced that the relaunch of All My Children had been indefinitely delayed and that Prospect Park would focus solely on

16157-482: The long-running daytime soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children . Later that year it filed a lawsuit against ABC, the licensee of those series, and the Prospect Park Networks division filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2014. The production and music divisions remained unaffected, and in 2015 were positioned as subordinate entities to a reactivated The Firm, Inc. On July 7, 2011, ABC announced

16308-457: The music divisions similarly unaffected. ABC's countersuit was dismissed in October 2016, and Prospect Park's lawsuit was dismissed in December 2016, with the rights to All My Children and One Life to Live reverting to ABC. WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that operated from November 9, 1978 to February 28, 2021. The service was originally uplinked to satellite by United Video Inc. as

16459-459: The national feed due to NBA restrictions on superstation broadcasts. The national feed also used the same on-air branding as the Chicago area signal (which was referred to on-air at the time as either "Channel 9" or "WGN Channel 9") until 1997, when it became known as simply "WGN" outside Chicago (although it retained the varied forms of the WGN logo wordmark until 2008); in print and off-air promotional advertisements, however, United Video marketed

16610-483: The network for "profitable growth," de-emphasizing high-end scripted series from WGN America's programming slate. The deal drove speculation that Sinclair would use WGN America's wide national reach to launch a conservative-leaning cable news rival to Fox News Channel and Newsmax TV over WGN's existing transponder and channel space. (Such speculation had been floated for over a year, dating to its January 2016 purchase of Tennis Channel , driven mainly because, since

16761-620: The network in March 2016 and ended its second season two days after the announcement of Tribune acquisition on May 10, 2017. Reports stated that Underground' s production company/distributor Sony Pictures Television would seek other network and streaming partners to continue the program; WGN announced its decision to cancel the series on May 30. After the network reduced its original programming budget, WGN America focused its first-run programming efforts on scripted programs of reasonably lower production cost, including programs originally developed for international syndication, some of which would form

16912-501: The network to its affiliates in specific markets by this time, on January 27, 1999, Time Warner and Tribune mutually agreed to cease the stopgap WB programming relay over the WGN superstation feed effective that fall. On October 6, when the WGN superstation feed formally stopped carrying WB network programming, Kids' WB programming on weekday mornings and afternoons and on Sunday mornings was replaced with syndicated series, while feature films replaced The WB's prime time programs, resulting in

17063-412: The network's controversial decision to reinstate Leno as host of The Tonight Show one month later, after initial plans to move him to a separate Tonight lead-in led to the resignation of his replacement on that program, Conan O'Brien , and O'Brien's subsequent launch of a new late-night talk show on TBS.) On December 8, 2008, the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection , citing

17214-403: The network's programs until later in the week – or, as with most over-the-air WB affiliates during the network's early years, theatrical feature films acquired via the syndication market. By 1995, the WGN superstation feed was available to about 85% of all American cable systems, reaching approximately 35 million households; however, some distribution gaps remained well into the 2000s in parts of

17365-584: The network. Matt Cherniss was appointed as the first president and general manager of WGN America and Tribune Studios, a new production unit that was formed with the intent of producing some of the network's original content, on March 19, 2013. Salem and WGN America saw a major promotional push that commenced with Fox's broadcast of Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2, which saw part of their local advertising time on Tribune Broadcasting's fifteen Fox-affiliated stations (including those located in Seattle and Denver ,

17516-628: The next several years: the first heaviest concentrations developed in the Central United States (where WGN's telecasts of Chicago Cubs baseball, Chicago Bulls basketball and The Bozo Show became highly popular) and gradually expanded to encompass most of the nation by the mid-1980s. United Video initially charged prospective cable systems 10¢ per subscriber to receive the WGN-TV signal, the same rate Southern Satellite Systems charged for 24-hour-a-day retransmission of WTBS. WGN Continental Broadcasting and station management originally treated WGN-TV as

17667-517: The only local sports franchise to have aired consistently on the station from launch until the station's broadcasting relationship with the Cubs concluded in September 2019). By the end of 1948, network programs from CBS (later shared with WBKB-TV, beginning in September 1949) and the DuMont Television Network joined the schedule; WGN served as a production hub for several DuMont programs during

17818-499: The original president of and would hold a minority ownership stake in The WB). Tribune committed six of the seven independent stations it owned at the time to become the network's charter affiliates ; however, it initially exempted the WGN-TV Chicago signal from the agreement, as station management had expressed concerns about how the network's plans to expand its prime time and daytime programming would affect WGN's sports broadcast rights and

17969-454: The prime time NewsNation since its premiere and remained with the relau network until 2022) and Ashleigh Banfield ; former CNN host Chris Cuomo would later join NewsNation as a prime-time host in July 2022. NewsNation continued to maintain a reduced schedule of entertainment programs acquired by the channel under the WGN America moniker in daytime and select overnight slots; beginning with

18120-485: The programs seen on WGN consisted of those originating on the Chicago feed that was cleared for "full-signal" carriage by the national feed; this proportion of common programming dropped to around 30% by 2005 through the prior removal of WB programming and the overall schedule beginning to rely more on programs acquired specifically for national carriage as syndicators increasingly insisted on exclusivity protection for their series and film packages and were unwilling to license

18271-452: The programs shown as part of the block – which included series such as WKRP in Cincinnati , Newhart , ALF , Barney Miller and The Honeymooners – had previously aired on WGN prior to the re-implementation of Syndex, or even after the rules went into effect on the Chicago signal or/and the superstation feed. (Tribune Broadcasting later included some of these shows on Antenna TV ,

18422-493: The provider's a la carte superstations tier prior to its decision to halt its sale to new subscribers in September 2013 , while Netlink initially distributed KWGN as part of its "Denver 5" out-of-market package for C-band and 4DTV subscribers.) By the end of its first week of national availability, the WGN-TV signal had become available to approximately 200 additional cable television systems nationwide, reaching approximately 800,000 subscribers. That cable reach would grow over

18573-551: The radio commentary series created by Gary Burbank . Burbank – whose segments as the "middle American" archetype character began airing on the channel that same month – had long maintained a close relationship with certain executives working at that time for the Tribune Company, who approached him about bringing the segments to television. The commentary was aired in the form of a series of 90-second segments that aired on WGN America until November 2011, usually during simulcasts of WGN-TV newscasts. As part of WGN America's restructuring,

18724-445: The relaunch of One Life to Live . On November 23, 2011, Prospect Park suspended its plans altogether to launch an online channel with All My Children and One Life to Live . A year later, it was announced the plans were revived. On January 7, 2013, it was confirmed via press release that Prospect Park's The Online Network would launch and that All My Children and One Life to Live would serve as anchor programming. Production of

18875-440: The restructuring of the two services) on October 1, 2007, that resulted in WGN America becoming the last remaining American superstation to be distributed nationally through cable television systems as well as satellite and other types of multichannel subscription television providers. Plans called for WGN America to incorporate scripted original programming, to migrate from "limited basic" (or "lifeline") programming tiers (where it

19026-490: The rights to higher-profile syndicated programs to the superstation feed, believing that it would be more lucrative to license those programs to individual stations. On July 12, 2000, Gemstar International Group Limited acquired TV Guide, Inc. (which United Video Satellite Group renamed itself following its 1999 purchase of TV Guide magazine from News Corporation ), subsequently changing its name to Gemstar–TV Guide International . In April 2001, Tribune Broadcasting purchased

19177-651: The schedule. Channel 9 originally maintained studio and transmitter facilities at the Chicago Daily News Building , on West Madison and North Canal Streets in downtown Chicago , before relocating to WGN Radio's main facility at the Centennial Building annex of the Tribune Tower on North Michigan Avenue in the city's Magnificent Mile district, which was refurbished to accommodate the television station, on January 25, 1950. The channel 9 transmitter

19328-401: The second American broadcast television network to use a cable-originated service to provide extended coverage in designated "white areas" without over-the-air affiliate clearances, and one of three network-to-cable undertakings stewarded by Jamie Kellner. As The WB was under development, Kellner was in process of developing The WeB, a proposed national WB cable feed for smaller markets based upon

19479-449: The second independent station that the company distributed via satellite, after Turner's Atlanta, Georgia , independent station WTCG (soon WTBS), which SSS began redistributing to American cable and satellite systems in December 1976. However, in a memo released to provider clients on October 30, 1978, Taylor announced that Transponder 13 of Satcom 1 (which SSS had assigned to beam the signal to participating providers) had failed and that

19630-457: The series again. On March 10, 2014, Prospect Park Networks announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while it continued its lawsuit against ABC. ABC subsequently filed a countersuit seeking unpaid licensing fees. TOLN was dissolved later that year. The Firm, Inc. was reactivated in August 2015, with Prospect Park Productions as a subordinate entity continuing to produce its series, including Royal Pains and Salem , and

19781-490: The service as "WGN, The Chicago SuperChannel" (from 1982 to 1987) and later, on an alternative basis, "WGN/UV" (from 1987 to 1993). On February 10, 1981, WGN-TV began using the satellite feed's audio subcarrier signal to transmit programming schedules delivered to the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) service (later Prevue Guide and now the entertainment-based Pop , and operated by United Video's Trakker Inc. unit at

19932-537: The show's target audiences are usually not awake) and then removed from the channel entirely shortly afterward. This was likely due to the restructuring of Tribune's television division and a distribution agreement with the Disney Channel that proved too expensive to maintain. On August 21, 2008, WGN America announced a partnership with Indianapolis radio station WFBQ to broadcast a televised version of The Bob & Tom Show radio program, originally produced for

20083-430: The shows resumed on February 25, 2013. The soap operas premiered with new 30 minute episodes on Hulu , Hulu Plus and iTunes on April 29, 2013. TOLN also produced a series of behind the scenes promotional "episodes" called MORE All My Children and MORE One Life to Live , as well as a radio talk show centered on the programs, called TOLN SOAPS Live with Michael Fairman . On April 18, 2013, Prospect Park filed

20234-399: The shows viewable over WGN-TV in the Chicago area continued to air nationally over the satellite signal. In July 1987, United Video began transmitting the WGN superstation feed in stereo; all WGN-TV-produced programming was made available to participating systems in the format, while other programming was initially transmitted in synthesized stereo audio. On May 18, 1988, the FCC reinstituted

20385-423: The station was "very honored [it was] selected" by United Video and the three other carriers granted redistribution but noted that the station would "continue to serve our Chicagoland communities." For about eleven years afterward, the national WGN-TV signal carried the same programming schedule as that seen in the Chicago area, except in instances where Chicago Bulls basketball games were prohibited from airing on

20536-473: The station's national audience (separate from its ratings tallies for its Chicago viewership) through Nielsen's cable network measurement service. On November 2, 1993, Time Warner announced the formation of The WB Television Network , a venture developed in partnership with the Tribune Company (which, prior to acquiring an 11% interest in August 1995, was a non-equity partner in the new network) and former Fox network executive Jamie Kellner (who would serve as

20687-521: The station’s website as a 24-hour livestream, accompanied by rebroadcasts of its newscasts and non-news local shows outside of live programming hours. Nexstar exempted WGN-TV—along with KTLA and KRON-TV / San Francisco —from a 2023 corporate mandate requiring most of the group's stations to begin streaming all local programming on a two-hour delay from their initial live broadcast, in an attempt to maintain leverage with pay television providers in carriage negotiations. For much of its post-Syndex existence as

20838-609: The superstation feed and maintenance of a local WB affiliate was not yet possible, satellite distribution was the only way viewers could see the network's programming over WGN. (The WGN national feed served as the default WB affiliate for residents in 152 markets and the entirety of 21 U.S. states— Alaska , Arkansas , Delaware , Idaho , Iowa , Kansas , Maine , Mississippi , Montana , New Hampshire , New Mexico , North Dakota , Oklahoma , South Carolina , South Dakota , Tennessee , Vermont , Washington , West Virginia , Wisconsin and Wyoming —at varying periods of time up through

20989-656: The superstation feed of WGN-TV/Chicago, many of these programs were cleared by television syndication distributors for "full-signal" rights, therefore allowing them to air on WGN America as they do not fall under syndication exclusivity regulations (for example, although How I Met Your Mother is syndicated to other television stations nationwide, including WGN-TV, it is allowed to air on WGN America due to its clearance by 20th Television for "full-signal" carriage). However, in 2013, WGN America began to acquire exclusive cable rights to programs eligible for syndication (such as Person of Interest and Parks and Recreation ) as part of

21140-405: The superstation's schedule more so resembling an independent station than a general entertainment cable network due to the presence of local programming from WGN-TV. The removal of WB programs from the superstation feed reduced The WB's potential audience by 10 million households, and was cited as the reason behind an estimated 19% decline in the network's season-to-season household audience for

21291-442: The time) in a 2400 bit/s data stream over the satellite feed's vertical blanking interval (VBI) to local cable providers receiving the schedule information to the EPG's proprietary computer units. However, despite being notified that WGN would be conducting tests of the programming information teletext , United Video chose to substitute the material with teletext content from its Dow Jones business news service; its repurposing of

21442-610: The title Prospect Park . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prospect_Park&oldid=1250666209 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Prospect Park (production company) The production company produced USA Network television series Royal Pains , as well as

21593-445: The top 25 highest-rated cable networks, WGN America's viewership had gradually increased since the introduction of original scripted series, posting its highest monthly ratings in March 2017, during which it total viewership averaged 446,000 viewers and viewership among adults ages 25 to 54 totaled at 157,000). Ripley's statement immediately put into question the future of the slavery -era period drama Underground , which premiered on

21744-400: The top-100 media markets after its launch, while coverage in the 110 smallest markets was achieved through the September 1998 launch of The WeB (subsequently renamed The WB 100+ Station Group ), a packaged feed of WB network and syndicated programs provided to participating cable-based affiliates. With local availability becoming less of an issue and with exclusivity protections being granted by

21895-600: The two cities whose local NFL franchises – the Seahawks and the Broncos , respectively – played in the game) being used to run an extended promotional ad for Salem , followed by further promotion on other Tribune-owned/operated local television stations in the lead-up to the show's April 20 premiere. In a May 2014 symposium at the MoffattNathanson Media & Communications Summit, Tribune President and CEO Peter Liguori –

22046-472: The way for Weigel Broadcasting to cut a separate deal to air Kids' WB programs locally over group flagship WCIU-TV (channel 26, now a CW affiliate), an independent station that ran the block Monday through Saturdays from September 1995 until WGN-TV began clearing the block on its schedule in September 2004. As The WB's initial program offerings ran on Wednesdays for its first nine months of operation and its prime time schedule would not expand to six nights

22197-589: Was actually a General Hospital character. On June 6, 2013, production of both shows was halted due to a labor dispute with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees labor union, which was resolved two months later. On September 3, 2013, Prospect Park announced production of All My Children and One Life to Live would be suspended until the lawsuit with ABC was resolved. On November 11, 2013, several All My Children cast members announced that Prospect Park had closed production and canceled

22348-541: Was also not directly compensated by United Video for their retransmission or promotion of WGN's signal, though under compulsory license provisions applying to out-of-market stations through the Copyright Act of 1976 (further defined through the formation of the Copyright Royalty Tribunal in 1982), WGN-TV did receive royalty payments made by cable and satellite systems retransmitting the national WGN feed to

22499-474: Was converted into a conventional basic cable network in December 2014, adding scripted original programs and removing WGN-TV's local programs from its schedule as well as making the network available on cable and satellite providers within the Chicago market. Nexstar Media Group acquired WGN America as part of its 2019 purchase of most of Tribune's assets, becoming the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated network. The channel in its final form under

22650-403: Was in the process of merging with ABC and acquiring, by association, WENR-TV (channel 7, now WLS-TV ). This left WGN-TV with the faltering DuMont until that network completed its operational wind-down in August 1956, at which time it became an independent station; at that time, off-network syndicated reruns (such as The Cisco Kid , Our Miss Brooks and My Little Margie ) were added to

22801-591: Was moved to the Prudential Building on East Randolph Street and North Michigan Avenue in January 1956. The station moved to a proprietary studio facility at the 95,000-square-foot (2.2-acre) WGN Mid-America Broadcast Center (later renamed the WGN Continental Broadcast Center and now simply referred to as WGN Studios) on West Bradley Place in Chicago's North Center community in June 1961. (It shared

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