WBBM-TV

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WBBM-TV
CBS2 Chicago.PNG
Chicago, Illinois
City of license Chicago
Branding CBS 2 HD (general)
CBS 2 News (newscasts)
Slogan Original Reporting
Channels Digital: 12 (VHF)
Virtual: 2 (PSIP)
Translators 26 (UHF) Chicago
(construction permit)
Affiliations CBS
Owner CBS Corporation
(CBS Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date September 6, 1946 (1946-09-06)
Call letters' meaning World's Best
Battery Maker
(referring to H. Leslie Atlass, founder of WBBM radio)
also for:
We Broadcast
Better Music
(former alternate slogan of radio sister)
Sister station(s) WBBM, WBBM-FM, WCFS-FM, WJMK, WSCR, WUSN, WXRT
Former callsigns WBKB (1946-1953)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
4 (VHF, 1946-1953)
2 (VHF, 1953-2009)
Digital:
3 (VHF, 2003-2009)
Former affiliations Paramount Television Network (1949-1953)
Transmitter power 8 kW
Height 497 m
Facility ID 9617
Transmitter coordinates 41°52′44″N 87°38′8″W / 41.87889°N 87.63556°W / 41.87889; -87.63556
Website www.cbschicago.com

WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 (digital channel 12), is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.

Contents

History [edit]

Early years [edit]

WBBM-TV traces its history to 1940 when Balaban and Katz, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, opened experimental station W9XBK, the first all-electronic television facility in Chicago. Balaban and Katz was already well known for owning several theaters in Chicago. To establish the station, they hired television pioneer William C. (Bill) Eddy away from RCA’s experimental station W2XBS in New York. When WWII began, Eddy used the W9XBK facilities as a prototype school for training Navy electronics technicians.[1] While operating the Navy school, Eddy continued to lead W9XBK and wrote a book that defined commercial television for many years.[2]

On September 6, 1946,[3] the station received a commercial license as WBKB (meaning Balaban and Katz Broadcasting) on channel 4, the first commercial station outside the Eastern Time Zone, airing some of the earliest CBS programing but the station was originally independent, including the debut in 1947 of Junior Jamboree (renamed Kukla, Fran and Ollie after moving to NBC in 1948). Starting in 1948, WBKB shared the CBS affiliation in Chicago with WGN-TV (channel 9). Balaban and Katz became part of United Paramount Theatres in 1950, a year after Paramount was forced to divest its chain of movie theaters by order of the United States Supreme Court.

WBKB played an indirect role in the demise of the DuMont Television Network. Paramount owned a stake in DuMont, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considered WBKB a DuMont owned and operated station even though WGN-TV was Chicago's DuMont affiliate. Paramount also owned KTLA in Los Angeles. As DuMont already owned WABD (now WNYW) in New York, WTTG in Washington and WDTV in Pittsburgh (now sister station KDKA-TV), the FCC's decision meant DuMont could not acquire any more stations. Paramount even launched a short-lived "Paramount Television Network" in 1949, with KTLA and WBKB as its flagship stations.[4][5] The programming service never gelled into a true television network.

Joining CBS [edit]

In 1953 United Paramount Theaters, then-owner of WBKB, merged with ABC, who already owned WENR-TV (channel 7). As the newly merged entity could not keep both stations under FCC regulations of the time, WBKB's channel 4 license was sold to CBS for $6.75 million.

On February 12, one day after the merger took effect, channel 4 took the WBBM-TV call letters (after WBBM radio, which CBS has owned since 1929). The WBKB calls subsequently were taken by ABC's channel 7, the former WENR-TV; that station was renamed WLS-TV in 1968. In addition, all CBS programming that had been airing on WGN-TV was moved to the new WBBM-TV, after a two-month cancellation clause, leaving WGN-TV with the quickly crumbling DuMont as its only network affiliation.

As a result of the FCC's recent Sixth Report and Order, WBBM-TV moved to channel 2 on July 5, 1953 to eliminate interference with WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.[6] WTMJ-TV moved to channel 4 from channel 3 to avoid interference with Kalamazoo, Michigan's channel 3 (then WKZO-TV, now WWMT). The channel 2 allocation was opened up coincidentally at the same time because Springfield was forced to let the allocation relocate to St. Louis, Missouri to be used by KTVI. The cross-lake WKZO/WWMT would come back to haunt WBBM-TV again during the DTV age.

The WBBM-TV Studios at Washington Blvd and Dearborn St, across from Daley Plaza.

In 1956, CBS consolidated its Chicago operations into a renovated arena on North McClurg Court, where the television station remained until September 21, 2008. WBBM-TV then moved to its new facilities in the "Block 37" studio. This move coincided with the debut of channel 2's newscasts in high definition, making them the fourth Chicago television station to do so (early in 2006, the WBBM radio stations moved into new studios within Two Prudential Plaza). The McClurg Court studio building was demolished over a two-month period from February to April 2009. Only the studio cameras shoot in high definition; the remote field footage is shot in 16:9 standard definition widescreen.

In 1956, an episode of What's My Line? originated from the WBBM studios, one day prior to 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. In 1960, WBBM's McClurg Court studios were the site of the first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. WBBM-TV also served as production home to syndicated programs Donahue from 1982–85 and Siskel & Ebert from 1986 to the late 1990s.

Recent history [edit]

For most of the time since the mid-1990s, WBBM has been one of CBS's weakest owned-and-operated stations, generally rating behind WLS-TV, NBC-owned WMAQ-TV (channel 5) and at times behind WGN-TV and Fox-owned WFLD-TV (channel 32), despite the popularity of CBS's daytime and prime-time shows. The station made some viewership gains during 2009 but has generally remained in third place in the local viewership ratings, partially due to its digital signal on low-VHF channel 3, that was lower-powered than other full-power Chicago stations so it wouldn't interfere with the analog signal of WWMT in Kalamazoo (the same station that indirectly forced the channel change from 4 to 2 in 1953.)

In May 2007, WBBM-TV filed a last-minute request with the FCC to broadcast its post-transition digital signal with high power on channel 12, after analog shutdown in June 2009. The station has filed a request to run 13.8 kW at 520 m above ground level from the Sears Tower. As of the digital transition, WBBM is one of only three CBS O&Os (and the only full-powered Chicago station) to broadcast on the VHF dial (the other two are KTVT in Fort Worth and WJZ-TV in Baltimore); however, one of these three (KTVT) has been granted FCC approval to permanently move to a UHF frequency due to reception problems which adversely affected viewership.

Digital television [edit]

As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion was completed, WBBM-TV shut down its analog transmitter and channel 3 pre-transition digital transmitter on June 12, 2009. The station's digital broadcasts continued on channel 12. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers continue to display WBBM-TV's virtual channel as 2.1.

Currently, WBBM-TV is the only "full-power" VHF digital television station in Chicago (as it was prior to the June 2009 digital transition). WBBM-TV's rival station, WLS-TV, was the other station to operate its full-power operations on VHF until the station moved its full power operations to the UHF dial in order to alleviate reception problems and keeping its VHF allotment as a digital fill-in translator on October 31, 2009.

Some viewers have had trouble picking up VHF signals since the June 12 transition, so a low-power analog nightlight was airing the newscasts.[7] In addition, WBBM-TV has applied for a construction permit to build a low-power fill-in repeater on UHF channel 26 (formerly the analog home of WCIU-TV).

However, the FCC notified WBBM that the channel 26 allocation would interfere with W25DW and gave WBBM 30 days as of April 1, 2010 to address the issue or have the application dismissed.[8] WBBM has applied for a low-powered digital repeater on channel 26 (former analog home of WCIU-TV). It applied only for a repeater on that channel and not a full-powered signal move (as WLS-TV did when it moved its digital signal to channel 44 to avoid problems receiving VHF digital signals on antennas that generally are tuned to UHF signals). On January 18, 2012, the FCC granted WBBM-TV a construction permit.[9]

News operation [edit]

WBBM newscast title card; seen nightly at 10

In the late 1970s, WBBM-TV surged past WMAQ-TV for first place in the Chicago news race. It became 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 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At one point, its dominance was so absolute that it called its 10 p.m. newscast simply 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 newscasts. Kurtis became known for his "Focus Unit" in-depth reports, Jacobson for his "Perspective" commentaries. Among the others who were known for their work with WBBM-TV in 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, later hosts of the WTTW program Chicago Tonight, were also reporters for WBBM-TV during this period. Zekman and Parker are still on WBBM-TV, and Drummond also still contributes occasional reports.

In 1982, Kurtis left WBBM-TV to anchor the CBS Morning News in New York and was replaced by Don Craig, formerly of WMAQ-TV. When Kurtis returned three years later, he was teamed with Craig for the hour-long 6 p.m. news, and Harry Porterfield, who had been the co-anchor of that newscast for several years, was demoted to a weekend shift. Porterfield later left for WLS, but the Rev. Jesse Jackson began a boycott of WBBM-TV after Porterfield, who is African-American, was demoted. WBBM-TV later hired African-American news anchorman Lester Holt, later of MSNBC to replace Porterfield. Kurtis left WBBM for the second time in 1996.

In March 1986, WLS-TV, which had been a strong third for many years, overtook WBBM for the lead. In 1990, WBBM hired Bill Applegate, who had taken WLS to first place as news director, as general manager. Applegate took Jacobson off the anchor desk (Jacobson eventually left for WFLD in 1993) and made the newscasts much flashier than they had previously been; the reporting staff during this time was impressive. It included Elizabeth Vargas (now at ABC News), Rob Stafford (now at WMAQ-TV), Jim Avila (now at ABC), Larry Mendte (most recently a main anchor at CBS-owned KYW-TV in Philadelphia) and Dawn Stensland (a former 10 p.m. anchor at Fox-owned WTXF in Philadelphia). They were on the streets in addition to Jay Levine, Mike Parker and Pam Zekman. It was enough for a rebound to a first-place tie with WLS-TV by 1993. The momentum did not last as Vargas, Aliva, Mendte, Stafford and Stensland all left the station within a short time. By the mid-1990s, WBBM-TV had crashed to last place. For most of the next decade, WLS and WMAQ fought it out for first, while WBBM-TV's once-proud news division often trailed syndicated reruns on WFLD. The station has gone through several different on-air branding schemes—from its longtime brand of Channel 2 News to the present CBS 2 News. A good example of this is in 2002, when the station eliminated its year-old computer-intensive graphics and "newsplex" studio in favor of a simpler studio and corresponding graphics set.

In 2002, Diann Burns, former anchor at WLS-TV and Antonio Mora, news reader from Good Morning America, became WBBM's new main anchor team. In January 2006, WBBM-TV passed WMAQ for second place at 5 p.m. While still far behind WLS, it was WBBM-TV's best finish at 5 p.m. in 13 years. It was still in last place at 10 p.m., but was the only late newscast to gain audience share in the first month of the new year. WBBM-TV also finished second sign-on to sign-off (from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.), leapfrogging from fourth for its best monthly performance in 23 years. In August 2006, WBBM-TV added Rob Johnson as co-anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast alongside Burns, while Mora and Burns still co-anchored at 6 and 10. Johnson previously worked at WLS-TV as weekend anchor starting in 1998. 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 (in descending ratings order), and just barely ahead of Fox station WFLD.

Immediately following that, WBBM made more anchor changes, replacing Antonio Mora on the 10 p.m. newscast with Rob Johnson. Mora continued as co-anchor of the 6 p.m. newscast and host of Eye on Chicago. Mora left WBBM-TV in January 2008 to co-anchor evening newscasts at CBS O&O WFOR-TV (channel 4) in Miami, Florida. Johnson then added the 6 p.m. newscast and Eye On Chicago program to his duties.

On March 31, 2008, it was 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 would no longer be with the station. Also that month WBBM hired Ryan Baker from WMAQ-TV to serve as Sports Director.

In September 2008 WBBM moved its entire operation from McClurg Court to a state-of-the-art High Definition broadcast facility at Block 37 in the Loop.

In October 2008 Bruno Cohen was hired to replace Joe Ahern as General Manager. A month later Carol Fowler left the station and later ended up as News Director at WFLD-TV. In January 2009 Jeff Kiernan was hired as News Director.

On April 30, 2009, WBBM-TV laid off more employees. Along with the layoffs, WBBM-TV canceled its weekend morning newscasts, Eye On Chicago, and restructured its weeknight 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts at that time to use Rob Johnson as a solo anchor.[10][11] With their 10pm newscast committed to enterprise reporting, the that newscast began year to year growth that continues to this day.

Harry Porterfield returned to WBBM-TV with a very warm welcome[citation needed] after 24 years at WLS-TV on August 3, 2009 to anchor the 11 a.m. news with Roseanne Tellez, and also to continue "Someone You Should Know", the series he began at WBBM in 1977. On November 13, 2009, as main anchor Rob Johnson was away, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson returned to the anchor desk to anchor the 10 p.m. newscast; Jacobson has since remained to continue his trademark "Perspective" commentaries.

At the conclusion of the November 2009 Nielsen Ratings sweeps period, WBBM-TV's 10 p.m. newscast overtook WMAQ-TV for second place. WLS-TV continues to dominate the local newscast ratings in the Chicago market; however, it should be noted[according to whom?] that WBBM-TV's 10 o'clock newscast was the only late-night newscast in Chicago to see an increase in viewership over the same ratings period the previous year.[12]

For January 2010 ratings period, the 10 p.m. newscast scored a 6.0 rating, up from a 4.3 the previous year.[13] That was good enough to remain in second place, although WMAQ showed signs of a recovery from its November 2009 swoon. But 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 the 2010 Winter Olympics. By May 2012, WBBM-TV's 10pm newscast finished second to WLS. However, WBBM-TV's morning program is still trying to gain traction.

In March 2010, Anne State's contract was not renewed making her a free agent, along with longtime meteorologist and technology reporter Ed Curran who was relieved of his duties but was still being paid for the remaining 14 months of his contract.[14] Also that month, it was announced that longtime political editor Mike Flannery would be leaving the station he has called home since 1980 to join rival WFLD-TV.[15]

On July 29, 2010, WBBM announced the reunion of Kurtis and Jacobson on the 6 p.m. broadcast beginning September 1. They also announced the hiring of WCBS morning anchor Kate Sullivan as Johnson's co-anchor at 5 and 10 p.m., effective September 13.[16] WBBM's 5,6,& 10pm newscasts have shown significant growth since then, often battling with WMAQ-TV for second place behind dominant WLS-TV.

In August 2012, the station announced Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson would anchor the 6pm news until February 2013 at which time Rob Johnson and Kate Sullivan would take over those anchor duties.

In September 2012, Bruno Cohen accepted the General Manager position at KPIX-TV in San Francisco. WGN-TV General Manager Marty Wilke left Channel 9 to take the same position at CBS 2. That same month, CBS 2 began airing weekend morning newscasts once again, anchored by Marissa Bailey, with Ed Curran returning to CBS 2 to handle the weather forecasts.

"The Enforcer" [edit]

In 1975, Chicago jingle composer Dick Marx wrote a theme for WBBM-TV based on the folk song, "I Love Chicago, Chicago My Home", which was written by Chicago folk singer Tary Rebenar. This theme, known simply as "Channel 2 News", became very popular in Chicago during WBBM-TV's glory days. WBBM-TV has used this theme and several variations on it for all but six years since then. The tune has also been adopted by several other stations across the country, mostly CBS stations (O&Os as well as some affiliates), and has become the de facto official local news theme music for CBS's O&Os. From 1994-1997, 2000–2001, 2002–2008, and from 2010–present, WBBM-TV used an updated version called The CBS Enforcer Music Collection by Frank Gari. A synthesized version of the original theme, it was specially written for the station. From 2006 to 2008, WBBM-TV used an updated version of the theme, composed by Frank Gari's son Christian. For its high-definition news debut, WBBM-TV commissioned a new theme composed by In The Groove Music, which has done theme music for sister stations WCCO, WBZ and ATV. On June 21, 2010, with the adoption of a new CBS O&O graphics package, WBBM-TV brought back "CBS Enforcer" with an orchestrated version originally commissioned by sister station WCBS-TV.

The 10 p.m. news experiment [edit]

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 in-depth "hard news" features, a staple of its glory days. Anchored by Carol Marin, former longtime anchor at WMAQ, 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 cancellation in October after being on the air for only nine months.

Ratings [edit]

For the 2010 Election Day coverage, WBBM-TV remained in fourth place, behind WLS-TV, WGN-TV and WMAQ-TV (in viewership ratings order) but ahead of WFLD. However, as of November 30, 2010, the station's 10 p.m. newscast jumped to second place. Though their 6 p.m. newscast remains in third place.[17]

The February 2011 Nielsen local news ratings, showed that WBBM’s 10 p.m. newscast surged into second place with a 6.0 weeknight household rating, up nearly one rating point from a 5.2 share the previous February. Channel 2 ranked in second place overall behind perennial newsleader WLS-TV. WBBM-TV's primetime lead-in rating increased to a 7.4 share during the sweeps period.[18]

News team [edit]

Current on-air staff[19] [edit]

Anchors

  • Marissa Bailey - weekend mornings (7:00-8:00 Sundays and 8:00-9:00 a.m. Saturdays); also weekday reporter
  • Kris Gutierrez - weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
  • Rob Johnson - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
  • Mai Martinez - Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weekday reporter
  • Harry Porterfield - weekdays at 11:00 a.m.; also "Someone You Should Know" feature reporter
  • Kate Sullivan - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
  • Roseanne Tellez - weekdays at 11:00 a.m.; also weekday reporter
  • Jim Williams - Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weekday field reporter

Weather team

  • Steve Baskerville (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
  • Ed Curran - (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings (7:00-8:00 Sundays and 8:00-9:00 a.m. Saturdays)
  • Megan Glaros (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings (4:30-7:00) and 11:00 a.m.; also entertainment reporter
  • Mary Kay Kleist (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weekday fill-in meteorologist and medical/special reporter

Sports team

  • Ryan Baker - sports director; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
  • Megan Mawicke - sports anchor; Saturdays at 5:00, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weekday field sports reporter

Reporters

  • Derrick Blakley - general assignment reporter
  • Brad Edwards - general assignment reporter
  • Vince Gerasole - general assignment and feature reporter; also fill-in anchor
  • Courtney Guzman-general assignment reporter
  • Pamela Jones - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
  • Dana Kozlov - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
  • Suzanne Le Mignot - general assignment reporter
  • Jay Levine - chief correspondent; also 10:00 p.m. fill-in anchor
  • Chris Martinez - general assignment reporter
  • Mike Parker - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
  • Mike Puccinelli - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
  • Dave Savini - investigative reporter
  • Susanna Song - general assignment reporter
  • Dorothy Tucker - general assignment and consumer reporter
  • Pam Zekman - investigative reporter
  • Derrick Young-traffic reporter

Former on-air staff [edit]

Newscast titles [edit]

  • B&K News (1943-1944)
  • Today's World Picture (1944-1940s)
  • Pix of The News (early 1950s)
  • Standard Oil News Round-up/John Harrington News (1950s)
  • TV-2 News (1971-1975)
  • Channel 2 News (1975-1994)
  • 2 News (1994-1997)
  • News 2 Chicago (1997-2000)
  • The News on CBS 2 Chicago (2000)
  • CBS 2 News (2000-present)

Newscasts [edit]

  • Weekdays:
    • CBS 2 Morning News (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 11:00 a.m. (11:00-11:30 a.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 5:00 (5:00-5:30 p.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 6:00 (6:00-6:30 p.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 10:00 (10:00-10:35 p.m.)
  • Saturdays:
    • CBS 2 Morning News (8:00-9:00 a.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 5:00 (5:00-5:30 p.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 10:00 (10:00-10:35 p.m.)
  • Sundays:
    • CBS 2 Morning News (7:00-8:00 a.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 5:30 (5:30-6:00 p.m.)
    • CBS 2 News at 10:00 (10:00-10:50 p.m.)

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ ”Loop Sailors,” Time Magazine, March 23, 1942; http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,802316,00.html
  2. ^ Eddy, Captain William C.; Television: The Eyes of Tomorrow, Prentice-Hall, 1945
  3. ^ members.aol.com/jeff560/chronotv.html - Similar Sites and Reviews | Xmarks
  4. ^ White, Timothy R. (1992). "Hollywood on (Re)Trial: The American Broadcasting-United Paramount Merger Hearing" Cinema Journal, Vol. 31, No. 3. (Spring, 1992), pp. 19-36.
  5. ^ Jajkowski, Steve (2001). "Advertising on Chicago Television". Chicago Television History. Retrieved January 10, 2007.
  6. ^ "TV coverage; RTMA predicts expansion." Broadcasting - Telecasting, May 19, 1952, pg. 78. [1]
  7. ^ Eggerton, John (2009-06-17). "Weigel's Analog Nightlight Could Help Chicago Stations With Reception Issues". Broadcasting & Cable. 
  8. ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=17931
  9. ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1474864.pdf
  10. ^ Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-fri-wbbm-cuts-0501-may01,0,2545751.column |url= missing title (help). 
  11. ^ http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/1553116,CST-FIN-lew01.article.  Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  12. ^ http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/1912877,CST-FIN-lew01.article.  Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  13. ^ http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/2030914,CST-NWS-lewTV05.article.  Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  14. ^ "WBBM anchor Anne State out, weatherman Ed Curran off". Chicago Tribune. March 26, 2010. 
  15. ^ "WFLD gets Mike Flannery, WBBM political ace since '80". Chicago Tribune. March 29, 2010. 
  16. ^ "Kurtis, Jacobson To Anchor CBS 2 News At 6 PM" (Press release). CBS2 Chicago. July 29, 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2010. 
  17. ^ "Channel 5 drops to 4th CHICAGO SUN-TIMES Business" (Press release). Chicago Sun Times. November 30, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2010. 
  18. ^ Johnson-Sullivan anchor duo paying off for WBBM-Channel 2, Chicago Sun-Times, March 4, 2011.
  19. ^ [2], chicago.cbslocal.com/. Retrieved 09-12-2011.
  20. ^ "John Coleman bio". KUSI-TV. Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  21. ^ Rockwell, Rick (September 1995). "A New Strategy to Win Viewers: Real News". American Journalism Review. Retrieved 12 March 2013. 
  22. ^ "The Mary Nissenson Story". Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  23. ^ "About Chicago Tonight". WTWW. Retrieved 12 March 2013. 
  24. ^ "Janet Shamlian bio". NBC News. 12 October 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2013. 

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