WGN-TV

==Canadian distribution==
In April 1985, the [[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] (CRTC) approved eligibility for the signals of WGN-TV and fellow American superstations WTBS, WOR-TV and WPIX to be retransmitted as [[List of foreign television channels available in Canada#American Superstations eligible for national distribution|foreign services]] by multichannel television providers within [[Canada]]. Under CRTC linkage rules first implemented in 1983 that require providers to offer U.S.-based program services in [[A la carte cable television|discretionary tiers]] tied to Canadian services, WGN-TV/WGN America and other authorized U.S. superstations typically have been sold to prospective subscribers of one or more domestic premium services—such as [[Crave (TV network)|Crave]] (formerly First Choice and The Movie Network), [[Starz (Canada)|Starz]] (formerly Moviepix and The Movie Network Encore), [[Super Channel (Canadian TV channel)|Super Channel]], [[Super Écran]] and [[Western Canada]]-based regional pay services [[Movie Central]] (the original user of the Superchannel name, now defunct) and [[Encore Avenue]] (also now defunct). However, some providers have chosen to offer WGN in a specialty tier under a related rule that allows for an eligible superstation of the provider's choice to be carried on a non-premium tier. (Although KWGN-TV has also been authorized for carriage by the CRTC since that point, the Denver sister station is not carried on any multichannel television providers within Canada.)<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Notice CRTC 1985-72—Optional Canadian and Non-Canadian Satellite Services |url=http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1985/PB85-72.htm |website=[[Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]] |date=April 4, 1985 |access-date=October 25, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ARCHIVED—Public Notice CRTC 84–81 |url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/1984/pb84-81.htm |website=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission |date=April 2, 1984 |access-date=April 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A look at Tier III: Launched in October 1997, much doom was predicted for the launch of Tier III. Looking at those channels now, there sure isn't much to nit-pick about. |url=http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000111924&type=Print%20Archives |author=Greg O'Brien |periodical=Mediacaster Magazine |publisher=Business Information Group |date=January 1, 2002 |access-date=October 25, 2010}}</ref>

After United Video began offering a separate national feed of WGN upon the stateside implementation the Syndex rules in January 1990, most Canadian cable providers began to replace the Chicago signal with the superstation feed as well. (Among the country's satellite providers, Star Choice [now [[Shaw Direct]]] began carrying the national feed upon the satellite provider's 1994 launch; Bell ExpressVu [now [[Bell Satellite TV]]] began distributing the Chicago-area signal when it commenced operations in 1996.) As a network affiliate, WGN-TV provided WB and CW programs to areas of Canada distant from the [[Canada–United States border|Canadian–U.S. border]] that could not receive over-the-air signals of other WB/CW affiliates from American cities. The WGN local feed was subjected to fewer sports blackouts than WGN America had been subjected to prior to the separation of the national and local feeds, as blackouts of programming to which Canadian broadcasters hold domestic rights apply only to imported U.S.-based specialty channels. However, [[simultaneous substitution]] rules have applied to certain CW programs that were also carried by Canadian-based terrestrial networks (such as [[Global Television Network|Global]], [[Citytv]] and [[CTV Two]]). The WGN-TV feed had also previously been available as part of the [[NHL Centre Ice]] sports package, primarily for simulcasts of Chicago Blackhawks games that WGN-TV aired until the [[2018–19 Chicago Blackhawks season|2018–19 season]].

On January 17, 2007, WGN's main Canadian uplink carrier, [[Shaw Broadcast Services]], switched its distributed feed of the station to the Chicago signal, a decision believed to have resulted from increased licensing fees for the then-superstation feed; despite this, some providers (including [[Manitoba Telecom Services|MTS TV]] and [[Cogeco Cable]]) continued to carry the superstation feed in place of or in conjunction with the Chicago signal. Despite this, some providers continued to carry the national WGN channel in lieu of or—as was the case with providers such as MTS TV and Cogeco Cable—in tandem with the Chicago feed, resulting in the duplication of CW network and many syndicated programs that are available within the country on other networks (such as fellow superstations KTLA and Boston-based [[WSBK-TV]]). While the CRTC had approved the Chicago station's broadcast signal ''and'' its national cable feed for carriage on any domestic multichannel television provider (including cable, satellite, IPTV and [[MMDS]] services), because of the conversion of WGN America from a superstation into an independent general-entertainment service and its resulting programming separation from WGN-TV, on December 15, 2014, Tribune Broadcasting sent notice that it would terminate all Canadian distribution rights for WGN America, effective January 1, 2015;<ref>{{cite web |title=Notice from Cogeco |url=https://www.facebook.com/Cogeco/posts/975584402457889 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/198251703524500/975584402457889 |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |url-access=limited |website=[[Facebook]] |via=[[Cogeco]] |date=December 15, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref><!-- Yes, the source is from Cogeco Cable's Facebook account. They did not issue a formal press release on the matter. This public posting is the only evidence the stations have been removed.--> the move was likely done to comply with CRTC genre protection rules in effect at the time, which prohibited the utilization of general entertainment programming formats by domestic or foreign cable channels. The WGN-TV Chicago feed, however, remains authorized for domestic distribution as a superstation. It is carried on Bell Satellite TV channel 1232 across Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.tvchannellists.com/List_of_Bell_Satellite_TV_channels |title=List of Bell Satellite TV channels – TVCL – TV Channel Lists}}</ref>