WGN-TV

===Early years (1948–1956)===
The [[Tribune Publishing|Chicago Tribune Company]], headed by ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' editor and publisher [[Robert R. McCormick]] and the owner of [[WGN (AM)|WGN]] and WGNB<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGNB is Offering Time on a Commercial Basis |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=82 |date=December 30, 1946}}{{Dead link |date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>{{Efn|Even though WGNB operated on {{frequency|98.7|FM}}, the same frequency that [[WFMT]] currently does (and which Tribune later purchased in the 1960s), there is no continuity between the two stations.}} submitted an application to the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) on September 13, 1946, and under the "WGN Incorporated" [[subsidiary]], to build a television station on [[VHF]] channel 9.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Actions of the FCC |periodical=[[Broadcasting-Telecasting]] |page=73 |date=September 23, 1946}}</ref>{{efn|WGN representatives had to amend the application to use channel 9 as its proposed channel assignment after realizing that the initial application listed VHF channel 4, which had already been assigned to [[Balaban and Katz|Balaban and Katz Broadcasting]] for the fledgling WBKB-TV, as the allocation for the proposed station.}} After the FCC awarded the permit on November 8, the group originally requested to assign WGNA as the station's [[call signs in North America|call sign]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Broadcasting...at Deadline: Bulletins |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=4 |date=November 4, 1946}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Actions of the FCC |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=64 |date=November 11, 1946}}</ref> By January 1948, however, the company decided to call its new television property WGN-TV after WGN, which had been owned by the ''Tribune'' since 1924.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Sight and Sound |periodical=Television Digest |publisher=Radio News Bureau, Inc. |page=18 |date=January 3, 1948}}</ref> The [[List of three-letter broadcast call signs in the United States|three-letter base call sign]] served as an [[Acronym|initialism]] for "World's Greatest Newspaper", a tagline and slogan used by the ''Tribune'' since 1909.<ref>{{cite news |title='World's Greatest'--1911-1976 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-06-08-9706300085-story.html |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=June 8, 1997 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Chicago_Tribune_Announces_WGN-TV_Debut_in_April_1948.png|thumb|The front page of Part Five of the ''[[Chicago Tribune|Chicago Sunday Tribune]]'' of April 4, 1948, announcing the launch of WGN-TV the next day.]]
WGN-TV began [[test pattern|test broadcasts]] on February 1, 1948,<ref>{{cite magazine |title='Chicago Tribune' TV Station To Begin Program Tests Feb. 1 |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=86 |date=January 19, 1948}}</ref> then informally signed on the air on March 6 to broadcast the 1948 [[Golden Gloves]] boxing finals from the [[Chicago Stadium]]. Regular programming commenced on April 5, 1948, at 7:45&nbsp;p.m. with a two-hour-long special, ''WGN-TV Salute to Chicago''.<ref>{{cite news |title=WGN-TV Makes Debut Tonight with Big Show |url=https://twotonbaker.com/2ton/clips/480405.htm |author=Larry Wolters |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |via=TwoTonBaker.com |date=April 5, 1948 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref> Originating from WGN Radio's studios at the [[Tribune Tower]]'s Centennial Building annex in the [[Magnificent Mile]] district, the inaugural broadcast included dedicatory speeches from McCormick,{{efn|McCormick was too ill to attend the event himself; consequently, his speech was read at the ceremony by a business associate.}} [[Chicago Mayor]] [[Martin Kennelly]], [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[Charles W. Brooks]] and [[Governor of Illinois|Governor]] [[Dwight Green]]. Performances were led by, among others, musician [[Two Ton Baker|Dick "Two Ton" Baker]], comedian [[George Gobel]], and bandleader [[Robert Trendler]] and the WGN Orchestra (WGN's in-house band). Afterwards, a film previewed WGN-TV's initial program offerings.<ref>{{cite web |title=WGN's opening night: McCormick, a mayor and marionettes |url=https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/wgns-opening-night-mccormick-a-mayor-and-marionettes |author=Robert Feder |website=[[Time Out Chicago]] Out Media Group |date=August 8, 2012 |access-date=March 20, 2019 |archive-date=March 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321200645/https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/wgns-opening-night-mccormick-a-mayor-and-marionettes |url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time it signed on, there were only 1,700 operational television sets in Chicago; that number would jump dramatically to around 100,000 sets by April 1949.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV; 100,000 Saw Inaugural, 'Tribune' Estimates |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=35 |date=April 12, 1948}}</ref>

WGN-TV was the second commercial television station in both Chicago and Illinois to sign on, as [[WBBM-TV|WBKB (channel 4)]] launched on September 6, 1946, but had operated on an experimental basis since 1940 as W9XBK. Two other stations joined WBKB and WGN-TV later in 1948: [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s [[WLS-TV|WENR-TV (channel 7)]] on September 17 and [[NBC]]'s [[WMAQ-TV|WNBQ (channel 5)]] on October 8. The ''Tribune'' quickly followed up WGN-TV's launch with [[WPIX]] in [[New York City]] on June 15, 1948. Initially, WGN television and radio operated from the [[Chicago Daily News Building]] on West Madison and North Canal Streets, occupying space previously used by [[WSCR|WMAQ]] radio from 1929 until relocating to the [[Merchandise Mart]] in 1935; WGN-TV also based its {{convert|586|ft|m|0|adj=on}} transmission tower atop the building. Originally broadcasting for {{frac|6|1|2}} hours per day from 2 to 6&nbsp;p.m. and from 7:30 to 10&nbsp;p.m. seven days a week, Channel 9 started out as an independent station, then began carrying programming from [[DuMont Television Network|DuMont]] on September 26, 1948,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV Contracts For DuMont Video |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=27 |date=August 30, 1948}}</ref> and also [[CBS]] on December 1.<ref>{{cite news |title=WGN's Birthday Salute a Tour of Chicago's Past |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-09-04-8801270728-story.html |author=Rick Kogan |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=September 4, 1988 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV Now CBS |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=57 |date=November 15, 1948}}</ref>

On January 11, 1949, WGN-TV—along with WNBQ and WENR-TV—began transmitting network programming over a live coaxial feed originating from New York City; this allowed Channel 9 to be able to carry a regular schedule of CBS and DuMont programs that could be transmitted as they aired in the [[Eastern Time Zone]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=East-Midwest Coaxial |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=32 |date=January 17, 1949}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=East-Midwest Coaxial |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=50 |date=January 17, 1949}}</ref> WBKB-TV assumed primary rights to CBS programming on September 5, 1949; as such, WGN began dropping many CBS shows from its schedule but continued to carry certain network programs that channel 4 declined to broadcast (eventually being reduced strictly to CBS's weekday morning [[soap opera]] block by 1952).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WBKB to CBS |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=38 |date=April 18, 1949}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=WBKB Starts CBS Service |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=90 |date=September 5, 1949}}</ref> During its tenure with DuMont, WGN-TV became one of that network's strongest affiliates, as well as one of its major production centers. Several DuMont programs were produced from the station's facilities during the late 1940s and the first half of the 1950s, including ''[[The Al Morgan Show]]'', ''[[Chicago Symphony]]'', ''[[Chicagoland Mystery Players]]'', ''Music From Chicago'', ''[[The Music Show (TV program)|The Music Show]]'', ''[[They Stand Accused]]'' (the first televised [[court show|courtroom drama program]]), ''[[This is Music]]'', ''[[Windy City Jamboree]]'' and ''[[Down You Go]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Seasonal Plans Made by DuMont |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=68 |date=April 13, 1953}}</ref> WGN-TV had also telecast performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, beginning in 1953, during [[Fritz Reiner]]'s tenure as the orchestra's [[music director]].

On January 25, 1950, the WGN stations relocated their operations to the Centennial Building. Renovated to accommodate production and office facilities for WGN-TV, the facility included one master (which was situated on inflated rubber bags to eliminate outside noise and vibrations) and two auxiliary studios as well as a sub-basement studio situated {{convert|75|ft|m|disp=sqbr}} below street level that could allow WGN-TV-AM and WGNB to continue broadcasts in the event of an [[atom bomb]] attack on Chicago.<ref>{{cite web |title=Changing Channels: Television Comes to Chicago—Part III |url=http://www.chicagotelevision.com/channels1XX3.htm |website=Chicago Television |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Atom Bomb Shelter |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=34 |date=October 20, 1947}}</ref> As part of [[United Paramount Theatres]] (UPT)'s merger with ABC, on February 6, 1953, CBS assumed ownership of WBKB-TV through a $6.75-million acquisition designed to allow UPT{{efn|UPT absorbed WBKB parent Balaban and Katz in March 1949, after [[Paramount Pictures]] divested its chain of movie theaters by [[United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.|order]] of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].}} to acquire ABC-owned WENR-TV (which subsequently assumed the WBKB call letters and management staff that previously belonged to channel 4), in compliance with FCC regulations that then forbade [[duopoly (broadcasting)|common ownership of two television stations]] within the same market. As a consequence of the deal, CBS moved the remainder of its programming to the rechristened [[WBBM-TV]] on April 1; this left Channel 9 exclusively affiliated with the faltering DuMont. (WBBM would move from VHF channel 4 to VHF channel 2 on July 5, 1953, in accordance with allocation realignments dictated by the FCC-issued ''Sixth Report and Order''.)<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Zenith May Go to Court On Sale of WBKB (TV) to CBS |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=30 |date=February 16, 1953}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=Zenith May Go to Court On Sale of WBKB (TV) to CBS |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=33 |date=February 16, 1953}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Paramount; radio, video interests definitely split |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=66 |date=March 7, 1949}}</ref> By 1954, WGN-TV expanded its broadcast schedule to 18 hours per day (running from 6&nbsp;a.m. to midnight).

After McCormick succumbed from [[pneumonia]]-related complications on April 1, 1955, ownership of WGN-TV-AM, the ''Chicago Tribune'' and the News Syndicate Company properties would transfer to the McCormick-Patterson Trust, assigned to the [[McCormick Foundation|Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation]] in the names of the non-familial heirs of McCormick (whose two marriages never produced any children) and familial heirs of Patterson. (The trust was dissolved in January 1975, with a majority of the trust's former beneficiaries, including descendants of the McCormick and Patterson families, owning stock in the restructured Tribune Company entity—which assumed oversight of all properties previously overseen by the trust—afterward.)<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Col. Robert McCormick Dies; WGN-AM-TV Among Holdings |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=78 |date=April 4, 1955}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=McCormick Will Names Five To Head 'Tribune,' Stations |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=102 |date=April 11, 1955}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=For the Record |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=111 |date=June 20, 1955}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=For the Record |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=108 |date=July 18, 1955}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=For the Record |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=48 |date=December 16, 1974}}</ref>