WGN-TV

===Independence (1956–1995)===
The station disaffiliated from DuMont when the network ceased operations on August 6, 1956, amid various issues stemming from its relations with Paramount Pictures that hamstrung DuMont from expansion.<ref>{{cite book |title=Hollywood's Attempt to Appropriate Television: The Case of Paramount Pictures |author=Timothy R. White |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |location=[[Ann Arbor, Michigan]] |pages=107–131 |year=1992}}</ref> Because the three remaining commercial broadcast networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) had each owned television stations in Chicago by this time, WGN-TV became an independent station by default. Under executive vice president and [[general manager]] Ward L. Quaal (whose stewardship of the station and programming efforts earned him the [[National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences]] [NATAS]'s Governors' Award in 1966 and 1987), the station adopted a general entertainment format that would become typical of other major market independents up through the early 1990s, carrying a mix of [[sitcom]]s and drama series, [[feature film]]s, [[animated cartoon|cartoons]] and [[religious broadcasting|religious programs]] as well as locally produced news, [[public affairs (broadcasting)|public affairs]], music and children's programs. WGN-TV also became more reliant on sports programming, led by its broadcasts of [[Chicago Cubs]] baseball games as well as other regional collegiate and professional teams. This helped Channel 9 establish itself as a programming alternative to the market's three network-owned stations and as the market's leading independent for much of the next 39 years. After initial struggles due to its carriage of programs that could not accrue viewership sufficient to attract national advertisers, WGN began turning profitable by October 1957. On January 15, 1956, the station moved its transmitter facilities to a {{convert|73|ft|m|adj=mid|tall}} antenna on the roof of the [[One Prudential Plaza|Prudential Building]] on East Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue, and increased its [[effective radiated power]] from 120&nbsp;kW to the maximum of 316&nbsp;kW.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV Plans Full Power From Prudential Bldg. Site |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=99 |date=November 22, 1954}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV Goes to Maximum |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=9 |date=January 16, 1956}}</ref>
[[File:Garfield Goose postcard 2.JPG|thumb|''[[Garfield Goose and Friends]]'' was one of the earliest television programs WGN-TV would broadcast in color.]]
In March 1957, WGN began carrying programming from the [[NTA Film Network]]; the station served as the programming service's primary Chicago affiliate, offering the majority of NTA's program offerings. (The remaining, limited number of NTA shows not carried by WGN were split between ABC-owned WBKB-TV and NBC-owned WNBQ.) This relationship lasted until [[National Telefilm Associates]] discontinued the service in November 1961.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV to Show NTA Films |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=46 |date=February 4, 1957}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films |url=https://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1 |journal=[[Boxoffice]] |page=13 |date=November 10, 1956 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614204506/http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1 |archive-date=June 14, 2009}}</ref> On November 8, 1957, after conducting internal tests since the fall of 1956, WGN-TV—which had ordered RCA color television equipment in the fall of 1952—began broadcasting select programs in [[color television|color]], consisting primarily of syndicated programs available in the format. In January 1958, WGN became the second Chicago television station (after WNBQ, which began televising programs in the format in January 1954) to begin transmitting local programming in color; along with other color telecasting upgrades to its production and master control facilities, WGN was also the first television station in the world to use equipment (provided by [[Ampex]]) capable of [[videotape]] recording and playback of color telecasts. The first live program on the station to be broadcast in the format was ''[[Ding Dong School]]'', a music-focused children's program hosted by Jackie Van (which WGN picked up in 1957, following its cancellation by WNBQ).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV Using Limited Color |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=60 |date=November 4, 1957}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV to Colorcast On Non-Commercial Basis |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=60 |date=April 9, 1956}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-TV to Get First Gear From Ampex for VTR Color |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |page=94 |date=January 20, 1958}}</ref> In 1958, WGN-TV earned a [[Peabody Award]]—the only local television station to earn the accolade—for its short-lived children's program ''The Blue Fairy'' (which was hosted by [[Brigid Bazlen]] in the title role, and, along with ''Garfield Goose and Friends'', was one of the first two children's programs produced by the station to be broadcast in color).<ref>{{cite web |title=Brigid Bazlen |url=http://chicagotelevision.com/BlueFairy.htm |website=Chicago Television |access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref>

On June 27, 1961, the operations of WGN-TV and WGN radio were relocated to the WGN Mid-America Broadcast Center (later renamed the WGN Continental Broadcast Center and now simply referred to as WGN Studios), a two-story, {{convert|95,000|sqft|m2|0|adj=on}} complex on West Bradley Place in Chicago's [[North Center]] community. The Broadcast Center, which began housing some local program production on January 16 of that year, was developed for color broadcasting—allowing the station to televise live studio shows as well as Chicago Cubs and [[White Sox]] baseball games in the format—and with [[civil defense]] concerns in mind to provide a safe location to conduct broadcasts in the event of a hostile attack (such as a bombing by a nuclear weapon) targeting downtown Chicago. It houses three main production soundstages as well as two additional soundstages that were originally used as sound recording studios for WGN Radio.{{efn|WGN moved to the [[Pioneer Court]] extension on North Michigan Avenue in 1986, before eventually resuming operations at the Tribune Tower in October 2012.}} The Tribune Company repurposed the former Centennial Building facility for the ''[[Chicago American]]'' (retitled ''Chicago Today'' in 1969), where the newspaper maintained office and publishing operations until it ceased publication in 1974; the space is {{as of|2019|alt=currently}} occupied by a [[Dylan's Candy Bar]] location.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN-AM-TV Studios to be Moved |periodical=Broadcasting |page=71 |date=December 29, 1958}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=WGN-AM-TV Studios to be Moved |periodical=Broadcasting |page=72 |date=December 29, 1958}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Media reports |periodical=Broadcasting |page=71 |date=January 19, 1959}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Media reports |periodical=Broadcasting |page=71 |date=April 27, 1959}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Deserting downtown |periodical=Broadcasting |page=56 |date=October 5, 1959}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WGN "Color House" |url=http://www.bretl.com/tvarticles/bndec61/broadcastnewsdec61wgn.pdf |periodical=Broadcast News |publisher=[[RCA]] |date=December 1, 1961 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref> An adjacent {{convert|20,000|sqft|m2|0|adj=on}}, single-story building that housed certain non-production-related operations for the WGN stations was annexed into the facility (expanding the complex to {{convert|14.4|acre|ha|0|disp=sqbr}}) in 1966.{{efn|Tribune sold the complex to a joint venture between local real estate firms R2 Companies and Polsky Holdings for $22.25 million on January 31, 2017, in a deal that allowed WGN-TV to lease the property for a minimum of ten years.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Expansion at WGN headquarters |periodical=Broadcasting |page=53 |date=July 18, 1966}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=WGN Radio To Move Into Tribune Tower |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-03-06/business/8501130004_1_chicago-tribune-12th-floors-wgn-radio |author=David Ibata |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=March 6, 1985 |access-date=November 29, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Radio 720 WGN Moves Upstairs |url=http://www.radioworld.com/article/radio--wgn-moves-upstairs/211705 |author=Paul McLane |website=[[Radio World]] |date=February 8, 2012 |access-date=November 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525102608/http://radioworld.com/article/radio--wgn-moves-upstairs/211705 |archive-date=May 25, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=WGN-TV studio sells for $22 million |url=https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20170131/CRED03/170139960/wgn-tv-studio-sells-for-22-million |newspaper=Chicago Business Journal |date=January 31, 2017 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Reports: WGN studio sold to developer, but station isn't leaving |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/report-wgn-sells-studio-will-lease-space-back-from-developer/ |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |date=January 31, 2017 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The House That Bozo The Clown Built Has A New Owner |url=https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/office/r2-cos-buys-wgn-tv-studios-70523 |author=Chuck Sudo |website=Bisnow Chicago |date=February 1, 2017 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref>}}

In subsequent years, the Tribune Company gradually expanded its broadcasting unit, of which WGN-TV-AM served as its [[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship stations]], a tie forged in January 1966, when the subsidiary (sans the WPIX television and radio stations, which continued to be controlled by the Tribune-managed News Syndicate Co. before being fully integrated into the company's main station group following its 1991 sale of the ''Daily News'') was renamed the WGN Continental Broadcasting Company. In 1964, the company started Mid-America Video Tape Productions, which had eventually become WGN Continental Productions (later Tribune Entertainment).<ref>{{cite magazine |date=July 27, 1964 |title=WGN to syndicate 'Barn Dance' |magazine=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=May 23, 1966 |title=WGN Continental adds video-tape subsidiary |magazine=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=May 10, 1982 |title=In Brief |magazine=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]}}</ref> The group became known as the [[Tribune Broadcasting|Tribune Broadcasting Company]] in January 1981, but retained the WGN Continental moniker as its [[trade name|''de facto'' business name]] until 1984 and as the licensee for WGN-TV and WGN Radio thereafter. The company gained its third television and second radio station in 1960, when it purchased KDAL-TV (now [[KDLH]]) and [[KDAL (AM)|KDAL]] in [[Duluth, Minnesota]] from the estate of the late Dalton LeMasurier (Tribune sold KDAL-TV in 1978 and KDAL radio in 1981); the company would later purchase KCTO (subsequently re-called [[KWGN-TV]]) in [[Denver]] from [[J. Elroy McCaw]] in 1966.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Changing hands |periodical=Broadcasting |page=54 |date=August 22, 1960}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=WGN Inc. buying VHF in Denver |periodical=Broadcasting |page=57 |date=September 6, 1965}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=KWGN(TV) starts with a bang |periodical=Broadcasting |page=58 |date=March 14, 1966}}</ref> Tribune's later television purchases included those of WANX-TV (subsequently re-called WGNX, now [[WANF]]) in [[Atlanta]] (in 1983);<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Changing hands |periodical=Broadcasting |page=52 |date=August 1, 1983}}</ref> [[KTLA]] in [[Los Angeles]] (in 1985);<ref>{{cite magazine |title=$510 million's the mark to beat now |periodical=Broadcasting |page=37 |date=May 20, 1985}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=$510 million's the mark to beat now |periodical=Broadcasting |page=38 |date=May 20, 1985}}</ref> [[WPHL-TV]] in [[Philadelphia]] (in 1992);<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Changing hands |periodical=Broadcasting |page=73 |date=November 18, 1991}}</ref> [[WLVI-TV]] in [[Boston]] (owned from 1994 to 2006);<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Shoring up for the fifth |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=43 |date=November 8, 1993}}</ref> KHTV (now [[KIAH]]) in [[Houston]] (in 1995);<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Tribune buys Houston U for WB |author=Elizabeth Rathbun |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=16 |date=September 18, 1995}}</ref> KTTY (now [[KSWB-TV]]) in [[San Diego]] (in 1996);<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Tribune's $70.5 million takes San Diego UHF |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=7 |date=September 4, 1995}}</ref> [[KCPQ]] and KTWB-TV (now [[KZJO]]) in [[Seattle]] (in 1998 and 1999, respectively);<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Changing Hands |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=54 |date=September 28, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Duopoly: Wheeling starts; dealing to come |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=8 |date=August 16, 1999}}</ref> and WBDC-TV (now [[WDCW]]) in [[Washington, D.C.]] (in 1999).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Duopoly: New rules spark CBS-Viacom talk |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=8 |date=August 23, 1999}}</ref> Six other stations—including [[KDAF]] in [[Dallas]]–[[Fort Worth]] and WDZL (now [[WSFL-TV]]) in [[Miami]]—were added through its purchase of [[Renaissance Broadcasting]] in July 1996, and two more were added through its November 1999 acquisition of the [[Quincy Jones]]- and Tribune-owned consortium Qwest Broadcasting (forcing the sale of WGNX to the [[Meredith Corporation]] in order to acquire Qwest's Atlanta property, [[WATL]]).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Tribune's Renaissance |author=Elizabeth A. Rathbun |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=58 |date=July 8, 1996}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=Tribune's Renaissance |author=Elizabeth A. Rathbun |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=58 |date=July 8, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Get big or get out |author=[[John M. Higgins]] |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=10 |date=August 31, 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Tribune locks up New Orleans duopoly |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=4 |date=November 15, 1999}}</ref> Finally in December 2013, Tribune purchased [[Local TV LLC|Local TV]]'s 19 television stations, giving WGN new [[sister station]]s in nearby markets—ABC affiliate [[WQAD-TV]] in [[Davenport, Iowa]] (serving the [[Quad Cities]] region that encompasses parts of northwestern [[Illinois]] and southeastern [[Iowa]]) and [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate [[WITI (TV)|WITI]] in [[Milwaukee]]—all three of which had pooled their local news reports as part of an existing content and broadcast management agreement formed between Local TV and Tribune in 2008.{{efn|Before adding Local TV's nine ABC-, NBC- and CBS-affiliated stations through that purchase, Tribune's television properties had historically consisted mainly of independent stations or, from 1995 onward, affiliates of networks that debuted after 1986 [Fox, The WB, The CW and MyNetworkTV].<ref>{{cite press release |title=Tribune Closes Acquisition of Local TV Holdings |url=http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=6470 |publisher=[[Tribune Company]] |date=December 27, 2013 |access-date=December 28, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228101139/http://corporate.tribune.com/pressroom/?p=6470 |archive-date=December 28, 2013}}</ref>}}

WGN-TV was Chicago's leading independent station during the 1960s and into the 1970s, even as it gained its first four competitors on [[UHF]], one of which would not last more than a year. Locally based [[Weigel Broadcasting]] signed on [[WCIU-TV]] (channel 26) on February 6, 1964, with a [[multiculturalism|multi-ethnic]] programming format.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Sears places big order on Chicago's UHF TV |periodical=Broadcasting |page=32 |date=February 10, 1964}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=Sears places big order on Chicago's UHF TV |periodical=Broadcasting |page=34 |date=February 10, 1964}}</ref> On January 4, 1966, New Television Chicago—a joint venture between [[Field Communications]] (which, through parent [[Field Enterprises]], was a sister property to the ''Tribune''{{'}}s main newspaper rivals, the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' and the ''[[Chicago Daily News]]'', at the time) and local advertising firm Froelich & Friedland—signed on [[WFLD]] (channel 32, now a Fox owned-and-operated station), which would grow to become WGN's strongest independent competitor in the area.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=WFLD (TV) takes to the air |periodical=Broadcasting |page=48 |date=January 10, 1966}}{{Dead link |date=July 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> On May 18, 1969, [[Aurora, Illinois|Aurora]]-based WLXT-TV (channel 60) signed on with a mix of sporting events and a limited schedule of syndicated programs and local newscasts, operating part-time on weekday evenings and on weekends. (WLXT would cease operations on July 17, 1970.)<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Chicago area U goes into operation |periodical=Broadcasting |page=54 |date=May 19, 1969}}</ref> A fourth competitor arrived on April 5, 1970, when [[Cineplex Odeon Corporation|Essaness Television Corporation]] signed on [[WSNS-TV]] (channel 44, now a [[Telemundo]] owned-and-operated station).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Chicago UHF premiers in April |periodical=Broadcasting |page=68 |date=February 16, 1970}}</ref> WFLD and WSNS went head to head for supremacy as Chicago's second strongest independent station, and were the only independents in the market besides WGN that were able to turn a reasonable profit; in contrast, WCIU and all of the other competitors that came afterward lagged behind in terms of both ratings and revenue. (WSNS would bow out of the competition in 1982, when, after two years of carrying the [[pay television|over-the-air subscription service]] only at night on weekdays and for most of the daytime and evening hours on weekends, it converted into a full-time outlet of [[ONTV (pay TV)|ONTV]].) WGN-TV served as the Chicago affiliate of the [[United Network]] for its one month of existence from May to June 1967, when financial issues forced the shuttering of the fledgling network.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=New blood in Overmyer? |periodical=Broadcasting |page=5 |date=March 6, 1967}}</ref>

In May 1969, the station relocated its transmitter facilities to the {{convert|1,360|ft|m|0|adj=on}}-tall west antenna tower of the [[John Hancock Center]] on North Michigan Avenue. The original Prudential Building transmitter remained in use as an auxiliary facility until the transmitter dish was disassembled in 1984.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Chicago's sky-high antenna farm |periodical=Broadcasting |page=90 |date=November 15, 1965}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=For the Record |periodical=Broadcasting |page=162 |date=March 24, 1969}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=For the Record |periodical=Broadcasting |page=56 |date=August 10, 1970}}</ref> WGN also served as a charter member of the [[Operation Prime Time]] syndication service, which was launched in 1976 as a consortium founded by [[Al Masini]] and a committee of executives with 18 independent stations (including WGN-TV, which was represented by then-station manager and WGN Continental Broadcasting Vice President Sheldon Cooper) represented by Masini's advertising sales firm TeleRep, offering a mix of [[miniseries]] as well as first-run syndicated programs that would be featured on the partner stations (including ''[[Solid Gold (TV series)|Solid Gold]]'', ''[[Star Search]]'' and ''[[Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous]]'', all of which aired on Channel 9 during the 1980s and early 1990s).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=MCA gets into novels-for-TV act via syndication |periodical=Broadcasting |page=80 |date=August 23, 1976}}<br />{{cite magazine |title=MCA gets into novels-for-TV act via syndication |periodical=Broadcasting |page=82 |date=August 23, 1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Syndicated Shows Are No Longer Last Season's Leftovers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/arts/syndicated-shows-are-no-longer-last-season-s-leftovers.html |author=Sandra Salmans |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 28, 1986 |access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref>

Movies became a more integral part of WGN's schedule during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During this period, depending on whether sports events or [[television special|specials]] were scheduled, Channel 9 usually aired four daily features—one in the morning, and two to three films per night—Monday through Friday, and between three and six films per day on Saturdays and Sundays. Among its regular film showcases were ''WGN [Television] Presents'' (which aired during the late access slot weeknights from 1948 to 1995, on Saturdays until 1979 and on Sundays until 1997) and ''Action Theater'' (a showcase of [[action film|action and adventure films]] that ran on midday Sundays from 1952 to 1956 and, later, in Saturday late access from 1979 to 2001). In February 1977, the station also began carrying a nightly [[prime time]] feature at 8&nbsp;p.m., replacing syndicated dramas that had been airing in the timeslot. (The prime time films were pushed to 7&nbsp;p.m. in March 1980, in accordance with the shift of its late-evening newscast into prime time). By January 1980, when WGN became the market's second television station to offer a 24-hour schedule (after WBBM-TV, which adopted such a schedule in 1976), the station began to regularly feature an overnight presentation of older black-and-white and some more recent theatrical and made-for-TV movies at 1&nbsp;a.m. (later 3&nbsp;a.m. by September 1983), along with a few recent first-run syndicated and older off-network syndicated programs.