WGN-TV

===Return to independence (2016–present)===
On May 23, 2016, after a year of protracted negotiations pertaining to financial terms (including the share of reverse compensation that Tribune would pay to keep CW programming on those stations), Tribune Broadcasting and CW managing partner CBS Corporation reached a five-year agreement that allowed twelve of Tribune's thirteen CW-affiliated stations to remain with the network through 2021. Tribune exempted WGN-TV from the renewed agreement, intending to free up its schedule to offer an increased schedule of Chicago Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks games in prime time during the calendar year, thereby giving WGN over-the-air exclusivity over all sporting events it is contracted to broadcast for the first time since 1993.<ref>{{cite press release |title=The CW Network and Tribune Broadcasting Reach Long-Term Affiliation Agreement |url=https://www.cbscorporation.com/2016/05/the-cw-network-and-tribune-broadcasting-reach-long-term-affiliation-agreement/ |website=[[CBS Corporation]] |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528131319/http://www.cbscorporation.com/2016/05/the-cw-network-and-tribune-broadcasting-reach-long-term-affiliation-agreement/ |archive-date=May 28, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=CW, Tribune Stations Set Affiliation Deal as WGN-TV Chicago Goes Indie |url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/cw-tribune-affiliation-wgn-1201780975/ |author=Brian Steinberg |author2=Cynthia Littleton |periodical=Variety |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 23, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=WGN-TV/Chicago To Become Independent Station Featuring Local News, Live Sports, High-Quality Syndicated Programming |url=http://www.tribunemedia.com/wgn-tvchicago-to-become-independent-station-featuring-local-news-live-sports-high-quality-syndicated-programming/ |website=Tribune Media |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=WGN to air more sports after dropping CW |url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20160523/NEWS06/160529967/wgn-to-air-more-sports-after-dropping-cw |author=Lynne Marek |newspaper=[[Crain's Chicago Business]] |publisher=[[Crain Communications]] |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 26, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=WGN-TV, CW Network part ways |url=https://wgntv.com/2016/05/23/wgn-tv-cw-network-part-ways/ |website=WGN-TV |publisher=Tribune Broadcasting |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref> The WB and The CW each contractually limited the number of network program preemptions, other than those caused by long-form [[breaking news]] coverage, that could occur on an annual basis; in compliance with these restrictions, WGN-TV purchased airtime on CLTV (from 1993 to 2002), WCIU-TV (from 1999 to 2015) and WPWR-TV (from 2015 to 2016) to carry certain game telecasts that the station was contracted to produce (totaling roughly 30 per year). WB and CW network programs subjected to sports-induced displacements on their regular nights were shown on a [[Broadcast delay|tape-delayed basis]] later in the week (usually in a [[graveyard slot]] or on a weekend evening timeslot not occupied by a scheduled game telecast, as neither The WB nor The CW has ever aired prime time programs on Saturdays and as The CW had embargoed providing programs on Sundays from September 2009 until October 2018).<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Game's on time; WB lineup delayed |author=Joe Flint |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |page=12 |date=February 20, 1995}}</ref><ref name="clr&m-wgnind">{{cite web |title=Tribune Broadcasting Renews CW Affiliation For All Stations Except WGN-TV; CW To Move To WPWR-TV |url=http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/8185-tribune-broadcasting-renews-cw-affiliation-for-all-stations-except-wgn-tv-cw-to-move-to-wpwr-tv |website=Chicagoland Radio and Media |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='Chicago's Very Own' WGN declares independence from CW Network |url=http://www.robertfeder.com/2016/05/23/chicagos-very-own-wgn-declares-independence-from-cw-network/ |author=Robert Feder |website=RobertFeder.com |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Remotes to Get Workout in 2000 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-07-09-9907090025-story.html |author=Ed Sherman |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=July 9, 1999 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref>

Concurrently, Fox announced that WPWR would take over as Chicago's CW affiliate (marking the second time that Fox Television Stations had owned a CW-affiliated station, as, under an existing contract that was already scheduled to expire before that station's conversion into a Fox O&O was announced, [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] sister station [[WJZY]] continued to carry the network's programming for about 3½ months after its purchase by Fox was finalized in April 2013).<ref>{{cite press release |title=The CW Network and Fox Television Stations Announce New Affiliation Agreement For WPWR-TV in Chicago |url=http://www.cbscorporation.com/2016/05/the-cw-network-and-fox-television-stations-announce-new-affiliation-agreement-for-wpwr-tv-in-chicago/ |website=CBS Corporation |date=May 23, 2016 |access-date=May 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526055144/http://www.cbscorporation.com/2016/05/the-cw-network-and-fox-television-stations-announce-new-affiliation-agreement-for-wpwr-tv-in-chicago/ |archive-date=May 26, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="clr&m-wgnind"/> The final CW program to air on WGN-TV was ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (U.S. TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'' at 8:30&nbsp;p.m. Central Time on August 31, 2016, leading into that night's edition of ''WGN News at Nine''. Channel 9 reverted to independent status—marking the first time in 21 years that it was not affiliated with a major broadcast network—on September 1, filling timeslots previously occupied by CW network shows mainly with additional syndicated programs on weekdays and an expanded weekend morning newscast, station-produced lifestyle programs and syndicated educational programs on weekends. Beginning with that day's airing of ''[[The Bill Cunningham Show]]'', all CW programming concurrently moved to WPWR-TV (resulting in the weeknight-only MyNetworkTV schedule being shifted to air on a three-hour delay from 10&nbsp;p.m. to midnight). As such, WPWR displaced WLVI in Boston as the largest CW station that is not owned by either Tribune or CBS Corporation. (The CW would eventually move to WCIU-TV on September 1, 2019, marking the first time that channel 26—which had maintained part-time affiliations with the Spanish International Network and successor Univision, NetSpan/Telemundo, and The WB [by way of Kids' WB] at various points between 1968 and 2004—had ever served as a full-time network affiliate.)<ref>{{cite web |title=Weigel's WCIU Chicago Adds CW Affiliation |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/234122/weigels-wciu-chicago-adds-cw-affiliation/ |author=Mark K. Miller |website=TVNewsCheck |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Weigel Broadcasting's WCIU to become CW Network affiliate |url=https://www.robertfeder.com/2019/04/18/weigel-broadcastings-wciu-become-cw-network-affiliate/ |author=Robert Feder |website=RobertFeder.com |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref>