WLS-TV Totally Explained

Everything about Wls-tv totally explained

WLS-TV, Channel 7, is the ABC owned and operated television station based in Chicago, Illinois through the The Walt Disney Company. WLS-TV produces its broadcasts at 190 North State Street in The Loop and transmits its signal from the Sears Tower. The WLS-TV call letters stand for "World's Largest Store," recognizing its past affiliation with Sears on radio.

History

The station first went on the air as the third TV station in Chicago (after WBKB-TV which later became WBBM-TV, and WGN-TV) on September 17, 1948 as WENR-TV. It was named after WENR-AM, ABC's Chicago radio affiliate. As one of the original ABC-owned stations on channel 7, it was the second station after WABC-TV in New York City to begin operations, ahead of WXYZ in Detroit, KGO-TV in San Francisco and KABC-TV in Los Angeles.
The station became WLS-TV in 1968, after WLS-AM, which ABC had owned since 1959.

Digital Television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels

Channel	Programming
7.1 / 52.1	Main WLS programming / ABC HD
7.2 / 52.2	Primarily replays of WLS local programming Simulcasts and rebroadcasts of news
7.3 / 52.3	The Local AccuWeather Channel, branded as ABC7 News Now

Post-analog shutdown

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009, WLS-TV will move its digital broadcasts back to its present analog channel number, 7.

News operations

WLS, like the other ABC owned-and-operated stations, adopted the Eyewitness News format in the late 1960s after it became a hit at flagship WABC-TV in New York. Fahey Flynn, a local broadcaster known for his bow ties and Joel Daly served as the anchormen of the newscasts from the late 1960s until the early 1980s. In 1983, Eyewitness News surpassed WMAQ-TV to become Chicago's top-rated new operation, a lead it held until WBBM-TV surpassed it in 1979. For much of the 1970s and 1980s, it waged a spirited battle for second place in the Chicago news ratings.
   By 1983, changing tastes and a disastrous anchor change had dropped WLS into third place. That prompted two major changes. First was the hiring of Dennis Swanson as General Manager, who in turn, hired Bill Applegate as News Director. Secondly, ABC commissioned Frank Gari to write an updated version of the Cool Hand Luke theme widely associated with the Eyewitness News format. The result was News Series 2000, which was quickly picked up by the other ABC O&Os.
   Swanson was instrumental in hiring talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey (originally for AM Chicago, later renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show), lead anchor John Drury, who had previously worked at WLS, WBBM and WGN-TV and Floyd Kalber, who had led WMAQ-TV to the top of the ratings in the 1960s.
   Drury and Mary Ann Childers were a popular anchor team at WLS during the 1980s and 1990s, accompanied by weatherman Steve Deshler and sportscaster Tim Weigel.
   In March 1986, WLS passed longtime leader WBBM-TV as the highest-rated news station in Chicago. It has held the lead ever since, aside from a brief period when WBBM managed to forge a tie for first.
   As of 1996, the station currently brands its newscast as "ABC7 News," even though it still uses the same basic format from its Eyewitness News days. The station has been using its current news music package, News Series 2000 Plus by Frank Gari since 1992. It also updated the on-air graphics for its newscasts in July 2005. The new State Street Studio

officially debuted Monday, April 10, 2006 during its morning newscast, but they started broadcasting their newscast from the new studio on Saturday, April 8, 2006 (External Link

).
On the weekend of April 29-30, 2006, ABC7 began using Chopper 7 HD.
On Saturday, January 6, 2007, ABC7 became the first Chicago station to broadcast its entire news and local programming in high definition.

ABC 7 News Personnel

Current ABC 7 News Anchors

Stacey Baca - weekend mornings; also reporting during the week
Ravi Baichwal - weekend evenings; also reporting during the week
Kathy Brock - 6pm and 10pm weeknights
Cheryl Burton - 5pm weeknights; also contributing anchor 10pm weeknights
Judy Hsu - weekday mornings
Karen Jordan - weekend evenings; also reporting during the week
Alan Krashesky - 4pm and 6 pm weeknights; also host of NewsViews on Sunday mornings
Ron Magers - 5pm and 10pm weeknights
Sylvia Perez - 11am weekdays; also Healthbeat reporter 4pm weekdays and 10pm Thursdays
Kevin Roy - weekend mornings; also reporting during the week
Hosea Sanders - weekday mornings
Roz Varon - weekday morning traffic
Linda Yu - 11am and 4pm weekdays

ABC 7 Weather Team

Mark Bishop - Saturday mornings

Mike Caplan - 4pm weekdays

Phil Schwarz - Sunday mornings, weekend evenings (AMS Certified)

Jerry Taft - chief meteorologist; 5pm, 6pm, and 10pm weeknights (AMS Certified)

Tracy Butler - Mornings and 11am

ABC 7 Sports Team

Jeff Blanzy - weekend evenings

Ryan Chiaverini - The Chicago Huddle host; also reporter

Mark Giangreco - sports director; 5pm and 10pm weeknights

Jim Rose - 4pm and 6pm weeknights

ABC 7 local program hosts

Bill Campbell - Chicagoing host; also producer

Janet Davies - 190 North host; also feature/entertainment reporter

Theresa Gutierrez - The ñ Beat specials; also reporter

Harry Porterfield - People, Places, & Things specials; also occasional substitute anchor and '"Someone You Should Know" reporter

ABC 7 Reporters

Michelle Alegria - 190 North contributor

Doug Banks - 190 North contributor

Ben Bradley

Lou Canellis - 190 North contributor

Steve Dolinksy - Food Reporter

Michelle Gallardo

John Garcia

Chuck Goudie - Chief Investigative Reporter

Theresa Gutierrez

Evelyn Holmes

Leah Hope

Frank Mathie - features reporter

Paul Meincke

Karen Meyer - specializes in disablilty issues

Dan Ponce

Harry Porterfield - reporter, "Someone You Should Know"

Sarah Schulte

Andy Shaw - political reporter

Charles Thomas

Past personalities

Mike Adamle - sports anchor (1983-1988)

Diane B. Allen - anchor/reporter (1979-1982)

Andy Avalos - weather anchor (1983-1993)

Jim Avila - reporter (1980-1984)

Roberta Baskin - investigative reporter (1980-1984)

Diann Burns - anchor/reporter (1985-2003)

Jann Carl - reporter (1983-1984)

Susan Carlson - traffic reporter (1998-2002)

Mary Ann Childers - anchor/medical reporter (1980-1994)

Lauren Cohn - anchor/reporter (1994-1998)

John Coleman - longtime meteorologist (1968-1979)

John Culea - reporter (1977-1980)

Joel Daly (longtime anchor from 1968-2005, also part-time legal contributor 2005-2007, now retired)

Steve Deshler - weather anchor (1980-1993)

John Drury - anchor (1970-1979 and 1984-2002, deceased 2007)

Tom Duggan - talk show/mob basher (1954-1956, deceased)

John Edwards

Steve Edwards - A.M. Chicago host (1975-1978)

Joan Esposito - anchor/reporter (1981-1989)

Russ Ewing - investigative reporter (1981-1995)

Fahey Flynn - anchor (1968-1983, deceased)

Bill Frink - sports anchor (1968-1979, deceased)

Mike Jackson - anchor/reporter (1983-1989)

Dick Johnson - anchor/reporter (1982-2002)

Rob Johnson - weekend anchor/reporter (1998-2006)

Jack Jones (1980-1984, deceased)

Floyd Kalber - anchor (1984-1998, deceased)

Jay Levine - reporter (1974-1990)

Cora Ann Milhalik - anchor (1982-1984)

Kent Ninomiya - reporter (1993 - 1998)

Mike Nolan - sports anchor (1975-1978)

Terry Murphy - reporter (1976-1980)

Brad Palmer - sports reporter/anchor (1985-2006)

Bob Petty - weekend anchor/reporter/host of Weekend Edition (1971-2002)

Jim Ramsey - weather anchor (1980-1983)

Frank Reynolds - anchor/reporter (early 1960s?-1965, deceased)

Charlie Rose - A.M. Chicago host (1978-1979)

Jim Rosenfield - anchor/reporter (1989-1998)

Charles Rowe - anchor/reporter (1969-1973)

Tim Ryan - reporter (1983-1989)

Warner Saunders - host of For Blacks Only (1968-1972)

Mark Schanowski - sports anchor/reporter (1990-1998)

Jack Smith - reporter (1970-1976)

James Ward - restaurant/food critic (1985-2005)

Tim Weigel - sports anchor/short time anchorman (1977-1994, deceased)

Oprah Winfrey - anchor/host of A.M. Chicago, which evolved into her current program (1984-1988)

Robb Weller - A.M. Chicago host (1980-1983)

Larry Yellen - reporter/producer (1982-1993)

Other WLS-TV produced programs

190 North - local life style program named after the station's studio address at 190 N. State St. in the Loop - began broadcasting in HD on Sunday, May 6, 2007

Sundays 10:35pm, reruns Saturdays 11:05pm

Chicagoing - local public affairs program

Sundays 11am

The Chicago Huddle - local sports program about the Chicago Bears hosted by Ryan Chiaverini - premiered Saturday, September 8, 2007 (External Link

)

Saturdays 11:05pm during Bears season 190 North and Chicagoing are featured on channel 7.2.
Syndicated programming produced in Chicago

The Oprah Winfrey Show - former A.M. Chicago 9am local program, retained name about one year after Oprah Winfrey became host - originally created by WLS-TV, but now produced by Harpo Productions at Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios

weekdays 9am, reruns weeknights 11:05pm

At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper - nationally syndicated film review program, produced at WLS-TV's studios, but by Disney-ABC Domestic Television

Saturdays 10:35pm, reruns Sundays 10:30am
News directors

Jennifer Graves - (2001-present)

Eric Lerner - (1999-2001)

Phyllis Schwartz - (1993-1998)

Identifying slogans

Newscast titles

Channel 7 Eyewitness News (late 1960s-1996)

ABC7 News (1996-present)

Station slogans

People Make the Difference (2000-present)

Chicago's # 1 News" (late 1980's-present) Further Information
Get more info on 'Wls-tv'.

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