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WLS-TV, Channel 7 officially branded as ABC7 Chicago, is an American television station in Chicago, Illinois that is owned and operated by the American Broadcasting Company a subsidiary of 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 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.

In 1953, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, the former theater division of Paramount Pictures. UPT owned WBKB on channel 4 (which shared a CBS affiliation with WGN-TV) but the new ABC could not keep both, because of Federal Communications Commission regulations at that time. As a result, WBKB was sold to CBS and renamed WBBM-TV CBS 2, while WENR was renamed WBKB-TV. The old WBKB's talent stayed at WBBM, while the old WBKB's call letters and management moved to channel 7. The general manager from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s was Sterling "Red" Quinlan,[2] who was a giant in early Chicago television. He was instrumental in the careers of Tom Duggan, Frank Reynolds, and Bob Newhart. The station courageously aired The Tom Duggan Show in the mid-1950s, which was the most popular show in Chicago far out drawing other network competition. The station became WLS-TV in 1968, after WLS-AM, which ABC had owned since 1959.

Today, the WBKB calls are used by a CBS affiliate in Alpena, Michigan.

WLS is the only ABC-owned station not to air Live with Regis and Kelly, which is produced by New York sister station WABC-TV, due to WLS being the flagship (and original) station for Oprah, which airs first in the nation (and occasionally live) on Channel 7 in the 9am time slot usually succeeded to Regis and Kelly on ABC stations in most markets. Instead, Regis and Kelly airs on CW affiliate WGN-TV (Channel 9) at 9am.

Digital Television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

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[3].

On the weekend of April 29-30, 2006, ABC7 began using Chopper 7 HD.

On Saturday, January 6, 2007, ABC7 became the first and only Chicago station so far to broadcast its entire news and local programming in high definition. [4]

ABC7 News Bios

Current ABC7 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 cover story reporter 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

ABC7 Weather Team

The station's weather radar is called "MetroVision7"

• Mark Bishop - Saturday mornings
• Tracy Butler - weekday mornings and 11am
• Mike Caplan - 4pm weekdays
• Phil Schwarz - Sunday mornings, weekend evenings
• Jerry Taft - chief meteorologist; 5pm, 6pm, and 10pm weeknights

ABC7 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

ABC7 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

ABC7 Reporters

• Michelle Alegria - 190 North contributor
• Doug Banks - 190 North contributor
• Ben Bradley
• Lou Canellis - 190 North contributor
• Steve Dolinksy - Food Reporter; "Hungry Hound" Wednesdays and Fridays 11am; Fridays 10pm
• Michelle Gallardo
• John Garcia
• Chuck Goudie - chief investigative reporter
• Theresa Gutierrez
• Evelyn Holmes
• Leah Hope (formerly morning anchor)
• 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

Other locally produced programs

• 190 North - local entertainment 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 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
  • weekdays 9am, reruns weeknights 11:05pm
• At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper - nationally syndicated film review program
  • Saturdays 11:35pm from Sept. 8-Dec. 1, normally Saturdays 10:35pm, reruns Sundays 10:30am
• The Chicago Huddle - local sports program about the Chicago Bears hosted by Ryan Chiaverini - premiered Saturday, September 8, 2007 [5]
  • Saturdays 11:05pm during Bears season

News Directors

• Jennifer Graves - (2001-present)
• Eric Lerner - (1999-2001)
• Phyllis Schwartz - (1993-1998)

News/Station Presentation

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)

Minivan crash incident

On December 23, 2007 Gerald Richardson a 25-year-old man with a reported history of mental illness,^[1] drove a Mazda MPV minivan into the glass-walled WLS-TV building during a live evening news broadcast.^[2] News anchor Ravi Baichwal was visibly startled, and videos of the incident and Baichwal's reaction were rapidly posted on YouTube,^[3][4][5] which was linked to and reported on numerous blogs.

No one was injured during the collision, but station meteorologist Phil Schwartz stated that the crash "shook the entire building."^[1] For his role in the crash the driver was charged with felony criminal damage to property,^[2] and ordered to appear in court on Christmas Day, 2007.^[1] He was also charged with resisting arrest, and issued several minor traffic citations.^[1] As of December 262007, it was not clear whether or not the crash was deliberate.^[2] According to the driver's family, he had a "history of behavioral problems" and was scheduled to receive psychiatric care following the holiday season.^[1]

Trivia

• WLS and sister station KGO-TV were among the earliest ABC O&Os to use the Circle 7 logo.
• Unlike most of the USA, ABC local and network programming has been ranked the number one Chicago station for most recent years.^[6]

See also

• WLS (AM)
• Circle 7 logo
• Eyewitness News

References

• The Bob & Kay Show (WENR-TV). Chicago Television.
• WLS-TV station history (2005). ABC7Chicago.com.

External links

• ABC7Chicago.com - WLS-TV Web site
• ABC7ToGo.com - WLS-TV Wireless Web site
• 190 North Web site
• The Chicago Huddle Web site
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