-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
The Future of WGN America?
- Thread starter milwaukee_dave
- Start date
Mark said:
Dish Network & DirecTV are the only services that carry WGN America to Chicagoland viewers. I don't think they can easily block out the channel to Chicagoland viewers like cable can. Except for satellite, WGN America supposedly isn't allowed on Chicagoland cable systems, since WGN-TV is available in the market.
Dave said:
I recall reading somewhere back when TBS was still on channel 17 in Atlanta, the national feed was blacked out on satellite in the Atlanta market, as most of its programming were identical (save for local ads and a few programming variations). As for WWOR's EMI service, during the time they were in existence (1990-1996), I don't believe anyone in the NYC market carried it, and I wasn't sure if it was on the small-dishes.
Dave said:
Are you sure it isn't allowed or is it because of lack of interest for certain cable systems to carry the national feed?
Many Comcasts in the Philly region still don't carry WGN America, despite adding many new channels. Comcast just doesn't see a value in it to add it.
Fios wanted to offer it and puts it on Ch.8 between locals here, as if it's still a superstation. Comcast still didn't add it after Fios offered it.
If Dish or DirecTV had to block it in Chicago, they have technology to do that.
I came across the below linked article, dated March 19, on the formation of Tribune Studios and the hiring of another former FX cable executive alongside recently installed Tribune Company CEO Peter Liguori.
http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/new...orms-new-studio-hires-new-head-of-wgn-america
The write-up hints at what might be on the horizon for WGN America -- original programming. However, it appears there also will be efforts to have some of the programming on Tribune's 23 broadcast stations, including WGN-TV.
I remain curious whether WGN America will shed all ties to WGN-TV, including the Chicago-centric programming.
http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/new...orms-new-studio-hires-new-head-of-wgn-america
The write-up hints at what might be on the horizon for WGN America -- original programming. However, it appears there also will be efforts to have some of the programming on Tribune's 23 broadcast stations, including WGN-TV.
I remain curious whether WGN America will shed all ties to WGN-TV, including the Chicago-centric programming.
I suspect that somehow, WGN has to carry the Chicago news as part of their agreements to be on basic systems, and in most of the Midwest, basic lifeline (everyone including the $15-a-monthers gets locals, WGN, HSN & QVC). Like ABC Family, if that gets nixed, then everything resets and they lose their prime cable slot. So I'm not scared of it going away.
Tribune is an odd duck in the American broadcast landscape, a weird mix of old and new. Against all odds, they have resisted any attempt to take it over, and the end result is that if there's a general-purpose entertainment station in the largest markets, chances are it's owned by CBS, NBC, Disney, Fox, or Tribune. Tribune is not even one of the largest players in the cable universe, with the odd duck that is WGN America its only cable property, a microcosm of Tribune itself. That it is now going into original production - not merely original programming, original production - only highlights its odd status (and suggests that Tribune may want to launch a new network wholly its own once its CW affiliation agreements run out, its own little MyNet-esque fiefdom).
As such, many of Tribune's stations - many of which run their own newscasts, and I can probably count the other CW affiliates that do so on one hand - are incredibly valuable to anyone who wishes to start a fifth broadcast network, as it was for the WB back in the day...yet if Tribune was that interested in doing so, many if not most of them would be Fox affiliates now (especially in markets like Chicago and Denver, where Tribune owns a legacy-VHF and Fox is on UHF). Instead, many of Tribune's CW affiliates play up how fiercely independent they are even as they run CW programming in primetime, evoking the days when being truly independent was truly a viable option even after Fox ran scared of the notion back in 2006. Making it all the odder is that Tribune also owns a number of ABC and Fox affiliates, so it's also a lot like a typical mid-market station owner at the same time.
I can't help but wonder if Tribune's new owners will eventually decide to split the company's two identities - since Time Warner now no longer really owns Time Warner Cable, I bet they'll at least try to pony up the dough for most of Tribune's CW affiliates in 2016 so they can re-start the WB entirely on their own, if only to stop Tribune from going it alone. That could put WGN America in common ownership with former rival TBS, but that might not be its best use.
I've suggested in another thread that former MyNet affiliates could form an alliance to negotiate for the rights to local teams' games. The two likeliest companies to spearhead such a movement, Tribune and Sinclair, are unfortunately also the two most critical for the success of a fifth network (without Tribune Fox sure as hell isn't interested in crippling its own RSN business - unless cord-cutting was already all the rage - and CBS isn't much more interested), but if they were to spearhead such a movement I could see WGN America evolving into a national version of this "sixth network" showing out-of-market programming, not unlike Canada's SportsNet One. If it were carried on the digital subchannels of most members of this alliance, it might actually be the best bet for challenging ESPN. (Even if WGN America ended up in Turner's hands, I suspect they'd immediately try to turn it into a sports network - they've been flirting with doing so with TruTV for a while now anyway.)
As such, many of Tribune's stations - many of which run their own newscasts, and I can probably count the other CW affiliates that do so on one hand - are incredibly valuable to anyone who wishes to start a fifth broadcast network, as it was for the WB back in the day...yet if Tribune was that interested in doing so, many if not most of them would be Fox affiliates now (especially in markets like Chicago and Denver, where Tribune owns a legacy-VHF and Fox is on UHF). Instead, many of Tribune's CW affiliates play up how fiercely independent they are even as they run CW programming in primetime, evoking the days when being truly independent was truly a viable option even after Fox ran scared of the notion back in 2006. Making it all the odder is that Tribune also owns a number of ABC and Fox affiliates, so it's also a lot like a typical mid-market station owner at the same time.
I can't help but wonder if Tribune's new owners will eventually decide to split the company's two identities - since Time Warner now no longer really owns Time Warner Cable, I bet they'll at least try to pony up the dough for most of Tribune's CW affiliates in 2016 so they can re-start the WB entirely on their own, if only to stop Tribune from going it alone. That could put WGN America in common ownership with former rival TBS, but that might not be its best use.
I've suggested in another thread that former MyNet affiliates could form an alliance to negotiate for the rights to local teams' games. The two likeliest companies to spearhead such a movement, Tribune and Sinclair, are unfortunately also the two most critical for the success of a fifth network (without Tribune Fox sure as hell isn't interested in crippling its own RSN business - unless cord-cutting was already all the rage - and CBS isn't much more interested), but if they were to spearhead such a movement I could see WGN America evolving into a national version of this "sixth network" showing out-of-market programming, not unlike Canada's SportsNet One. If it were carried on the digital subchannels of most members of this alliance, it might actually be the best bet for challenging ESPN. (Even if WGN America ended up in Turner's hands, I suspect they'd immediately try to turn it into a sports network - they've been flirting with doing so with TruTV for a while now anyway.)
mrschimpf said:
Does that include WGN HD?
mrschimpf said:
From everything I've read, WGN America is still technically treated as a superstation in its agreements with cable and satellite operators. This unique distinction means operators pay a fee to the copyright royalty tribunal and are not privy to local ad inserts during commercial breaks -- a scenario common in negotiations with most major networks.
This could very well lend credence to the national feed keeping the WGN name and its small semblance to the Chicago ties. Converting to a traditional national cable network would require renegotiating with each provider. It can be done, though. Turner Broadcasting did it in the late 1990s when TBS (then an almost identical replica of WTBS-TV in Atlanta) reverted from superstation to basic cable network. Turner and TBS, however, have more clout than Tribune and WGN do.
some on screen guides list the SD feed of TBS as WTBS, but the HD feed as TBS HD
When they say "comedy, sports and movies" who is that girl who represents movies?
As a Chicago area native and 30-plus year business traveler, I'm all but oblivious to WGN America....except for Cubs games and sometimes the midday and/or late evening newscasts.
In a recent post, Tribune/WGN was referred to as an "odd duck" in the national broadcast landscape. I couldn't agree more. And what they've done with WGN America is a perfect illustration. At least until very recently, the WGN brand on both radio and TV was known for live, local, and class.
WGN America, OTOH, long ago morphed into an embarrassing mess. Yes, they have the signature sporting events and newscasts. But the rest of it....instead of live, local, and class....is cheap, canned, and c**p.
In a recent post, Tribune/WGN was referred to as an "odd duck" in the national broadcast landscape. I couldn't agree more. And what they've done with WGN America is a perfect illustration. At least until very recently, the WGN brand on both radio and TV was known for live, local, and class.
WGN America, OTOH, long ago morphed into an embarrassing mess. Yes, they have the signature sporting events and newscasts. But the rest of it....instead of live, local, and class....is cheap, canned, and c**p.
milwaukee_dave said:
I think that's indeed how it's treated, and why its able to keep those prime slots on cable. As far as I remember the TBS situation began in 1995 as they began to renegotiate as a basic channel as new carriage negotiations came in, and then when they were finally able to break off the Channel 17 feed in Atlanta, that's when TBS was fully a basic cable channel rather than a superstation. The other comparison is Disney Channel, which started as a 'decoder required'-pay network in the 80's, and in 1995 began what was a seven year process to switch over to their 'basic ad-free but full of Disney promo tie-ins' format they continue to have today. So Tribune does have templates to remove their dependence as a superstation. But in the Midwest, it's sure to kill their 'channel 9' exclusivity, like what has happened with TBS losing their 'channel 17' slots over the years as it's been neighborhooded in the 20's and 30's with TNT, USA, FX and the like. And we'll see if the Cubs price WGN out of carrying their games, even a limited schedule and try to split off Comcast Sportsnet in the Chicago area for their own overblown cable riches from a Cubs-specific channel like the Dodgers did.
Speaking of WGN America, does anybody in New England carry it? As long as I've had cable here in New Britain, CT (close to Hartford), I have never seen either WGN America or WGN itself, in any fashion. We did get WWOR (actual channel 9 and then the EMI-Eastern Microwave), WPIX (which we lost in July of 1990 due to Syndex) and WSBK (gone by about 1999 or so).
mrschimpf said:
In the past, most cable systems slotted TBS in the 2-13 range, especially systems that still had the old 12-channel systems. In the Tampa Bay area, Bright House's predecessor Time Warner (and others in turn) previously carried TBS on cable channel 5 until the mid-1990s, when it moved to somewhere in the low-20s to make room for HSN station WBHS (now UniMas station WFTT). The system also had WGN since the early-1980s -- don't know what channel it was on, but it was never on channel 9 (which was where the local origination channel was at the time, later occupied by Bay News 9).
KML-224 said:
it was never carried on NYC cable systems when it was a real super station, it has only been on cable in Columbia MO for about a decade
anotherguy said:
I used to watch Barney Miller, Beverly Hillbillies, WKRP, and I Dream of Jeannie on WGN. When they took off Retro Night back in 2010, I stopped watching WGN.
WGN used to air Boston Legal on that channel which now airs 7 AM Fridays on TVLAND.
Here in New Britain, CT and Comcast, the last channel position TBS had was cable channel 16 in the analog era. A converter will still tune them as channel 16, but the signal will be in 4:3 with the black bars on either side. I only get TBS in SD on channel 89-6 with my TV's QAM tuner (I have no converter). We never did get WGN in any fashion. I don't remember what channel WWOR was on here. WPIX was on cable channel 10 when it got dumped on July 1, 1990 (replaced by in-market channel 26 of New London). WSBK was on a higher channel above 13. At one other time, we received Comcast's CN-8 channel on cable channel 3. Back then, the channel had awful reception, due to signal ingress from WFSB-TV (CBS) channel 3 of Hartford. Today, about all there is on analog here are color bars on channel 3 and (I think) something on cable channel 70.
- Status