WGN's National Signal

[milwaukee_dave]

Today's WGN America is a far cry from the national version launched in the aftermath of SYNDEX regulations that went into effect in 1990. In those very early days, I remember such obscure shows as Canadian sitcom "Hangin' In" and hard-to-find oldies "My World and Welcome to It" and "Captain Nice" being used as substitutes for popular shows subject to being blacked out on the WGN-9/Chicago signal.

Does anyone know who programmed WGN's national feed in those early days? Was it United Video, the company that uplinked its signal to satellite? (I'm taking a shot with that guess since Eastern Microwave Inc., then uplinker of WWOR-9/New York programmed that station's national feed when there were holes in the schedule.)

And I'm assuming there is no longer any such third party as United Video involved in WGN's national feed. From what I've read about WGN America, it appears Tribune handles all aspects of the channel. When did WGN and United Video part ways?

What do you all think about the future of WGN America? It seems to me the noon and 9 p.m. (CT) newscasts might eventually disappear, along with other Chicago-related local programming, with the exception of sports. The 11:30-noon and 5:30-6 p.m. newscasts, which were added this fall on WGN-9/Chicago, are not being carried on WGN America, and I'm assuming SYNDEX is not the reason the shows are being blacked out.

 

[mleach]

Today's WGN America is a far cry from the national version launched in the aftermath of SYNDEX regulations that went into effect in 1990. In those very early What do you all think about the future of WGN America? It seems to me the noon and 9 p.m. (CT) newscasts might eventually disappear, along with other Chicago-related local programming, with the exception of sports. The 11:30-noon and 5:30-6 p.m. newscasts, which were added this fall on WGN-9/Chicago, are not being carried on WGN America, and I'm assuming SYNDEX is not the reason the shows are being blacked out.

Those Chicago WGN newscasts...yeah I think they will soon disappear on WGN America as well. For years I have heard that WGN never did show its local morning newscats on the nationwide WGN feed because of certain features that WGN can't show to a nationwide audience. OK..I have to ask...exactly what were those "features" that WGN could not show to viewers outside Chicago? Could it be their opening theme to their morning newscasts? If so it wouldn't be the first time a station did something like this. Back in the late 90s Buffalo's WKBW-TV for a brief time bady edited out their news theme and the "Eyewitness News" titles on their online streams. The theme part I remember reading years ago was due to a fear by WKBW that someone in Philadelphia would watch WKBW and their theme at the time ( Move Closer to Your World ) was and still is unlike WKBW also used by Philly's WPVI too. In other words WKBW had this idea that WPVI could sue..dittos with their news brand being seen in other cities where the "Eyewitness News" brand was used on other stations like Baltimore's WJZ, Indy's WTHR, Houston's KTRK..and so forth.

 

[dgendvil]

I think I talked about this subject in one of my earlier posts, I believe.

 

[Ultimajock]

Today's WGN America is a far cry from the national version launched in the aftermath of SYNDEX regulations that went into effect in 1990. In those very early days, I remember such obscure shows as Canadian sitcom "Hangin' In" and hard-to-find oldies "My World and Welcome to It" and "Captain Nice" being used as substitutes for popular shows subject to being blacked out on the WGN-9/Chicago signal.

...as I recall, My World...and Welcome to It and Captain Nice were purchased from NBC, which produced the series themselves, by Republic Pictures specifically to lease to WGN, WWOR and other stations that were on satellites and needed stopgap programming to cover local material covered by Syndex. Other syndicators broke their short-run and little-seen material out of the vaults for the same reasons; Columbia Pictures Television peddled David Cassidy - Man Undercover to WGN as well, while MCA/Universal, who owned WWOR at the time, started running The Jack Benny Program, the 1950s Dragnet and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, all part of their own holdings that hadn't seen much run since the '60s, on the bird...

 

[radiorob2.0]

Another victim of SYNDEX were local commercials on WGN, that was part of the charm.

 

[milwaukee_dave]

...as I recall, My World...and Welcome to It and Captain Nice were purchased from NBC, which produced the series themselves, by Republic Pictures specifically to lease to WGN, WWOR and other stations that were on satellites and needed stopgap programming to cover local material covered by Syndex. Other syndicators broke their short-run and little-seen material out of the vaults for the same reasons; Columbia Pictures Television peddled David Cassidy - Man Undercover to WGN as well, while MCA/Universal, who owned WWOR at the time, started running The Jack Benny Program, the 1950s Dragnet and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, all part of their own holdings that hadn't seen much run since the '60s, on the bird...
[/quote]


Thanks for the insight! Now that you mention this, I do recall seeing a lot of MCA/Universal product on WWOR EMI Service. As a TV geek, I loved the comedy wheel of short-lived sitcoms they ran in lieu of "Perfect Strangers" in 1990-91. The list included "Fast Times at Ridgement High," "Leo and Liz in Beverly Hills," "George Burns Comedy Week" and "He's the Mayor." My guess is these series haven't been seen since. You don't see obscurities like this any longer, although I did notice the programmers at WGN America are showing a forgotten 80s block of sitcoms next week: "Three's a Crowd," "The Ropers," "Too Close for Comfort" and "Check it Out." Most of these series have been sitting on the shelf for quite a while! It's kind of taking me back to the early days of WGN's national signal.

 

[milwaukee_dave]

Another victim of SYNDEX were local commercials on WGN, that was part of the charm.

I completely agree, although from a business standpoint, I can see why it was done (wasted real estate). For a while, I think the Chicago commercials remained on the national feed for programming that was identical (i.e. the newscasts). It appears as though that's changed now, however. It was kind of neat seeing commercials for a place like Tile Outlet, even though it was a hundred miles from my house. I had the same affinity for the New York commercials on WWOR. I don't think I ever saw any Atlanta commercials on the old TBS Superstation, though.

 

[Tim L]

I used to enjoy Check it Out! on USA Network in the 1980's..It was refreshing to see Don Adams headline a series where he wasnt the butt of all the jokes..Just after the series ended, I began working in the grocery business, as I have now for the last 17 years. I used to think my store would make a good sitcom..No one would believe it, though...

 

[radiorob2.0]

Another victim of SYNDEX were local commercials on WGN, that was part of the charm.

I completely agree, although from a business standpoint, I can see why it was done (wasted real estate). For a while, I think the Chicago commercials remained on the national feed for programming that was identical (i.e. the newscasts). It appears as though that's changed now, however. It was kind of neat seeing commercials for a place like Tile Outlet, even though it was a hundred miles from my house. I had the same affinity for the New York commercials on WWOR. I don't think I ever saw any Atlanta commercials on the old TBS Superstation, though.

TBS did pass through local inventory until the early to mid eighties when two control points were established.

 

[Newname]

Another victim of SYNDEX were local commercials on WGN, that was part of the charm.

I completely agree, although from a business standpoint, I can see why it was done (wasted real estate). For a while, I think the Chicago commercials remained on the national feed for programming that was identical (i.e. the newscasts). It appears as though that's changed now, however. It was kind of neat seeing commercials for a place like Tile Outlet, even though it was a hundred miles from my house. I had the same affinity for the New York commercials on WWOR. I don't think I ever saw any Atlanta commercials on the old TBS Superstation, though.

TBS did pass through local inventory until the early to mid eighties when two control points were established.

I remember one local Georgia business that continued advertising on TBS in the '90s...the famous 'Carpets of Dalton', with then-Braves broadcaster Don Sutton doing ads that ran during baseball telecasts.

 

[Stanislav]

Today's WGN America is a far cry from the national version launched in the aftermath of SYNDEX regulations that went into effect in 1990. In those very early days, I remember such obscure shows as Canadian sitcom "Hangin' In" and hard-to-find oldies "My World and Welcome to It" and "Captain Nice" being used as substitutes for popular shows subject to being blacked out on the WGN-9/Chicago signal.

...as I recall, My World...and Welcome to It and Captain Nice were purchased from NBC, which produced the series themselves, by Republic Pictures specifically to lease to WGN, WWOR and other stations that were on satellites and needed stopgap programming to cover local material covered by Syndex. Other syndicators broke their short-run and little-seen material out of the vaults for the same reasons; Columbia Pictures Television peddled David Cassidy - Man Undercover to WGN as well, while MCA/Universal, who owned WWOR at the time, started running The Jack Benny Program, the 1950s Dragnet and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, all part of their own holdings that hadn't seen much run since the '60s, on the bird...

Another such rarity was Please Don't Eat the Daisies, which aired on WWOR for a time.

 

[azumanga]

[In 1990] MCA/Universal, who owned WWOR at the time, started running The Jack Benny Program, the 1950s Dragnet and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, all part of their own holdings that hadn't seen much run since the '60s, on the bird...

I don't recall seeing the 1950s Dragnet or Hitchcock on WWOR, though I do recall them picking up the 1960s version in 1996 (the final year of the national WWOR), after Nick at Nite took them off.

 

[milwaukee_dave]

Another such rarity was Please Don't Eat the Daisies, which aired on WWOR for a time.
[/quote]


Ah yes, I recall "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" on the national WWOR feed. In fact, Stanislav's post reminded me that I had an episode on tape, which I just rewatched for the first time in about a decade. Pretty good show! The most interesting thing about the telecast, however, was the commercials. There was one for a psychic and another for some investment company, and they were repeated (in the same order) three times. WWOR EMI Service always seemed more primitive than WGN's national feed, and the lack of advertising was proof of that.

 

[milwaukee_dave]

I used to enjoy Check it Out! on USA Network in the 1980's..It was refreshing to see Don Adams headline a series where he wasnt the butt of all the jokes..Just after the series ended, I began working in the grocery business, as I have now for the last 17 years. I used to think my store would make a good sitcom..No one would believe it, though...

I'm looking forward to, um, checking out "Check it Out" when it airs on WGN America next week. I recall seeing a few episodes on the USA Network as well in the 80s. I was very young at the time, but I don't think the writing for the series was particularly stellar. Still, you can't say there have been many other series set in a supermarket, so the show can get a few points for originality.

 

[RMarino]

I remember once seeing an Atlanta commercial on SuperStation WTBS probably sometime in the late '80s/early '90s. It looked like it was a mistake because they cut it off right before the end. I forget who the sponsor was, but I remember seeing a graphic near the end of the spot showing all of their Atlanta area locations.

I used to love seeing the Chicago area commercials on WGN, I remember always seeing ones for "Jewel" grocery store and of course Empire carpets with that famous 588-2300 jingle, which now has an "800" added to it since the company went national. One Super Station that I believe lasted longer than WGN with local commercials was WWOR.

 

[anotherguyTN]

When WGN starts to carry Bob & Tom next month, what is going to happen to Corner Gas? Hopefully it will still be on the schedule at a viewable time.

Another Canadian show I wish WGN would get is the Red Green Show.

 

[Braves2005]

[In 1990] MCA/Universal, who owned WWOR at the time, started running The Jack Benny Program, the 1950s Dragnet and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, all part of their own holdings that hadn't seen much run since the '60s, on the bird...

I don't recall seeing the 1950s Dragnet or Hitchcock on WWOR, though I do recall them picking up the 1960s version in 1996 (the final year of the national WWOR), after Nick at Nite took them off.

I remember WWOR also carried Adam-12 and Emergency! along with the 1960s Dragnet. I loved all of those shows. In addition, WWOR carried The Mod Squad, The Fugitive, Baretta, Courtship Of Eddie's Father and My Favorite Martian for a time as well.

 

[azumanga]

The most interesting thing about the telecast, however, was the commercials. There was one for a psychic and another for some investment company, and they were repeated (in the same order) three times. WWOR EMI Service always seemed more primitive than WGN's national feed, and the lack of advertising was proof of that.

It seems that the EMI Service's mission was only to provide filler for shows that would be blacked out outside of NYC -- they never quite bothered to pursue national advertisers like WGN did.

Another thing funny was that the commercial breaks, especially later on in EMI's life, were never in the "natural" spots in the program, where it would fade to a commercial -- instead, a show fades to a break, then comes back for the next segment -- then at one point, usually between a scene, the show would cut to black for a break.

 

[MarcB]

I remember watching the cartoons on WWOR EMI Service. All the commercial breaks were the same. The same cereal commercials over and over again.

 

[BobbyNBC10]

I am glad WGN America has put on more sitcoms like ALF, WKRP, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. I remember when WGN had Bewitched and Jeannie on in the 1970's and 1980's and for a time in the 1990's. I hope they can keep the Cubs, White Sox and Bulls, but I am disappointed that there won't be no Black Hawks games on WGN America.

I hope WGN America keeps its Noon and 9pm newscasts on . I enjoy seeing Tom Skilling's weather. He's been with WGN since right before Chicago's Very Own Channel 9 hit the satellite.

I hope WGN gets Andy Griffith back from TV Land, because I am tired of TV Land cutting it to bits. On Halloween they will have a Munsters marathon and I hope WGN makes it a permanent addition. I would also like to see Gilligan's Island and Love, American Style back on WGN.