WCIU-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 473 m (1,552 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 41°52′44.1″N 87°38′10.2″W / 41.878917°N 87.636167°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WCIU-TV (channel 26) is a
WCIU-TV is the largest CW affiliate by market size that is not owned or operated by Nexstar Media Group, which owns 75% of the network.
History
Early history
Founded by John J. Weigel (the father of late Chicago sportscaster Tim Weigel),[2] the station first signed on the air on February 6, 1964, as Chicago's first UHF station. It has been owned by Weigel Broadcasting since its inception. WCIU has spent much of its history carrying multi-ethnic entertainment programming. At its sign-on, channel 26 operated as an independent station; the call letters stand for "Chicago Independent UHF". A minority stake was held by businessman Howard Shapiro, who founded appliance store chain C.E.T. (Chicago Engineers for Television). Shapiro and his brother Gene took over Weigel Broadcasting and WCIU in 1966.[3]
From the late 1960s until 1985, WCIU carried
From 1966 to 1970, the station aired Kiddie A-Go-Go, a children's
After WXXW (channel 20, allocation later occupied by PBS member station WYCC)—the second-to-last television station in the market that continued to broadcast in black-and-white—went dark in 1974, channel 26 remained the only television station in Chicago that still broadcast its programming in monochrome. Just prior to the Christmas season of 1974, the station installed and tested color transmission equipment, which broadcast on a low-power relay station located in Lincoln Park. In November 1974, the color and black-and-white signals traded transmitter facilities for the remainder of the holiday season; on December 31, 1974, the translator was taken offline as channel 26 started to broadcast in color full-time.
In the summer of 1985, the SIN affiliation moved to
On October 13, 1988, WSNS-TV announced that it would switch its affiliation to Telemundo after that station's affiliation agreement with Univision concluded on December 31; two months later on December 16, WCIU—whose contract with Telemundo was set to expire the following month—signed an affiliation agreement with Univision, returning the station to that network after two years. The two stations switched affiliations on January 10, 1989.[8][9]
Return to full-time independence
In 1993, Univision asked WCIU to drop all of its English-language programming, including Stock Market Observer, and carry the network's programming full-time. WCIU refused, which led Univision to purchase then-
Upon the conversion, channel 26 picked up most of WGBO's syndicated programming inventory, along with newly purchased shows that were not carried by any of the other Chicago stations; it also moved its remaining ethnic programming to WFBT.
On February 19, 1995, WCIU signed a multi-year agreement with
In order to make room for the Kids' WB block, the full Stock Market Observer broadcast moved to WFBT-CA, on September 9. The weekday business news programming was then reduced to a 3½-hour block from 8:30 a.m. to noon, a move panned by some viewers; although it cited that Weigel had "no intention of killing" the program, Sabin cited the program's niche format and limited ratings and revenue for the block's shift to WFBT, in order for channel 26 to carry more profitable entertainment programming.
By the late 1990s, WCIU began adding more recent sitcoms; the station began to add more syndicated first-run
Switch to The CW
On April 18, 2019, Weigel Broadcasting signed an agreement with
Like WPWR (which is under a channel sharing agreement with sister station WFLD), WCIU carries its main channel at 720p, below The CW's default 1080i resolution, due to running several standard definition subchannels, along with The U in 720p.
Second return to independence
On May 1, 2024, it was announced that The CW would return to WGN-TV in September and WCIU-TV will revert to independent status.[29]
Programming
Local programming
WCIU-TV has broadcast many locally produced programs over the years; among them include Ultrascope (a program sponsored by
Current local programs seen on WCIU include the horror/sci-fi film showcase Svengoolie (which is syndicated to MeTV and other Weigel stations), religious program Rock of Ages and the children's program Green Screen Adventures (which also syndicated to MeTV, This TV and other Weigel stations).[31]
In 2022, WCIU became the home of the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade, after the parade had been relegated to low-power television in 2021.[32]
Sports programming
On July 8, 1999, WGN-TV and WCIU-TV entered into a programming arrangement involving sports coverage, which allowed channel 26 to carry select Chicago Bulls basketball and White Sox baseball games, and a handful of Cubs baseball games that are produced by and contracted to air on WGN-TV, due to that station's network affiliation contracts (with The CW and previously The WB) that limit the number of programming preemptions that WGN-TV is allowed on an annual basis, and rights restrictions enforced by the
Sports broadcasts on WCIU were previously branded under the "BullsNet", "HawksNet", "CubsNet" and "SoxNet" banners until 2010, when they were rebranded under the umbrella title
From
The station refused carriage of the 2023 LIV Golf season after the controversial golf league contracted with The CW (now majority-owned by Nexstar Media Group) to carry their tournaments; in Chicago, it airs on Nexstar's WGN-TV instead, though Weigel does carry it on WCWW-LD in South Bend, making it likely that existing programming commitments (including to the Illinois High School Association) and a strong weekend syndication schedule led Weigel to decline the coverage. WCIU has also declined to air The CW's coverage of Atlantic Coast Conference football and men's basketball games.[citation needed]
Newscasts
A Black's View of the News
Alongside the Stock Market Observer, WCIU's first standalone local news programming effort debuted in 1968, when it launched a half-hour weeknight 10 p.m. newscast titled A Black's View of the News, a program focusing on news and commentary relevant to Chicago's African American community. The program—which served as a launching pad for eventual Soul Train host Don Cornelius—was canceled in 1982.[30]
You and Me This Morning
In September 2009, WCIU debuted You and Me This Morning, a weekday
Newscasts from WLS-TV
On December 14, 2014, WCIU entered into a news share agreement with ABC owned-and-operated station WLS-TV to produce a weeknight-only 7 p.m. newscast for channel 26. Titled ABC 7
On June 14, 2017, WCIU announced that it would launch The Jam, a new morning show that would replace You and Me This Morning in the 6 to 8 a.m. timeslot that summer at a date to be determined. The program—which the station's head of programming and creative, Steve Bailey, described would "promise[...] to be bold and unfiltered"—will feature a mix of local and national news headlines (as well as opinions on the featured stories by its hosts), entertainment and pop culture news, and weather forecasts. The program's concept is based in part on The Daily Buzz, a syndicated morning news program that ran from 2002 to 2015, which Bailey (who joined Weigel Broadcasting in October 2016, after serving as director of programming and affiliate marketing at Media General) had previously worked as the program's vice president of marketing and promotions.[49][50]
Notable former on-air staff
- Cheryl Burton – weeknight anchor (January 12, 2015 – August 30, 2019; remained with WLS-TV as 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. anchor)
- Jim Rose – sports anchor (January 12, 2015 – August 30, 2019; remained with WLS-TV as sports anchor)
- Jerry Taft – chief meteorologist (deceased)
- Linda Yu – weeknight anchor (January 12, 2015 – April 5, 2016; remained with WLS-TV as 4 p.m. anchor until her retirement in November 2016)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
26.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
CW26 | The CW → Independent (eff. 9/1/2024) |
26.2 | The U | WMEU-CD (Independent)[53][54] | ||
26.3 | 480i | MeTV | MeTV (WWME-CD) | |
26.4 | HEROES | Heroes & Icons | ||
26.5 | STORY | Story Television | ||
26.6 | CATCHY | Catchy Comedy | ||
26.7 | 4:3 |
MeTV Toons (soon) |
Subchannel history
In July 2008, Weigel Broadcasting announced the creation of This TV, a national subchannel network operated as a joint venture between Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Weigel.[55] This TV officially launched with WCIU as its flagship station (airing on digital subchannel 26.5) on November 1, 2008.[56] This TV moved to the third digital subchannel of WGN-TV on November 1, 2013, as a result of the May 13, 2013, announcement that WGN owner Tribune Broadcasting would acquire Weigel's 50% ownership interest in This TV.[57][58] Bounce TV (which was already carried on WWME-CD 23.2) began to occupy This TV's former subchannel, moving from WWME 23.2 to WCIU 26.5.
On December 1, 2010, WCIU dropped its ethnic programming service FBT on digital subchannel 26.6 and replaced it a simulcast of the station's main channel. Two weeks later on December 15, the 26.6 subchannel was dropped and its programming was shifted to digital channel 26.2 (replacing a simulcast of sister station WWME-CA, which moved to WCIU digital subchannel 26.3) where it continued to simulcast most of WCIU's main programming. In addition, virtual channel 48.1 was discontinued (to be later used by the digital signal of
On January 4, 2011, MGM and Weigel Broadcasting announced plans to turn the MeTV format that originated on sister station WWME-CA into a national network.[59][60] The national MeTV service launched on WWME and WCIU digital subchannel 26.3 on December 15, 2010.
The following day on January 5, digital subchannel 26.2 was relaunched with its own general entertainment format, branded as "The U Too"–a nod to the main channel's longtime branding, "The U."
On May 4, 2021, Weigel announced that WCIU-DT5 would become the inaugural affiliate of MeTV spinoff MeTV Plus upon its launch on the 15th of the month; Bounce TV was reported to move their Chicago affiliate to a subchannel of WCPX at that time. The channel is set to air a variety of sitcoms and drama series, similar to the original setup of past spinoff MeToo, and is believed to be Weigel's answer to Rewind TV, a planned Antenna TV spinoff network planned for launch by Nexstar Media Group that September.[63]
Analog-to-digital conversion
On June 12, 2009, the date of the federally mandated switch from analog to digital television for full-power stations, WCIU-TV shut down its analog signal. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 27,[64] using virtual channel 26.
From June 13, 2009, to January 9, 2011, WCIU-TV's main programming was simulcast on sister station WWME-CA (channel 23) to provide a nightlight service as the low-power station continued to operate an analog signal. From June 13 to July 12, 2009, the station ran newscasts from WMAQ-TV (channel 5) and WGN-TV for viewers that either were not ready for the digital transition or had problems receiving WGN and WMAQ's signals after the June 12 digital transition.[65] WWME-CA continued to operate an analog signal on UHF channel 23.
References
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