|
| |
|
| |
Just turn to 2
|
| |
''CBS2 Chicago''
|
| |
2 ( VHF )
|
| |
3 ( VHF ), moving to 12 ( VHF ) in 2009
|
| |
CBS
|
| |
July 1 , 1946
|
| |
4 (1946-1953)
|
| |
Chicago, Illinois
|
| |
'''W'''orld's<br>'''B'''est<br>'''B'''attery<br>'''M'''aker<br>(referring to H Leslie Atlass, founder of WBBM radio)<br>also for:<br>'''W'''e<br>'''B'''roadcast<br>'''B'''etter<br>'''M'''usic<br>(former alternate slogan of radio sister)
|
| |
CBS Corporation
|
| |
W9XBK (1940-1946)<br>WBKB (1946-1953)
|
| |
264 KW /455 M (analog)<br>37 kW/448 m (digital)
|
| |
wwwcbs2chicagocom
|
, officially branded as '''CBS2 Chicago''', is an
American Television Station in
Chicago, Illinois Owned And Operated by
CBS . Currently broadcasting from 630 North McClurg Court in downtown Chicago near
The Loop , WBBM-TV transmits from the
John Hancock Center . It is expected to move into new office and broadcasting facilities in The Loop at 108
North State Street , also known as
Block 37 .
WBBM traces its history to 1940, when
Balaban And Katz , a subsidiary of
Paramount Pictures , opened experimental station . Balaban and Katz was already well known for owning several theaters in Chicago. On July 1, 1946, it received a commercial license as '''WBKB-TV''' (meaning '''B'''alaban and '''K'''atz '''B'''roadcasting) on channel 4, the first commercial station outside the
Eastern Time Zone , airing some of the earliest CBS programing, including the debut in
1947 of ''Junior Jamboree'' (renamed ''
Kukla, Fran And Ollie '' after moving to
NBC in
1948 ). Starting in 1948, WBKB shared the CBS affiliation in Chicago with
WGN-TV . Balaban & Katz was renamed
United Paramount Theatres (UPT) in
1950 after Paramount was forced to divest it. The Balaban and Katz trademark is now owned by the Balaban and Katz Historical Foundation.
WBKB played an indirect role in the demise of the
DuMont Television Network . Paramount owned a stake in DuMont, and the FCC considered WBKB a DuMont O&O even though WGN-TV was Chicago's DuMont affiliate. Paramount also owned
KTLA-TV in Los Angeles. As DuMont already owned WABD (now
WNYW ) in New York,
WTTG in
Washington and WDTV in
Pittsburgh , the FCC's decision meant DuMont could not acquire any more stations.
In 1953, UPT merged with
ABC , who already owned WENR-TV on channel 7. ABC couldn't keep both stations under
FCC regulations of the time, so it decided to keep WENR and sell WBKB to CBS for
$ 6.75 million.
On
February 12 , one day after the merger took effect, a complex deal took place. WBKB-TV was renamed (after
WBBM-AM , which CBS has owned since 1929), while WENR-TV was renamed WBKB-TV. The talent stayed on channel 4 while the management moved to channel 7. In addition, all CBS programming that had been airing on WGN-TV was moved to WBBM-TV, leaving WGN-TV with the quickly crumbling DuMont as its only network affiliation. As a further condition of the merger, WBBM moved to channel 2 on
July 5 to eliminate interference with
WTMJ-TV in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin . In 1956, WBBM-AM-
FM -TV moved to a renovated arena on North McClurg Court, where the television station remains to this day (Early in 2006, the radio stations moved into new studios within
Two Prudential Plaza ). The
WBKB-TV call letters currently reside on channel 11 in
Alpena, Michigan , which is also a CBS affiliate.
On
April 6 ,
2005 , the station announced that it had reached an agreement to move its facilities to the vacant "Block 37" near the
Daley Center in downtown Chicago. The new facility will be an all-digital HD facility with a street-level windowed studio, similar to that of sister station
KYW-TV in
Philadelphia . On
January 18 ,
2006 , the station announced that it had purchased new Sony XDCAM HD optical-disk cameras and recorders for news acquisition, which were to be delivered in March 2006. CBS Corporation has announced that the station will launch its newscasts in
HDTV once it moves to its new facilities in the "
Block 37 " studio, which is slated to occur around fall to Christmas of 2007.
In May 2007 WBBM-DT filed a last-minute request with the FCC to broadcast with high power on channel 12, after analog shutdown in February, 2009. The station has filed a request to run 13.8 kw at 1,700' above ground level from Sears Tower.
