WLS-TV

WLS-TV
Company type	Television station
Industry	Broadcasting
Founded	September 17, 1948; 78 years ago in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Area served	Chicago metropolitan area
Owner	ABC Owned Television Stations (The Walt Disney Company)
Website	abc7chicago.com

WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station based in Chicago, Illinois, functioning as the local affiliate of the ABC network. Since its establishment, the station has been owned and operated by ABC Owned Television Stations. Its broadcast facilities are situated on North State Street within the Chicago Loop, while its transmitter is positioned atop the Willis Tower.

WENR-TV (1948–1953)

The station commenced operations on September 17, 1948, under the call sign WENR-TV. It was Chicago’s third television broadcaster, following WGN-TV (channel 9) and WBKB (channel 4). As an original ABC-owned outlet on channel 7, it launched subsequent to WJZ-TV in New York City but prior to ABC stations in Detroit, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

The call letters were derived from its sister radio station WENR (890 AM), an affiliate of ABC Radio. Later, WENR merged with WLS, sharing a frequency through a time-sharing arrangement until ABC acquired a 50% ownership interest in WLS in 1954.

WBKB-TV (1953–1968)

Following ABC’s February 1953 merger with United Paramount Theatres (UPT), which owned WBKB, the station maintained a shared CBS affiliation alongside WGN-TV. Due to Federal Communications Commission regulations preventing ownership of two stations within the same market, WBKB’s channel 4 license was transferred to CBS and rebranded as WBBM-TV, relocating to VHF channel 2 in July 1953. The WBKB call letters and management were reassigned to channel 7; from 1965 through 1968, the station appended the callsign as WBKB-TV.

WLS-TV (1968–present)

Sterling "Red" Quinlan served as general manager from the early 1950s until the mid-1960s and played a pivotal role in Chicago’s early television landscape, helping launch the careers of personalities such as Tom Duggan, Frank Reynolds, and Bob Newhart. During the mid-1950s, the station broadcast The Tom Duggan Show, which became Chicago’s highest-rated program. On October 7, 1968, the station adopted the call letters WLS-TV to align with ABC-owned WLS Radio, which ABC had fully acquired in 1959 from Prairie Farmer magazine. The merger of WLS with its time-share partner WENR had occurred earlier in 1954 under ABC ownership.

Al Parker joined the station in 1963 as an announcer and remained for 26 years, contributing to programs such as AM Chicago and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He died in 2000 at age 74.

Although WLS-TV initially promoted itself as "Chicago's first television station," it recognized its true origins stemming from WENR during its 30th anniversary celebration in 1978.

On January 17, 1984, WLS-TV introduced Tele1st, an overnight subscription television service owned by ABC that provided films and lifestyle content for four hours each night after regular sign-off. Similar to services like ONTV on WSNS-TV, Tele1st targeted viewers who recorded shows using VCRs with monthly updated scrambling codes. Despite this novel approach, Tele1st reached only about 4,000 subscribers before discontinuing operations on June 30, 1984.

In 1988, production rights for The Oprah Winfrey Show were sold by WLS-TV to Harpo Productions; nevertheless, ABC-owned stations continued airing the program until its end in 2011.

Programming

WLS-TV broadcasts the Weekend Adventure block of educational programming and airs the network's political and news discussion series This Week with a one-hour delay, accommodating its weekend morning newscasts.

Network programs with adjusted airtimes

Since its launch in January 2003, WLS-TV presented Jimmy Kimmel Live! on a one-hour delay at 12:02 a.m., following reruns of The Oprah Winfrey Show which aired at 11:02 p.m. after Nightline. This scheduling changed after Oprah ended syndication in September 2011, with Kimmel moving up to the 11:02 p.m. slot soon thereafter.
For an extended period, WLS-TV was the sole ABC owned-and-operated station that did not carry Live with Kelly and Mark during daytime hours. The 9 a.m. slot was occupied by Oprah until May 2011, then by Windy City Live until September 2013. Produced by sister station WABC-TV, Live with Kelly and Mark occasionally aired overnight on WLS between 1991–1993 and 1999–2002. Other Chicago stations airing it during daytime included WFLD, WBBM-TV, and WGN-TV. On September 2, 2013, the show (then titled Live with Kelly and Michael) transitioned to WLS-TV from WGN-TV, resulting in Windy City Live moving to the 11 a.m. timeslot.
From its debut in September 2019 through September 2021, WLS-TV was unique among ABC-owned stations for not carrying Tamron Hall, due to scheduling conflicts. The independent station WCIU-TV aired the program for its first two seasons before it shifted to WLS-TV in the third season following the conclusion of Windy City Live.

Additional programs produced by WLS-TV

190 North – This local lifestyle series, named after the station’s Chicago Loop studio address, was originally hosted by Janet Davies. It premiered in 1998 and began broadcasting in high-definition on May 6, 2007. The show aired Sundays at 11 p.m., with rebroadcasts on Saturdays until 2013. Later that year, it returned in a revamped format but was reduced to only occasional annual airings.
Let's Dish – A culinary and travel series created for the Live Well Network, it is broadcast locally on digital subchannel 7.2.
Windy City Weekend – This program evolved from the weekday talk show Windy City Live, hosted by Ryan Chiaverini and Valerie Warner. The original show debuted on May 26, 2011, replacing The Oprah Winfrey Show. Initially scheduled for 9 a.m., it moved to an 11 a.m. slot in 2013 and then to 1 p.m. in 2016, with reruns airing on digital subchannel 7.2 and during late-night hours. The daily broadcast concluded on September 3, 2021, before being relaunched as a weekly program titled Windy City Weekend, which airs Fridays at 11:30 a.m.
Since its inception in 1991, WLS-TV has produced the local New Year’s Eve special Countdown Chicago, consistently ranking highly in ratings.

Previously produced programs by WLS-TV

The Chicago Huddle – A local sports show centered on the Chicago Bears and hosted by Ryan Chiaverini. It was broadcast Sundays at 10:30 a.m. during NFL seasons until the end of the 2009-10 season.
Chicagoing – A public affairs program hosted by Bill Campbell that aired Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m., concluding its run on December 26, 2010.

Former nationally syndicated shows produced in Chicago

At the Movies – a film critique series with national syndication, produced at WLS-TV and distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. It was scheduled for Saturday nights at 10:35 p.m., with Sunday morning reruns at 10:30 a.m. The program's last original episode aired on August 14, 2010.
The Oprah Winfrey Show – initially launched as the local broadcast A.M. Chicago before being renamed when Oprah Winfrey took over hosting duties. Originated by WLS-TV, it later moved production to Harpo Studios under Harpo Productions and CBS Television Distribution. It aired weekdays at 9 a.m. and concluded on May 25, 2011, with repeats continuing until September 9, 2011.

Sports broadcasts

WLS-TV functions as the local over-the-air station for Monday Night Football games featuring the Chicago Bears, simulcasting ESPN broadcasts due to The Walt Disney Company's majority ownership of ESPN and ABC stations' first refusal rights in their home markets. This arrangement often necessitates rescheduling ABC network programming that conflicts with these football telecasts. Since ABC lost NFL broadcasting rights in 2006, WLS-TV's NFL coverage is limited to preseason and MNF games; regular season Bears contests rotate among WBBM-TV (NFL on CBS), WMAQ-TV (NBC Sunday Night Football), and WFLD (NFL on Fox). Beginning in 2010, during fall seasons of Dancing with the Stars, WLS has occasionally delegated some MNF broadcasts to WCIU-TV to accommodate live voting, except for special cases such as the December 9, 2013 Bears game honoring Mike Ditka.

On December 12, 2014, WLS-TV secured a five-year agreement to televise 25 Chicago Cubs games annually starting with the 2015 season, partially replacing long-time broadcaster WGN-TV, which reduced its Cubs coverage to 45 games after voluntarily ending its full broadcast contract. These WLS broadcasts were accessible nationally through DirecTV's MLB Extra Innings package using the Chicago market feed without local commercial blackouts. Due to ABC’s limited sports lineup during early MLB season overlaps with college football, WLS primarily aired weekend daytime Cubs games to minimize prime time preemptions. This partnership concluded after the 2019 season when the Cubs launched the cable-exclusive Marquee Sports Network.

WLS-TV also airs selected Chicago Bulls matchups as part of their NBA on ABC coverage.

Regarding the Chicago Blackhawks, WLS-TV carried select games from 1999 through 2004 and resumed coverage in 2021 within the framework of NHL on ABC broadcasts.

News operations

WLS-TV produces a total of 41 hours and 25 minutes of local newscasts weekly—6 hours and 5 minutes each weekday and approximately five and a half hours on weekends. Additionally, the station collaborates with iHeartMedia to supply weather forecasts for Chicago market radio stations including WLIT-FM, WCHI-FM, WVAZ, WKSC-FM, and WGCI-FM.

History of the news department

In 1969, WLS-TV adopted the Eyewitness News format, originally popularized by ABC’s flagship station WABC-TV. Anchors Fahey Flynn and Joel Daly co-anchored evening newscasts from 1968 until Flynn’s passing in 1983. By 1973, WLS had overtaken NBC-owned WMAQ-TV as Chicago’s leading news outlet, maintaining a dominant position throughout the ’70s and ’80s despite intense competition.

After experiencing ratings declines around 1983, ABC appointed Bill Applegate as news director and replaced general manager Peter Desnoes with Dennis Swanson—a Chicago native with prior experience at WGN-TV and KABC-TV. Swanson commissioned Frank Gari to refresh the "Tar Sequence" theme into "News Series 2000," which became widely used across ABC affiliates.

Swanson hired Oprah Winfrey to host AM Chicago, which quickly rose to become the top-rated local talk show before entering national syndication in 1986 as The Oprah Winfrey Show, with WLS-TV serving as its flagship station until production ceased in 2011. By March 1986, WLS had reclaimed its position as Chicago’s top news source, maintaining leadership except during brief periods of competition.

In 1992, WLS replaced its "News Series 2000" theme with Frank Gari’s "News Series 2000 Plus" (later called "Stimulus"), which remains in use following a refresh in 2013. In line with ABC’s network-wide branding initiative, WLS retired the Eyewitness News brand in favor of ABC 7 News in 1996.

In April 2006, WLS introduced a street-level studio and upgraded its news helicopter to high definition ("Chopper 7 HD"). On January 6, 2007, it became Chicago’s first station to air all local programming entirely in high definition.

A notable event occurred on December 23, 2007, when a minivan crashed through the State Street studio window during a live broadcast; fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Between late 2012 and early 2013, weekend morning newscasts were expanded while the weekday 11 a.m. newscast was discontinued in September 2013 to launch Windy City Live, which incorporated news and weather segments—making it unique among ABC owned-and-operated stations by lacking a midday newscast at that time.

On October 26, 2013, WLS reinstated the Eyewitness News branding accompanied by updated graphics and music due to its strong recognition within the market. Weekend morning newscasts were further extended in November of that year.

In February 2014, WLS formed a partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times, integrating its weather team into the newspaper’s weather section while cross-promoting content across platforms.

Starting January 12, 2015, WLS began producing a weeknight-only 7 p.m. newscast for WCIU-TV, marking its fifth collaboration providing news content for separately owned stations.

The weekday 11 a.m. newscast was reinstated on June 27, 2016, requiring adjustments to daytime scheduling.

The news-sharing agreement with WCIU concluded on August 30, 2019 following that station’s affiliation change to The CW.

On June 19, 2023, WLS unveiled an updated on-air presentation—the first ABC owned-and-operated station to adopt this refreshed standard graphics package in over ten years.

Audience Ratings

In the February 2011 Nielsen ratings period, WLS-TV secured the top position overall, with its 10 p.m. newscast achieving a 9.7 rating share, a slight decline from the 9.8 recorded the previous year. The station also ranked second for its prime time lead-in programming.

Current On-air Personnel

Cheryl Burton – news anchor
Ryan Chiaverini – host of Windy City Weekend and Countdown Chicago
Chuck Goudie – chief investigative journalist
Diane Pathieu – reporter and substitute anchor
Mark Schanowski – freelance sports anchor (also affiliated with NBC Sports Chicago)
Tom Waddle – NFL analyst

Past On-air Staff

^† Denotes individuals who have passed away

Facilities

The studios of WLS-TV, located at 190 North State Street, feature the preserved shell of the former State-Lake Theatre's interior.

Between 1959 and 1961, this venue served as the filming location for Playboy's Penthouse, Playboy magazine's inaugural television program.

Digital Subchannels

Subchannels operated by WLS-TV and WXFT-DT
Station	Channel	Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Identifier	Content
WLS-TV	7.1	720p	16:9	WLS-HD	ABC network programming
	7.2	480i		LOCLish	Localish network
	7.3	480i		CHARGE	Charge!
WXFT-DT	60.1	720p		WXFT-DT	UniMás network
	60.2	480i		ESCAPE	Ion Mystery channel
	60.3	480i		Quest	Quest network

Prior to February 24, 2011, WLS-DT3 broadcasted ABC 7 News NOW, which combined local news and weather coverage with programming from The Local AccuWeather Channel. On that date, ABC-owned stations discontinued their Local AccuWeather channels, substituting them with a letterboxed standard-definition simulcast of their Live Well Network subchannels, while continuing to utilize AccuWeather content under agreement. From January 2015 through December 2017, WLS-DT3 was an original affiliate of Laff; however, due to channel sharing arrangements with WXFT, the Laff subchannel was discontinued and transferred to WGBO-DT2. At that time, Live Well's resolution was downgraded from 720p to 480i. Following the spectrum repack, This TV was added to WLS's lineup in spring 2021 after ABC Owned Television Stations acquired the network.

Analog-to-digital conversion

On June 12, 2009, at noon, WLS-TV discontinued its analog transmissions on VHF channel 7 in accordance with the federally mandated digital transition. The station's digital broadcast shifted from UHF channel 52—subsequently removed from broadcasting use—back to its original VHF channel 7.

At first, the digital signal operated at a reduced power level (4.75 kW) to avoid interference with WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which also broadcasts on channel 7. This low power output led to reception difficulties for numerous viewers. Due to a surge in complaints, the FCC deployed staff to assist audiences in Chicago and other affected areas. In late June, WLS was granted a temporary experimental permit for a two-week power boost and filed an application for a low-power fill-in translator on UHF channel 32; however, this plan was later abandoned.

The FCC authorized WLS to transmit on UHF channel 44, previously used by WSNS-TV, an announcement made on October 31, 2009. While new transmission facilities were under construction at Willis Tower, WLS utilized auxiliary operations from the John Hancock Center under Special Temporary Authority—broadcasting channel 7 at 7 kW as a fill-in translator and maintaining full-power broadcasts on channel 44 at 1 MW. Virtual channel mapping technology assigned both frequencies as channel 7, which caused some tuners to display duplicate virtual channels.

By October 2012, construction at Willis Tower was finalized, enabling full-power broadcasts on channel 44 at one million watts. The station maintained simultaneous broadcasts on both frequencies until March 18, 2013, when it permanently discontinued transmissions on VHF channel 7 and designated UHF channel 44 as its primary broadcast frequency. This transition marked WLS as the sole ABC-owned station to relinquish its analog allocation for digital use and the second ABC O&O station to operate exclusively on UHF following KFSN-TV in Fresno.

On June 12, 2017, ABC Owned Television Stations and Univision Communications revealed a spectrum-sharing agreement subsequent to WXFT-DT’s spectrum sale for $126.1 million during an FCC auction; eight months later, WXFT began sharing WLS-TV’s spectrum. During the FCC's 2019 repack initiative, WLS transitioned its broadcast from UHF channel 44—which was decommissioned—to UHF channel 22.