April 5, 1948, Chicago’s WGN Signs On…Great Vintage Pictorial
Above is a shot of my RCA TK10 from WGN…one of the original eight TK10s the station had in their studios, with four RCA TK30s in use on two mobile units.
WGN, Channel 9, is one of the nation’s first and only enduring independent stations, but it wasn’t always that way. In the beginning, they dual network affiliations with both CBS and Dumont, which early on wasn’t that uncommon in new TV markets, or markets with only one station.
The interesting part is, they shared that dual affiliation with WBKB, Channel 4, there in Chicago…until CBS bought WBBM. After that, WGN became one of Dumont’s strongest affiliates, as well as a major production center for that network.
Several Dumont programs were produced from the station’s facilities, including “The Al Morgan Show”, “Chicago Symphony”, “Chicagoland Mystery Players”, “Music From Chicago”, “They Stand Accused”, “Windy City Jamboree” and “Down You Go”.
The station lost the Dumont affiliation when the network ceased operations on August 6, 1956; at that point, WGN became an independent station. The rest, as they say, “is history”. -Bobby Ellerbee
http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-vintage-wgn-tv-photos-20140416/
What a shame they do not do anniversary programs anymore…the 40th and 50th were very well done.
It’s always fascinating to see photos from your camera collection and read the stories behind them. Many thanks, Bobbie!
Disappointed the Trib didn’t see fit to mention Wally Phillips in their television history. In the early years he hosted a teen dance show, a talk show-entertainment with Bob Bell an I believe the longest running morning d.j./host on their radio station.
WGN is the all time greatest local television station.
We “kids of a certain age” sure had tremendous children’s programming, thanks to WGN-TV. (P.S.: I spent eight years working at ‘GN radio!)
There is incredible history and genius at some of these original TV stations…
Read “Los Angeles Television” by Joel Tator!!
Wgn and Cubs Baseball sparked Color Television sales in Chicago. My Father purchased an RCA ctc-5 Wescott Color set. That tv set still works and I donated it to Wayne Bretel who restores old round tube color sets. The TV now lives in Arizona.
My Uncle and I as a kid sat behind home plate where 2 b/w cameras were set. 1 had a long Zoomar lens on it. That started my intreast in broadcasting. Last studio camera I ran was an RCA tk-46 here in Ft. Wayne.
Great stuff Bobby
Great story Bobby……..brings back memories when we rolled into town to do “Baseball Game of the Week” on Saturdays, working next to the WGN cameramen. WGN was a well respected station.
It’s interesting that one of the photos of the model for the new building shows the head of General Electric s tv equipment division but it appears wgn was all rca from the git go. What’s the story there?