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/

11 Comments

  1. Jack Demus April 5, 2017

    What a shame they do not do anniversary programs anymore…the 40th and 50th were very well done.

  2. Roy Fechter April 5, 2017

    It’s always fascinating to see photos from your camera collection and read the stories behind them. Many thanks, Bobbie!

  3. Bob-Mary Delaforce April 5, 2017

    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.

  4. Robert Barker April 5, 2017

    WGN is the all time greatest local television station.

    • Gene Christianson April 5, 2017

      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!)

  5. David Shipman April 5, 2017

    There is incredible history and genius at some of these original TV stations…
    Read “Los Angeles Television” by Joel Tator!!

  6. John Leone April 5, 2017

    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.

  7. John Leone April 5, 2017

    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.

  8. Mark Guttman April 5, 2017

    Great stuff Bobby

  9. Russell Ross April 5, 2017

    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.

  10. Art Hackett April 5, 2017

    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?