WSNS-TV
Encyclopedia
WSNS-TV, channel 44, is an owned-and-operated station of the Spanish-language Telemundo
network, located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. This station is owned by NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of Telemundo. WSNS-TV shares its studio facilities with sister station WMAQ-TV
(channel 5) within the NBC Tower
, and its transmitter is based on the Willis Tower.
The station programmed an all-news format in its early days. During the day, the station aired an alphanumeric feed of news reports supplied from wire services. The lower third of the screen displayed a commercial banner for Continental Bank, while elevator music
played continuously. Every seven minutes a four-sided board would turn in front of a camera to show headlines, traffic reports, sports scores and birthdays.
The first program added to the format was the 10-minute long Underground News. It began on July 1, at 11:50 p.m. when the AP wire feed changed to local news, produced and directed by Howie Samuelsohn, and written by Linda Freedman. At that time, the banner ad changed to "Head Imports" and the music changed to The Grateful Dead. Most of the news concerned the Anti-War Movement. On November 16, 1970, the station moved to newly constructed studios on Grant Place in Chicago's Lincoln Park
(they have since been demolished). With a staff consisting of local talent and a team of recent graduates from Southern Illinois University
, the station went "live." One of the first live-on-tape programs was a revamped version of "Underground News", called Underground News hosted, reported and co-produced by Chuck Collins. Collins was a 21-year-old recent graduate in political science
. Eventually, the show was bought by Collins and Samuelsohn and became syndicated in more than a dozen cities. Later, Collins went on to capture seven Emmy Awards for NBC News
, two Peabody Awards, a Dupont Award and the American Bar Association
's Silver Gavel Award. He died in July, 2010, from a nerve disease.
To secure a mattress store advertiser, the station ran a news show titled Heart of the News, which featured an anchorwoman reading the news in a provocative manner on a heart-shaped bed. http://www.chicagotelevision.com/channels1XX7.htm. That program was short-lived, but the second anchorwoman, Judith Wright, anticipated such current-day fare as Jon Stewart
's The Daily Show
, as she would make funny and ironic commentaries on news stories picked off the AP wire during the day. Wright later went on to become a Ph.D. geochemist, an ironic twist for a young starlet, and invented a method of using fish bones to clean up heavy metal contamination in water and soil.
During these early years, the Emergency Broadcast System
required many stations to shut down in the event of a national emergency. When a false alarm took place on February 20, 1971, WSNS was the only station to respond correctly and shut down.
The news format was not particularly successful, and by 1972, WSNS began running a low-budget general entertainment schedule. Basically, WSNS was the "also ran" station in the market, running some Japanese animated and adventure shows like Ultra Man, Marine Boy
and Space Giants, along with low-budget cartoons, older off-network shows, old movies, and religious programming.
baseball
team in 1973 from WFLD
and aired their games until 1980. The White Sox games at the time were announced by legendary play-by-play man Harry Caray
and beginning in 1977 Caray was joined by former Boston Red Sox
outfielder, Jim Piersall; WGN-TV
actually produced the games for WSNS via contract (Caray appeared on WGN's newscasts in the 1970s and was thus an employee of that station). Later, the games returned to WFLD and WGN proper (twice).
WSNS was also the home of Bob Luce Wrestling
, which occasionally had Bob Elson
as a guest to cross-promote the White Sox telecast that followed.
In 1972, WSNS aired (via satellite) hockey's 1972 Summit Series that featured Team Canada vs. the Soviet Union. WSNS also aired Chicago Bulls
basketball games from 1973–76, as well as Chicago Cougars
WHA
hockey from 1972-75. From 1976 until 1980, WSNS aired the NHL Game of the Week on Mondays, and started airing Chicago Blackhawks
road games from 1978–1980 (those games were also simulcasted with WCFL
-AM, which was the Blackhawks' radio outlet at the time). That marked the last free TV outlet for the Blackhawks until 2008, when WGN-TV
resumed airing their games. Through the 1970s, WSNS aired college basketball
featuring the Purdue Boilermakers
, the Indiana Hoosiers
, and in the late 1970s, the DePaul Blue Demons
.
In July 1985, WSNS dropped ON-TV to became a full-time affiliate of the Spanish International Network (which became Univision
a few years later) with a three year deal. WCIU was the original SIN affiliate, running programming after 5 PM and business news during the day. WCIU then switched to Net Span (which would become Telemundo
in 1987).
WSNS swapped affiliations with WCIU in 1989 and joined Telemundo. Essaness sold a 74.5 percent controlling interest to Telemundo in 1996, retaining a 25.5 percent stake. This provided Telemundo with its first major-market O&O and allowed Telemundo to establish itself as a viable Spanish outlet against Univision. In 1990, the station began to broadcast a newscast at 5 and 10. These were anchored by Luisa Martinez and Augusto Torrez and featured Elio Montenegro as lead reporter and fill-in anchor.
, the home of WMAQ-TV
. One year later, NBC became the sole owner of WSNS when it bought out Essaness' stake in the partnership.
, WSNS-TV shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and continued to broadcast on its pre-transition digital channel 45. However, through the use of PSIP
, digital television receivers display its virtual channel
as 44. WSNS-TV's main transmitter was also transferred from the John Hancock Center
to the Willis Tower.
The station's signal is multiplexed:
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
network, located in Chicago, Illinois, USA. This station is owned by NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of Telemundo. WSNS-TV shares its studio facilities with sister station WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
(channel 5) within the NBC Tower
NBC Tower
The NBC Tower is an office tower on the Near north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States located at 454 North Columbus Drive in downtown Chicago's Magnificent Mile area. Completed in 1989, the 37-story building reaches a height of 627 feet...
, and its transmitter is based on the Willis Tower.
1970s
WSNS-TV, Chicago's fourth-oldest commercial UHF station, began broadcasting on April 5, 1970. It was initially owned by a consortium of investors including Harriscope (which owned 50 percent) and the Essaness Television Corporation, from which the station's call letters arose. The transmitter and small studio were located on the 97th floor of the John Hancock Center.The station programmed an all-news format in its early days. During the day, the station aired an alphanumeric feed of news reports supplied from wire services. The lower third of the screen displayed a commercial banner for Continental Bank, while elevator music
Elevator music
Elevator music refers to instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems , cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators...
played continuously. Every seven minutes a four-sided board would turn in front of a camera to show headlines, traffic reports, sports scores and birthdays.
The first program added to the format was the 10-minute long Underground News. It began on July 1, at 11:50 p.m. when the AP wire feed changed to local news, produced and directed by Howie Samuelsohn, and written by Linda Freedman. At that time, the banner ad changed to "Head Imports" and the music changed to The Grateful Dead. Most of the news concerned the Anti-War Movement. On November 16, 1970, the station moved to newly constructed studios on Grant Place in Chicago's Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
(they have since been demolished). With a staff consisting of local talent and a team of recent graduates from Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
, the station went "live." One of the first live-on-tape programs was a revamped version of "Underground News", called Underground News hosted, reported and co-produced by Chuck Collins. Collins was a 21-year-old recent graduate in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. Eventually, the show was bought by Collins and Samuelsohn and became syndicated in more than a dozen cities. Later, Collins went on to capture seven Emmy Awards for NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
, two Peabody Awards, a Dupont Award and the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
's Silver Gavel Award. He died in July, 2010, from a nerve disease.
To secure a mattress store advertiser, the station ran a news show titled Heart of the News, which featured an anchorwoman reading the news in a provocative manner on a heart-shaped bed. http://www.chicagotelevision.com/channels1XX7.htm. That program was short-lived, but the second anchorwoman, Judith Wright, anticipated such current-day fare as Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
's The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
, as she would make funny and ironic commentaries on news stories picked off the AP wire during the day. Wright later went on to become a Ph.D. geochemist, an ironic twist for a young starlet, and invented a method of using fish bones to clean up heavy metal contamination in water and soil.
During these early years, the Emergency Broadcast System
Emergency Broadcast System
The Emergency Broadcast System was an emergency warning system in the United States, used from 1963 to 1997, when it was replaced by the Emergency Alert System.-Purpose:...
required many stations to shut down in the event of a national emergency. When a false alarm took place on February 20, 1971, WSNS was the only station to respond correctly and shut down.
The news format was not particularly successful, and by 1972, WSNS began running a low-budget general entertainment schedule. Basically, WSNS was the "also ran" station in the market, running some Japanese animated and adventure shows like Ultra Man, Marine Boy
Marine Boy
Marine Boy was one of the first color anime cartoons to be shown in a dubbed form in the U.S., and later in Australia and the United Kingdom. It was originally produced in Japan as by Minoru Adachi and animation company Japan Tele-Cartoons. It was sold outside of Japan via K...
and Space Giants, along with low-budget cartoons, older off-network shows, old movies, and religious programming.
Sports
WSNS obtained the broadcast rights to the Chicago White SoxChicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team in 1973 from WFLD
WFLD
WFLD, virtual channel 32 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station, based in Chicago, Illinois; through its parent company News Corporation, the station is owned in a duopoly with area MyNetworkTV affiliate WPWR-TV...
and aired their games until 1980. The White Sox games at the time were announced by legendary play-by-play man Harry Caray
Harry Caray
Harry Caray, born Harry Christopher Carabina, was an American baseball broadcaster on radio and television. He covered four Major League Baseball teams, beginning with a long tenure calling the games of the St...
and beginning in 1977 Caray was joined by former Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
outfielder, Jim Piersall; WGN-TV
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
actually produced the games for WSNS via contract (Caray appeared on WGN's newscasts in the 1970s and was thus an employee of that station). Later, the games returned to WFLD and WGN proper (twice).
WSNS was also the home of Bob Luce Wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, which occasionally had Bob Elson
Bob Elson
Robert A. Elson was a pioneering American sportscaster.-Early life and career:Born in Chicago, Elson got into broadcasting by accident. While vacationing in St. Louis in 1928, Elson was touring KWK when a receptionist saw him among 40 men in line for an audition and thought he was going for one...
as a guest to cross-promote the White Sox telecast that followed.
In 1972, WSNS aired (via satellite) hockey's 1972 Summit Series that featured Team Canada vs. the Soviet Union. WSNS also aired Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
basketball games from 1973–76, as well as Chicago Cougars
Chicago Cougars
The Chicago Cougars were an original franchise in the World Hockey Association from 1972 to 1975. The Cougars played their home games in the dilapidated International Amphitheatre. During the 1974 Avco Cup Finals against Gordie Howe and the Houston Aeros, the team's two home games were played at...
WHA
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
hockey from 1972-75. From 1976 until 1980, WSNS aired the NHL Game of the Week on Mondays, and started airing Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
road games from 1978–1980 (those games were also simulcasted with WCFL
WMVP
WMVP is the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is owned by ABC. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove. The station broadcasts live sports talk, both locally and nationally. Daily programming consists of talk shows that are both national and local...
-AM, which was the Blackhawks' radio outlet at the time). That marked the last free TV outlet for the Blackhawks until 2008, when WGN-TV
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
resumed airing their games. Through the 1970s, WSNS aired college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
featuring the Purdue Boilermakers
Purdue Boilermakers
Boilermakers is the official nickname for the intercollegiate athletic teams of Purdue University. As is common with athletic nicknames, it is also used as colloquial designation of Purdue's students and alumni at large....
, the Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana Hoosiers
The Indiana Hoosiers are the athletic teams for the Bloomington campus of Indiana University . Athletic teams sponsored by IU Bloomington include cross country, track, baseball, golf, tennis, rowing, volleyball, soccer, football and basketball...
, and in the late 1970s, the DePaul Blue Demons
DePaul Blue Demons
The DePaul Blue Demons are the intercollegiate athletic teams of DePaul University, located in Chicago Illinois. The Blue Demons participate in NCAA Division I and is a member of the Big East Conference....
.
1980s
Following an effort by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to promote alternative programing efforts by the UHF broadcasting spectrum, such as subscription TV, WSNS filed for and received one of the many subscription TV licenses awarded in the US. The subscription service was known as ONTV. Most major cities had one or two licensed subscription TV operators. To obtain a subscription TV license the station had to provide the FCC with the proposed programing in detail (usually first run movies, morning children's shows and late night adult entertainment, much like HBO or Showtime offers). The station was required to install an unscrambling device in each home that would unscramble the TV signal that was broadcast by the station. In the summer of 1980, WSNS began offering ON-TV after 7 PM weeknights and after 5 PM weekends. Early in 1981, ON TV times expanded to begin at 6 PM weekdays and noon on weekends. In the Fall of 1982, ON TV was full-time on Channel 44 except for a couple hours in the mornings. Early in 1983, WSNS would run ON-TV 24 hours a day and would be scrambled the entire time. During one of the license renewal periods a group filed a motion with the FCC to contest the license for WSNS using the argument that the FCC did not have the right to allow a station the use of public airwaves for a subscription fee. This case was ultimately settled and WSNS later decided that the subscription TV model was not viable commercially.In July 1985, WSNS dropped ON-TV to became a full-time affiliate of the Spanish International Network (which became Univision
Univision
Univision is a Spanish-language television network in the United States. It has the largest audience of Spanish language television viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Randy Falco, COO, has been in charge of the company since the departure of Univision Communications president and CEO Joe Uva...
a few years later) with a three year deal. WCIU was the original SIN affiliate, running programming after 5 PM and business news during the day. WCIU then switched to Net Span (which would become Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
in 1987).
WSNS swapped affiliations with WCIU in 1989 and joined Telemundo. Essaness sold a 74.5 percent controlling interest to Telemundo in 1996, retaining a 25.5 percent stake. This provided Telemundo with its first major-market O&O and allowed Telemundo to establish itself as a viable Spanish outlet against Univision. In 1990, the station began to broadcast a newscast at 5 and 10. These were anchored by Luisa Martinez and Augusto Torrez and featured Elio Montenegro as lead reporter and fill-in anchor.
2000s
When NBC purchased Telemundo in 2002, WSNS became part of the newly enlarged conglomerate, creating Chicago's first commercial duopoly between two full-power television stations. At that time, WSNS moved its operations to the NBC TowerNBC Tower
The NBC Tower is an office tower on the Near north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States located at 454 North Columbus Drive in downtown Chicago's Magnificent Mile area. Completed in 1989, the 37-story building reaches a height of 627 feet...
, the home of WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
. One year later, NBC became the sole owner of WSNS when it bought out Essaness' stake in the partnership.
Digital television
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversionDTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
, WSNS-TV shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and continued to broadcast on its pre-transition digital channel 45. However, through the use of PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers display its virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 44. WSNS-TV's main transmitter was also transferred from the John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
to the Willis Tower.
The station's signal is multiplexed:
| Virtual Channel Virtual channel In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels.... |
Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 | Main WSNS-TV programming / Telemundo |
| 44.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | Inmigrante TV Inmigrante TV Inmigrante TV is a United States television network featuring political news and commentary aimed at Hispanic immigrants.The station was founded in 2010 by immigration attorney Manuel Solis... (informational programming about immigration reform Immigration reform Immigration reform is a term used in political discussion regarding changes to current immigration policy of a country. In its strict definition, "reform " means to change into an improved form or condition, by amending or removing faults or abuses.... ) |
| 44.3 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | Canal Soi |