WMAQ-TV

WMAQ-TV
	<a href="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/annex/images/3/37/WMAQ_5_logo.png/revision/latest?cb=20200730031201" class="image"><img alt="C412335A-410E-4C94-8063-ED23F570D919" src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/annex/images/3/37/WMAQ_5_logo.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20200730031201" decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="180" height="115" class="thumbimage" data-image-name="WMAQ 5 logo.png" data-image-key="WMAQ_5_logo.png" data-relevant="0" data-src="https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/annex/images/3/37/WMAQ_5_logo.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20200730031201" /></a>
Chicago, Illinois
Branding	NBC 5 Chicago (general) NBC 5 News (newscasts) NBC 5 Chicago News (newscasts; secondary)
Slogan	We Are Chicago (general) Chicago's Home for Breaking News (newscast) Chicago's Most Accurate and Proven Weather Leader (weather)
Channels	Digital: 29 (UHF) Virtual: 5 (PSIP)
Subchannels	(see article)
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	NBCUniversal (NBC Telemundo License, LLC)
First air date	October 8, 1948
Call letters' meaning	'WilliaM'A. Quinn - Publisher of Chicago Daily News or WeMust Ask Questions(derived from former sister station WMAQ radio)
Sister station(s)	WSNS-TV NBC Sports Chicago
Former callsigns	WNBQ (1948–1964)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 5 (VHF, 1948–2009)
Transmitter power	350 kW
Height	508 m
Facility ID	47905
Transmitter coordinates	41°52′44″N 87°38′10″W
Webster	www.nbcchicago.com

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. The NBC Station previously had an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401 N. Michigan Avenue, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower. WMAQ-TV is a sister station to WSNS-TV (channel 44), affiliated with the Spanish-language network Telemundo; and NBC Sports Chicago.

History[]

Early years (1948-1964)

See also WMAQ (AM) for pre-1948 history of the station.

The station first signed on the air on October 8, 1948, as WNBQ; it was the fourth television station to sign on in Chicago. It was also the third of NBC's five original owned-and-operated television stations to begin operations, after outlets in New York City and Washington, D.C., and before Cleveland and Los Angeles. WNBQ initially broadcast a minimum of two hours of programming per day.

Station camera in 1951. Singer-actress Connie Russell from Garroway at Large and her daughter are pictured.

The station originally proposed WNBY as its call letters. At NBC's request, however, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved an application filed by the network to change the station's calls to WNBQ, a move that was announced on March 3, 1948. NBC officials cited the need to avoid possible confusion with WMBI (1110 AM) and to obtain a callsign that was closer to co-owned NBC Red Network radio station WMAQ (670 AM, frequency now occupied by WSCR; and 101.1 FM, now WKQX) as the reasons for the change. The station's first mid-week broadcast came the month following its sign-on when Paul Winchell and Joseph Dunninger were featured on the NBC variety series, The Floor Show. The half-hour program was recorded via kinescope and rebroadcast on WNBQ at 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

WMAQ-TV originated several programs for the NBC television network from its original studio facilities—a 170,000-square-foot (15,794 m²) studio on the 19th floor of the Merchandise Mart on the city's Near North Side—during the 1950s, including Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, featuring Burr Tillstrom and Fran Allison; Garroway at Large, starring Dave Garroway; and Studs' Place, hosted by Studs Terkel. Television critics referred to the broadcasts—often low-budget with few celebrity guests but a good deal of inventiveness—as examples of the "Chicago School of Television".

Reborn as WMAQ-TV (1964-1995)

Although NBC had long owned the WMAQ radio stations, the television station continued to maintain call letters separate from those used by its co-owned radio outlets; this changed on August 31, 1964, when the network changed the station's calls to WMAQ-TV. The call letters of its sister radio station were initially assigned by the government but were used to form the phrase "We Must Ask Questions", which the radio station took as its motto in the 1920s. Although the station's role as a program provider to NBC diminished in the 1960s, WMAQ-TV gathered and distributed more than 200 news footage feeds per month from overseas and the Central United Statesto NBC News.

On December 3, 1985, NBC signed a $100 million+ agreement to lease office space in a three-story annex to the north of a planned 34-story, 1,000,000-square-foot (92,903 m²) skyscraper—a project developed by the Equitable Life Assurance Society and Tishman-Speyer Properties—that would be constructed as part of the Cityfront Center development on the northwest corner of Columbus Drive and North Water Street, in which WMAQ-TV's operations would occupy 251,000 square feet (23,319 m²) of the building. Under the plans for the project, NBC was given the option of acquiring an approximately 25% interest in the building. On October 1, 1989, after 40 years at the Merchandise Mart, the station officially relocated its operations and began broadcasting from the NBC Tower, located on 454 North Columbus Drive, six blocks east of the Mart.

In the spring of 1992, the NBC Owned Television Stations division announced that they would no longer air paid programming on their owned-and-operated stations, including WMAQ-TV. The last local infomercial aired on the station was a local weekly real estate show aired in 1992. Paid programming has since returned in a much more reduced capacity, but as an NBC O&O with a fully-filled schedule otherwise on weekdays, is usually limited to overnights on weekends and occasional Sunday mornings.

1995-present

On April 10, 1998, Rev. Michael Pfleger, a priest at St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham and a group of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders and clergy as part of the "Dump Jerry Springer!" coalition, called for a viewer and advertiser boycott of WMAQ-TV due to one of its syndicated shows, The Jerry Springer Show, which was filmed at the station's NBC Tower studios until 2009. On April 23, 1998, Pfleger and the coalition organized a rally at the station's NBC Tower studios. On May 1, 1998, WMAQ-TV announced that they would cancel the show. Studios USA (now NBCUniversal Television Distribution), one of the show's distributors, said that the show would move to Fox owned-and-operated station WFLD the following month. The show has since moved production to Stamford, Connecticut.

On June 5, 2000, to improve station reception, the station extended its Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) transmitter's western antenna height to 1,730 feet (527 m). In July 2000, NBC entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with WCPX-TV (channel 38) that indirectly resulted from NBC's partial ownership interest in WCPX-TV network partner Pax TV (now Ion Television) and a related management agreement with that network's owned-and-operated stations. Under the LMA, the two stations shared certain programs, while WMAQ handled advertising sales services for channel 38. The agreement also allowed WCPX to air rebroadcasts of channel 5's 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. newscasts on a half-hour delay. The LMA ended on July 1, 2005, upon Pax's rebranding as i: Independent Television.

On September 6, 2003, WMAQ agreed to lease 4,000 square feet (372 m²) of space at the Equitable Building at 401 North Michigan Avenue (one block east of the NBC Tower), with the intent to build a streetside studio for the Chicago market, the first to be used for live broadcasting purposes by a Chicago television station which made its debut on December 20th, 2003. On February 26, 2004, WMAQ-TV garnered national attention when Katie Couric, Al Roker, and Lester Holt hosted the Today show on Cityfront Plaza to unveil the new studio (known as "Studio 5") at the building's northwest corner. The station's morning and noon newscasts (as well as 4:30, 5 and 6pm newscasts from 2005-2012) were broadcast from the Michigan Avenue facility until February 2013, when the studio was closed and the space within the 401 Michigan Avenue building was put up for sale, at which time production of both newscasts was moved back to the NBC Tower.

In November 2007, the FCC proposed to fine WMAQ-TV $10,000 for "failure to publicize the existence and location of its children's television programming reports" because the station did not keep adequate records on commercial limits in children's TV programs.

In the fall of 2008, WMAQ-TV's website was relaunched, including a new layout, as part of a larger revamp of the websites of NBC's entire owned-and-operated station group. On January 18, 2011, the FCC and the Department of Justice approved the acquisition of WMAQ-TV's parent company NBCUniversal by Comcast (one of the largest cable providers in Chicago), with the deal being closed on January 28. As a result, WMAQ, WSNS, and regional sports network Comcast SportsNet Chicago (now NBC Sports Chicago) became sister stations. In addition, WMAQ-TV's branding was shortened to "NBC Chicago" for a short period. It was used only during mentions in some news reports, network and syndication program promotions, and public service announcements. However the station continued to use the "NBC 5" branding for news opens. Later in February 2012, after a year of using the "NBC Chicago" branding, the station reverted to its old "NBC 5" branding full-time. In January 2012, after 12 years of using the gold "5" logo, a new logo was officially introduced in some promos and in print ads; but the new, and current logo made its on-air debut on February 28, 2012, coinciding with new news graphics, music and set. On March 18, 2013, longtime WVIT president and general manager David Doebler was appointed president and general manager of WMAQ-TV, replacing longtime president and general manager Larry Wert, who later became president of WGN-TV's parent Tribune Broadcasting.

In December 2009, the Chicago local division of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communication Workers of America (NABET) launched a boycott of WMAQ-TV. The station spokeswoman told Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times that they did not comment on the labor-related issues affecting the station. In October 1994, prior to the boycott of the station, the union, along with Republican candidate George Larney, had joined forces to boycott WMAQ-TV due to its negotiations involving its national contract with the network. In the summer of 1987, a handful of technicians at WMAQ-TV, WMAQ-AM, and WKQX-FM went on strike; technicians at other NBC-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Cleveland also went on strike as a result.

On February 3, 2012, the station rejected a political advertisement that contained anti-abortion talking points from activist and Democratic presidential candidate Randall Terry to air during Super Bowl XLVI. With the FCC's approval, the station determined that Terry did not have the bona fides of a serious candidate. The ad included the term "Democrat Party", which the Democratic National Committee considers a pejorative label, and it was contrary to the party's pro-choice platform in general.

In February 2015, WMAQ and the other NBC-owned stations offered live, web-based streaming of programming to subscribers of participating cable and satellite television providers, as provided through TV Everywhere Mobile Apps. A month later, in March 2015, WMAQ, WSNS, and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, along with sister stations WNBC, WNJU, and SportsNet New York (SNY) in New York City, KNBC and KVEA in Los Angeles, KXAS-TV and KXTX-TV in Dallas–Fort Worth, WTVJ and WSCV in Miami, WCAU, WWSI, and NBC Sports Philadelphia in Philadelphia, and KNTV, KSTS, NBC Sports Bay Area, and NBC Sports California in San Francisco, went live on Sony's internet television service PlayStation Vue as part of its Access package. In the summer and fall of 2016, the other NBC owned-and-operated stations, including WVIT in Hartford, WRC-TV and NBC Sports Washington in Washington, D.C., KNSD in San Diego, and the company's regional cable news channel NECN, as well as Graham Media Group-owned NBC affiliates WDIV in Detroit and KPRC-TV in Houston, were also added to PS Vue's access package.Two years later, in April 2017, WMAQ-TV, WSNS and NBC Sports Chicago, along with sister stations WNBC and WNJU in New York, KNBC and KVEA in Los Angeles, WCAU, WWSI and NBC Sports Philadelphia in Philadelphia, and KNTV, KSTS, NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California in San Francisco, were live on YouTube TV. The streaming service with live streams of programming from the three stations was officially launched on April 5, 2017.

Digital programming[]

Digital Channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:


Channels	Video	Aspects	PSIP Name	Programming
5.1	1080i	16:9	NBC5	Main WMAQ-TV Programming/NBC
5.2	480i		COZI	Cozi TV
5.3	480i		NBCLX	Lx

WMAQ-TV also has a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 4.2, labelled "NBCMobile", broadcasting at 1.83 Mbps.^[5]^[6]

WMAQ-DT2

In January 2005, WMAQ launched digital subchannel 5.2 as a charter affiliate of NBC Weather Plus. On December 1, 2008, the weather network ceased national broadcasts, although afterward, as NBC Plus, the subchannel continued to provide local weather maps and traffic reports, as well as "raw" coverage of various live events, including Barack Obama's victory rally in Grant Park and Governor Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial. On November 1, 2010, WMAQ launched NBC Chicago Nonstop, a news and lifestyle network featuring local programming and programs produced by corporate sister LXTV.NBC Nonstop was relaunched as Cozi TV, which soft-launched on December 20, 2012 (officially launching on January 1, 2013).

Analog-to-digital conversion

As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, WMAQ-TV shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and continued to broadcast its pre-transition digital channel 29. Digital television receivers display WMAQ-TV's virtual channel as 5 through the use of PSIP.

NBC Weather Plus ceased being broadcast nationally on December 1, 2008, but weather maps and traffic reports continued broadcasts as NBC Plus on channel 5.2. "Raw" coverage of various live events, including Barack Obama's victory rally in Grant Park^[7] and Governor Rod Blagojevich's impeachment trial has also been carried on channel 5.2^[8] On November 1, 2010, WMAQ started airing NBC Chicago Nonstop Channel, replacing NBC Plus.^[9]

From June 13 to July 12, 2009, WMAQ-TV simulcasted many of its newscasts as a contributor to WWME-CA's analog lifeline service for the Chicago area, an "unprecedented" four-station partnership. The "lifeline" programming on analog Channel 23 included WMAQ's weekday morning news from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. and weeknights at 6 p.m., Saturdays at 6 a.m., 9 a.m. and weekend nights at 5 p.m along with WGN-TV (Channel 9)'s 9 p.m. newscasts. The lifeline continued only as a simulcast of entertainment programming from WWME's sister stationWCIU-TV until January 2011, when it was switched to a simulcast of WCIU's The U Too subchannel.^[10]^[11]

Programming[]

As of September 2019, syndicated programming broadcast by WMAQ-TV includes Access Hollywood (including its afternoon and expansion counterparts), The Kelly Clarkson Show (all of which being distributed by corporate sister NBCUniversal Syndication Studios), and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Programming irregularities

WMAQ-TV was one of four NBC owned-and-operated (O&O) stations (along with sister stations WCAU in Philadelphia, WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. and KNSD in San Diego) that does not carry Access Hollywood Live. The talk show spin-off of Access Hollywood aired from the program's NBC O&O debut in September 2010 until September 2014, when all four stations dropped the program due to low local viewership in those markets.
On September 17, 2015, WMAQ-TV and the City of Chicago announced a partnership to broadcast the city's New Year's Eve celebrations entitled Chi-Town Rising, a special also syndicated to NBC affiliates across the Midwest. The inaugural, 2015–16 edition began on December 31, 2015, became the highest-rated New Year's Eve television event with a 12.2 household rating, and an 11.2 to 14.7 rating among 25-54 year olds. On September 1, 2016, it was announced the event would return for 2016–17, which began December 31, 2016. The New Year's Eve event was watched by 335,911 households and gained a 9.7 rating and 25 share but lost to WLS-TV's "Countdown Chicago 2017" which had 425,949 households, a 12.3 rating, and a 31 share. On September 11, 2017, WMAQ-TV, Arena Partners and Choose Chicago announced that Chi-Town Rising would not return for 2017. New Year's Eve Live in Chicago would be their replacement for 2017.

Sports programming

Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K

From 2001 to 2002 and again since 2008 (with the exception of 2020 due to the event's cancellation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic), WMAQ has served as an official broadcaster of the Chicago Marathon, which is held annually every second Sunday in October. Because of its commitments to air the event, the station has had to reschedule NBC News programs preempted or delayed by the telecast of the marathon. Since 2012, WMAQ, through their station's official website NBCChicago.com, currently serves as an official web broadcaster of the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle. On June 15, 2017, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K, and WMAQ-TV announced they will extend their partnership. Sister Telemundo station WSNS-TV announced they would air the marathon in Spanish beginning with the 40th anniversary of the running of the marathon on October 8, 2017. On December 10, 2020, the marathon, the 8K shuffle, WMAQ and WSNS announced that they will extend their partnership again for three more years beginning in 2021 and will cover it through least 2023.

Chicago Fire Soccer Club

In 2012, WMAQ-TV partnered with the Chicago Fire Soccer Club (now Chicago Fire FC) to carry its matches in the 2012 season live on its NBC Chicago Nonstop subchannel, with the exception of the May 26, 2012, match against the Columbus Crew, which was simultaneously aired in English on the main channel and in Spanish on Univision, through its owned subsidiary station for that market, WGBO-DT. The national Fire games were also broadcast on the station and its sister network NBCSN as part of its package of Major League Soccer. The local free-to-air rights to the Chicago Fire Soccer Club matches eventually reverted to MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station WPWR-TV in 2013. Currently, the majority of matches are broadcast locally on ESPN's over-the-top subscription service ESPN+, and national Fire matches are broadcast by Fox (through its O&O station WFLD), FS1, ESPN, and ESPN2.

News operation[]

WMAQ-NBC5 Sky5 Chopper — WMAQ's helicopter - Sky5

WMAQ-TV presently broadcasts 41 hours, 25 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 hours, 35 minutes each weekday, four hours on Saturdays, and 4½ hours on Sundays). In addition, the station produces the half-hour sports highlight program Sports Sunday, which airs Sunday evenings after the 10:00 p.m. newscast.

News department history

1990s

In January 1991, WMAQ announced plans to launch the Suburban News Source, a 24-hour local cable news channel featuring 4½-minute-long inserts of news headlines specific to suburban localities, placed within live simulcasts of the station's noon, 4:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. newscasts. Originally scheduled to debut on January 14, 1991, the service was to be distributed to Centel Videopath systems in Chicago's northern, northwestern, and southern suburbs. However, the service's launch was postponed three times due to logistical issues and demands by cable providers to gain a share of the service's advertising revenues. Station management scrapped plans for the channel in June 1991.^{[52][53][54][55]}

On August 24, 1998, WMAQ debuted its one-hour daily lifestyle and entertainment show NBC 5 Chicago Daytime, hosted by Allison Rosati and Nesita Kwan alongside meteorologist Byron Miranda. Later, on April 26, 1999, the show was reduced to a half-hour.^[56]

In the Spring of 1999, after negotiations between WMAQ-TV management and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), nearly all of the station's on-air talent went on strike. On March 30, 1999, the station's on-air talent planned to authorize a strike vote, if a bargaining session with the station scheduled for late April failed.^[57] On May 14, 1999, four of the station's high-profile personalities—including 6:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. anchor Allison Rosati, chief meteorologist Brant Miller, sports anchor Mike Adamle and weekend evening meteorologist Shelly Monahan—broke ranks with the union, following the strike authorization vote.^[58][59]

2000s

In early fall 2006, additional changes were made to WMAQ's early evening lineup. On September 18, the station moved the afternoon newscast, with Bob Sirott and Marion Brooks, to 4:00 p.m. and moved the newsmagazine show Extra to 4:30 p.m.. However, the 4 p.m. newscast lasted less than 6 months. The early evening newscast remained at 5:00 p.m. A week later on September 25, 2006, Warner Saunders and Allison Rosati were promoted to anchor the 5:00 p.m. newscasts.^[60]

On January 14, 2008, WMAQ-TV became the second television station in the Chicago market (after WLS-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. Only in-studio footage and some of the remote footage, from the field, were presented in HD, while most remote footage was in standard definition, using a mixture of 16:9 (widescreen) and 4:3cameras.^[61]

In March 2008, Dick Johnson was demoted from the weekday newscast but continued his reporting work; Rob Elgas was promoted to weekday morning anchor. On January 12, 2009, WMAQ and Fox owned-and-operated station WFLD entered into a Local News Service agreement, in which the two stations would share helicopter footage. This agreement reportedly paved the way for a larger pooling effort between the two stations.^[62] In Spring 2009, WMAQ-TV laid off an undisclosed number of employees. In addition, they canceled the Sunday morning newscasts anchored by Ellee Pai Hong (who was weekday morning anchor from 2003-2007, later reassigned to weekends) due to budget cuts at the station. The Sunday morning newscasts were revived on November 7, 2010.^[63]

In May 2009, the station announced that it would conclude the public affairs program City Desk after 57 years; the show had its final broadcast on May 17, 2009. Two weeks later, on May 31, 2009, The Talk debuted on WMAQ with Marion Brooks as host. Prior to this, Sunday morning anchor Ellee Pai Hong left the station after six years. On June 12, 2009, Bob Sirott left WMAQ-TV for the second time, as his contract with the station had not been renewed citing some negotiations in financial terms following the retirement of Warner Saunders.^[64] Later, on July 29, 2009, Anna Davlantes' contract with the station was not renewed. On August 10, 2009, Rob Stafford was promoted as WMAQ's main anchor. He, along with Allison Rosati, co-anchored the 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. newscasts.^[65]

For years, WMAQ-TV's 10:00 p.m. newscast was in second place behind WBBM-TV and, later, WLS-TV, with WBBM-TV third. At the conclusion of the November 2009 Nielsen Ratings sweeps period, WBBM-TV's 10:00 p.m. newscast overtook WMAQ-TV for second place for the first time in many years, largely due to the low ratings of the latter station's lead-in The Jay Leno Show, as WLS-TV continued to dominate the local newscast ratings in the Chicago market.^[66]

For five years, beginning in December 2006 when WMAQ canceled its 11:00 a.m. newscast, WMAQ differed from most NBC stations in the Central Time Zone in that it did not carry a newscast in the weekday midday time period. This changed on September 12, 2011, when it revived a half-hour newscast at noon (the program returned to 11:00 a.m. when it was reformatted as an hour-long newscast on September 8, 2014).^[67][68] On December 6, 2011, WMAQ-TV announced a partnership with The Chicago Reporter as part of a larger effort by NBCUniversal to partner with non-profit news organizations, following its acquisition by Comcast.^[69]

2010s

In January 2012, WMAQ-TV announced testing a news partnership with Merlin Media's WIQI (now WKQX) to use audio from all of WMAQ-TV's newscasts, including morning, noon, afternoon, 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. newscasts, as well as the sharing of assignments and online content between the two stations. The news partnership ended on July 17, 2012, when WIQI switched to an adult hits format, branded as "i101".^[70]

On July 27, 2013, WMAQ expanded its weekend morning newscasts, with the early edition of the program on both days expanding to two hours with the addition of an hour-long broadcast at 5:00 a.m. (from a previous 6:00 a.m. start) and an additional half-hour added at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays.^[71] On February 9, 2014, the Chicago Sun Times announced that it would end its content partnership with WMAQ-TV, and enter into a new content agreement with ABC-owned station WLS-TV on February 10, 2014. In 2015, WMAQ became the first television station in the Chicago market to upgrade its news helicopter's camera system to shoot footage in ultra high definition. On August 24, 2015, WMAQ expanded its weekday morning newscast to three hours, with the addition of a half-hour at 4:00 a.m., becoming the second Chicago television station to expand into the timeslot – possibly to compete with WGN-TV, which began expanding its weekday morning newscast into the time period in July 2011.^[72]

On August 8, 2016, the station's hour-long 4:00 p.m. newscast was revived after a 21-year absence (despite the 6 month half-hour run that aired a decade earlier), serving as a replacement for Extra, which moved to WFLD after a 20-year absence. WMAQ-TV became the third station in Chicago to expand into the time period, following WGN-TV (which began its 4:00 p.m. newscast in September 2014) and WLS-TV (which began expanding into the time period in the 1980s), indicating a decreased reliance on syndicated programming. With this addition, WMAQ-TV was reduced to only three hours of syndicated daytime shows to back up its newscasts outside of NBC network programming.^[73]

On August 23, 2019, WMAQ-TV announced that they were cutting the 11:00 a.m. newscast to the half-hour on Fridays in favor of its new lifestyle show "Chicago Today" effective September 6. "Chicago Today" also airs from 11:45 a.m. to noon Monday-Thursday. ^[74]

2020s

On March 16, 2020, WMAQ-TV announced that the 6:00 p.m. newscast will expand to full hour with a half-hour extension at 6:30 p.m., making channel 5 the first and only station in Chicago to have a 6:30 p.m. newscast. This extension was temporary due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Controversies[]

Jerry Springer[]

WMAQ achieved notoriety in 1997 when the station, in an effort to boost its newscast ratings, hired Jerry Springer as a commentator.^[14] At the same time, the station adopted a more tabloid news format by bringing in Joel Cheatwood. Previously, Cheatwood was known for establishing fast-paced tabloid newscasts at WSVN in Miami and WHDH-TV in Boston.

Though Springer was once a two-term mayor of Cincinnati before becoming a news anchor for that city's NBC affiliate WLWT, his association with his infamous talk show (which, until 2009, was broadcast from WMAQ's NBC Tower studios, and is now distributed by NBC Universal) led to the belief that the newscast was being dumbed down. There were a handful of Springer supporters; nevertheless, the incident triggered a lot of negative publicity, both locally and nationally. Carol Marin and Ron Magers, resigned in protest. News broadcasts at that time originated from a studio that opened onto the station's newsroom. As Marin signed off her last newscast, station personnel stood en masse in the newsroom behind her in a symbolic show of support for her decision to resign. The station saw a drop in its ratings. Springer only made two commentaries before he resigned, feeling unhappy with the criticism he received.^[15]^[16]

Magers would later wound up at rival WLS-TV, in 1998 where he stayed until he retired in 2016. Marin joined rival WBBM-TV while contributing reports at CBS before returning to WMAQ in 2004 as a special correspondent until she retired in 2020.

Amy Jacobson[]

On July 10, 2007, Amy Jacobson negotiated her exit with WMAQ, after being videotaped in a bikini with her two sons at the home of Craig Stebic; the video was obtained by rival station WBBM. Craig's wife Lisa was missing and had not been found as of that date. The incident raised the issue whether Jacobson crossed a journalistic ethical line in being friendly with a subject of the story. Jacobson reported at WMAQ for the previous 10 years.^[17] The video of her at Craig Stebic's home was either taken by or given to WBBM-TV, which has the entire six minute video on its website.

Governor Quinn campaign commercial

In October 2014, WMAQ-TV strongly objected to a video clip from one of its news reports appearing in a commercial for Governor Pat Quinn's re-election campaign. The commercial included an excerpt from a news report about Bruce Rauner, and an audio clip of reporter Carol Marin, based on the joint investigation by the station and its former news partner the Chicago Sun-Times—reported by Marin, producer Don Moseley, and Sun-Times political reporter Dave McKinney—into Rauner's business practices. On October 10, 2014, the station released a statement on the 10:00 p.m. newscast, and on the station's website, that said that the station is required by law to air campaign commercials bought by bona fide candidates for public office and the commercial is not an endorsement of Governor Quinn by Marin and WMAQ-TV.

Death of JongHyun

On December 19, 2017, during the station's morning newscast, the station mistakenly ran a video of South Korean pop group BTS, from their appearance on the syndicated program The Ellen DeGeneres Show in November, while reporting on the death of SHINee's founding member JongHyun. The fans of the respective K-pop groups commented on social media, using the hashtag #NBCChicagoApologize, with the hashtag trending worldwide on Twitter. The station apologized for the mistake on the morning newscast and on the station's social media accounts the next day.

Ratings[]

In the February 2011 Nielsen local news ratings, WMAQ ranked in third place overall in late news with a 5.5 rating share, dropping substantially from the 6.8 share it scored in February 2010 that was propelled by a lead-in from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. WMAQ had the second-lowest lead-in number among all news stations in the market with a 4.7 lead-in share (WGN-TV's primetime lead-in for its late newscast was the lowest, scoring a 2.2 rating lead-in, though its 9 p.m. newscast remained strong).^[18]

News/station presentation[]

Newscast titles[]

NBC Newsroom Chicago with Clifton Utley (1949–1950s)
NBC News: Chicago Report/NBC News: Night Report (1960s–1970s)
News 5 Chicago (1970s)
Newsfive (1970s–1975)
NewsCenter 5 (1975–1982)
Channel 5 News (1982–1995)
NBC 5 News (1995–1997 & 2000–present)
NewsChannel 5 (1997–1998)
NBC 5 Chicago News (1998–2000)

Station slogans[]

Channel 5, Proud as a Peacock! (1979–1981; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Channel 5, Our Pride is Showing (1981–1982; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
News That Hits Home (1982-?)
We're Channel 5, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Channel 5 There, Be There (1983-1984; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Channel 5, Let's All Be There! (1984-1986; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Feeling the Beat of Chicago
Come Home to Channel 5 (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
We Give It to You Straight (1987-?)
Come on Home to Channel 5 (1987-1988; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Come Home to the Best, Only on Channel 5 (1988-1990; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Your 24-Hour News Source (1990–?)
WMAQ, The Place to Be! (1990-1992; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Chicago’s Best News, You Just Watch (1992-1995)
It's A Whole New Channel 5 (1992-1993; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
The Stars Are Back on Channel 5 (1993-1994; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
It's NBC on Channel 5 (1994-1995; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
The Year To Be on Channel 5 (1995-1996; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
The Network is You on Channel 5 (1996-1997; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Committed to Chicago (1995-1998)
I Love NBC on Channel 5 (1997-1998; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
I Love NBC 5 Chicago (1998-1999; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
It's Only NBC 5 Chicago (1999-2001; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
NBC 5, In the Heart of Chicago (2001-2002; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
We Are Chicago (2010–present)
NBC 5, More Colorful (2010–?; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
Chicago's Home for Breaking News (2012–present)
Chicago's Most Accurate and Proven Weather Leader

News music packages[]

NBC TV-Radio Newspulse (1974–1978)
NewsCenter Theme (1978–1981)
WMAQ 1981 News Theme (1981–1983)
WMAQ 1983 News Theme (1983–1986)
WMAQ 1985 News Theme (1985–1989)
WMAQ 1989 News Theme (1989–1992)
Newswire by 615 Music (1992–1997)
WMAQ 1997 News Theme (1997–1999)
Battery by 615 Music (1999–2000)
The Tower V.1 V.3 by 615 Music (2000–2012)
NBC O&O Package by Stephen Arnold Music (2012-present)

News team[]

Current on-air staff[]

Anchors

Marion Brooks - weekdays at 11 a.m. & 4 p.m.; weeknight field reporter and fill-in anchor
Patrick Fazio - weekend morning anchor; also fill-in anchor
Stefan Holt - weekdays at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
Alex Maragos - weekdays at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.; also weekday field reporter
Juan Carlos Navarrete - weekday mornings mornings; also reporter
Michelle Releford - weekday mornings (4-7 a.m.)
Allison Rosati - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
Evrod Cassimy - weekend evening anchor
Kate Chappell - Weekend morning anchor; also fill-in anchor

Weather team

Kevin Jeanes (NWA Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings
Brant Miller (NWA Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weekdays at 4pm and weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
Alicia Roman (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings
Pete Sack (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; fill-in
Iisha Scott - meteorologist at 11 a.m. & 4 p.m.

Sports team

Mike Berman - sports reporter
Jeff Blanzy - sports anchor/reporter; also host of Sports Sunday
Ruthie Polinsky - sports reporter
Leila Rahimi - lead sports anchor; also host of Sports Sunday

NOTE: Sports anchors cycle. There is not a set sports "anchoring" schedule.

Traffic

Kye Martin - weekday mornings (also general assignment reporter)
Jen DeSalvo - weekend mornings

Reporters

Mary Ann Ahern - political reporter
Lisa Chavarria - reporter; also fill-in traffic anchor
Steve Dolinsky - “Food Guy” reporter
Christian Farr - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
Randy Gyllenhaal - general assignment reporter
Bennett Haeberle - investigative reporter
Natalie Martinez - general assignment reporter
Vi Nguyen - general assignment reporter
Lauren Petty - health reporter, also fill-in anchor
PJ Randhawa - consumer reporter
Courtney Sisk - general assignment reporter
Lexi Sutter - general assignment reporter; also investigative reporter
Sandra Torres - general assignment reporter
LeeAnn Trotter - entertainment reporter (former traffic anchor)
Regina Waldroup - reporter; also fill-in anchor
Charlie Wojciechowski - general assignment/technology reporter

Sky 5

Mike Lorber - "Sky 5" reporter
Jim Ryan - fill-in "Sky 5" reporter

Chicago Today

Cortney Hall - host
Matthew Rodrigues - host

Contributor

Art Norman - "Making a Difference" and "Tech Trends"

Former on-air staff[]

Mike Adamle - sports anchor/reporter (1997-2001 and 2004-2017; retired)
Linda Alvarez - reporter (1973–1977; later at KNBC and KCBS-TV in Los Angeles)
Andy Avalos - meteorologist (1994-1998 and 2003-2021; retired)
Ryan Baker - sports anchor (2003–2008; now at WBBM-TV)
Jackie Bange - weekend anchor/reporter (1990–1993; now at WGN-TV)
Barry Bernson - film critic/feature reporter
Derrick Blakley - weekend anchor/reporter (1987–2003; later at WBBM-TV, retired)
Jamie Blyth - 24/7 Chicago correspondent (2008)
Otis Buchanan - reporter
Susan Carlson - reporter/anchor (2013-2020)
Darrian Chapman - sports anchor/reporter (2000–2002; deceased)
Larry Chalmers
Jeff Conway - 24/7 Chicago movie correspondent
Chris Coffey - investigative reporter (2013-2022)
John Coleman - meteorologist (1984–1990; later at KUSI in San Diego, deceased)
Chet Coppock - sports anchor (1981–1984; later at WMVP, deceased)
Don Craig - anchor (1976–1978; later at WBBM-TV)
Jim Cummins - reporter (1976–1978; later Southwest Bureau Chief at NBC News, deceased)
Ed Curran - weather anchor (1999–2002; now at WBBM-TV)
Amanda Czernecki - weekend morning traffic reporter (later at CLTV & WGN-TV)
Darryl David - business reporter/weekend anchor (1987–1989)
Danny Dark - voiceover for WMAQ-TV (1992-1995; deceased)
Anna Davlantes - weekend anchor/reporter (2000–2009; later at WFLD)
Paul Deanno - meteorologist (2019-2023; now at KCBS/KCAL Los Angeles)
Billy Dec - 24/7 Chicago host (2008)
Eirian Disanto - traffic reporter
Dawn DeSart - traffic reporter (1994-2002)
Kalee Dionne - meteorologist (2016-?; later at WFAA in Dallas Fort-Worth)
Jill Dougherty - reporter (1980–1983; now at CNN in Washington, D.C.)
Alex Dreier - anchor (1950's-1962; later at WLS-TV, deceased)
Tom Duggan - sports reporter (1949–1953; deceased)
Ysabel Duron - reporter (1986–1990; later at KRON in San Francisco, retired)
Roger Ebert - film critic (deceased)
Carla Eboh - reporter
Rob Elgas - anchor (2002-2015; now at WLS-TV)
Joan Esposito - anchor/reporter (1989–1999)
Russ Ewing - investigative reporter (1967–1981 and 1998–2001; deceased)
Paula Faris - sports director (2005-2011; now at ABC News)
Tsi-Tsi-Ki Felix - 24/7 Chicago correspondent (2009)
Renee Ferguson - investigative reporter (1987–2008)
Ona Fletcher - reporter (1997–1999)
Emily Florez - reporter (2012-2018; later at KTVX in Salt Lake City)
Mat Garcia - reporter (1999-early 2000's)
Robin George - reporter/fill-in anchor (1990–2000)
Mark Giangreco - sports anchor (1982–1994; later at WLS-TV)
Marc Goldberg - sports anchor
Jeff Goldblatt - general assignment reporter (per diem); also fill-in anchor (2010-2012)
Sylvia Gomez - reporter (1992–1994; later at WBBM-TV and WFLD)
Roberta Gonzales - weather anchor (1990–1996; now at KTVU in San Francisco)
Greg Gumbel - sports anchor (1973–1981; now at CBS Sports)
Daniella Guzman - anchor (2012-2014; later at KNBC in Los Angeles, now at KPRC in Houston)
Steve Handelsman - national correspondent (retired)
Daryl Hawks - sports anchor (2008-2011; deceased)
Tracy Haynes - reporter
Cindy Hernandez - reporter (1994–1997)
Chuck Henry - anchor (1979–1982; later at KABC-TV and KNBC in Los Angeles, retired)
Jim Hill - meteorologist (1958-1993; deceased)
Paul Hogan - reporter
Ed Hopkins - voiceover for WMAQ-TV (2000-2019; deceased)
Ellee Pai Hong - anchor/reporter (2003–2009; later host of Comcast Newsmakers on CNN Headline News)
Ron Hunter - anchor (1975–1978)
Chris Hush - general assignment reporter (2016-2022; now at WTVJ in Miami)
Mike Jackson - anchor (later at WLS-TV)
Amy Jacobson - reporter (1996–2007; now at WIND)
Walter Jacobson - anchor/reporter (1971–1973; later at WBBM-TV and WFLD)
Sarah Jindra - traffic reporter (now at WGN-TV)
Lauren Jiggetts - anchor (2007-2017; now at WGN-TV)
Dick Johnson - anchor/reporter (2002-2020; deceased)
Wayne Johnson - lifestyle contributor (?-2015)
Floyd Kalber - legendary anchor (1960–1976; later at NBC News and at WLS-TV, deceased)
Peter Karl - reporter (later at WLS-TV)
Dr. Barry Kaufman - health reporter
Dick Kay - political reporter/commentator/host of City Desk (1968–2006, the longest serving reporter at WMAQ, deceased)
Marley Kayden - traffic reporter (2014-late 2010's)
Vicki Kaywood - voiceover for WMAQ-TV (1992-?)
Bill Keller - traffic reporter (2002-2003)
Jon Kelley - sports anchor/reporter (1991–1998, later at Extra, then WFLD, now host of Funny You Should Ask)
Katie Kim - reporter; fill-in anchor (2014-2020)
Darren Kramer - weekend anchor/reporter (2003–2005, now at WTNH in New Haven-Hartford)
Irv Kupcinet (deceased)
Peggy Kusinski - sports anchor/reporter (2000-late 2010's; now at WMVP)
Sarah Kustok - fill-in sports anchor (now at YES Network)
Nesita Kwan - anchor/reporter (1994-2015)
Mary Laney - anchor/reporter
Diane Lawson - reporter
Mike Leiderman - sports anchor/reporter
Tammy Leitner - investigative reporter (2014-2016; now at NBC News)
Don Lemon - anchorman/reporter (2003–2006; later at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta)
Siafa Lewis - sports anchor/reporter (2014-2021)
Dr. Deanna Lites - health reporter (2001–2003; now with NBC News)
Shelley Long - host of Sorting It Out (1970's; now an actress)
Jorie Lueloff - anchor
Ron Magers - longtime anchor (1981–1997; later at WLS-TV, retired)
Carol Marin - political editor (1978-1997 and 2004-2020; retired)
Norman Mark - entertainment reporter
John Mason - reporter (1995–1997; later at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul)
Lauren Massarella (now runs The Sister Project Blog)
Megan Mawicke - sports anchor/reporter (2002–2004; later at WBBM-TV)
Kevin McCarty - reporter (now Communications Director and Public Information Officer at the Kitsap County, Washington Sheriff's Office)
Pete McMurray - 24/7 Chicago co-host (2009-2015)
Marlene McClinton - weekend anchor/reporter (1985–1987; later at KHOU in Houston)
Robin Meade - anchor/reporter (1994–2001, later at HLN)
Al Meltzer - sports anchor/reporter (1977–1978; later at KYW-TV, WCAU and WPHL-TV in Philadelphia; deceased)
Emmitt Miller - reporter (1990's; later at KTLA in Los Angeles)
Byron Miranda - weather anchor (1998–2002 and 2014-2017; later at KGTV in San Diego, KCAL-TV, KCBS-TV in Los Angeles and KPRC in Houston, now at WPIX in New York)
Jennifer Mitchell - reporter (2000-2006)
Shelly Monahan - weather anchor (1997–2002; later at KHQ-TV in Spokane)
Erin Moriarty - consumer reporter (1983–1986; now at CBS News)
Jeannie Morris - sports reporter (1970–1973 and 1974–1975; later at WBBM-TV, deceased)
Johnny Morris - sports anchor (1968–1975; later at WBBM-TV and at CBS Sports, retired)
Mary Murnane - weekend anchor/reporter (1985–1990)
Rich Newberg - investigative reporter (1975–1978; later at WIVB-TV in Buffalo, retired)
Peter Nolan - Viewpoint
Art Norman - feature/technology reporter & fill-in anchor (1982–2009)
Deborah Norville - reporter/anchor (1982–1986; now host of Inside Edition)
Ed O’Brien - voiceover for WMAQ-TV (1997-2000)
Pat O'Brien - anchor/reporter (1970's; later host of Access Hollywood and The Insider)
Len O'Connor - (later at WGN-TV)
Roger O'Neil - reporter (later an NBC News correspondent)
Trina Orlando - reporter (2014-2021)
Scott Osborne
Anita Padilla - weekend morning anchor/reporter (1997–2007; later at WFLD, retired)
Jane Pauley - anchor/reporter (1975–1976; later at NBC News; now at CBS News)
Lisa Parker - investigative and consumer reporter (1996-2023)
Alex Perez - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor (2005-2012; now at ABC News)
Anthony Ponce - weekend mornings; also weekday reporter (2007-2016; now at WFLD)
Maury Povich - anchor (1976–1977; later host of Maury)
Cindy Preszler - meteorologist (1997–1998; now at WFOR in Miami)
Ash-har Quraishi - reporter (2016-?; now at CBS News)
Norma Quarles - reporter (1977–1978; later at NBC News)
Gene Randall - anchor/reporter (1976–1980)
Stephen Ray - reporter
Carol Anne Riddell - reporter (1990–1992, later at WNBC in New York)
Marcus Riley - 24/7 Chicago correspondent (2009-2011)
Samantha Rivera - sports anchor/reporter (2022-2023)
Matt Rodewald - traffic reporter (2006-2012)
Max Robinson - anchor (1984–1985; deceased)
Phil Rogers - reporter (1991-2022; retired)
Jim Ruddle - anchor (1967–1975 and 1979–1986)
Rick Sallinger - reporter (1986–1990; now at KCNC-TV in Denver)
Zoraida Sambolin - anchor/reporter (2002-2011; later at CNN, then returned to WMAQ from 2014-2021)
Rich Samuels - reporter (1974–1991; now runs a website on Chicago broadcasting)
Warner Saunders - anchor/reporter (1980–2009; deceased)
Dave Savini - investigative reporter (1993–2004; now at WBBM-TV)
Mark Schanowski - sports anchor/reporter (1998–2005; now at NBC Sports Chicago, and back at WLS-TV)
Cheryl Scott - meteorologist (2011-2014; now at WLS-TV)
Lynne Scott - reporter
Alan Sealls - meteorologist (1997–1999; later at WPMI in Mobile, retired)
Tom Shaer - sports anchor/reporter (1989–2001)
Don Shane - sports anchor/reporter (1980's; later at WXYZ-TV in Detroit, deceased)
Carole Simpson - weekend anchor/reporter (1970–1974; later at NBC News and ABC News)
Bob Sirott - anchor/reporter (1989–1993; later at WFLD, WTTW and 2006–2009, later again at WFLD, 2010-2013, now at WGN-AM)
Bob Smith - sports anchor
Sondra Solarte - traffic reporter (2001–2005; later at WFLD)
Tammie Souza - meteorologist (2000–2006; later at WFLD and WTSP-TV in Tampa, later again at WFLD until 2017, now at KYW-TV in Philadelphia)
Jeanne Sparrow - traffic/entertainment reporter (2000–2005; later Program Host at Karl Productions & You and Me This Morning at WCIU-TV)
Rob Stafford - anchor (2009-2020; 2007-09 Weekends, 2009-2022 Weekdays, retired)
Adlai Stevenson - reporter
Amy Stone - sports anchor/reporter (1990's; later at WCBS-TV in New York)
Ray Suarez - reporter (1986–1993; later a Senior Correspondent at the PBS NewsHour)
Mark Suppelsa - anchor/investigative reporter (1993–2003; later at WFLD and WGN-TV, now retired)
Jerry Taft - weather anchor (1977–1984; later at WLS-TV, deceased)
Martha Teichner - reporter (1976–1977; now at CBS News)
Jim Tilmon - weather anchor and aviation reporter (1972–1994; later at WFLD, then WBBM-TV, deceased)
Lisa Tutman - reporter (1997–2006)
Clifton Utley - anchor (deceased)
Charlie Van Dyke - voiceover for WMAQ-TV (1995-1997)
Kim Vatis - reporter/anchor (1997-2013)
Harry Volkman - weather anchor (1959–1967; later at WGN-TV, WBBM-TV and WFLD, deceased)
Phil Walters - anchor/reporter (1967–1976 and 1986-1999; deceased)
Libby Weaver
Jenniffer Weigel - host and producer of "Taste"
Tim Weigel - sports anchor (1975–1977; later at WLS-TV and WBBM-TV, deceased)
Roy Weissinger - weekend anchor/reporter (1984–1987)
Bruce Wolf - traffic and sports reporter (2006-2008; later fill-in)
Sharon Wright - consumer reporter (1986-2015)
Linda Yu - anchor/reporter (1979–1984; later at WLS-TV, retired)
Ginger Zee - meteorologist (2006-2011; now at ABC News)
Tom Zenner - sports anchor/reporter
Bill Zwecker - movie critic (1993–2000; later at WBBM-TV and WFLD)