go, journalism!

posted by catherine / January 19, 2006 /

one reason i love my very local chicago news station that i watch in the mornings: as i was getting out of the shower around 7:15, this is what i hear coming from the television:

"stacey, can you run the clip of the monkeys riding horseback?"

Comments

That sounds like an arts and culture story to me! Fabulous, I can do a follow-up.

Posted by: Kristin on January 19, 2006 03:59 PM

What channel are you watching.

Posted by: Dan on January 19, 2006 06:11 PM

?

Posted by: Dan on January 19, 2006 06:12 PM

wbgn? wgn? can't remember which one...i think it's channel 9.

Posted by: catherine on January 19, 2006 06:46 PM

Channel 9 is WGN. Which is so local that most people in the country get it.

Posted by: ogged on January 19, 2006 06:49 PM

most people in the country get chicago's morning news broadcast?

Posted by: catherine on January 19, 2006 06:53 PM

They do indeed. That's why WGN calls itself the "Superstation," and why there are Cubs fans everywhere. It's included in most cable/satellite packages.

Posted by: ogged on January 19, 2006 07:18 PM

ahh, neat. well in that case maybe somebody caught the horseback monkeys and can tell me about it, because sadly, i couldn't towel off in time to run out and see it for myself.

Posted by: catherine on January 19, 2006 07:20 PM

WGN is (actually was) a nationwide Superstation (like TBS).

That's at least half the reason the whole country loves the Cubs. And Bozo the Clown.

The FCC did away with the Superstations at some point during the '90s, and most WGN affiliates turned into WB teen drama purveyors. A few 'GN affiliates remain, though. I'm pretty sure, for example, that Denver still has a active one, as Channel 61 was my lifeline home freshman year of college (the '98 Sosa–McGuire duel/Cubs dismall playoff appearance).

It's been a while since I've been up early enough before work to watch morning TV, but I do recall Channel 9's was the best around. It sure beat the cornball schtick shovelled by Fox.

Posted by: Dan on January 19, 2006 07:23 PM

Okay, I got that a little bit wrong. According to Wikipedia:

Eventually TBS, the successor to WTCG, gave up its status as a superstation and became a regular cable television channel. The FCC placed tight restrictions on the remaining superstations (excluding WGN), allowing no new ones, and limiting the distribution of the five grandfathered ones to rural areas without distributors of similar programming.

As of 2005, WGN boasts over 66-million households on cable and satellite. The five remaining true superstations, UPN affiliates WSBK-TV in Boston and WWOR-TV in New York, New York, and WB affiliates WPIX-TV in New York, KWGN-TV in Denver, Colorado, and KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California, are carried on some rural cable systems, and on the Dish Network DBS system to many customers in small media markets.

Posted by: Dan on January 19, 2006 07:30 PM

well, even though it's not the wacky local station, this shit is out of control. the teaser for tomorrow's morning news: "Dogs that sound like their owners!"

Posted by: catherine on January 19, 2006 10:25 PM

"It's been a while since I've been up early enough before work to watch morning TV..."

I want his job.

Posted by: j.scott barnard on January 20, 2006 11:32 AM

We never had WGN in New York in my lifetime...either way, it definitely seems like a wacky local station catherine, you're right!!! I always catch them making really inappropriate comments that make me question going into broadcasting. But not the monkeys. That is definitely worth watching. If you skip to the 56th second of this clip you won't be disappointed.

Posted by: Laura on January 21, 2006 03:00 AM

> I want his job

It's just that I always opt for an extra snooze and am left to prioritize between a shave and a breakfast (and the TV's not within the eyeline of either).

Posted by: Dan on January 21, 2006 10:28 AM

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