{"id":2245,"date":"2014-02-05T18:00:21","date_gmt":"2014-02-06T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=2245"},"modified":"2014-02-06T17:03:27","modified_gmt":"2014-02-06T23:03:27","slug":"wgn-9-p-m-news-loses-national-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/02\/05\/wgn-9-p-m-news-loses-national-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"WGN news loses national platform"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mark<\/a>

<\/a> Mark Suppelsa, Dan Roan, Tom Skilling and Micah Materre<\/p><\/div>\n

Tom Skilling still may be America\u2019s weatherman, but his unparalleled nightly forecasts aren\u2019t reaching viewers from coast to coast anymore.<\/p>\n

After more than 35 years as a staple of Tribune Broadcasting\u2019s cable superstation, WGN-Channel 9\u2019s 9 p.m. newscast has been dropped from the nightly schedule of WGN America.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"WGN<\/a>The hourlong newscast, anchored by Mark Suppelsa and Micah Materre with chief meteorologist Skilling and sportscaster Dan Roan, continues to air locally on the company\u2019s Chicago flagship station. But as of this week, it\u2019s no longer carried on the cable channel seen in 75 million homes nationwide.<\/p>\n

WGN America has replaced \u201cWGN News at Nine\u201d with episodes of \u201cRules of Engagement,\u201d as part of the channel\u2019s effort to relaunch itself as a bigger player in the cable universe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re transitioning from a network with regional roots to one with a true national identity, driven by provocative, brand-defining programming of the highest quality,\u201d Matt Cherniss, president and general manager of WGN America, said in a statement.<\/a> \u201cWith this relaunch and our expanded portfolio of original content, we expect to significantly strengthen our position as a destination for viewers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/a>

Matt Cherniss<\/p><\/div>\n

Starting in April, WGN America will air its first original scripted drama series, \u201cSalem,\u201d set during the infamous 17th century witch trials in Massachusetts. In July, the network will premiere its second original series, \u201cManhattan,\u201d dramatizing the race to build the first atomic bomb (known as the Manhattan Project) in Los Alamos, N.M.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our series to transport the audience to worlds that they have never experienced and tell big, operatic stories that entice and entertain,\u201d Cherniss said.<\/p>\n

Sources said Cherniss expects very little negative reaction to his decision to drop the 9 p.m. newscast, a move he was eager to make with months to go before the rollout of original programming. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t much support for keeping it there,\u201d an insider said.<\/p>\n

Tribune Co. CEO Peter Liguori hired Cherniss, a former production executive at Warner Bros., last April to rebrand and revitalize WGN America and run the newly formed Tribune Studios in Los Angeles. The two previously worked together at FX and Fox Broadcasting.<\/p>\n

The only news carried on WGN America is the 4 a.m. hour of \u201cWGN Morning News\u201d and the noon hour of \u201cWGN Midday News.\u201d The station produces a total of 54 hours of local news each week.<\/p>\n

Thursday morning update:<\/strong> A spokesperson for WGN America said: \"Chicago\u2019s very own WGN News has many loyal fans and we are committed to continue making these news programs available to our viewers. In recent months, WGN America has been evolving its programming direction to best serve the interests of our national audience.\u00a0\u2018WGN News at Nine\u2019 continues to be available nationally at WGNTV.com, <\/a>where all WGN Chicago newscasts are streamed live. Further, an hour of Chicago\u2019s very own \u2018WGN Morning News\u2019 has been added to the WGNA schedule for viewers to enjoy weekdays, and \u2018WGN Midday News\u2019 will continue to air as scheduled.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Skilling still may be America\u2019s weatherman, but his unparalleled nightly forecasts aren\u2019t reaching viewers from coast to coast anymore. After more than 35 years as a staple of Tribune Broadcasting\u2019s cable superstation, WGN-Channel 9\u2019s 9 p.m. newscast has been dropped from the nightly schedule of WGN America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2245"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2254,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245\/revisions\/2254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}