{"id":5972,"date":"2014-12-12T15:00:41","date_gmt":"2014-12-12T21:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=5972"},"modified":"2014-12-13T11:01:25","modified_gmt":"2014-12-13T17:01:25","slug":"cubs-strike-out-on-abc-7-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2014\/12\/12\/cubs-strike-out-on-abc-7-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs strike out on ABC 7 history"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rogers<\/a>

<\/a> Rogers Hornsby<\/p><\/div>\n

The stunning announcement<\/a>\u00a0that Chicago Cubs<\/a> baseball would be airing next season on WLS-Channel 7<\/a> \u201cfor the first time in the 68-year television broadcast history\u201d of the team made for a great story Friday.<\/p>\n

Except that it isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

Contrary to the press release<\/a> issued jointly by the Cubs and the ABC-owned station \u2014 and picked up in virtually every news report on the deal \u2014 this isn\u2019t the first time the two have been partners.<\/p>\n

\"George<\/a>

George Castle<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1949, Cubs home games aired on Channel 7 (then under the call letters WENR-TV), with baseball legend Rogers Hornsby as announcer, according to George Castle, a Chicago baseball historian and author of nine books on the Cubs. \u201cSame station, same owner, same channel, different call letters,\u201d Castle said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to overlook the WENR-TV role with the Cubs,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was only one season. WGN-TV (Channel 9) and WBKB-TV (Channel 4) also did the Cubs that year with [Jack] Brickhouse and Whispering Joe Wilson, respectively, at the mic. P.K. Wrigley spent $100,000 of Cubs money to build new broadcast facilities for the three stations in 1949.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for ABC 7 attributed the error in the announcement to the Cubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cCubs front office doesn't know squat about team history,\u201d Castle said. \u201cThat's one of the glaring holes in that franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday night update:<\/strong> ABC 7 released the following statement: \u201cThe Cub Games have been on the air since 1946. In 1949, the Cubs aired on WENR-TV, a precursor to WLS-TV. 2015 will be the first time the Cubs have aired on an ABC owned station since 1949. WLS-TV would like to thank those who pointed out our station\u2019s oversight, but the most important fact is correct \u2014 Cubs baseball is coming to WLS-TV in 2015.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is the complete text of the press release issued Friday:<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHICAGO CUBS AND ABC 7\/WLS-TV, THE # 1 STATION IN CHICAGO, STRIKE DEAL TO AIR 25 CUBS GAMES IN HISTORIC NEW PARTNERSHIP<\/em><\/p>\n

ABC 7 To Become First Network-Owned Television Station In Chicago To Pick Up \u2028Game Broadcast Rights In 68-Year Chicago Cubs Broadcast History<\/em><\/p>\n

The Chicago Cubs and WLS-TV\/ABC 7 CHICAGO today announced a historic partnership for television rights to Cubs games. For the first time in the 68-year television broadcast history of the Chicago Cubs, baseball games will air on ABC 7. ABC 7 will air 25 games per year through 2019. Starting in April of 2015, Cubs games will begin airing on ABC 7 Chicago in primetime, daytime and weekends.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to have ABC 7 Chicago as our new television broadcast partner,\u201d said President of Business Operations Crane Kenney. \u201cWLS-TV has established itself as a trusted voice in Chicago and we look forward\u00a0to a new chapter of Cubs baseball airing on the flagship station of the ABC television network.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

WLS-TV echoed the Cubs\u2019 excitement and said they are looking forward to this new beginning with the organization.<\/em><\/p>\n

According to John Idler, President and General Manager of ABC 7, \u201cABC 7 is thrilled to be a part of this new chapter for the Chicago Cubs organization, and we welcome Cub fans to the #1 station in Chicago. Like all Cubs fans, we are eager to celebrate the 2015 Chicago Cubs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The station also said it is confident this match-up will offer advertisers rich opportunities next season.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the most-watched station in Chicago teams up with our city's most storied franchise, it can't help but generate excitement for our viewers while providing our ABC sales team the opportunity to offer extraordinary media opportunities to our clients in Chicago and across the country,\u201c said Vincent Sollecito, Vice President and General Sales Manager of ABC 7.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Kenney added the Cubs will soon announce the home for the team\u2019s remaining games not currently under contract to ABC 7 or Comcast SportsNet, ensuring all Cubs games will be on the air in Chicago next season.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will complete our broadcast realignment shortly, allowing every Cubs fan in Chicago the opportunity to watch every game of what we believe will be an exciting and competitive season in 2015.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stunning announcement\u00a0that Chicago Cubs baseball would be airing next season on WLS-Channel 7 \u201cfor the first time in the 68-year television broadcast history\u201d of the team made for a great story Friday. Except that it isn\u2019t true.<\/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\/5972"}],"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=5972"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5983,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5972\/revisions\/5983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}