WBBM-TV

WBBM (CBS)
Slogan: Unknown
Chicago
Channel 2 Digital Channel 3
Owner	Viacom
On-Air Date	July 1, 1946
Signal Radius	Chicagoland area
Branding	CBS 2
Callsign Meaning
Former Affiliations	None
Former Callsigns	WBKB
www.cbs2chicago.com

WBBM-TV is the Chicago-based owned & operated station of the CBS television network. It is Chicago's oldest TV station, beginning operations on July 1, 1946 as WBKB Channel 4. On February 10, 1953, Balaban & Katz, the station's owners, sold WBKB to CBS for $6 million. CBS changed the station's call letters to WBBM-TV just two days later.

Later in 1953, on July 5th, as part of a situation that involved three stations: WBBM, WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, and WKZO-TV (now WWMT ) in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the FCC changed the channel allocation of WBBM-TV from Channel 4 to 2, WTMJ relocated from 3 to 4, and WKZO remained at 3. This was done to free up interference issues between WTMJ and WKZO. In March 1956 , the CBS Chicago stations (WBBM-AM/TV/FM) moved into its present home on North McClurg Court in downtown Chicago. The North McClurg Court studio made history in 1960 as being the site of the first televised presidential debate between Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Richard Nixon.

Its theme song, based on a tune by a local folk song composer, was used for all but a few years since 1975. The theme has been used in several variations at other television stations across the US.

WBBM was the top news station in the Chicagoland area during the 1970s through the mid-1980s, when that spot was taken by ABC's WLS-TV. Much like its CBS sister stations in New York and Los Angeles, it currently places third in the local news race behind its NBC and ABC counterparts. As such the station went through different on-air branding and appearances such as Channel 2 News, 2 News, News 2 Chicago, The News on CBS 2 Chicago, and finally CBS 2 News.

One of the most notable is a 10 PM newscast, which began airing in 2000, that ditched the traditional newscast format in favor of in-depth "hard news" features. Anchored by long-time Chicago newscaster Carol Marin, the newscast was hailed as a return to quality in-depth journalism at a time when tabloid journalism and "soft news" were becoming the norm. Unfortunately, plummeting ratings led to the newscast's cancellation in October 2000, after being on the air for only nine months.

External Links

Changing Local News - WBBM Revisited