WLS-TV - Digital Television

Digital Television

Upon completion of the digital transition, WLS officially transferred the "WLS-TV" legal callsign from the now-defunct analog channel 7 to the original post-transition digital television channel 7, and discontinued the "WLS-DT" callsign. In late 2009, after moving full-power digital operations to UHF channel 44, the "WLS-TV" callsign was moved to channel 44. Even though WLS-TV converted VHF channel 7 into a digital fill-in translator and it is a LD facility (-LD meaning "Low-power Digital"), it uses the same call letters and suffix like their main full power facility. However, the PSIP identifier for WLS-TV's virtual channels still continues to identify the station as "WLS-DT."

After the digital transition on June 12, 2009, WLS moved from out-of-core UHF Channel 52 to their pre-analog VHF channel 7 for their digital operations. WLS operated their digital signal at low power (4.75 kW) to protect the digital signal of WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan (which also broadcasts on channel 7, but with much higher power). As a result, many viewers were not able to receive the station. The FCC sent extra personnel to Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City to deal with difficulties in those cities. WLS had received 1,735 calls just by the end of the day on June 12 (WBBM only received 600), and an estimated 5000 calls in total by June 16.

WLS-TV was just one station which needed to increase its signal strength or move its frequency to solve its problems, but a power increase required making sure no other stations were affected. WLS received a two-week experimental permit for a power increase late in June. WLS had also applied for a permit to construct a low-power fill-in digital translator station on UHF channel 32, (the former analog frequency of WFLD) but abandoned that plan (the channel 32 RF frequency has since been claimed by WMEU-CD). Eventually the FCC granted it a permit to transmit on a second frequency, Channel 44, formerly occupied by WSNS-TV, and WLS announced the availability of that frequency on October 31, 2009.

Throughout construction of the new maximized transmitting facilities at the Willis Tower, WLS operated both channels 7 and 44 from its auxiliary facilities at the John Hancock Center under an STA. WLS operated channel 7 as a fill-in translator with a power of 7 kW & operating their full power operations on channel 44 with a power of 1 MW. Through PSIP technology, both operating frequencies were re-mapped and displayed as virtual channel 7, which would cause some digital tuners to have two versions of virtual channels 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3, while tuning sequentially. In early-October 2012, WLS-TV completed construction from the Willis Tower and its operating channel 44 at the 1 million watt power level. WLS continues to operate its VHF channel 7 frequency as a fill-in translator, and will continue to do so until mid-January 2013 at the latest, despite completing its maximized facilities on UHF Channel 44.

Since WLS-TV officially moved their full power operations to channel 44, it is the only ABC O&O to vacate its former analog allotment for its digital operations and the second ABC O&O to operate its full-power operations on the UHF band, after KFSN-TV.

Prior to February 24, 2011, WLS-DT3 aired ABC 7 News Now with weather programming from The Local AccuWeather Channel. The ABC O&Os ended transmission of their Local AccuWeather channels in February 2011, replacing its programming with a letterboxed standard-definition simulcast of their LiveWell subchannels; however, the partnership between ABC and AccuWeather continues to this day as the branding for the stations' weather reports.