WLS-TV - News Operations

News Operations

WLS-TV, like the other ABC owned-and-operated stations, adopted the Eyewitness News format in the late 1960s after it became a hit at flagship WABC-TV in New York. Beginning in 1968, the station's main evening newscasts were co-anchored by Fahey Flynn, a bowtie-wearing broadcaster who had spent the previous 15 years at WBBM-TV; and Joel Daly, hired away from WJW-TV in Cleveland in 1967. The duo served as the anchormen of the station's 6:00 and 10:00 PM newscasts until Flynn's death in August 1983. In 1970 they were joined by John Drury, who helmed the 5:00 report. By 1973 Eyewitness News surpassed NBC-owned WMAQ-TV to become Chicago's top-rated news operation, a lead it held until WBBM-TV surpassed it in 1979. For much of the 1970s and 1980s, it waged a spirited battle for second place in the Chicago news ratings.

By 1983 a disastrous anchor change had dropped channel 7 into third place. That prompted two major changes. ABC brought in Dennis Swanson from its Los Angeles outlet to WLS-TV as its new general manager. Swanson, in turn, hired Bill Applegate as the station's news director. Secondly, ABC commissioned Frank Gari to write an updated version of the Cool Hand Luke theme widely associated with the Eyewitness News format. The result was News Series 2000, which was quickly picked up by the other ABC O&Os.

Swanson was instrumental in hiring Oprah Winfrey to host its then low-rated morning talk show, AM Chicago, in 1983. Within a year, it had shot to first place. It was picked up nationally in 1986 and renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Channel 7 aired it, along with most other ABC O&Os, until September 2011. Swanson also re-hired lead anchor John Drury, who had left for WGN-TV in 1979; and Floyd Kalber, who had led WMAQ-TV to the top of the ratings in the 1960s.

Drury and Mary Ann Childers were a popular anchor team at WLS-TV during the 1980s and 1990s, accompanied by weatherman Steve Deshler and sportscaster Tim Weigel. In March 1986, channel 7 passed WBBM-TV as the highest-rated news station in Chicago. It has held the lead ever since, aside from a brief period when WBBM-TV managed to forge a tie for first.

As of 1996, the station currently brands its newscast as "ABC7 News" even though it still uses the same basic format from its Eyewitness News days. The station has been using its current news music package, News Series 2000 Plus (now called Stimulus) by Frank Gari since 1992. It also updated the on-air graphics for its newscasts on Saturday, June 3, 2005.

The new State Street Studio officially debuted Monday, April 10, 2006, during the station's morning newscast, but it started broadcasting its newscasts from the new studio on Saturday, April 8, 2006. On the weekend of April 29–30, 2006, WLS-TV began using Chopper 7 HD. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, WLS-TV became the first Chicago television station to broadcast its entire news and local programming in high definition news although most remote field footage remains in 16:9 widescreen standard definition.

On December 23, 2007, the State Street Studio became breaking news when a minivan drove through a reinforced studio window two minutes into the 10 p.m. newscast, startling anchor Ravi Baichwal on air and creating a 20° draft, but injuring no one.

On November 11, 2012, WLS-TV expanded its Sunday 8 AM newscast from 1 ½ to 2 hours, with ABC's This Week airing immediately after it.