Visiting WGN-TV

As a young broadcast journalist, I grew up watching the news on Superstation WGN. In fact, when I produced weekend news in Richmond, Virginia, my anchor and I would watch the 10pm news on WGN before doing our own weekend newscast at 11pm.

We would marvel at the smoothness, professional presentation and obvious top-of-the-line technology at play at the Tribune-owned powerhouse station.

Even when I worked in Atlanta, I would routinely watch WGN News at Noon when it aired in our market at 1pm.

Today I got a chance to see the studios and staff of WGN-TV up close as I made a visit while here in Chicago for the Society of Professional Journalists Convention.

I was impressed with the sheer size of the station and the recently re-modeled newsroom and studio. Many people might think the WGN-TV operation is still in the historic Tribune Tower in downtown.

Actually, it is 20 minutes north of Chicago's famous loop. The radio station (WGN Radio) and TV moved there decades ago. The radio station is back in the Tower, but the station is in a plant it has held for four or five decades.