Thing Theatre

Did You Know?

• In 2017, NBC sold WSNS-TV's spectrum in the FCC's spectrum reallocation auction, fetching $141.7 million.
• WSNS-TV ceased broadcasting on UHF digital channel 45 on April 23, 2018, and began sharing spectrum with WMAQ-TV on channel 29.

The independent years (1970–1980)

In September 1962, the Chicago movie theater chain Essaness Theatres, acting under the name Essaness Television Associates, asked for permission to build a new UHF station on channel 44. The Federal Communications Commission gave the green light in May 1963. The plan was to broadcast from the Woods Theatre in the Loop, with programming aimed at minority audiences, especially Chicago's Black community. By 1965, Essaness had shifted its proposed transmitter site to the Civic Opera Building and secured antenna space on the John Hancock Center. In 1967, Harriscope Broadcasting Corporation bought into the project, and the license holder became Video 44. The transmission setup was finished in late 1969, sharing the east mast with WBBM-TV. Following the death of founder Edwin Silverman in February 1970, WSNS went on the air on April 5, 1970. Its format was unusual: a constant scroll of news headlines, sports scores, weather, and ads, which general manager Yale Roe called "instant news." For seven months, the station ran no live personalities. Then came an 11 p.m. hour with newscasters Mary Jane Odell and Linda Marshall, commentator Warner Saunders, and Chuck Collins hosting the Underground News. That program lasted three years and was sold to other cities.

ON TV subscription television (1980–1985)

In November 1975, Video 44 asked for permission to run a subscription TV service on WSNS-TV. The request stalled for years because the FCC didn't allow more than one such station in big cities until 1979. In June 1979, Video 44 struck a deal with Oak Industries to use its technology for the service. But less than two weeks later, Video 44 instead agreed to sell half the company to American Television and Communications, Time Inc.'s cable division, for over $5 million. That September, five major movie studios led by Paramount objected to the FCC, arguing Time already had a monopoly on pay TV programming through HBO. Video 44 and ATC dropped the sale the next month. After finally getting FCC approval in March 1980, Video 44 planned to sell 49% of its venture to Capital Cities Communications and Oak. Capital Cities backed out, so Oak bought the full 49% for $7.5 million. On September 22, 1980, WSNS launched ON TV programming starting at 7 p.m. weekdays and 5 p.m. weekends. Oak provided first-run movies, sports, specials, and adult content. Subscribers paid $21.95 a month plus a $52.95 installation fee for the decoder box needed to unscramble the signal.

Spanish-language broadcasting (1985–present)

On July 1, 1985, WSNS-TV ended nearly five years of subscription programming to become a full-time Spanish-language station, part of the Spanish International Network (later known as Univision). The switch was an instant hit: first-year revenue hit $9 million, beating projections by 20 percent. Before that, only about 45 percent of Chicago’s Hispanic viewers watched channels 26 or 60; after WSNS launched, 70 percent tuned into local Spanish-language TV. Meanwhile, the Monroe license challenge dragged on. The FCC review board first sent the case back to the administrative law judge to examine whether WSNS had aired obscene films during its subscription era, including titles like Pandora’s Mirror and The Erotic Adventures of Zorro. But in April 1986, the FCC stepped in, ruling that the judge could not weigh obscenity—that matter belonged to local authorities. The case then went back to the review board, which in 1988 reversed the judge’s earlier findings and recommended renewing WSNS’s license.

Programming

WSNS launched its first local Spanish-language newscasts on October 7, 1985, under the name Noticentro 44, initially airing only in the early evening. The station added a late-night broadcast on October 17, 1994, after WCIU-TV ended its own Spanish-language news service. To compete with WGBO, WSNS brought in radio personalities Luisa Torres and Alberto Augusto to anchor the new 10 p.m. show, but Telemundo let them go in April 1996 as part of cost-cutting measures. The first morning newscast, Buenos Días Chicago, debuted in January 2001; a later attempt called Telemundo Chicago por la Mañana was canceled in 2009 due to budget constraints. In 2008, the station tried a 10:30 a.m. program hosted by Tsi-Tsi-Ki Félix, which eventually turned into the lifestyle show Acceso Total. Edna Schmidt, a former WGBO reporter, became co-anchor of the 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts in August 2013 but was fired that October after appearing intoxicated on air. She sued WSNS and NBCUniversal that November, claiming they failed to accommodate her alcoholism under the Americans with Disabilities Act.