Chicagoland Television

"CLTV" redirects here. For the use of CLTV in financial terms, see Combined loan to value.

For the Philippine Television Network based in Central Luzon, see Central Luzon Television.

Chicagoland Television

Type	Cable network
Country	United States
Availability	USA - Chicago Area
Slogan	Continuous Coverage - Around Chicago, Around The Clock
Owner	Tribune Company
Launch date	January 1, 1993
Official website	www.cltv.com

Chicagoland Television, better known as CLTV, is a 24-hour regional cable news television channel based in Chicago. CLTV broadcasts from the WGN-TV studios on the Northwest side of Chicago and is owned by Tribune Company.

History

CLTV closed its Oak Brook office on August 27, 2009 where it was launched on New Year's Day 1993. CLTV became available on RCN Cable in Chicago in October 2009. Tribune Broadcasting announced on February 5, 2009 that it would combine WGN-TV and CLTV, into one operation based out of WGN's West Bradley Place facility in Chicago's North Center neighborhood. According to the Tribune Company, it is the largest and most powerful news room in the Chicago market.^[1] This officially took place on August 28, 2009. Upon the merger, CLTV received a new logo and launched its news in HD with new graphics similar to those of WGN-TV. Previous to that, all of the Tribune weather operations, including CLTV's and WGN Radio 720's, were merged into those of Channel 9.

Availability

According to the CLTV website it reaches 1.8 million households, making it one of the largest local news networks in the United States. The channel had always been an exclusive channel to customers of Comcast (and earlier forerunner companies AT&T Broadband, Media One and TCI) until October 2009, when RCN began to also carry the channel after Tribune's renegotiation with Comcast to remove the exclusivity agreement.^[2] On January 19, 2010 Comcast began to offer CLTV to its digital cable subscribers in the company's Rockford, Illinois and South Bend, Indiana service areas.^[3] The Sports Channel / Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet overflow content was not exclusive before October 2009, and was on other systems that did not have CLTV. CLTV currently remains unavailable to WOW!, AT&T U-verse, Dish Network, and DirecTV subscribers in the Chicago area.

Programming

CLTV focuses primarily on 24-hour rolling news coverage. The CLTV broadcast is structured into a traditional wheel of news, traffic/transit, weather, sports, and features/entertainment, though the wheel is easily interrupted during breaking news events within the city or extraordinary national events.

• Weekday live news broadcasts begin at 5 a.m., on Saturdays and Sunday at 7 a.m.
• CLTV re-broadcasts the WGN Midday News at 1 p.m. on weekdays and the WGN News at Nine at 11 p.m. weekdays. In addition since July 6, 2010, CLTV also airs special live half-hour editions of WGN News at Nine in the event that a sporting event (particularly one that is scheduled to be played on the west coast) will begin at 9 p.m. and/or run past 10 p.m., causing the 9 p.m. newscast to be delayed on Channel 9; an additional live newscast will air on WGN-TV (with a simulcast on its national superstation feed WGN America, outside of Chicago) immediately following the game.^[4]
• Metromix, the Chicago Tribune branding for local arts and cultural coverage and a section in that paper, has a program which airs several times on Thursday and Friday nights; it had been a nightly program until 2008.
• Other programs seen on CLTV are Garrard McClendon Live, Homes Plus, Living Healthy Chicago, Sports Page, and Midwest Outdoors.
• The station airs limited paid programming during early overnight periods.
• The channel has been used as the Comcast SportsNet Chicago overflow feed, branded technically as CSN+ in order to alleviate sports overflows with CSN Chicago's properties. It was also used in the /SportsChannel Fox Sports Net Chicago days for their overflow feeds before the launch of CSN Chicago. By the second quarter of 2010 however Comcast's Chicago systems will be all-digital (where a digital cable box or CableCard-compliant receiver is required for all subscribers), thus on all but non Comcast systems, the CSN+ feed would likely have their own channel slot. A gametime-only CSN+ high definition feed is also used on Comcast systems, with cable system tutorials filling the remainder of the network's schedule, while other systems substitute other programming during the downtime. As of 2011 CSN + no longer on cltv.
• DePaul University college basketball is also carried on CLTV on a limited schedule.

On-air presentation

CLTV slogans

• Chicagoland's 24-Hour Source for News, Weather and Sports (1993–2000)
• Around Chicago, Around the Clock (2000–present)

News team

Current on-air staff^[5]

+ denotes personnel also seen on WGN-TV
Anchors

• + Tonya Francisco - weekday mornings
• + Gaynor Hall - weekend evenings and overnight loop; also reporter
• + Monica Schneider - weekday afternoons; also reporter
• + Judy Wang - weekend daytime and reporter

Weather team

• Duffy Atkins (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weekday evenings and overnight loop (4 p.m.-5 a.m.)
• + Mike Hamernik (member, AMS; member, NWA) - meteorologist; weekend daytime (6 a.m.-6 p.m.)
• Tim McGill (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - weather anchor; weekday daytime (5 a.m.-4 p.m.)
• + Jim Ramsey (NWA Seal of Approval) - weather anchor; weekend evenings and overnight loop (6 p.m.-6 a.m.)

Reporters

• + Sean Lewis - general assignment reporter
• + Nancy Loo - general assignment reporter
• + Marcella Raymond - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor

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Metromix

• Jackie Tranchida - Host

Tribune Company Partnerships

CLTV is owned by the Tribune Company, therefore it receives a lot of content and reporting from other news divisions of the Tribune Company. News video is shared extensively between CLTV and WGN-TV. All of CLTV's weather coverage is produced by WGN-TV. Chicago Tribune newspaper columnists provide in-depth reporting for many feature stories aired on CLTV.

The Metromix TV staff produces the Metromix Weekend program which airs in primetime on Thursdays and Fridays on CLTV. The program repeats over the weekend. Currently, the program is on-hiatus.

The Homes Plus program airs Saturday and Sunday morning and focuses on buying new homes in the Chicago area.

Living Healthy Chicago runs weekends and on Mondays at 8pm. This program focuses on how to live a healthy life in Chicago.

References

1. ^ Tribune Co. combining operations of WGN-TV and cable outlet CLTV, Chicago Tribune, February 5, 2009
2. ^ RCN adds CLTV to channel lineup Chicago Tribune October 15, 2009
3. ^ Comcast and CLTV Announce Launch of CLTV in Rockford and South Bend Markets Tribune Company Press Release January 19, 2010
4. ^ WGN News at Nine to Air on CLTV & Stream Live on WGNtv.com When Baseball on WGN-TV Starts at 9pm, Tribune Company. Retrieved 12-9-2010.
5. ^ Staff Bios

External links

• CLTV.com
• WGN Website
• Association of Regional News Channels
• Tribune website