WGN-TV

WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, that serves as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's parent company, Nexstar Media Group, sharing common ownership with its radio counterpart, WGN (720 AM), a news-talk and sports station. WGN-TV's studios are located on West Bradley Place in Chicago's North Center; it is Chicago's only major commercial television station whose main studio is based outside the Chicago Loop. Its transmitter is located atop Willis Tower in the Loop. The station began broadcasting in 1948, when it was owned by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. WGN-TV became one of the earliest superstations; on November 9, 1978, it became the second U.S. television station to be made available via satellite transmission to cable and direct-broadcast satellite subscribers nationwide. The superstation, which was later renamed WGN America, was converted into a conventional, basic cable network in December 2014, enabling it to be added to local cable providers. It was soft re-launched as NewsNation in September 2020. WGN-TV was a charter affiliate of The WB and its successor network The CW; it became an independent station in 2016 and returned to the network in 2024. WGN-TV, WGN radio, and the now-defunct regional cable news channel Chicagoland Television (CLTV) were the three flagship properties of Tribune Broadcasting, until the company's purchase by Nexstar in 2019.