Second Station For The Second City

Television got a huge boost in 1948, not only from a show that brought you a guy in drag and men who work from Maine to Mexico, but from the end of war-time restrictions on the material needed to build TV sets and the studios/transmitters that sent out programmes.

Viewers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago could tune in new stations that year. For Chicagoans, one that formally began on April 5 was WGN-TV.

Chicago had plenty to pick from back in the spinning-disc days, when the city’s U.A. Sanabria was promoting a mechanical system he developed. W9XAA (as WCFL) was put on the air in 1928. W9XAP, W9XR and W9XAO followed, but all faded away. At the end of the 1930s, what stood were W9XZV (owned by Zenith), which had a chequered history, and W9XBK (Balaban and Katz), which went commercial as WBKB.

WGN’s television story begins in late January 1944; the Chicago Tribune put WGN radio on the air in 1922. Here’s what the Trib’s radio editor wrote on Jan. 30.

W-G-N ORDERING EQUIPMENT FOR TELEVISION ERA
Preparing for Post-War Telecasting Service.
BY LARRY WOLTERS.
Looking forward to the expected era of television after the war, W-G-N Inc. has placed an order for a 40,000 watt transmitter, and filed an application for a television wave-length and construction permit with the federal communications commission in Washington. This announcement of W-G-N's intention to enter the field of visual radio was made yesterday [29] by W. E. Macfarlane, vice president of the station. The transmitter and the elaborate studio equipment for telecasting, costing more than a quarter of a million dollars, will be built by the General Electric company for delivery after the war or as soon as priorities, as determined by the war production board, permit its construction. The W-G-N television order will be the first to be filled when the company is released from production of war communications equipment in which all radio manufacturers now are exclusively engaged.
New Building Planned.
Television is to occupy an important place in the great new building which W-G-N will construct loiter the war on the site recently purchased by the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, south of Tribune Tower, fronting on Michigan avenue and overlooking the Chicago river. W-G-N announced on New Year's day plans to build the most modern and spacious radio structure in the world, costing several million dollars, as soon as wartime construction restrictions are lifted.
The new W-G-N structure, to be seven or eight stories high, will be designed to take full advantage of the expected tremendous developments in many fields of radio after the war. Besides television, these include frequency modulation [FM], the high fidelity, noise-free system of transmission; fascimile, the reproduction of printed and pictorial matter by radio, as well as in standard, or amplitude modulation [AM] radio.
Spacious Rooms Required.
Since the techniques of television in many respects resemble those of movie making more than standard broadcasting the new W-G-N building will contain large spaces suggestive of the Hollywood movie stages. Big room and high ceilings will be required to accommodate the television cameras which can be rolled about; overhead microphones on long booms, elaborate lighting equipment, and other apparatus that will be required in the new art The entire top floor of the building will be devoted to television, under plans tentatively approved.
W-G-N's order includes both video [picture] and audio [sound] transmission equipment. W-G-N also has applied for a 20,000 watt transmitter license to carry the sound portion of the television programs. The sound would be broadcast by FM, but on other wave lengths than those assigned to WGNB. W-G-N's sister FM station now in operation.
New Lights Developed.
Years of television research, speeded by discoveries and emergency developments under the impact of war will be reflected in peace-time telecasting, it is expected. General Electric has developed a mercury vapor type of watercooled lights, with intensity much the same as sunlight, which are said to overcome several of the hurdles previously confronting television.
The new lights eliminate the necessity for studio makeup, a complicated art in movie making. And the mercury lamps give out almost no heat. The incandescent lighting systems employed in other television systems are torturous to performers. The exclusive new lights, of course, will be included in the new W-G-N equipment.
W-G-N has ordered four television cameras, two equipped with telephoto lenses for handling "live talent" productions. The other two are specially designed for transmitting sound motion pictures of either 35 or 16 milimeters. [sic]
Less Light Required.
The newest television cameras require less light than demanded by movie cameras. A great deal of improvements in the character of the television images has been made in the last three years, W-G-N engineers report. The pictures are now in black and white with a good graduation between highlights and shadows.
The largest pre-war receivers showed pictures of about 12 by 15 inches; smaller models, 5 by 7 inches. Post-war screens providing for pictures of 18 by 24 inches have been promised.
Much of television's fare to date has been sound movies. Drama, musical shows, sports and news all seem to offer promise for telecasting. W-G-N directors say that such productions as the Chicago Theater of the Air operettas, when given in costume, as on Jan. 22, will lend themselves naturally to telecasting. W-G-N expects to transmit both movies and "live shows."
Experiments Lay Groundwork.
Considerable experimenting in the telecasting of drama has been done. Boxing bouts and baseball games have been fairly satisfactorily televised. Telecasts from airplanes in flight have been made. Before the war a television camera recorded a young woman's suicide leap from a skyscraper in New York. In England the telecamera recorded the action of the fanatic who broke thru police lines to lunge at King George. Comics, cartoons, theaters, movies—all appear to be within the range of television, altho staggering economic problems must be solved before these potentialities may be realized.

Little seems to have happened until September 13, 1946. Broadcasting reported WGN had amended its application to change from Channel 4 (78-84 mc.) to Channel 9 (186-192 mc.) The application was granted. Broadcasting reported in its Nov. 11, 1946 issue:

WGN Building on TV Is Started Immediately
CONSTRUCTION of transmitter facilities for WGN's new television station, granted Nov. 1 by the FCC, will get underway immediately, Carl J. Meyers, WGN director of engineering, has announced.
Transmitter will be located in the Tribune Tower, Chicago, with the antenna atop the tower, 500 feet above ground level.
Call letters for the new station have not yet been decided. With the addition of television, the Chicago Tribune climaxed 25 years in the broadcasting field during which time it has operated WGN, FM, which it began with WGNB in 1941, and facsimile broadcasting, resumed last July after experimental broadcasting in 1939.
The new station expects to be on the air by next May or June, according to Frank P. Schreiber, WGN general manager.

The Trib added, on Dec. 11, 1946:

WGNA will be the call letters of W-G-N’s new sister television station, Frank P. Schreiber, W-G-N general manager, announced yesterday. The use of the call letters was authorized by the federal communications commission in Washington, D. C. W-G-N’s frequency modulation station has the call letters WGNB assigned to it. W-G-N’s mobile transmitter, which has been operating under the call WONA has been assigned WGNM.
WGNA will telecast on channel 9 (196-192 megacycles) with an effective video (sight) power of 18.1 kilowatts and an audio (sound) power at 11 kilowatts, Carl J. Meyers, director of W-G-N engineering announced. The new television station expects to be programming by next May or June after necessary cameras and other equipment, flow on order, are delivered. Preliminary construction work is already proceeding, Meyers said. WGNA’s transmitter will be located on the 29th floor of Tribune tower. The antenna structure will be placed atop Tribune tower, rising 505 feet above street level.

A projected air date was set, and the Tribune of Jan. 18, 1948 announced the call-letter had changed.

PLAN WGN-TV PROGRAMS TO BEGIN MARCH 1
Video Station to Cost $500,000
BY LARRY WOLTERS
W-G-N's new television station will be on the air with test patterns around Feb. 1 and regular programs will start by or before March 1, Frank P. Schreiber, manager of W-G-N, Inc., announced yesterday. The television station, which will bear the call letters WGN-TV, will be located atop the Daily News building, 400 W. Madison st., pending completion of the Centennial building adjoining Tribune tower.
WGN-TV will occupy studio and office space on the 24th, 25th and 26th floors at 400 W. Madison. The transmitter is being installed on the 26th floor. A mast will be erected atop the building to which the antenna structure, rising 427 feet above street level, will be attached.
Plan Program Schedule
“Employing the extensive facilities of W-G-N we here begun developing a well rounded program schedule for WGN-TV,” Schreiber said. “This schedule will include studio and remote originations, films and news events—both on the spot and newsreel features to be included in the latter.”
The investment in WGN-TV by the time it has launched a regular telecasting schedule will run to about a half million dollars,” Schreiber said. Originally assigned the call letters WCNA, the station will be identified as WGN-TV under a recent FCC ruling providing that all video stations shall have the letters TV added to some combination of three or four letters.
Assigned To Channel 9
WGN-TV will operate on channel 9, occupying the 186-192 megacycle band. Its programs will greatly enlarge the program availability for the 14,000 television set owners in the Chicago area limited up to now to the offerings of WBKB, operating on channel 4.
While WGN-TV is testing its equipment, teleset owners during February will have an opportunity to have their receivers checked by service men, Carl J. Meyers, director of engineering of W-G-N, pointed out. Many antenna installations were made with reference only to pickup of WBKB and some adjustments may have to be made to get the best reception from WGN-TV. A test pattern is merely a pictorial or graphic station identification on a slide. "It shows no action, but it is sufficient to guide men in making any needed adjustments.
Best Of Equipment
The WGN-TV installation includes the newest and best in camera, transmitter and studio equipment and facilities. General offices will be located on the 24th floor. Two studios, master control and studio control rooms, a work-shop, property and dressing rooms and some additional office space are provided on the 25th floor. Besides the transmitter the 26th floor will accommodate a projection room for 16 and 55 milimeter [sic] movies and for slides; a music library, and some added studio space.
The main studio is a commodious room 40 by 50 feet. The smaller studio is 12 by 16 feet.
A complete mobile transmission unit will be delivered to WGN-TV Feb. 10, Meyers said. This car will be used to relay sports shows and special events from points of origination to the main transmitter where they will be put on the air for viewers.
Meanwhile the American Broadcasting company and the National Broadcasting company announced that they will be on the air with additional television stations in Chicago. ABC's station is expected to be in operation in early August; NBC's on Sept. 1. Thus, Chicago televiewers may have four video stations available by fall.

Incidentally, a story in the Jan. 25 Tribune mentioned W9XZV was “on the air from time to time.”

Wolters reported on Feb. 2 that “WGN-TV will go on the air with test patterns next week.” On Feb. 17, his column mentioned “W-G-N’s new television station has been on the air with test patterns” but they didn’t appear on a regular basis until March 3, 1948. The Tribune story that day:

WGN-TV TO BEGIN VIDEO PATTERN TESTING TODAY
BY LARRY WOLTERS
>W-G-N's new television station, today will begin a regular schedule of test pattern transmissions to enable video service men to make adjustments on sets and antennae to receive the station properly.
WGN-TV will operate on channel 9 on the 186-192 megacycle band. WBKB, the Balaban and Katz station, operates on channel 4 on the 66-72 megacycle band. Many telesets now in operation may require servicing to insure proper reception when WGN-TV begins regular operations in a few weeks.
Detects Flaws Better
The test pattern transmission will be telecast daily from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 to 4 p.m. The pattern is made up of a series of lines, circles, and shaded areas with a small Indian head at the top. Such a design provides a more critical means of detecting difficulties than a picture because the black lines against a light background show flaws and distortions more clearly.
The viewer may encounter “ghosts.” Thus, if he sees ten shadowy circles instead of one, or duplication of the lines instead of a clean-cut pattern, adjustments are indicated. Often service men can make adjustments on the direction of the antenna to eliminate the shadows. However, sometimes different settings may have to be made in the telesets themselves.
No Motion Shows
Test patterns, unlike regular television programs, have no motion or action in them. They are like a slide film.
The first scheduled WGN-TV telecast is scheduled for Friday evening [5] when a crew of engineers will set up special equipment to cover the Golden Gloves finals. This telecast will start at 8 p.m.

Columnist Wolters waited until March 14 to write about reception of the boxing telecast.

WGN-TV URGES FANS TO HAVE SETS ADJUSTED
Report Varied Reception on 1st Telecast
BY LARRY WOLTERS
The family and a few friends had gathered about the television receiver to watch WGN-TV do its first scheduled telecast—the Golden Gloves finals. The test pattern came in fine. But when the engineers switched to Chicago Stadium we got only the pictures—not Jack Brickhouse's voice. No amount of tinkering with knobs would bring in the sound.
We hurried over to a neighbor's house. They were getting good pictures (on a different brand set) and also the excellent commentary of Brickhouse. Next we called on another neighbor who has a set exactly like ours. He was getting swell pictures. Also Mr. B.
Our experience wasn't unusual. WGN-TV engineers got more than 300 calls from teleset owners that evening. Many calls came in congratulating the station on the excellence of the pictures and sound. Among these was one from a viewer in Crystal Lake, 47 miles out, who reported good reception and another from a looker at Kenanee, 140 miles away, who got faint reception (He shouldn't have expected anything at all at that distance!).
Many Have Problems
Many callers complained that they weren't getting any sound but were getting pictures, and vice versa. Others got nothing at all. This reaction was in line with the expectations of WGN-TV engineers. All who called were advised that their receivers and antennas might require adjustments by service men before they could expect to receive WGN-TV signals clearly. Many expressed complete surprise that such measures are indicated when a new station comes on the air.
Some unfortunate teleset owners telephoned that they couldn't even find channel 9 (assigned to WGN-TV). Some persons reported their sets had only five or seven channels marked on the dial. WGN-TV engineers explained that these sets are obsolete. They were manufactured before the federal communications commission allocated 13 channels for commercial television. Seven channels ultimately will be assigned to Chicago.
Blames The Station
One irate televiewer in Glencoe, a suburb from which WGN-TV had received several reports of excellent reception, refused to believe that his set might need adjustment. He told an operator that he had a brand new $1,000 set and it was obvious to him that the trouble must lie with WGN-TV's transmission. Despite assurance that no matter how expensive a set night be, it still might require some antenna modification. The caller indignantly banged down the phone.
Since the night of the Golden Gloves WGN-TV has received hundreds of calls and postcards inquiring what to do to get ready for WGN-TV's regular programs when they come on. The official opening date is Monday, April 5 Before this opening WGN-TV engineers urge all teleset owners who have not done so already to tune in the station's test pattern and sound any day between 10 and noon or between 2 and 4 p.m. and then report the results to their service man.
Some May Be Okay
Many teleset owners will not be able to obtain satisfactory reception from WGN-TV until the proper adjustments are made by competent service men.
Other set owners may find their installations okay. One antenna company installed its serials on telesets in five widely scattered sections of the metropolitan area from Mundelein to the south side. These aerials were adjusted to WBKB and when the sets were tuned to WGN-TV excellent reception was reported from all locations.

There was another test, but only of the closed circuit kind, later in the month, as reported on March 24.

WGN-TV GIVES PREVIEW OF SIX KINDS OF SHOWS
1,200 Attend Half Hour Demonstration
BY LARRY WOLTERS
More than 1,200 television retailers and manufacturers were treated to a preview of WGN-TV's telecasts last night [23] in the Sheraton hotel at a meeting sponsored by THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE. WGN-TV is to start regular programming Monday, April 5.
During a 30 minute demonstration, piped exclusively to the meeting and not transmitted to the public, the television people viewed on a 9 by 12 foot screen samples of six types of programs to be carried by WGN-TV. These included a marionette show, a vocal quintet, a sports film with Jack Brickhouse as narrator, a feature for homemakers, a dancer, and a video newsreel. There also was a dramatic showing of a dealer's show room, with the manager and a salesman discussing television merchandising technique.
Outline WGN-TV Plans
Frank P. Schreiber, manager of W-G-N, and Carl J. Meyers, director of engineering, outlined the plans for WGN-TV. Vernon Brooks, operations manager, read a greeting from Mayor Kennelly.
Tribune representatives told the television men how to utilize the newspapers' promotion ideas, complete with banners, pennants, and special displays.
The speakers included Paul Fulton, Edward Tukey, Pilchard Swank, and Philip Cooper. Don Nightingale served as chairman.
Urge Sets Be Checked
Further details about WGN-TV's programs are to be announced Sunday, April 4. Meanwhile, WGN-TV engineers again urged all television receiver owners who have not had their sets checked to do so. Test patterns and sound are transmitted daily from 10 to 3 p.m. over WGN-TV to enable service men to get receivers and antennae into alignment to insure the best possible pictures.
In the meantime, the station made two huge programming deal. The first was reported on March 8, the next the following day.

WGN-TV WILL TELECAST CUB HOME GAMES
Boon to Game, Says Wrigley
BY LARRY WOLTERS
The first move by WGN-TV to provide full coverage of major sports to Chicago area televiewers was made yesterday [7] with the announcement that W-G-N's new television station will carry all home games of the Chicago Cubs this season. The announcement was made by Philip K. Wrigley, president of the Cubs, and Frank P. Schreiber, treasurer of W-G-N, Inc.
The first Cub game to be played before WGN-TV cameras will be the home opener against St. Louis in Wrigley field on Friday, April 23.
Stimulates Attendance
“As pioneers in the televising of baseball games as they were in the radio broadcasting of baseball,” said Wrigley, “the Chicago Cubs are happy to have WGN-TV telecasting the Cubs home games from Wrigley field this year.
“The Cubs are gratified that the televising of baseball games, which we inaugurated from Wrigley field, is not meeting with the resistance that greeted the pioneer efforts in radio broadcasting we inaugurated in 1925.
“For many years there was a suspicion among baseball people that broadcasting would hurt attendance at ball games. Now, of course, everyone recognizes that radio broadcasting has been a potent factor in stimulating baseball attendance.”
Expects Similar Effect
Wrigley expressed the view that telecasting will have a similar effect on the box office.
“We are confident that television, handled with imagination and understanding,” he said, “will bring baseball closer to vast numbers of Americans, and will result eventually in bringing many more persons to ball parks, to get a closeup, personal view of the dramatic scenes and colorful characters they become acquainted with on the television screens.”
Schreiber said that WGN-TV will have the newest in camera equipment at Wrigley field, assuring fans excellent pictures of the action on the diamond.
Jack Brickhouse will give the commentary. Brickhouse was recently appointed sports service manager for W-G-N, WGN-TV, and WGNB.

WGN WGN-TV TO TELECAST SOX HOME GAMES
Exclusive Tieup Revealed
BY LARRY WOLTERS
The White Sox baseball games, for the first time, will be televised this season. The entire home schedule will be presented exclusively over WGN-TV, new television station of W-G-N. This announcement was made yesterday [8] by Leslie M. O'Connor, general manager of the White Sox, and Frank P. Schreiber, treasurer of W-G-N. Inc.
This deal with the White Sox will make WGN-TV the first television station in the nation to offer a complete 154 game schedule of major league baseball. It was announced Sunday that WGN-TV would telecast the home games of the Chicago Cubs.
The arrangement to telecast the White Sox games marks a change in the club's policy regarding television. The deal, also, will bring a new experience to Chicago tele-viewers—the first opportunity to see big league night games thru television cameras. WGN-TV will telecast all of the 21 night games—the first with the Philadelphia Athletics on May 25.
Televise Spring Series
Televiewers will get their first look at both teams in the annual spring series. The Cubs and Sox will meet April 16 and 18 at Wrigley field and April 17 in Comiskey park. The first regular Sox game to be televised will be the season opener against the Detroit Tigers on April 20.
“We are looking forward with a great deal of interest to our entrance in television,” said O'Connor. “We are happy that the games can be made available, especially to people in hospitals who are unable to attend in person.”
Brickhouse At Microphone
Jack Brickhouse, sports service manager for W-G-N, Inc., will be at the microphone for the Sox telecasts. Brickhouse formerly broadcast baseball on W-G-N and spent the 1946 season reporting the Giants games over a New York station.

Monday, April 5, 1948, WGN-TV finally went on the air. To be honest, too much of it sounds like radio. There was an awful lot of talk with one message—gee, aren’t WGN and the Tribune great?

100,000 SEE GALA DEBUT OF WGN-TV
Hail ‘Television Adventure’
BY RITA FITZPATRICK
History was in the making last night [5], and thousands of Chicagoans were part of it. Not long ago, people said it couldn't happen.
Hundreds gathered in flood-lighted W-G-N studio theater and an estimated 100,000 men and women clustered around 16,000 telesets in homes and retail establishments for the official premiere and dedication program of Chicago's newest television station, WGN-TV.
There were men and women who remembered when "flickers" were new; others who had shaken their heads in disbelief when music first came out of the air because of a needle and a crystal. Among them, too, were folks who had scoffed at the idea that men and women on a movie screen could be heard. There were others who had exclaimed, “It can't be done,” when visionary men began to try to send pictured motion thru the air.
Distant Screens Come Alive
But last night, with the speed of light, a stellar program was flashed in all its sparkling beauty to screens as far away as 45 miles, WGN-TV's first “live” broadcast, “WGN-TV Salute to Chicago.” When he first began to envision such a night as last, Col. Robert R. McCormick, editor and publisher of THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE and president of W-G-N, Inc., termed it “an experiment and an adventure.” “Since this is a pioneering venture, I should like to record my own feelings in having a part in it,” he said last night in a speech delivered for him by John Mallow, noted radio reporter. (Col. McCormick was prevented from attending the dedication because of a cold.) The pioneer, of course, sought new lands, new opportunities, new wealth, and a finer future. But he also sought something else. And that something was not material. The pioneer sought new scenes and new horizons.
Invited To Share Adventure
“He felt that in casting off the old he was adventuring toward something more splendid and more spacious. He marked out the trail, not only for himself, but for others. He went among the first, and there was high adventure in his going.
“It is this feeling of adventure that I would communicate to you. In television we have embarked upon another of America's adventures. Come along with us! Let us share the adventure together.” This pioneering on the part of Col. McCormick and his associates in W-G-N, Inc., was warmly lauded by three men who realize the great service WGN-TV can give to the public—Sen. Brooks, Gov. Green, and Mayor Kennelly. The three public officials appeared before the television cameras with ease and naturalness at the beginning of the show.
Hail Service To Public
Sen. Brooks saluted Col. McCormick as one of “the greatest living Americans" and pointed out the many services THE TRIBUNE and W-G-N, Inc., have performed. Mayor Kennelly emphasized how much a major television station, such as WGN-TV, will do for Chicago, and the great influence it will exert.
“In these exciting times as we witness the development of television,” Gov. Green stated, “citizens of Illinois can welcome the advent of station WGN-TV as a manifestation of the role their state is playing in the perfection of this new communication form. As governor, and on behalf of the citizens of Illinois, I wish the fullest measure of success to Chicago's new television station, WGN-TV.”
It looked as the the governor's wish would come true. From, the very first to the end of the two hour program, it was good theater. Hollywood style, celebrities among the “first nighters” were interviewed and televised in the lobby of W-G-N studio theater as they entered.
Celebrities Interviewed
There were plenty of them, among them such stage lovelies as Jan Sterling and Fay McKenzie, both appearing as leading ladies in hit comedies here. Jack Brickhouse, W-G-N, Inc., sports service manager, was the genial interviewer.
Except for the dedicatory service, in which tiny Patricia Ann Murray, 7, of 830 N. Massasoit av., appeared as the spirit of WGN-TV and promised to “grow and grow,” the show could sell have been a variety bill of the old days at the Palace. There was lots of action, beautiful dancers, ventriloquists, fancy roller skaters, impersonators, animals, and comedians specializing in visual comic effect. It seems that vaudeville isn't dead after all.
Tito Guizar, handsome troubadour, who has made a hit on stage and screen, looked and sounded like a natural for television. “Two Ton” Baker, a great favorite on W-G-N, looked twice as big on WGN-TV. For the first time in Chicago, viewers saw a full scale orchestra and chorus on television. Bruce Foote, Chicago Theater of the Air star, was soloist and Robert Trendler, director.
Best of all, Larry Wolters, radio editor of THE TRIBUNE, reported that reception of the show had been excellent.
So the cameras whirred and out into the night, in rain and fog, went pictures and sound together. “The experiment,” as Col. McCormick had called it, was a success.

Here’s the first week of programming, with an in-depth rundown of Sunday’s offerings.

MONDAY, APRIL 5
7:45—Launching of station WGN-TV, with Jack Brickhouse interviewing celebrities. 8:00—“WGN-TV Salute to Chicago,” with talks by Col. Robert R. McCormick, Gov. Green and Mayor Kennelly.

TUESDAY, APRIL 6
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Woman Speaks. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Scrapbook. 8:00—Newsreel. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30-10:00—Feature film: “It Happened Tomorrow,” with Dick Powell and Linda Darnell.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Film. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Stephen Foster Melodies. 7:50—Film. 8:00—Newsreel. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30—Highlights of Notre Dame-S. Cal. Football game. 9:15—Teleades.

THURSDAY, APRIL 8
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Woman Speaks. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Travel Guide. 8:00—Newsreel. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30—Wrestling from Madison Athletic Club, with Jack Brickhouse.

FRIDAY, APRIL 9
2:00—Newsreel. 2:10—Short Subject film. 2:20—News. 2:30—At Home with Barbara Barclay. 5:00—Wonder House, television show for children with Dick (Two Ton) Baker. 7:30—Variety Show. 8:00—Newsreel, local and national news. 8:10—Weather predictions. 8:15—Sportsman’s Corner. 8:30—Film. 9:00—Boxing from Madison Athletic Club, with Jack Brickhouse.

SATURDAY, APRIL 10
5:00—Film, “Secret Valley” with George O’Brien. 7:50—News. 8:00—Newsreel, local and national news. 8:10—Water Polo Championships.
WGN-TV will televise the semi-final and national A.A.U. water polo championship matches tonight in the Illinois Athletic Club pool starting at 8:10 o’clock. The Central A.A.U. 3 meter high board diving event will be telecast between the completion of the semi-final water polo matches and the start of the title contest. Illinois A.C., Northwestern, University of Illinois, Town club, and Lake Shoe A.C. divers will be seen in action. Jack Brickhouse will do the commentary.

SUNDAY, APRIL 11
6:30—Pump Room Show. 7:00—Music Corner. 7:30—Minor Opinions. 8:00—Newsreel, local and national news. 8:25—Global Glimpses. 8:45—Cross Questions.
WGN-TV, Chicago's newest television station, which began regular programming last Monday, will offer its first Sunday schedule today. Until the baseball season opens WGN-TV will be on the air Sundays only during the evening hours.
For the present the evening schedule will run from 6:30 to 9:15 p. m. The schedule opens with a *first* for WGN-TV as well as for metropolitan televiewers—Sunday Night at the Pump room. Lee Bennett, WGN-TV singer and master of ceremonies, will be on hand to introduce televiewers to Host Ernie Byfield.
Cameras will be trained on celebrities and well known guests at this gustatory and entertainment rendezvous.
Quiz School Kids
“Music Corner,” a film, will run for the half hour starting at 7 o'clock. This will be followed by a juvenile show (expected to interest parents, too) called Minor Opinions. A panel of Chicago school children will offer some refreshing and candid comments on current events and public issues.
At 8 p.m. the WGN-TV Newsreel will be presented. This will be a review of the week's news. The Newsreel is assembled and edited by an eight-man staff headed by Spencer Allen. A United Press news period follows at 8:15 p.m.
From 8:25 to 8:45 Sunday nights WGN-TV is to telecast a series of movies titled Global Glimpses. The first one is a documentary titled “Small Town, U.S.A.” Sub-sequent shows will take viewers to many points around the world.
Plan Bar Program
At 8:45 WGN-TV will introduce Cross Questions, a new kind of ad lib show featuring two members of the Chicago Bar association each week. A legal problem will be presented to the two lawyers. One will be designated for prosecution, the other for defense. Witnesses will be introduced, and an unrehearsed trial will be conducted.
A guest *jury* each week will decide the winner.
After the baseball season starts WGN-TV will telecast both the home games of the Cubs and the White Sox. The first Sunday baseball telecast will be the Cubs-Sox city series next Sunday. (Larry Wolters column)