WMAQ, NBC’s station in Chicago, is marking its 75th anniversary on the air with nightly segments highlighting outstanding moments in the station’s history.
The station claims a number of firsts, including being the first TV station in Chicago to broadcast full-time in color, the first to broadcast in stereo, the first to have a Black news anchor at 10 p.m. and the first to have a female solo news anchor.
The station has also captured key moments in Chicago history.
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“Since the advent of local broadcast television, WMAQ-TV has been at the forefront of innovation, creativity, integrity, and connectivity to the Chicago community,” Kevin Cross, president and general manager for NBCUniversal Local Chicago, said. “As we celebrate WMAQ-TV’s historic 75th anniversary this month, NBC Chicago will relive numerous stories that occurred over the decades and honor the on-air and behind-the-scenes trailblazers who helped define our legacy.”
The segments will start running this month during the 10 p.m. news. The segments feature new interviews with big names familiar with WMAQ viewers including Ron Magers, Carol Marin, Mark Giangreco, Bob Sirott, Rob Stafford, Lisa Parker, Phil Rogers, Rich Samuels, Jorie Lueloff, MaryAnn Ahern, Art Norman, Charlie Wojciechowski, Peter Karl, Andy Avalos, Brant Miller and Peggy Kusinski.
On Fridays, the on air segments — “Flashback Friday” — will feature top stories from the 1980, 90s, 2000s and 2020s as chosen by viewers voting online.
The station will air an anniversary entertainment special on Oct. 13 featuring celebrity interviews, as well as Tuesday-morning news and sports segments on NBC 5 News at 10 p.m. through December.
The station started running spots promoting the anniversary over the weekend.
On its website, WMAQ will have an exclusive archive of videos showing the station’s coverage of major news events, weather, politics and sports.
Flashback Friday segments will feature top stories from the 1980, 1990s, 2000s and 2020s as chosen by viewers voting online.
The station will also run trivia questions about Chicago history during its morning news show, NBC 5 News Today.
Anniversary content will be available on the station’s social media handles as well.
