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WCIU-TV is an independent television station, based in Chicago, Illinois. It operates on UHF Channel 26, and it is Chicago's oldest UHF station, signing on the air in 1964. WCIU spent much of its history carrying multi-ethnic entertainment, and once carried the Telemundo and Univision networks before those networks bought other competeting UHF stations. Channel 26 was the original birthplace of the ground-breaking African-American music program, Soul Train, hosted by its creator (and then-WCIU station employee), Don Cornelius. The show later moved into national syndication and to Los Angeles by late 1970s. The show is currently seen on WGN-TV, and has been part of the station's Saturday daytime lineup for over two decades.
In 1995, WCIU began to broadcast general entertainment programming, taking a lot of leftover programming from former independents WGN-TV, WFLD, and WPWR. In fact, WCIU carries selected telecasts of the Chicago Cubs, White Sox, and Bulls produced by WGN-TV. The station is owned by Weigel Broadcasting, a locally-based broadcaster that also owns stations in Milwaukee (CBS affilliate WDJT, independent station WMLW, and Telemundo affilliate WYTU) and South Bend, Indiana (ABC affilliate WBND and WB affilliate WMWB). WCIU is co-owned by WFBT Channel 23, a low powered general entertainment station that now carries programs that WCIU no longer has room for on their schedule.
External Links
Offical Site (http://www.wciu.com/)
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