verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message wbbm tv chicago illinois united states branding cbs 2 general cbs 2 news newscasts slogan original reporting newscasts channels digital 12 vhf virtual 2 psip subchannels 2.1 cbs 2.2 decades translators 26 uhf chicago construction permit affiliations cbs o & o owner cbs corporation cbs broadcasting inc. founded august 5 1940 ; 76 years ago 1940 08 05 as experimental station w9xbk first air date september 6 1946 ; 70 years ago 1946 09 06 call letters meaning world s best battery maker derived from sister station wbbm radio sister station s radio wbbm wbbm fm wcfs fm wjmk wscr wusn wxrt former callsigns wbkb 1946 1953 former channel number s analog 4 vhf 1940 1953 2 vhf 1953 2009 digital 3 vhf 2003 2009 former affiliations independent 1946 1949 paramount television network 1949 1953 transmitter power 8 kw height 497 m 1 631 ft facility id 9617 transmitter coordinates 41 52 44 n 87 38 8 w 41.87889 n 87.63556 w 41.87889 ; 87.63556 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website chicago.cbslocal.com wbbm tv virtual channel 2 vhf digital channel 12 is a cbs owned and operated television station located in chicago illinois united states . the station is owned by the cbs television stations subsidiary of cbs corporation . wbbm tv maintains studio and office facilities located on west washington street as part of the development at block 37 in the loop district and its transmitter is located atop the willis tower on south wacker drive . contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 as a cbs owned and operated station 2 digital television 2.1 digital channel 2.1.1 wbbm dt2 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 sports programming 4 news operation 4.1 the enforcer 4.2 ratings 4.3 on air staff 4.3.1 notable current on air staff 4.3.2 notable former on air staff 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit early history edit wbbm tv traces its history to 1940 when balaban and katz a subsidiary of paramount pictures signed on experimental station w9xbk the first all electronic television facility in chicago . balaban and katz was already well known for owning several movie theaters in the chicago area . in order to establish the station the company hired television pioneer william c. bill eddy away from rca s experimental station w2xbs in new york city . when world war ii began eddy used the w9xbk facilities as a prototype school for training navy electronics technicians . 1 while operating the navy school eddy continued to lead w9xbk and wrote a book that defined commercial television for many years . 2 on september 6 1946 3 the station received a commercial license as wbkb for balaban and katz broadcasting on vhf channel 4 becoming the first commercial station located outside the eastern time zone ; it was also the sixth tv station in the united states . wbkb aired some of the earliest cbs programs including the 1947 debut of junior jamboree later renamed kukla fran and ollie after it moved to nbc in 1948 . channel 4 originally operated as an independent station since at the time it was not clear that it would be an affiliate of the cbs television network ; eventually wtmj tv in milwaukee became the first television station west of the eastern time zone to affiliate with a major network . one of the station s early highlights was its telecast of the national football league s championship game between the chicago cardinals and the philadelphia eagles on december 28 1947 . 4 in april 1948 wbkb began sharing the market s cbs affiliation with wgn tv channel 9 after that station signed on . in 1949 balaban and katz became part of united paramount theatres after paramount pictures was forced to divest its chain of movie theaters by order of the united states supreme court . 5 wbkb played an indirect role in the demise of the dumont television network . at the time paramount pictures owned a stake in dumont however the federal communications commission fcc considered dumont to be a firm that was controlled by the studio . paramount also owned ktla in los angeles ; however as dumont already owned wabd now wnyw in new york city wttg in washington d.c. and wdtv now sister station kdka tv in pittsburgh the fcc s decision meant neither paramount nor dumont could acquire any more television stations . 6 paramount even launched a short lived programming service the paramount television network in 1949 with ktla and wbkb as its flagship stations ; 7 8 however the service never gelled into a true television network . as a cbs owned and operated station edit in february 1953 united paramount theaters merged with the american broadcasting company abc which already owned wenr tv channel 7 . as the newly merged entity could not keep both stations since fcc regulations enforced during that time forbade the common ownership of two television stations licensed to the same market wbkb was sold to cbs for 6.75 million . on february 12 one day after the merger was finalized the station changed its call letters to wbbm tv after wbbm radio am 780 and fm 96.3 which cbs has owned since 1929 . the wbkb call letters were subsequently assumed by channel 7 that station would eventually change its callsign to wls tv in 1968 . while the old wbkb s talent remained with the new wbbm tv under the radio station s longtime general manager h. leslie atlass the upt era management of the old wbkb moved to channel 7 . as a result of wbbm tv s purchase by cbs it picked up all cbs programming previously carried by wgn tv after a two month cancellation clause in channel 9 s affiliation contract with cbs ; this left channel 9 with the quickly crumbling dumont as its sole network affiliation . wbbm tv s studios at washington boulevard and dearborn street across from daley plaza . in accordance to the vhf channel allocation realignments imposed by the fcc in its issuance of the sixth report and order wbbm tv relocated to channel 2 on july 5 1953 in order to eliminate interference with wtmj tv in milwaukee . 9 wtmj tv concurrently moved to vhf channel 4 from channel 3 to avoid interference with fellow cbs affiliate wkzo tv now wwmt in kalamazoo michigan on the other side of lake michigan which itself broadcast on channel 3 . the channel 2 allocation was coincidentally freed up at the same time as the state capital of springfield was forced to let the allocation relocate to st. louis missouri where the allocation was assigned to ktvi . in 1956 cbs consolidated its chicago operations into the former chicago arena a renovated 62 000 square foot 1.4 acre three story building on north mcclurg court in the streeterville neighborhood ; the property was built in 1924 as a horse stable and had operated as an ice rink and bowling alley prior to cbs approximately 1.3 million purchase of the building . 10 that year an episode of what s my line originated from the wbbm studios airing one day prior to the start of the 1956 democratic national convention . between the late 1940s and early 1970s columbia records housed an office and recording studio in the building . on september 26 1960 wbbm s mcclurg court studios served as the site of the first televised presidential debate between john f. kennedy and richard nixon . 11 wbbm tv also served as production home to the syndicated programs donahue from 1982 to 1985 and siskel & ebert from 1986 to the late 1990s when production migrated to the studios of wls tv on state street . in october 1987 center city communications a locally based investor group led by attorney brenda minor filed a challenge to the fcc s renewal of wbbm tv s station license . however in asking the agency not to renew the station s license through 1992 center city never detailed any specific objections to the station s license renewal although it had been speculated that the challenge may have been related to the then recent boycott by operation push surrounding the lack of diversity with the station s staff and allegations that wbbm s hiring practices were not fair towards blacks ; minor who is african american later cited that the station did not fulfill obligations to public affairs programming . center city dropped its challenge three months later in july after reaching a settlement agreement with cbs in which center city agreed not to challenge the license renewal of any cbs station for a five year period in return for a 187 500 payment by cbs . the challenge sparked calls for the fcc to reform its comparative renewal process which certain broadcasters claim was used solely for the purpose of extort ing large cash settlements from stations . 12 13 the station was brought back under common ownership with paramount pictures when viacom which acquired the studio from gulf and western in 1994 merged with the original cbs corporation in a 36 billion deal in february 2000 . this union was broken up again in december 2005 when viacom became cbs corporation and spun off paramount pictures into a separate company that assumed the viacom name . 14 15 in 2003 wbbm signed a lease agreement with chevy chase maryland based developer mills corporation to build a media center for the station in the block 37 developments in the loop business district with plans to include a street level studio that would overlook daley plaza . 10 16 wbbm had earlier considered selling the mcclurg court facility with the intent to relocate into a new studio complex in 1998 with areas on north fairbanks court north michigan avenue and west jackson street as potential sites for the planned facility ; however the plans were postponed due to transition to high definition broadcasting . 10 on september 21 2008 wbbm tv moved to new facilities in the block 37 studio at the corner of dearborn and washington street with a 30 by 19 foot 9.1 m 5.8 m led screen that adorns the lower facade of the 17 story building which some residents complained is tacky and visually hyperactive . 17 18 this move coincided with the upgrade of channel 2 s newscasts to high definition making wbbm the fourth television station in the chicago market to begin broadcasting their newscasts in the format only footage recorded in studio is presented in high definition ; the remote field footage is shot in 16 9 widescreen standard definition ; in early 2006 the wbbm radio stations moved into new studio facilities within two prudential plaza on north stetson avenue . the former mcclurg court facility building was demolished over a two month period from february to april 2009 . digital television edit digital channel edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 19 2.1 1080i 16 9 cbs2 hd main wbbm tv programming cbs 2.2 480i 4 3 decades decades wbbm dt2 edit on october 21 2014 cbs and locally based weigel broadcasting announced that they would partner to launch decades a digital subchannel network focusing on classic television series from the 1950s to the 1980s sourced from the cbs television distribution library along with some historically focused original programming using archival footage from cbs news ; most of cbs television stations outlets serving as charter affiliates with weigel being responsible for distribution to non cbs owned stations . the network soft launched in the chicago market on wbbm digital channel 2.2 when that subchannel launched