Television stations in Chicago began the transition to NextGen TV, the new broadcast TV format.

CBS-owned WBBM-TV is transmitting signals using ATSC 3.0 technology. The signal will carry WBBM programming, in addition to programming from Fox’s WFLD-TV, NBC’s WMAQ-TV, Nexstar Media’s WGN-TV and Univision’s WGBO-TV.

WBBM’s ATSC 1.0 signals are being split up among the other participating broadcasters in the market, enabling viewers with sets using the legacy digital broadcast format to continue to watch. Eventually, when enough people have bought Nextgen capable sets, ATSC 1.0 is expected to be be sunsetted.

NextGen TV promises to provide free over-the-air viewers 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR) video, consistent volume across channels, dialogue enhancement, movie theater-quality sound, internet content on demand, advanced emergency alerts and information, expanded and hyperlocal news and dual language capabilities

“America’s third-largest TV market is riding the NextGen TV wave, with the addition of new capabilities for broadcasters and viewers.  We’re especially appreciative of our partners, Heartland Video Systems and LTN and their commitment to getting broadcasters on-the-air, said Anne Schelle, managing director of the Pearl TV group of TV broadcasters that coordinated the Chicago launch.

“Chicago will get the most out of live news and sports programming,” Schelle.said. NextGen TV will transform the fan experience with immersive features such as brilliant color and personalized, interactive bonus content.” 

Hisense, Sony, LG and Samsung already make TV sets with NextGen tuners. TCL plans to join them later this year. 

There are more than 100 models of NextGen TV set available with prices starting at $600, according to Pearl.

The participating Chicago stations have worked together to ensure that current programming remains available to all viewers, regardless of whether their television service is provided over-the-air or by a cable or satellite company, Pearl said. Antenna viewers can simply rescan their TV sets to ensure full service.

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.

Also Read: Local News Close-Up: Chicago Is the City of Big Stories

“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.

Of all the attributes that make an esteemed anchor or reporter, one of the most important, at least in Chicago, is having local roots. Chicago viewers have a level of trust in an anchor who speaks their language, and knows their neighborhood, that they might not have in an anchor from another market. 

“People from Chicago, people who grew up here, tell the stories that people want to hear,” said Matthew Piacente, VP and news director, WFLD-WPWR Chicago. 

General managers say there are some 77 distinct neighborhoods in Chicago, from River North to Pilsen to Bronzeville, and it helps to have reporters — not to mention producers, news directors and general managers — who know the market’s political layout, weather and customs. “We want to make sure we get those stories told correctly,” said Kevin Cross, WMAQ-WSNS president and general manager. “It’s a complicated story. Chicago is a complicated story.”

Also Read: Check Out Our Local News Close-Up Profiles on Dozens of U.S. Markets

There is never a shortage of stories, complicated or other, in DMA No. 3. NASCAR held a street race in Chicago for the first time in early July. Days before that, the air quality was just about the worst in the world due to the Canadian wildfires. Days after that, on July 2, some parts of the market got close to 9 inches of rain. 

It was a year before that seven were murdered, and dozens more wounded, when a mass shooting occurred at a July 4 parade in Highland Park. 

“News still matters in Chicago,” WLS president and general manager John Idler said. “It’s a great news town.”

As befits the No. 3 DMA, the networks own the major stations in Chicago. ABC has WLS. Fox owns WFLD-WPWR, a Fox-MyNetworkTV duopoly. NBCUniversal holds WMAQ-WSNS, an NBC-Telemundo pair. CBS has WBBM. Nexstar Media Group owns independent WGN. Weigel Broadcasting has The CW station WCIU. Univision owns WGBO and Window to the World Communications owns PBS station WTTW. 

Comcast is Chicago’s major pay TV operator. 

WLS is a Nielsen ratings powerhouse, with a stiff battle from WGN. The ABC station won a close 6 a.m. household race in June, while WGN took a narrow win in viewers 25-54. WLS won 5 and 6 p.m. in both races, and averaged a 4.86 household score at 10 p.m., ahead of WMAQ’s 2.81, WGN’s 2.08, WBBM’s 1.49, WGBO’s 1.16 and WSNS’s 0.64. (WFLD has Modern Family on at 10.)  In the 10 p.m. demo, WLS had a 1.66 and WMAQ a 0.80. WGBO had a 0.78, WGN a 0.77, WSNS a 0.47 and WBBM a 0.24, per figures supplied by one of the stations.  

WLS is expanding its news presence. Early in 2022, ABC7 added streaming newscasts at 7-8 a.m and 7-8 p.m. on weekdays. Idler mentions a “think like an insurgent” mindset, where staffers are trained to hustle to take down the top dog every day, ignoring that WLS is that dog. “We never take it for granted,” Idler said. “We are always innovating with our storytelling.”

Main anchor Alan Kreshesky retired in November, but the anchor teams, including Rob Elgas or Ravi Baichwal anchoring with Cheryl Burton and Judy Hsu, is humming along. “We’re very pleased with the growth in that area,” said Idler. 

WLS takes pride in covering the parades that make Chicago Chicago — whether it’s the Chicago Pride Parade, the Bud Billiken Parade that celebrates Black culture, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade or others. The station also does quarterly specials, such as ones tied to Asian Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Juneteenth. They often stream on Hulu. 

“We put a lot of work into these, and it’s great to have the local team get national exposure and recognition,” Idler said. 

An independent since it split with The CW in 2016, WGN celebrated 75 years on the air in April. Two-hour special WGN TV Celebrates 75 Years, highlighting milestone stories the station has covered, and the talent that covered them over the decades, aired in prime April 5.  

“It was a really fun opportunity to share it with employees as well as sharing it with viewers,” said Paul Rennie, WGN VP and general manager.

WGN launched lifestyle show Daytime Chicago at 10 a.m. in the fall of 2021, and debuts entertainment-themed Spotlight Chicago at 3 p.m. in September. 

In terms of prime, a double run of Last Man Standing is on weekdays at 8-9 p.m., local news is on at 10 p.m. and a sports program airs at 10:30. 

About WGN’s Chicago’s Very Own branding, “every day we work to back up that brand and make sure we’re delivering,” Rennie said. 

WGN content started on YouTube TV in late June, and launches on Hulu in late July. “It’s another vehicle that we can connect with the people of Chicago on,” Rennie said. “As the world continues to change, we do as well.”

WGN has a key asset in Chicago meteorologist Tom Skilling, who joined the station back in 1978. Rennie called him “a rock star in this town.”

Dan Roan retired as WGN sports anchor after 38 years, but the morning team, Larry Potash, Robin Baumgarten and Paul Konrad, has 27 years together, Rennie said. 

Bulls and Bears

Kevin Cross became WMAQ-WSNS president/general manager two years ago. WMAQ also celebrates a 75th anniversary this year, in October, and will bring back past anchors and reporters to celebrate the event. “We’re proud of our history,” Cross said. “We want to look back, but we also want to make sure we let our audience know we’re here in the future. We have 75 years to go at the very least.”

Besides reaching Spanish-language viewers through the Telemundo station, NBCUniversal also has NBC Sports Chicago. Cross mentioned a “full-year commitment” with the sports network, including pro baseball, basketball and hockey. “We’re always in front of our audience, one way or the other,” he said. 

It also has a FAST channel, where docuseries such as The Lost Story of Emmett Till run. 

Fox is looking for a new general manager for WFLD-WPWR, with Dennis Welsh retiring at the end of June. He spent a decade at Fox’s Chicago stations, and 26 years with Fox Television Stations. “He’s had a heckuva career,” Piacente said. 

WFLD political editor Mike Flannery retired that same day, and anchor Corey McPherrin retires in August. Scott Schneider, morning anchor, will move to evenings, and take over the political beat too. 

Reupping their partnership with the Chicago Bears, the Fox stations have a full lineup of Bears programming, including Friday Night Bears Unleashed. A new sports show is in the works for prime, and Piacente said entertainment editor Jake Hamilton may host a new show down the line too. 

“We want to do more special programming,” said Piacente, who is from Highland Park. He said weather, politics and sports are common themes for the special stuff. 

Emily Wahls is Fox 32’s chief meteorologist. “Weather is always a headline for us,” said Piacente. “Weather is something we have to own.”

Jennifer Lyons took over as WBBM president/general manager two years ago in August, after 27 years at WGN, where she was news director, and a stint at NewsNation. “We’ve been working very hard to refine who we are and what we’re about,” she said, noting the CBS2 “pillars” of breaking news, weather, community and investigative. 

A streaming newscast in the 7-9 a.m. weekday slot debuted on CBS News Chicago in January, with Brad Edwards hosting. “When it goes to network, we continue to do local coverage,” said Lyons, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs. “It’s an extension of our brand and it has done well for us.”

More streaming newscasts may follow. “It’s where the growth is and where the opportunity is,” she said. 

WCIU does not do news, but covers Chicago with the weekly newsmag On the Block, a year-old partnership with non-profit Block Club Chicago that airs at 6:30 p.m. Sundays. The station also has high school football and basketball, with broadcasts syndicated across the state. 

The pandemic saw WCIU launch Chicago Food to Go. “It was an effort for us to support the restaurant industry,” said Steve Farber, Weigel Broadcasting senior VP of operations. “We all root for the restaurant industry in Chicago to stay strong.”

Weigel is, of course, a diginet powerhouse, so WCIU enjoys the likes of MeTV, Heroes & Icons, Catchy Comedy and Story Television, among others, under the station banner. 

Second City, Third DMA

The general managers say the Chicago economy is running hot and cold, still finding its footing after the pandemic. Crime in Chicago is notorious, and continues to challenge lawmakers, residents and newsrooms. 

Newsroom insiders said working in Chicago offers perks that larger markets don’t have. New York and Los Angeles are bigger, but both have an abundance of movie and TV stars and other pop culture icons. Chicago has some of that, but standout anchors are stars too. “Viewers look at anchors, at people on screen, as important people in their lives,” said Lyons. “They take their news seriously, and it’s good to serve an audience that cares.”

And those Chicago roots always play well in the region. WMAQ-WSNS GM Kevin Cross, for one, comes from the South Side. “It’s more than just a job for me,” he said. “My mom lives here and she holds me accountable.”

Chicago TV stations and newspapers are fighting a plan by the city to block live transmissions from police and fire department scanners.

Police scanners have long been at the heart of TV newsroom assignment desks, but a growing number of cities are using encryption to make it harder for media and the public to listen in to dispatch calls in real time.

The Chicago stations said they tried to meet with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot about the matter, but said she refused to discuss the situation. On Monday, the stations posted an open letter to viewers and readers describing how the plan to encrypt police and fire radios would make newsgathering more difficult and lead to the public being less well informed about potentially dangerous incidents.

A statement attributed to city officials published by WLS-TV, said that “encrypted radios will eliminate 'rogue' radios with disruptive, often derogatory transmissions that disrupt the day-to-day traffic for emergency personnel. Having encrypted radios will provide added protection for communities and the personal information of victims, suspects, witnesses, and juveniles.”

The statement added that encryption “also will enhance officer safety and prevent suspects from gaining a tactical advantage by listening to live incidents and investigations."

The stations argue that “the Mayor’s decision to restrict our access to scanner channels will harm our ability to keep you, our readers, viewers, and listeners, safe and informed, and render it more difficult to hold our government and its personnel accountable.”

In the open letter, the stations point to several recent instances in the recent past when information from scanners helped keep the public out of harm's way, including after the shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.

More recently, without the ability to monitor scanners, the public was not informed about dangerous incidents.

They said a shooting took place at a courthouse and police district in Chicago last week in broad daylight. “The perpetrators fired more than 40 shots and escaped on an expressway. You did not see, hear, or read about that incident as it was happening. The City of Chicago prevented you from knowing about this dangerous incident by blocking all live scanner transmissions. This jeopardized the lives of everyone at that police department, everyone at that courthouse, everyone on that expressway,” the stations said.

In another incident a man with a rifle in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood was shot by Chicago Police. “We were not able to alert the public as it was happening. All of this took place around dinnertime, as people returned home from work and children returned home from school,” the stations said.

The issue goes beyond Chicago, the stations said, pointing to how after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, an analysis of scanner transmissions revealed that local authorities did not accurately portray how law enforcement responded to the situation.

Other cities are also starting to encrypt police scanner data. According to KTVQ-TV in Billings, Montana, the police department there began encrypting communications last month.

In October, the Lawton, Oklahoma, police department spent $4 million on a radio system upgrade that include encryption of dispatch calls, according to KSWO-TV.

Louisville and Virginia Beach also instituted encryption programs earlier this year.

In Colorado, scanners have been encrypted since 2016 in Aurora and in Denver since 2019. The state legislature last year passed a law requiring agencies to create policies for giving news media access to dispatch channels, but the cities haven’t worked out agreements yet with the media, according to the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition.

The New York City Police Department is also looking to upgrade its communication system in a way that would enable encryption by 2024.

In some cases, the police departments said they use the encryption to delay access to communications by 15 minutes, in order to allow officials to secure the scene of a crime or accident.

“Real-time access to police scanners promotes transparency and accountability by law enforcement,” the Chicago stations said. “To put it simply, the media’s informative reporting on these events would never have been possible without real-time access to scanners.” ■

Showtime has renewed its drama series The Chi for a fifth season, the network announced Monday.

The Chi, which ended its fourth season last night (Aug. 1), follows residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but held together by the need for connection and redemption. The fifth season will debut in 2022, said the network.

The series, created by Lena Waithe, averaged 4.2 million weekly viewers during its fourth season, and is on pace to become Showtime's most streamed series ever, according to the network.  

The Chi stars Jacob Latimore, Birgundi Baker, Yolonda Ross, Shamon Brown Jr. and Like James. Waithe served as executive producer along with Common, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley, Shelby Stone, Rishi Rajani and Justin Hillian. 

Read Also: Showtime Sets November Premiere Date for 'Dexter: New Blood'

Shortly after agreeing to purchase three WideOpenWest properties in the Midwest for about $661 million, Astound Broadband CEO Jim Holanda said the deal will double his company’s potential presence in the Chicago area, adding key neighborhoods in the city’s south side and western and northwestern suburbs, while growing its footprint in Washington, D.C by about one-third. 

Astound was one of two companies that agreed to buy five properties from WOW for a combined $1.786 billion. Atlantic Broadband agreed to purchase WOW’s Cleveland and Columbus Ohio systems, with about 196,000 customers, for $1.125  billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.

For Astound, the WOW deal is its first substantial purchase since agreeing to be bought by private equity company Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for $8.1 billion. That deal, first unveiled in November 2020, is set to close shortly. In an interview, Holanda said the final government approval -- of the 259 that were required -- is expected from the California PUC in about four-to-six weeks.

“We’re looking forward to getting that last one done,” he said.  

Astound includes RCN, Grande Communications, enTouch Communications and Wave Broadband, and is the sixth largest cable company in the country, operating in eight states and Washington, DC. The WOW deal involves about 128,000 residential and business customers and passes a collective 700,000 homes. Also as part of the deal, Astound agreed to purchase WOW’s Evansville, Indiana operations, with which it has no adjacent systems. 

Also Read: Executive of the Year: True Patriot 

But it appears that the deal will have its biggest impact in Chicago. RCN has been offering service in Chicago since 1999, primarily in what is known as Area One (downtown, the north side along Lake Michigan and extending to the northern and northwestern suburbs). The Anne Arundel purchase will boost Astound’s presence in Washington D.C., where it has been operating since 1996, by about one-third. 

“Dating back maybe seven or eight years, we’ve had conversations with WOW’s management team about Chicago because we knew it would be a good fit,” Holanda said. “For whatever reasons they decided to formally put the process in place to explore potential sale opportunities for certain assets. Clearly the Chicago and Maryland cluster they put on the market was designed for our interest given the close proximity to our existing operations and networks. We’re very happy it all came to fruition over the past few weeks and months.” 

Holanda said the WOW systems are in good shape -- they are DOCSIS 3.1 compliant as are the rest of Astound’s properties -- and won’t require too much upgrade investment. While the penetration rates in those areas are lower than in some other WOW markets, the Astound chief sees it as a growth opportunity. 

“We think there is runway to continue to grow and take share over time,” Holanda said, adding that with the purchase Astound will pass about 800,000 homes in the market. In Washington D.C., the deal expands the footprint to 400,000 homes passed. 

In Chicago, Astound competes against Comcast and AT&T, and in Washington D.C., it goes up against Comcast and Verizon’s Fios. Holanda said the added bulk will give it an added advantage in what has already been a healthy competitive relationship. 

“I like to think we have been a strong competitor in both of those markets, certainly in the 11 years we’ve been operating RCN, and I would expect to continue to be a strong competitor against them in these two markets as we go forward,” Holanda said. “Competing against Comcast and Verizon and AT&T on a regular basis for the past decade, I think we’re always aggressive in trying to sign up customers onto our broadband platform. We’ll continue to do that with the WOW markets once we take ownership."

Astound has been an aggressive participant in the deal market. It was created after TPG bought RCN and Grande Communications in 2016 for $2.25 billion,  and the private equity player later added Wave Broadband in 2018 for $2.36 billion and enTouch Communications in September 2020. Under Stonepeak’s tutelage, Astound closed its purchase of small California fiber company Digital West about a month ago.  

Holanda said that the WOW purchase is no harbinger of a buying binge anytime soon, adding that the company regularly looks at deals as well as organic growth opportunities. 

“Clearly with a new long-term infrastructure equity investor like Stonepeak, being able to do accretive M&A has always been something that we have done,” Holanda said.  “And whether that was with ABRY our original owner, whether it’s been with TPG when we bought Wave [Broadband] and enTouch and now with Stonepeak going after WOW, we’re continuously looking at those opportunities that are on the market and try to create opportunities where we  have contiguous cable properties, that are of interest to us. I think we will obviously continue to do that with Stonepeak. But we are also pretty disciplined when it comes to M&A and we need to make sure that it's going to be accretive and operationally we can take on that challenge on behalf of customers.” 

Other operators have been looking at smaller deals as consolidation has limited the number of players available. In the past 12months, Altice USA, which gave up on its $8.1 billion attempt (with Rogers Communications) to take over Atlantic Broadband parent Cogeco Communications in November, has closed deals for tiny Service Electric Cable TV. of New Jersey for $150 million and North Carolina broadband provider Morris Broadband for about $310 million. 

Holanda added there appears to be more smaller operators willing to do deals than in the past.

“At any given time we have a handful of opportunities that we are evaluating,” Holanda said. “That’s been pretty consistent over the last couple of years. If you think about how cable valuations have expanded over these last four or five years, I do see smaller deals like enTouch and Digital West -- just a couple of thousand homes outside of our Seattle market. We’ll continue to look for tuck-in acquisitions that are contiguous to our existing operations and we think we can provide a long-term investment platform to upgrade and/or integrate into our ecosystem.”

National Geographic will air the five-part documentary series City So Real commercial-free on Oct. 29, the network said Thursday.

The series, from filmmakers Steve James and Zak Piper, focuses on Chicago, offering a complex portrait of the city set against the backdrop of the 2019 mayoral election, said the network. 

During the unprecedented telecast, National Geographic will offer PSAs encouraging viewers to vote in the upcoming election as part of a new partnership with the I am a voter organization. 

National Geographic is also launching an educational campaign, which will provide City So Real to classrooms across the country through virtual screenings to help further the dialog, voter resources and a voter guide to highlight the importance of local elections.

Meagan Fitzgerald has joined NBC News in Chicago as a correspondent. She will report on all platforms for NBC News as well as MSNBC.

Fitzgerald comes from NBC-owned WRC-TV Washington, where she has been weekend news co-anchor.

Her resume includes KUSA-TV Denver, where she covered the mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater in 2012 and the legalization of marijuana. She began her TV news career at KTVE-TV Monroe, Louisiana.

Fitzgerald is a graduate of Howard University in Washington.

WGN-TV, Nexstar Broadcasting’s station in Chicago, named Ray Cortopassi as co-anchor of its evening and late newscasts.

Cortopassi, who had been a morning anchor at Nexstar’s station in Indianapolis, will co anchor with Micah Materre, starting Sept. 28.

He replaces Joe Donlon, who will be an anchor of News Nation, the new national newscast Nexstar’s WGN America plans to launch on Sept.1 

“We’re excited to welcome Ray back home to Chicago,” said Dominick Stasi, WGN-TV news director. “Ray has a passion for this city and knows the stories that shape it. He is an accomplished and talented journalist and will be a great addition to our team.”

Cortopassi grew up in the Chicago suburbs watching WGN. He went to Chicago’s Columbia College and he started his career in Chicago as a reporter for City News Bureau.

“I am honored to join Micah and the WGN family,” Ray said. “It’s been my dream and our family’s wish to come back since leaving my hometown in the mid-1990s. I’m humbled and thrilled by the chance to work in the best newsroom in America and grateful to join a team of journalists who know the value of telling Chicago’s story.” 

Showtime is giving audiences a chance to sample its new drama series The Chi in advance of its Jan. 7 premiere.

The premiere episode of the Lena Waithe-created series is currently available to viewers for free on YouTube, Facebook and SHO.com, as well as via on demand and on computers through the Showtime stand-alone service’s website (www.showtime.com)

The series, executive produced by Waithe (Master of None), Common (Selma) and Elwood Reid (The Bridge, Hawaii Five-O), is a coming of age story centering on a group of residents who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption, said Showtime.

Showtime will debut its new one-hour drama series The Chi on Jan. 7, the network announced Wednesday.

The series, created and executive produced by Emmywinner Lena Waithe (Master of None) and executive produced by Common (John Wick 2,Selma) and Elwood Reid (The Bridge, Hawaii Five-O), is a coming-of-age story centering on a group of Chicago residents who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption, according to the network.

The Chi stars Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton), Jacob Latimore (Sleight), Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (Queen of Katwe), Alex Hibbert (Moonlight), Yolonda Ross (Treme, The Get Down), Armando Riesco (Bull) and Tiffany Boone (The Following). 

The series is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios.

Comcast said it will spend nearly $100 million over the next three years to expand its fiber and coax networks to “diverse” areas of downtown Chicago, including parts of its central, east, north, West Loop, River North and River West regions.

Comcast said the project will result in a network expansion to “thousands” of businesses and residences in those locations, including some new office and residential buildings currently underway or proposed for development in the next three years.

“Chicago is the largest metropolitan area Comcast serves. We live, work and provide service here, so these projects are more than just good business. They’re an investment in the region’s economic future – a future we all share,” John Crowley, Comcast’s GCR senior vice president, said in a statement.

“Traditional brick and mortar businesses have dominated the Chicago area’s economy.  But we’re at a crossroads, and the technology sector is playing a greater and greater role in the region’s economy,” added Jeff Malehorn, president and CEO, World Business Chicago. “Projects like these downtown, city neighborhood, suburban and other fiber expansions will play a role in advancing the Chicago area’s economy.”

Over the last 20 years, Comcast said it has invested on average $300 million annually in its network in its Greater Chicago Region over the past 20 years, and that it has built about 11,000 miles of fiber across the region. 

Comcast estimates that its Chicago network passes nearly 90% of area businesses and a larger percentage of residential homes. In Chicago, Comcast currently offers Gigabit Pro, an FTTP-based 2 Gbps broadband service, and is setting the table to launch gigabit services via DOCSIS 3.1 there later this year. 

AT&T has launched its fiber-based, 1-Gig-capable “GigaPower” service in parts of Chicago, where the telco competes with Comcast and RCN Corp.

AT&T said it will initially offer GigaPower in parts of Elgin, Oswego, Plainfield, Skokie, Yorkville and “surrounding communities located throughout the metro area.” AT&T estimates that it has invested more than $3 billion on its wireless and wired networks in Illinois between 2012 through 2014.

Comcast has identified Atlanta and California as markets that will get its new FTTP-powered “Gigabit Pro,” which will deliver symmetrical 2 Gbps speeds on a targeted basis to residential customers. Comcast plans to make Gigabit Pro available to as many as 18 million homes this year, but has not yet said when it will offered in the Chicago market. Comcast also plans to offer gigabit speeds on its more broadly deployed HFC network using DOCSIS 3.1.

In Chicago, AT&T is selling stand-alone 1-Gig starting at $120 per month, or 100 Mbps starting at $90 per month, under a “Premier” tier that requires customers to participate in the telco’s Internet Preferences targeted Web advertising initiative. The 1-Gig/TV bundle starts at $150 per month, while a triple-play version starts at $180 per month. AT&T has also been applying a monthly data consumption policy to GigaPower that caps usage at 1-terabyte before charging $10 for each additional bucket of 50 Gigabytes, with a maximum monthly overage charge of $30.

AT&T is selling GigaPower services for less in Kansas City, where Google Fiber has already launched 1-Gig broadband and pay TV services, including an uncapped, stand-alone 1 Gbps offering that runs $70 per month. 

AT&T has also launched GigaPower in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth, Texas; Cupertino, Calif.; Kansas City; and Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem, N.C.   AT&T has announced plans to deploy GigaPower in parts of several other markets, including Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C.; Chicago; Jacksonville and Miami, Fla.; Nashville, Tenn.; St. Louis; and San Antonio. 

The telco has also pledged to expand its fiber-based platform to an additional 2 million customer locations as part of its proposed acquisition of DirecTV.

Like you, we’re privileged to live and work in an amazing era. Today, the tap of a button brings stories to life over objects we hold in our hands. We interact with friends in distant places as if they were right next door. A gesture into thin air and, like that, images and sounds appear in stunning resolution in our living rooms.

These amazing feats spring from an almost incomprehensible collaboration of people, ideas, energy and invention. They draw from the widest of possible worlds, borrowing from a technology here, a breakthrough there, blending the known with the new to create and extend the realm of the possible.

It’s this interplay of invention and creativity that will be showcased live at the inaugural edition of The Internet & Television Expo (INTX), May 5-7 at Chicago’s McCormick Place West.

What used to be known as The Cable Show is being transformed into something entirely new: a live event where companies and individuals across every conceivable media and communications domain come together. A highly entertaining animated video you can watch here tells the story nicely.

At INTX, you’ll find collaborators and competitors, friends and frenemies, united by a common vision in the promise and power of a networked digital economy. From Internet media to wireless broadband, every category that matters to this emerging world is represented at INTX.

This wide-open, anything’s-game philosophy is reflected in the list of media industry and public policy leaders you’ll hear from at INTX, including Comcast’s Brian Roberts, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, Vimeo’s Kerry Trainor, Nancy Dubuc of A+E Networks, Michael Kassan of MediaLink and many more.

The same philosophy also is behind some of the unique experiences that will be served up at INTX, including live General Session content produced by journalists Peter Kafka and Kara Swisher from Re/code; the INTXHACK live app development competition; and special INTX Intersections – dedicated pavilions that provide deep-dive immersion into subjects like the Internet of Things, TV content navigation, TV Everywhere and more.

Our world has changed. We’ve transcended old boundaries and entered promising new domains. The Internet & Television Expo reflects this reality. Connectivity, interactivity and a multi-dimensional media product suite are the ingredients that now unite a vast ecosystem made richer by its many participants.

As co-chairs of INTX 2015, we’re extremely enthused about the possibilities to express this wide, wide world in a unique live event setting. It’s an exciting time. It deserves an exciting show.

By Alfred Liggins, chairman and CEO, TV One and CEO and president, Radio One; and Jerry Kent, chairman and CEO of Suddenlink Communications, co-chairs of INTX 2015