Nexstar Media Group, the renowned American telecommunications company, has reportedly announced the shutdown of the 24-hour local cable news channel of Chicago, CLTV, by the end of the month. Paul Rennie, general manager, CLTV and WGN-TV reportedly announced the decision to shut the 26-year-old local news channel to its staff. Rennie further added that with news being available 24 hours a day and seven days a week across various multi-media platforms it became difficult for CLTV to hold on to its audience and remain in the competition, despite producing high quality local journalism. CLTV had a great run since its start but the landscape of media has transformed drastically. According to the sources there are a dozen employees still working at the CLTV station. Rennie stated that there would a reduction of staff and most of the employees would have the opportunity to apply at WGN-TV. CLTV was launched in January 1993, bringing 24 hours local news to viewers of Chicago before national news had become the cable powerhouse. Meanwhile, CNN was launched in 1980, networks like Fox News and MSNBC did not come online till 1996. CLTV, initially an abbreviation for ChicagoLand TV, employed a moniker coined decade ago by Col. Robert R. McCormick, the former publisher of the Chicago Tribune. During the establishment of CLTV it was under the same corporate umbrella as Tribune. But the news channel owed most of its programming to WGN, that supplied everything from Cubs baseball games to news content throughout the years. CLTV had also produced its own local newscasts. Rennie reportedly stated that due to increased competition from digital news channels and beefing up of news programming on WGN-TV made CLTV less connected with audiences. The recent CLTV viewership had been topped out at a mere several thousand households. WGN-TV programs over 70 hours of local news a week and six-hour block weekday mornings. WGN, in 1993 produced two TV newscasts every day. Most of the current programs of CLTV consisted of rebroadcasting of WGN news shows. Nexstar completed the purchase of Chicago-based Tribune Media in September for $4.1 billion, becoming the nation’s largest local TV station operator and moving Chicago’s WGN-Ch. 9, WGN-AM 720, CLTV and national cable channel WGN America under the ownership of the Dallas company. Source credit: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-nexstar-shutting-down-cltv-20191216-pa7b4zhl6fbkrhd6zt2pzofpkq-story.html