Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 27, 2008 at 09:34:02:
In Reply to: Superstation WGN is now "WGN America" posted by Elwood on May 26, 2008 at 15:19:57:
Tribune quietly relaunches superstation
By Phil Rosenthal | Tribune media columnist
10:14 PM CDT, May 26, 2008
The relaunch was quiet. The new brand isn't.
Superstation WGN, the national cable and satellite version of Chicago's WGN-Ch. 9 that parent Tribune Co. has targeted for an overhaul, assumed its new identity in a soft launch during the Memorial Day federal holiday. As of Monday, it's WGN America.
The change won't fully kick in for a few weeks. But the new logo -- a rendering of a woman's eyes, much like the one used by The Movie Channel through most of the 1990s -- and the slogan "TV You Can't Ignore" already have made their debut.
Internet users who check in with the cable channel's old Web address, SuperstationWGN.com, now are redirected to WGNAmerica.com, where the new logo and name also are in use.
Management at Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune, have expressed frustration for months with the lackluster performance of the national version of WGN, especially in comparison to its one-time superstation peer, Atlanta's TBS, which recently became its own standalone cable channel.
Chicago's Channel 9 was unaffected by the national version's rebranding.