Chicago Sun-Times
September 5, 2003

NBC Peacock Adding Michigan Ave. Roost
By Robert Feder / Sun-Times Columnist

Get ready to smile and wave to the camera: WMAQ-Channel 5 is building a new street-level studio with floor-to-ceiling windows looking onto one of Chicago’s busiest and most picturesque thoroughfares.

The NBC-owned station confirmed Thursday that it will broadcast all of its morning and midday newscasts—as well as other local and network programs from time to time—from a new studio in the northwest corner of the lobby of the former Equitable Building at 401 N. Michigan.

Construction is scheduled to begin immediately at the location, which is just steps away from Channel 5’s headquarters at NBC Tower, 454 N. Columbus. The studio is expected to be operational by mid-November, with plans for NBC’s “Today” show to originate from the site for several days soon thereafter.

Within the next month, a Channel 5 “ticker”—displaying news headlines and other information—also will be installed on the building’s northwest side.

Larry Wert, president and general manager of Channel 5, called the site “an ideal location to grow our local footprint—with its access to Michigan Avenue, proximity to NBC Tower and, best of all, the city skyline background. It will showcase the city like no other spot can.

“We are committed to making this a unique viewing experience for our audience at home and to creating an outdoor experience for the public and tourists who come to watch,” Wert said.

With the blessings of city officials, Channel 5 signed to lease 4,000 square feet of space from Zeller Realty Corp., which has owned the 35-story building since 2001.

“The studio will bring energy and excitement to Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue, and reinforce the area’s importance as the heart of the communications and media industry,” said Paul Zeller, president of the realty company.

While “Today” and other New York-based network morning shows have been broadcasting from glass-walled studios for some time, no Chicago television station has done so no a regular basis since the medium was in its infancy.

In unveiling plans for its street-level studio Thursday, Channel 5 cunningly beat its rivals at WBBM-Channel 2 to the punch by weeks or—more likely—months.

Bosses of the CBS-owned station have been in talks through most of the year with city officials and a developer on building a new home for Channel 2 at Block 37, the Loop site bounded by State, Dearborn, Randolph and Washington streets. The Block 37 location reportedly would include a studio with windows overlooking Daley Center Plaza.

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