Just for accuracy they do have the same news as the local channel in the morning, just not everyday.
Thank you for sharing that...this is VERY interesting - I just checked the EPG for WGN-A on E* & D* & sure enough, they ARE running the local WGN news 4-6 AM Central time. (I also just checked an online guide for U-verse here & it shows the same thing)
BUT, when I checked WGN-A on Comcast's local EPG here, that same block of time just shows paid prog. (& we are NOT in the Chicago DMA, of course) I also checked an online guide for Comcast in Chicago, & their WGN-A feed shows the same paid prog...so it appears that they currently do have 2 different WGN-A feeds; the one that DOES still have the AM newscasts, & one that doesn't have ANY, which is the new "cable net" version. (All the other prog seems to be the same on both)
I did check Lyngsat & it does show 2 different HD feeds for WGN-A; one says MPEG2 HD & the other is MPEG4 HD, so this seems to correspond with these 2 different schedules.
http://www.lyngsat.com/Galaxy-14.html
What I'm thinking they did, is they went ahead & created the new WGN "cable net" feed that is completely void of local WGN content, so that they could get it added to all cable systems in the Chicago DMA, but it would NOT have those duplicate AM newscasts. (& they most certainly want Chicago local viewers watching the local feed, with local commercials...& NOT national ones) And evidently Tribune must have gone ahead & cut a deal with Comcast to have all their systems outside the Chicago DMA switch to the new "cable feed" version, as there were many posts about this in the CC forum at DSLR. They also newly added it to all Comcast systems IN the Chicago DMA, as WGN-A has never been carried on cable within the Chicago DMA until now. (unfortunately, they ONLY added it in glorious SD
)
Also, this does now explain this peculiar notation on WGN-A's website FAQ's:
During the transition period, the WGN Morning News may be available to some viewers from 5:00 a.m. -7:00 a.m. ET
http://www.wgnamerica.com/faq
Unfortunately, this still looks like once both satellite providers & other providers OUTSIDE the Chicago DMA, switch over to the new "WGN cable net" feed, the WGN-A feed will be completely going bye-bye.
I'm glad I still have access to the "real WGN"
