The author, Chet Campbell, was then director of WMQ-TV's public information department. Read Chet's introduction below. The chose the areas you would like to visit from the links that follow. Chicago's huge Merchandise Mart, a two-block square landmark overlooking the North Branch of the Chicago River, occupies a place in broadcasting history. The station installed its first color equipment in 1953 and the first major network color transmission was the Rose Bowl parade in 1954.
Today there are more than a million color sets in the market.
Today WMAQ-TV airs more than 17 hours of local news programming each week. Ind. NBC Chicago has a news operation of about 130 persons, which serves both WMAQ Television and Radio, and the NBC radio and television networks. On the network level, the NBC Chicago news operation covers the entire Midwest and parts of the South, and includes a separate Huntley-Brinkley unit. The Chicago office provides an average of 180 news feeds to the NBC-TV network each month. WMAQ-TV's production and technical facilities are housed on the 19th and 20th floors of the Merchandise Mart, in the studio and office areas which were incorporated into the original plan of the buildings of the building when it was built in the early 1930's.