093_HR0472

 
                                     LRB093 13278 HSS 18548 r

 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the House of  Representatives  of
 3    the  State  of  Illinois  wish to congratulate WGEM-TV on the
 4    occasion of the 50th anniversary of its first broadcast; and

 5        WHEREAS,  Quincy  Broadcasting  Company  was  granted   a
 6    construction permit for WGEM-TV on June 18, 1953; soon after,
 7    Quincy  Newspapers,  Inc.  Executive Vice President Thomas C.
 8    Oakley and WGEM General Manager Joseph Bonansinga,  left  for
 9    the  first  of  several  trips  to New York to secure network
10    programming for WGEM-TV; they settled on NBC for the  network
11    affiliation,  but also featured ABC programs due to ties with
12    ABC radio; and

13        WHEREAS, At 7:30 on the evening of Friday,  September  4,
14    1953,  the first program was broadcast on WGEM-TV Channel 10;
15    the first broadcast consisted of a few remarks  by  announcer
16    Bill  Wegman,  followed  by  a  1941 movie entitled "Broadway
17    Limited", and a newscast presented entirely  from  memory  by
18    Charlie Griffith; and

19        WHEREAS,   Over  WGEM's  50  years  of  broadcast  public
20    service, the station has served as  the  primary  medium  for
21    local   and  national  news,  public  affairs  and  community
22    awareness campaigns, local and network programs, and  special
23    local  programming;  WGEM has featured local interest stories
24    from Washington, D.C. to Germany and from every corner of the
25    tri-state area; some of the more significant stories WGEM has
26    covered have included the Flood of 1993 and presidential  and
27    political visits and debates; therefore, be it

28        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
29    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
30    we   congratulate   WGEM-TV  on  the  occasion  of  the  50th
31    anniversary of its first broadcast; and be it further
 
                            -2-      LRB093 13278 HSS 18548 r
 1        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
 2    presented  to  WGEM-TV as an expression of respect and esteem
 3    for the many years of news and public  interest  coverage  it
 4    has produced.