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
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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.