WGN launching new daytime lifestyle show

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WGN, an independent station in Chicago, will launch a new daytime lifestyle program Sept. 13, 2021.

Titled “Daytime Chicago,” the launch comes just weeks after ABC owned WLS ended production on “Windy City Live.”

“Daytime Chicago” will air for an hour at 10 a.m., displaying “Rachel Ray,” which moves to 1 p.m. on WGN.

The show will be hosted by Tonya Francisco and Amy Rutledge.

Francisco was previously a weekend anchor at WGN and Rutledge previously hosted “The Jam” on WCIU, which was canceled in March 2021.

“Daytime Chicago” is expected to cover a variety of topics, including food, health, style, local happenings and entertainment.

It will also carry sponsored segments, a popular tactic for daytime lifestyle programs and often key in making them profitable even with modest ratings.

Meanwhile, WLS just ended “Windy City Live” after 10 years — and will replace it with “Tamron Hall.”

It will live on in a 30 minute weekly format titled “Windy City Weekend” that launches Sept. 10, 2021, replacing the last half hour of the station’s Friday midday newscasts at 11:30 a.m. local time.

Like “Daytime Chicago,” “Windy City Live” featured sponsored segments as well and managed to deliver decent ratings after changing timeslots a few times since it launched.