WBBM-Channel 2 to expand Sunday morning local newscast

Less than a month after WMAQ-Channel 5 beefed up its weekend morning local newscasts, WBBM-Channel 2 announced it too is in expansion mode.

The local CBS affiliate will add an hour to its Sunday morning program starting Sept. 22, CBS 2 Chicago officials said. “CBS 2 Sunday Morning News” will begin one hour earlier and run from 6 to 8 a.m.

“Sept. 22 marks one year since our return to weekend morning news and viewers have responded,” CBS 2 Chicago News Director Jeff Kiernan said in a statement Tuesday.

During the past year the station’s audience for the time period has more than doubled, according to WBBM-Channel 2, delivering the CBS affiliate’s best ratings in the 7 to 8 a.m. Sunday slot since the introduction of Nielsen’s local people meters to compute ratings nearly a decade ago.

The Sunday morning newscast will continue to be anchored by Marissa Bailey and feature reporter Courtney Gousman and meteorologist Ed Curran.

In late July, WMAQ-Channel 5 added 2.5 hours of weekend morning news to the schedule, with weekend morning newscasts on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 5 a.m. A half hour was added on Sunday at 10 a.m.