CBSN Chicago

With little fanfare, CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 today launched a 24/7 streaming news service featuring content recycled from the station's local newscasts.

Branded as CBSN Chicago, it's the ninth market since December 2018 to unveil a CBSN Local franchise under CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive. (Here is the link.) It follows similar rollouts in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco Bay Area, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, Denver and Pittsburgh.

Derek Dalton

Calling it "the beginning of a terrific new chapter in CBS Chicago’s history,” Derek Dalton, president and general manager of CBS 2, said in a statement: “We are excited to broaden the reach of our local news coverage by launching CBSN Chicago and making our content available to consumers whenever and wherever they want to watch.

"Based on the success of the other CBSN Local services that have previously launched, it is clear the demand for streaming news is strong and growing. We are grateful for all the support we have received from CBS Television Stations and CBS Interactive and look forward to all of us working together to make CBSN Chicago a driver of our future success.”

Earlier CBS 2 had announced plans to roll out CBSN Chicago by the end of March. But the coronavirus shutdown delayed the launch until today.

No word yet on when the service will expand to include original local programming, live breaking news coverage and archived, on-demand local news content, as initially envisioned.

CBSN Chicago is available through CBSN, on CBSNews.com and on the CBS News apps for mobile and connected TV devices. In addition, the service is available through www.CBSChicago.com and the CBS Local mobile app.