WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's ABC network outlet.

Channel 7 had its call letters changed to WLS-TV on October 7, 1968,[5] named after WLS Radio, which ABC had wholly owned since 1959 when the network bought the 50% interest it did not already hold in the station from the Prairie Farmer magazine.

[8] WLS-TV had claimed to be "Chicago's first television station" in its sign-ons and sign-offs during its first three decades (implying a connection with the original WBKB on channel 4), but admitted to its true roots with WENR with its 30th anniversary in 1978.

[10][11] Tele1st was created with the concept of allowing users to record programming for later viewing; therefore, its decoder boxes were designed to unencrypt the signal only with the aid of a VCR.

WLS-TV is the local over-the-air host of Monday Night Football games involving the Chicago Bears, airing simulcasts of the team's ESPN-televised games (WLS-TV's corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company, owns 80% of ESPN, and the ABC Owned Television Stations have right of first refusal for simulcasts of ESPN's NFL telecasts within a team's home market).

Since 2010, however, it has deferred the right of first refusal due to the popularity and live voting requirements of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, with WCIU-TV carrying the MNF games when the former program's fall season is ongoing (an exception being WLS' carriage of an MNF Bears game against the Dallas Cowboys on December 9, 2013, when the team honored former head coach Mike Ditka, after the DWTS fall season had already ended).

On December 12, 2014, WLS-TV signed a new five-year broadcast agreement with the Chicago Cubs, in which WLS televised 25 of the Major League Baseball team's games per year, starting with the 2015 season.

WLS-TV also contracts with iHeartMedia to provide weather forecasts for their Chicago market stations, including WLIT-FM (93.9), WCHI-FM (95.5), WVAZ (102.7), WKSC-FM (103.5), and WGCI-FM (107.5).

Beginning in 1968, the station's main evening newscasts were co-anchored by Fahey Flynn, a bowtie-wearing broadcaster who had spent the previous 15 years at WBBM-TV; and Joel Daly, who was hired away by WLS from WJW-TV in Cleveland in 1967.

Around the time of Flynn's death, Channel 7 had been experiencing a ratings decline, prompting major changes to the station's management.

[31] His replacement was Chicago native Dennis Swanson, who worked for WGN-TV and WMAQ-TV before becoming news director at ABC's Los Angeles station, KABC-TV.

[31][32] ABC also commissioned Frank Gari to compose an updated version of the Cool Hand Luke "Tar Sequence" theme widely associated with the Eyewitness News format.

[33] He responded to the latter by bringing in Oprah Winfrey, at the time the host of People Are Talking on ABC's then-affiliate in Baltimore, WJZ-TV.

Swanson also re-hired lead anchor John Drury, who had left for WGN-TV in 1979; and Floyd Kalber, who had led WMAQ-TV to the top of the ratings in the 1960s.

[36] On the weekend of April 29–30, 2006, WLS-TV upgraded its news helicopter with a high definition camera, rebranding it as "Chopper 7 HD".

In an interview with media columnist Robert Feder, WLS-TV president/general manager John Idler said the reasoning behind the restoration of the Eyewitness News brand, was that it "[still] resonated strongly with [viewers in] the Chicago market", despite being dropped by the station 17 years earlier.

[35] On November 2, 2013, WLS expanded the early block of its weekend morning newscasts, with the extension of its hour-long 6 a.m. newscast on Saturdays and Sundays to two hours at 5 a.m.[44] On February 10, 2014, WLS-TV entered into a partnership agreement with the Chicago Sun-Times to include the use of the station's weather team in the newspaper's weather section, replacing WMAQ-TV, whose previous partnership ended the day before; in addition, the station would air a 'look ahead' of the newspaper's front page and stories, with the Sun-Times promoting WLS's newscasts and programming in turn.

In June 2016, after several years of unsuccessful syndicated talk show replacements for the canceled All My Children (including Katie and FABLife), the station moved General Hospital to 2 p.m., then Windy City Live to 1 p.m. to accommodate the 11 a.m. newscast, with a replay of the latter late night after Nightline.

The mutual parting of ways came as WCIU became the market's CW affiliate on September 1, leaving no room for a newscast on the station's schedule.

[47] On June 19, 2023, WLS-TV debuted its new on-air look for the first time in a decade as it was the first ABC owned-and-operated station to unveil its new standard graphics package.

[needs update] WLS-TV's studios at 190 North State Street include the former State-Lake Theatre's gutted and converted interior.

In October 2012, WLS-TV completed construction from the Willis Tower and its operating channel 44 at the 1 million watt power level.