Why Did Wycc Receive Millions Less Than Expected In Auction

A little more than two years ago, the Chicago Tribune published an editorial urging the City Colleges of Chicago to sell its public television station, WYCC, channel 20.

“Everyone remembers the disastrous parking meter deal. This isn’t like that,” the Tribune concluded.

But on November 27, the station went dark. What happened?

This is significant in retrospect because, as the bids for WYCC dropped below $100 million and then much lower, City Colleges didn’t drop out but like the proverbial frog in the pot over a fire, hung in till it was cooked.

CCC responded to questions about the sale and the station’s future with a written statement that said WYCC was “not a core part of the institution’s academic function”; that CCC will “save $2-$3 million per year” by getting rid of it; and that “If CCC had jumped out of the auction earlier, it would have received $0.”