Illinois Lottery May Pull Live Drawings From WGN TV

By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 16, 2014 6:00PM

The Illinois Lottery may be looking for another broadcast outlet to air its regular disappointments of Mega Millions players lottery drawings when its current contract with WGN TV expires in June.

The superstation has aired daily lottery drawings for 20 years but a litany of issues including pulling the evening drawings off national cable channel WGN America has Illinois Lottery officials weighing their options. Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones told the Tribune, "The world has changed from 30 years ago and there are lots of ways now of doing drawings."

Yes there are. The range of lottery games alone is wider than it was even a few years ago; some of those games exist solely online. A random number generator at the Lottery’s Springfield office is capable of doing four virtual drawings a day and some officials believe this is the wave of the future in announcing the numbers for the bigger drawings. The Illinois Lottery currently pays Tribune Co. $1.2 million annually to broadcast the drawings but Tribune’s ongoing attempts to reduce the local focus of WGN America is factoring heavily in their decision. The station no longer broadcasts WGN’s 9 p.m. newscast; downstate viewers no longer are able to watch the nightly drawings.

The Lottery has also received a 40 percent reduction in fees in recent months, corresponding with the loss of downstate viewers of the drawings. A WGN spokeswoman told the Trib they’re proud of their relationship with the Lottery and “look forward to a continued partnership.”