Let's face it, the July ratings book means nothing, it's really just there to make Nielsen more money and for stations that had a awful May book, to not be stuck selling those crappy numbers until November. 

But, looking at the July numbers out of Chicago shows that WGN saw some big increases in their ratings. The station has been trending up for a while now, as more and more viewers tune into WGN, from morning news to night. 

But, while the folks inside WGN are happy with the ratings, there is still the murky future of the Tribune station, once it is taken over by Sinclair. 

Writing about the July book, the Chicago Business Journal says, the biggest winner from a pure ratings perspective in July was Tribune Media-owned WGN-Channel 9's 9 p.m. hour-long newscast. That product garnered a 4.4 rating in July, up from a 3.5 a year ago.

The gains come as Channel 9 is facing what could prove a wrenching takeover by Sinclair Broadcast Group. 

Sinclair is expected to take control of Tribune Media later this year. Bloomberg Businessweek's recent fascinating company profile of Sinclair highlighted some of the ways Sinclair's frugal operating philosophy and its deeply conservative viewpoints have affected — rarely for the better — operations at the television stations the broadcast company runs nationwide.

People inside WGN have reached out to FTVLive and say they are really worried that all the success that they have achieved lately will be wiped by Sinclair very quickly. 

The WGN Morning show is the best morning show in the country. But how will it play with "must runs" from Boris "Mouth full of bees" Epshteyn and Mark "Buster" Hyman? 

The July book means nothing, but for WGN, it might have been a last hurrah, before Sinclair comes in and ruins it.

Stay tuned...