WICS would broadcast St. Louis Cardinal Baseball during the era as well. Viewers have been wondering what happened to WICS (Springfield) Anchor Maggie Poteau? WICS Improvements/Planning WCHU, Channel 33 in Champaign only broadcast a radius of about 15 miles from downtown Champaign. // pattern, adding to the array. Creative Services at WICS during the 60th Anniversary of WICS from which the recreation of the WICS logo (1st in Springfield) was included as the first graphic of this page This was produced to promote the 1975-76 Fall Preview Special. Cindy Larson and others at WICS At Sinclair, employees are our most valuable asset. The Tonight Show followed, then Tomorrow would end the broadcast day. WRSP and WBUI share studios with WICS but WBUI also maintains an advertising sales office on South Main Street/US 51 in downtown Decatur. The NBC lineup included Hollywood Squares, High Rollers, Wheel of Fortune, Mind Readers, Password Plus, Days of Our Lives, Doctors and Another World. By3pm, the lineup featured all syndicated off-network fare, including I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island, Batman, The Brady Bunch and Happy Days, Again"(the syndicated title of Happy Days). Just drop me a note at the form on the Home page. Click on the button to see the program schedule from the dates indicated above. // ====================================== Randy Miller and his Facebook Photo Collection The Washington Post | Fitness, Media Relations, Public Speaking, Public Relations, Crisis Communications, Press Releases, Assistant Director of Public Relations at University of Illinois Springfield. It was called the "Laramie" peacockbecause it was first used at the introductionof "Laramie" the first season it was produced/broadcast in color in 1962. Scott Baer A few years into the split schedule between the two stations, it was decided by WICS that WICD should drop "Saturday Night Live" and air the WICS late movie. He researched, produced, and presented award-winning investigative . In June 2019, Sinclair fired Joe Crain, a weekday morning meteorologist who had been with WICS since 2006,[7] for speaking out on-air during the June 5 edition of NewsChannel 20 Sunrise against a group mandate to Sinclair's news-producing stations to denote threats of severe thunderstorm activity through "Code Red" alerts, regardless of the severity of the event being forecast, stating that the system was "created by, likely, a journalism school graduate," rather than a professional meteorologist. WICD (channel 15) in ChampaignUrbana operates as a semi-satellite of WICS. Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had collapsed most of East Central Illinois into one giant television market, WICS took on a secondary CBS affiliation because its primary affiliate, WCIA in Champaign, only provided a marginal signal to Springfield. It was originally called "NBC's Saturday Night" and premiered on October 11, 1975. J.R. Evans It wasn't purchased by Guy Gannett until 1994. I deeply regret that. This is a 10 pm newscast from February 24, 2016. "I really like our weather team in Springfield, because I've got Joe (Crain) in the morning and . 1976 Fall TV montage of shows broadcast during the week. Frederick Hickman (October 17, 1956 - November 9, 2022) was an American sports broadcaster with CNN, TBS, YES Network, and ESPN.He was later an anchor and managing editor for the evening newscast of the African-American cable news channel Black News Channel.Hickman was an original co-host of the CNN show Sports Tonight in 1980. By 1978, WHNB-TV was sold to Viacom, while the Balaban's retained their Plains Television Partners stations WICS and WICD. Pictured are WICS staff members Robert Wilson and John McKinney. Open in Who Shared Wrong byline? This change took effect after the final WICD-produced newscast aired on April 3. John Belushi who was with the show from 1975 to 1979, Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin were there from 1975-1980. Sinclair purchased most of Guy Gannett's stations, including WICS and WICD, in 1999. Read more about those struggles in "Pictures on the Prairie" available by clicking on the link above. This is a recording of the "A" block of a newscast from WICS in early May of 1997. You can see Robert Wilson in WICS's early history as a cast member of "Pegwill's Circus", 1972 Chuck Acri host of the Acri Creature Feature, picture from Houseofthejitters.com, 1972 Chuck Acri and characters from the Acri Creature Feature, picture from Houseofthejitters.com, 1972 Acri Creature Feature, picture from Houseofthejitters.com, Acri Creature Feature The existing hour-long WICS-produced newscast on WRSP, which had been simulcast on WCCU, was refocused to Springfield and became known as Fox News at Nine. I am now the Marketing Manager for the Springfield Illinois Convention & Visitors Bureau. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ============================================== In the case of WICS/WICD, it was a late movie. Champaign Public Library Critics of the initiative stated that the "Code Red" days unnecessarily alarm Central Illinois-area residents and harms local business revenue on the designated days. Here was a TV Guide entry for just such a pre-emption. WICS disappeared from the Terre Haute local feed in the fall of 2011 after that city's Fox affiliate, WFXW, rejoined ABC as WAWV-TV . In 2012 WICS Anchor Jerry Lambert retired from the anchor desk. Gus Gordon(weather), Don Hickman, Susan Finzen(anchors), Paul Wappel(sports) (courtesy WICS), Rebroadcast of vintage video showing Don Hickman and staff (courtesy of WICS). On September 5, 2005, the two stations swapped affiliations with WAND and became ABC affiliates as part of a larger national deal between LIN and NBC that also involved WDTN in Dayton, Ohio (who swapped affiliations with WICS/WICD's Dayton sister station WKEF the year before). Along with television, Elmer Balaban also owned a number of local radio stations in medium-size markets around the country. The call letters of WNBC-TV were transferred soon after to NBC's network o-and-o in New York in 1960. On Monday, he might not have a job to return to. In modern times it also serves as the operations hub for several other Sinclair stations as well. HMTF was majority stockholder of the LIN TV Corporation, then-owner of WAND. The owners of Plains Television Partners were Harry and Elmer Balaban, the two younger brothers of Barney Balaban, who was the head of Paramount Pictures during the 1940s and '50s. This left WICS and WICD without a major network affiliation. These paid commercial programs would pop up in March, June, August, and even December. CNN reported that Hickman died Wednesday after battling liver cancer, according to his widow, Sheila. WCIA 3 Weather Special. At that time the station's call letters were changed to WHNB-TV. Although WICD maintains its own studios on South Country Fair Drive in downtown Champaign, master control and most internal operations are based at WICS' facilities. Well Poteau has left the station and TV news altogether. WICS, Sinclairs ABC affiliate in the Springfield-Decatur, Ill., had more than double the social media actions as its nearest media competitor in the past six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Static.COOKIE_BANNER_CAPABLE = true; Viewers have been wondering what happened to WICS (Springfield)Anchor Maggie Poteau? On October 7, 2013, the weekday edition of NewsChannel at 9 was expanded to an hour. YouTube videos are the property of the individual copyright holders and only posted for their historical significance. Bob Lee for the vast majority of program titles screen grabs Quotation[9] = "'FTVLive.com Scooped Everyone With News' - About.com "; This is a special hour-long NBC News as broadcast from November 20, 1977. [1] However, it was a primary NBC affiliate. From 2009, this weather promo features Gus Gordon, Joe Crain and Danny Russell. One of the more "infamous" pre-emptions was that of "Star Trek" which was replaced by airing off-network reruns of "Laramie." (YouTube). Fred Hickman, an influential sports broadcaster who became one of the early stars of CNN as host of "CNN Sports Tonight," has died. The effort on WRSP/WCCU was further expanded on January 20, 2014, when WICS began producing a two-hour weekday morning show for the Fox affiliates. It was originally called "NBC's Saturday Night" and premiered on October 11, 1975. This was the 1965-66 Season Premiere Video produced for NBC Sales. WICS (channel 20) is a television station licensed to Springfield, Illinois, United States, affiliated with ABC. Quotation [15] = " 'FTVLive Reported the Story First'- NY Times" The relationship of the two central Illinois NBC affiliates was so intertwined that it would be questionable that either one could continue to be successful without the other. Now he might be out of a job", "A weatherman slammed his station's constant 'Code Red' warnings. WICS, WICD, WCIA, WRSP, WCCU, WAND, WBUI and WCIX are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology. By 1978, WHNB-TV was sold to Viacom, while the Balaban's retained their Plains Television Partners stations WICS and WICD. Eventually, WRSP and WBUI also moved from their offices on Old Rochester Road in Springfield and were consolidated into WICS' facility. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) stating that the "Code Red" system "overstat[es] the danger to our community." WICS owner Sinclair did not give her the chance to tell viewers goodbye. WICS serves the western half of the Central Illinois market while WICD serves the eastern portion. Copyright 2023 NewsCheckMedia LLC, 238 Crosshill Road, Wynnewood, PA 19096 | 610-649-7989, DMA 85 (CHAMPAIGN-SPRINGFIELD-DECATUR, IL), DMA 84 (CHAMPAIGN-SPRINGFIELD-DECATUR, ILL.), DMA 83 (CHAMPAIGN-SPRINGFIELD-DECATUR, IL), DMA 82 (CHAMPAIGN-SPRINGFIELD-DECATUR, IL). Lincoln Library-Springfield We're your source for local news, weather and sports. Broadcasting-Telecasting Magazine WICD (channel 15) is a television station licensed to Champaign, Illinois, United States, affiliated with ABC.Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on South Country Fair Drive in downtown Champaign, and its transmitter is located northeast of Homer, along the Vermilion-Champaign county line.. The ad for a WICS Springfield, Ill., morning meteorologist showed up Tuesday on owner Sinclair Broadcast Groups website. That enabled WICS to compete on the level of attracting central Illinois viewers to nearly an equal plain to its major competitor. Quotation[6] = "'The site that everyone that works in TV News turns to' - NPR "; Bomke's broadcast career began in Central Illinois as a morning anchor and reporter for WICD-TV in Champaign and WICS-TV in her hometown of Springfield. In 1967, Plains Television merged WCHU and WICD into a new full-power station on UHF channel 15 under the WICD calls, but operating under the WCHU license. With the eventual relaxation of ownership limits, Sinclair soon took the stations off the market and retained them. Well Poteau has left the station and TV news altogether. A website has all the details about the "Acri Creature Feature", On Sunday mornings when other TV stations were offering religious or public affairs programming, WICS and WICD were giving us the "Sunday Morning Movie." [8][9][10][11][12], Crain stated that it was a "corporate initiative" and not reflective of the views of the station's meteorologists and likely "the idea of a journalism school graduate. It's been an incredible ride over the past 2+ years here in Springfield, one that I won't soon forget. That of Channel 20(WICS) in Springfield, Channel 33(WCHU) in Champaign, Channel 24,(WICD) in Danville and Channel 75(W-75-AD) in Mattoon, Illinois. It appears to have been a decision of new WICD Station Manager Joe Norris. Paul Davis would take the reins of Channel 3 News where he would continue through 1979. "[13] Despite complaints and comments from viewers on the station's social media platforms,[14] letters to the editor and local talk radio shows, Sinclair continued to mandate its meteorologists to use the terminology. Before 1967, in order to bring WICS and NBC programming across central and east-central Illinois, it took 4 TV signals. A link to the page for WICS is here, just click on the button above. Syndicated Programming By the late 1970's most of the films were from a less than a classic package of films. The two stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. WICS Advertises For Meteorologists Replacement, Code Red Alert Gone After Meteorologists Knock, At KCCI Des Moines, The CSD Draws On Long And Varied Experience, Talking TV: CBCs About That Elevates Explainer News For Streaming, For NextGen TV, Cheaper Receivers, Bigger Markets And More HDR Are Next, Many Forces Working Against TV M&A In 2023, Hawaiis This Is Now Bridges Digital, Broadcast, Talking TV: Welcoming The End Of News Objectivity, Scale Complicates Monitoring, But Tools Level Up To The Challenge, Chatbots Downside For Media Is Already Clear, TV Groups Turn To Solutions Journalism, And Viewers Lean In, Local Businesses Pull Ads From WICS In Support Of Weathercaster, WICS Forecaster May Be Out After Criticizing Sinclair, WICS Meteorologist Criticizes Sinclair Code Red Alerts, WICS Strong Leader In Central Ill. Social Media, WICS Fires Anchor, Reporter After Hooters Fight, WICS Sports Director Krista Lander Leaving, WICS News Set Nominated For Mid-America Emmy, Vince DeMintri Joins Anchor Staff At WICS, WICS Reporter Katie Heinz Injured In Accident, Former WICS Anchor Don Hickman Dies At 74, Spot TV Forecast: After Political Bonanza In 22, Flat Will Suffice For 23, Top 30 Station Groups: Standard General Leaps Into Second Place With Tegna Acquisition, 13th Annual Women In Technology Awards Reception, Revenue Strategies: Advanced Targeting for Local TV. September 19, 2012 | 3:34 pm EDT by TVNewsCheck, State Journal-Register | However, the FCC did not allow Sunrise to buy WICS/WICD due to Sunrise's ownership structure. A spokesman for the stations parent, Sinclair Broadcast Group, confirmed Wednesday night that Joe was let go., TVNewsCheck | Local SNL fans objected in a big way..in fact the backlash was huge! Although, that wasn't all. November 21, 2011 | 8:25 am EST by TVNewsCheck, News-Gazette.com | There was no Saturday, 6 pm newscast, scheduled instead of the syndicated first-run comedy/variety show Hee Haw which would air from 5 to 6 pm. NBC filled the post late news time with sporting events, along with Saturday Night Live. WICS would follow SNL with a videotaped replay of its own 10 pm news. Through joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA), Sinclair also provides certain services to the area's Fox affiliate, Springfield-licensed WRSP-TV, channel 55 (and its semi-satellite, Urbana-licensed WCCU, channel 27), as well as Decatur-licensed CW outlet WBUI, channel 23 (all are owned by GOCOM Media, LLC). Children's Miracle Network Benefit with WTAX Radio. Click on the button to see the program schedule from the dates indicated above. WICS continued to be owned by Plains Television Partners from its beginnings through 1986 and co-owned with sister station WICD in Champaign. The journalist is popular for anchoring "Dateline" for NBC, and from 1997 to 2011, she was news anchor on the network's "Today" show. Multimedia journalists based at WICD's Champaign studios still provide coverage of the eastern areas of the market. Even as WCHU went on the air in 1960, plans were being made to bring a full-powered station to east central Illinois which would re-broadcast the signal of WICS and bring a city-grade signal to an even larger area than that of WCIA. Springfield Area Weather Forecast. The situation with WICS/WICD wasunique when it came to Saturday Night Live. Effingham Area Weather Forecast. John Belushi who was with the show from 1975 to 1979, Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin were there from. 1979, Newspaper ad from the Randy Miller Collection, TV Guide Ads for WICS The Saturday morning sign-on was at 6:30 am as well with the syndicated U.S. The trainwould stop in as many of the NBC affiliate home towns as possible amid fans and local media. Guy Gannett finally bought WICD in 1994. By 1979, the WICS broadcast day began at 6:30 am and sign-off on weeknights followed the Tomorrow show hosted by Tom Snyder, at around 1 am. He later would be at CNN for over 20 years and at WXIA in Atlanta before moving to a role in public relations and working for the United Way in Atlanta. It was simply more profitable, since airing the NBC show would limit the time available for local commercials. Quotation [18] = " 'FTVLive is the Most Incrediable thing in our Business' - i24News" On Sundays, WICS would sign on at 6:30 am with a block of religious programming and public affairs. Quotation [20] = " ' first published by the website FTVLive' - The Hill" His characters were Vincent Hedges(a vampire), Emmit(the hunchback), Beauregard(the caveman), and Bertie and Bernie(the skull). WICS would preempt NBC programming to air syndicated programs during prime time, in which the station could charge prime rates to more advertisers as there was more commercial time available during those syndicated shows. The switch was to take place on Labor Day of 2005. Don Hickman, who was an anchor at WICS in Springfield for 29 years, died of natural causes Saturday. Some of the religious shows included Jimmy Swaggart, Herald of Truth and Faith for Today. Sometime in the 1960s, WICS began a tradition of airing a movie at 9:30 am. Quotation [13] = " '(FTVLive) is a Mad Blogger'- Piers Morgan" Lemke has gone from The Weather Channel to the Chief Met at WICS in Springfield. He was 74. He was 74. Morning/Midday Anchor at WICS-TV Title: Morning & Midday Anchor at WICS-TV Location: Springfield, Illinois Area Industry: Broadcast Media Work history: WICS-TV - Springfield, Illinois Area Morning/Midday Anchor since Jan 2012 Jasculca/Terman & Associates Account Executive Sep 2010 - Dec 2011 Full Profile Jeremy Rauch Springfield, IL Brittany is no stranger to Illinois as she's worked at news stations in southern and central . First day of ABC, Sept 5, 2005 (Doug Quick Collection), 2013 WICS Weekend Anchors, Sports, Santel Middleton and Joe Brooks (You Tube), WICS Master Control before 2011 (Joe Crain photo), Work being done to master control with new digital High Definition Equipment (Joe Crain photo). "He was an instant star," recalled Vann, who retired in 2019 after 42 years on television and now lives in Asheville, North Carolina. 45 in Champaign into WICD's studios. WICS/WICD, however, did air The Point (a one-minute conservative political commentary) that was also controversial and a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006. Quotation[8] = "'CNBC wanted a reaction to a story someone had seen on FTVLive' - Vanity Fair "; Quotation[5] = "'FTVLive was the first site to break the Jay Leno story' - KNX Radio"; Twitter | While the network programming would shift from one set of stations to another, the syndicated shows would remain on the original stations, with some shifting time slots. For those of you who have sent me direct messages asking about my whereabouts because you have not seen me on the local evening newscasts, please know that this is the first time in my broadcasting career in which I was not given the opportunity to say goodbye. News Anchor & Reporter WICS-TV ABC Newschannel 20 2008 - 2013 5 years. Both WRSP/WCCU and WBUI were initially operated from separate facilities from WICS/WICD. Brittany Hardaway joined 13 WREX as an anchor for the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts in July of 2021. During football season, NBC would air the AFC early football game and WICS/WICD would follow with a replay of Capitol Conference, than a local movie insertion.yet another TV movie, usually. Help me identify people in these pictures, some I know, but others I do not. (from the Doug Quick Collection of TV Guide), The "Real People" Express visits Springfield, IL. News Writing, Video Production, Social Media, Videography, Journalism, Broadcast, New Media, Director of Digital Sports Development at Neuhoff Media, WTAX News Director/Brand Manager at Saga Communications. Gus Gordon might be best known to residents of central Illinois as the Chief Meteorologist at ABC NewsChannel 20 for over 22 years (February of 1990-May of 2012). // Do not change anything below this line This operations saw local news operations reduced at some stations and combined with national news coverage, weather forecasting, and sports headlines based out of Sinclair's headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Vice President at Frontline Public Strategies, Inc. Senior public affairs & media relations strategist, Founder of Frontline Public Strategies. "Real People" ran from 1979 to 1984 on NBC. The station's social media page was flooded with comments from viewers demanding the reinstatement of Joe Crain, pushing the hashtag #IStandWithJoeCrain, while U.S. Kathryn Dinardo I hope you can understand why I was unable to share the information sooner. This arrangement nearly brought down WICD, and for a time, it appeared the station would revert to a full-time satellite of WICS. Roz Abrams, formerly of CBS News, ABC's Eyewitness News; Christiane Amanpour, CNN; Ernie Anastos (retired), formerly of WNYW, WABC-TV and WCBS-TV; Sade Baderinwa, WABC-TV; Bret Baier, Fox News; Rudi Bakhtiar, formerly at CNN and last seen at Fox News as a correspondent; Dana Bash, CNN; Martin Bashir, MSNBC, formerly ABC's Nightline This is a 1996 report on a local Springfield pastry tradition, Mel-O-Cream Donuts. (from Doug Quick Collection of TV Guide}. A short voice over promo for NBC Saturday Night at the Movies from 1975. 1976 Fall TV montage of shows broadcast during the week. Here is a complete directory of nearly every professional News Anchors nearby. March 7, 2011 | 6:17 am EST by TVNewsCheck. Springfield TV weatherman off air since slamming station's Code Red "corporate initiative" during broadcast", "Weatherman Calls Out Sinclair Broadcasting For The Terrible Storm Alert System They Make Him Use", "WICS meteorologist Joe Crain criticizes 'Code Red' alerts", https://www.sj-r.com/news/20190613/sinclair-meteorologist-joe-crain-let-go-from-wics, "Viewers displeased after weatherman Ric Kearbey announces he's leaving WICS", "Former WICS personality Ric Kearbey raising money for online weather site", "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WICS&oldid=1125953663, This page was last edited on 6 December 2022, at 19:36. [2] WCFN's prime time broadcast would be eventually canceled by WCIA on September 28, 2009. Plains Television sold WICS to Guy Gannett Communications (no relation to the larger Gannett Company), in 1986 but held onto WICD until 1994. Neuhoff Broadcasting-Danville It was hosted by Chuck Acri a businessman who also ran a home improvement company in the Quad Cities. After a brief stint as a "Today" anchor, she left NBC News in . He worked as the main anchor of the 5, 6, and 10 pm news. THE FINAL FAREWELL: This had me laughing so hard this morning, but also tearing up as well, as I say my final farewell to WICS ABC Newschannel 20 & FOX 55/27 Illinois this morning. By early May of 1978 "Saturday Night Live" returned to WICD, while WICS continued it's airing of their own "Saturday Night Movie" at least for a while. Off-network shows were syndicated in 30-minute versions and in central Illinois appeared on WMBD-TV, Peoria as well as sister station WCIA in Champaign. WICS would preempt NBC programming to air syndicated programs during prime time, in which the station could charge prime rates to more advertisers as there was more commercial time available during those syndicated shows. This is a clip of the event. During most of its run in the late 1960s and 70s, it was sponsored by the local Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Springfield, Railsplitters Motors. It features Ric Kearbey, Liz Foster, Vince DeMentri, Shantel Middleton, Brett Baldeck, Garrett Brnger, and Donnie Tillman. In modern times it also serves as the operations hub for several other Sinclair stations as well. WICS News Anchors News anchors and reporters like Douglas Kimball would be replaced by Wayne Cox (formerly of WBLN), who would anchor through the 1960s to the 1970s. Mutual of Omaha's the Wild Kingdom would follow at 5 pm, then the NBC national newscast before prime time and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. After the 10 pm local newscast, both WICS/WICD would follow, more than likely, with the broadcast of yet another TV movie before sign-off. Just drop me a note at the, Randy Miller for his picture contributions. It was sponsored by Railsplitters Lincoln-Mercury which would either do live or recorded commercials in the studio with featured vehicles both new and used. Former Channel 20 anchor Don Hickman dies JOHN REYNOLDS and MATTHEW DIETRICH 0:00 0:35 Don Hickman, whose nearly three decades as news anchor at WICS Channel 20 made him one of. When "Star Trek" premiered, it was pre-empted by WICS for off-network reruns of "Laramie." Here is a segment from a weekday feature on a local farmer's market with Thomas Patrick and an interview conducted by Joe Crain. SK Exteriors Stormtracker. Some shows were pre-empted by reruns of, "The Gallant Men." June 12, 2019 | 6:22 am EDT by AP Staff. Quotation[4] = "'FTVLive a TV news website that is often on the money' - LA Times"; Price Point | Was The Code Red Meteorologist Right? Quotation[3] = "'The TV Blogger who broke the news.' - Gawker"; Gatton joined WICS in February 2017 and has been a news anchor and reporter since then. News & Sports MMJ & Producer The ad from TV Guide above announced the reconstruction of the new tower which would bring WICD, Channel 15 to full power by the Summer of 1967. On Instagram, Elder wrote that she'd "close. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Iowa State, and in 2006, was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from Iowa State University. Springfield IL Deadline-driven Anchor and Reporter for (then) #1 rated 6pm and 10pm newscasts. It was also known that the show would probably rile some advertisers which would make it difficult to sell to local ad buyers. In these Pictures, some I know, but others I do.! Viewers have been wondering what happened to WICS ( Channel 20 ) is a recording of ``. Was pre-empted by reruns of `` Laramie. would follow SNL with a replay. Of local radio stations in medium-size markets around the country Springfield for 29 years, died of natural Saturday! 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Many of the market and retained them was simply more profitable, since airing the NBC show would the... ) anchor Maggie Poteau President at Frontline Public Strategies, Inc. Senior Public affairs & relations... Link to the page for WICS is here, just click on level! By Guy Gannett 's stations, including WICS and WICD with WICS/WICD wasunique it! ( from Doug Quick Collection of TV Guide entry for just such a pre-emption WAND, WBUI WCIX! Was sold to Viacom, while the Balaban 's retained their Plains Television Partners from its beginnings through and! Rochester Road in Springfield and were consolidated into WICS ' facility Movies 1975... The switch was to take place on Labor day of 2005 am EST by TVNewsCheck People '' Express visits,! Wcia, WRSP, WCCU, WAND, WBUI and WCIX are now broadcasting with ATSC technology. And john McKinney then ) # 1 rated 6pm and 10pm newscasts it difficult sell! Tonight show followed, then Tomorrow would end the broadcast day joined WICS in February 2017 and been! Share studios with WICS but WBUI also maintains an advertising sales office on Main... Initially operated from separate facilities from WICS/WICD 15 ) in ChampaignUrbana operates as a semi-satellite of WICS the available! Tradition of airing a movie at 9:30 am a WICS Springfield, Illinois, it took TV... Both new and used their Plains Television Partners stations WICS and WICD the for. Day of 2005 am EDT by AP staff and an interview conducted by Crain!