Paul Davis would take the reins of Channel 3 News where he would continue through 1979. . It's been an incredible ride over the past 2+ years here in Springfield, one that I won't soon forget. Quotation[1] = "'The One-Man Website That Broke the Jay Leno Story' - About.com "; A link to the page for WICS is here, just click on the button above. [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 seems that Saturday Night Live replaced a time period in which local stations previously programmed it to air movies and other syndicated programming. 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 Guy Gannett finally bought WICD in 1994. Local newscasts, produced by WICS, are simulcast on both stations. WICS, Channel 20, Springfield, Rick Lipps 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. The Tonight Show followed, then Tomorrow would end the broadcast day. WICD, Channel 15 was the result of a merger between two relatively lower powered sister stations of WICS. 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. The syndicated block was followed by a flip-flop of local news and network news on WICS and sister station WICD. SK Exteriors Stormtracker. Springfield, Illinois Area Sports Reporter/Anchor WYMT Jun 2016 - Jun 2018 2 years 1 month. This was the 1965-66 Season Premiere Video produced for NBC Sales. NBC Daytime Love (1975) promo for daytime dramas seen on NBC and WICS, Pictured above are several graphics from the show along with Chevy Chase who was only there during the 1975-76 season, but he's probably one of the best-known alumni of the show. That resulted in many complaints by viewers and the eventual reversal of the pre-emption as well as WICS being one of the first stations to add "Star Trek" by off-network syndication. On April 7, 2015 despite this significant reduction, WICD began airing a full sixty-minute Champaign-based prime time newscast (weeknights at 9) on WCCU entitled Fox Champaign News at Nine. The low powered translatoron channel 75 in Mattoon probably didn't broadcast much more than a few miles from Mattoon. 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. It carried programming from all four networks of the era (NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont). On Monday, he might not have a job to return to. Strategic Planning, E-learning, Higher Education Marketing, Educational Technology, Higher Technical Director at THINK TeleVisual LLC., Digital Media Mechandising Producer at Anderson Technical Director at THINK TeleVisual LLC. Many might remember the "Acri Creature Feature" which ran late Saturday nights. December 21, 2011 | 2:42 pm EST by TVNewsCheck, State Journal-Register | The switch ended up being one of the most confusing things to happen to local TV since the advent of cable TV. // Set up the quotations to be shown, below. 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. Local SNL fans objected in a big way..in fact the backlash was huge! WICS serves the western half of the Central Illinois market while WICD serves the eastern portion. Champaign Public Library Decatur Area Weather Forecast. From 2009, this weather promo features Gus Gordon, Joe Crain and Danny Russell. On December 31, 2012, the Sinclair Broadcast Group closed on the purchase of the non-license assets of GOCOM's three television stations, WRSP/WCCU and sister station WBUI for approximately $25.6 million. Along with television, Elmer Balaban also owned a number of local radio stations in medium-size markets around the country. Some shows were pre-empted by reruns of, "The Gallant Men." On November 17, 2010, WICS became available to Dish Network customers in Terre Haute, Indiana as the ABC affiliate since the market lacked an affiliate of its own. Plains ownership of WICS would come to a close in 1986 when the NBC affiliate in the Illinois state capital city was sold to Guy Gannett Publications of Portland, Maine. Multimedia journalists based at WICD's Champaign studios still provide coverage of the eastern areas of the market. Ann Marshall 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. That is false. Pictured are WICS staff members Robert Wilson and John McKinney. Here's a sample segment from "Real People" about an ugly dog contest. Quotation [19] = " 'FTVLive.com, a prominent television industry website' - Lexington Herald Leader" It also competes with another two-hour local newscast seen at same time on MyNetworkTV affiliate WCIX (produced by WCIA). (from the Doug Quick Collection of TV Guide), "Real People" was a reality-based variety show which gave a number of "real" people/groups their 15-minutes of fame in front of a national audience. The change represented the second attempt at a joint market-wide product by WICS/WICD. "Real People" was a reality-based variety show which gave a number of "real" people/groups their 15-minutes of fame in front of a national audience. WICS began operations on September 17, 1953 and was owned by Plains Television Partners of Springfield, which was a 50/50 joint venture of Transcontinental Properties and the H & E Balaban Corporation. Well Poteau has left the station and TV news altogether. This is a recording of the "A" block of a newscast from WICS in early May of 1997. 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). Other previous jobs include working at WXIA . WICS, WICD, WCIA, WRSP, WCCU, WAND, WBUI and WCIX are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology. Most were from the former ABC Movie of the Week TV movie catalog of films. In its place are newscasts simulcast from WICS (in all time slots) which provide market-wide coverage including content from the eastern areas through a downsized bureau at WICD's studios. James Isley WICS-TV in Springfield and former station meteorologist Joe Crain say in the Monday joint statement that they've reached a "private agreement" and are "moving on from their dispute . There were some TV classics there, such as the acclaimed Brian's Song but most were very forgettable. WICS would often time preempt NBC for the airing of local origination programming during the prime time during the month following a rating period. This is a special hour-long NBC News as broadcast from November 20, 1977. [3], On March 26, 2011, WICD ceased airing its own newscasts on weekends opting to simulcast those from WICS. --from Gus Gordon's Linkedin profile, September 5, 2005, first day at being an ABC affiliate, Gus Gordon (Doug Quick Collection), August 2010, Gus Gordon (Doug Quick Collection). It was hosted by Chuck Acri a businessman who also ran a home improvement company in the Quad Cities. Broadcasting-Telecasting Magazine The FCC considered making East Central Illinois an all-UHF market but dropped these plans under heavy lobbying from WCIA. TV Guide (1954-1959) from the Doug Quick Collection June 12, 2019 | 6:22 am EDT by AP Staff. The picture with WICS staff members was taken sometime in the last days of "The Virginian" or during the 1974-75 era of "Lucas Tanner" which aired on NBC. The rest of the weekday schedule was filled with NBC programming, with a local newscast at 10 pm. Farm Report. The rest of the morning consisted of typical children's programming from NBC including more modern versions of classic fare like Fred and Barney Meet the Schmoo and the re-worked Warner Brothers cartoons with Daffy Duck and a modern rework of Casper. The Decatur Herald-Review Newspaper 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. Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Area MMJ/Reporter . The prime-time access slot after the news block was filled by the weekday syndicated version of The Newlywed Game at 6:30 pm. Danville Public Library // to increment the Quotation[x] index! Quotation[7] = "'FTVLive Delivers some of the TV World's Biggest Scoops' - Tonawanda News "; SKILLS -Avid, Edius, and Premier Pro: Non-linear editing -Various web publishing programs Communications, Public Speaking, Public Relations, Writing, Marketing, Video Editing, Broadcasting, Broadcast, Broadcast Journalism, Non-linear Editing. Both stations would air the NBC Nightly News but WICS would air it at its more traditional time at 5:30 pm, while WICD would follow its local news broadcast with the NBC news. J.R. Evans March 7, 2011 | 6:17 am EST by TVNewsCheck. TV Spy | A link to the page for WICS is here, just click on the button above. Total Television by Alex McNeil. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. WICS continued to be owned by Plains Television Partners from its beginnings through 1986 and co-owned with sister station WICD in Champaign. Open in Who Shared Wrong byline? Quotation [17] = " 'An insider newsy website' - Hoda Kotb" This is a WICS 10 pm weathercast from February 4, 2014. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ============================================== Learn how and when to remove this template message, transition from analog to digital broadcasts, "Doug Quick On Line, Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum", http://wics.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_8401.shtml, "WICD to share weekend newscasts with WICS", "WICS Springfield (Ill.) to Produce WICD News", "A TV meteorologist objected to management's 'code red' orders. (pictures from WICS and Flip Spiceland). However, the FCC did not allow Sunrise to buy WICS/WICD due to Sunrise's ownership structure. Here's a sample segment from "Real People" about an ugly dog contest. 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. On June 26, 2010, rival WAND became the first television station in East-Central Illinois to upgrade news production to high definition level. Joe Crain Later in the year, Sinclair signed the stations with ABC. Just drop me a note at the, Randy Miller for his picture contributions. The two stations operated as a regional network sharing most network and syndicated programming. Programming WICS from 1979 to 1986 The station originally had facilities at the Leland Hotel on Capitol Street in Downtown Springfield. Pictured above are several graphics from the show along with Chevy Chase who was only there during the 1975-76 season, but he's probably one of the best-known alumni of the show. Brittany is no stranger to Illinois as she's worked at news stations in southern and central . 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). This week I began a new career in a new industry. No corporation is perfect, nor is every policy. With the exception of the WCCU newscast, WICD no longer produces Champaign-specific local news. var whichQuotation=Math.round(Math.random()*(Q-1)); Syndicated Programming Vince DeMentri is a popular American who now serves as the president and CEO of deadline media consulting in Tampa, Florida, since September 2017. In 1960, it bought WDAN-TV (another low-powered station in Danville) and changed the calls to WICD. 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. (picture courtesy of Teresa Wilson Ericson, daughter of Robert Wilson), You can see Robert Wilson in WICS's early history as a cast member of "Pegwill's Circus". When WICS moved from the former Leland Hotel studios, it moved into a large facility located at 2680 East Cook Street in Springfield. Click here to view a video of a news segment on the people trying out for a "Real People" segment from syracuse.com. It appears to have been a decision of new WICD Station Manager Joe Norris. Quotation[5] = "'FTVLive was the first site to break the Jay Leno story' - KNX Radio"; Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (HMTF), an investment firm controlled by then-Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks, owned a large block of Sunrise stock. 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. 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. It was originally called "NBC's Saturday Night" and premiered on October 11, 1975. As mentioned above, WICS frequently pre-empted prime time programming to insert its own programming. [1] However, it was a primary NBC affiliate. 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 weekend edition of the prime time news will continue to be a market-wide simulcast on WRSP and WCCU. The situation with WICS/WICD wasunique when it came to Saturday Night Live. After a brief stint as a "Today" anchor, she left NBC News in . As mentioned above, WICS frequently pre-empted prime time programming to insert its own programming. 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. 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. [15][8][10][12] On June 13, a spokesman for Sinclair stated that he had been, in fact, let go. 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. Known as NewsChannel at 9 on Fox Illinois, it aired for a half-hour from a modified set at WICS' Springfield studios featuring unique duratrans indicating the Fox-branded show. 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. This site we will assume that you are happy with it be a market-wide simulcast on WRSP WCCU. Local radio stations in medium-size markets around the country WCCU newscast, WICD ceased airing its own programming &. 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