The Bloomington Pantagraph They are subject to removal by the contributors and YouTube. It was hosted by Chuck Acri a businessman who also ran a home improvement company in the Quad Cities. Meteorologists at local stations under Sinclairs auspices are encouraged or at times, forced into declaring code red days, the decision often made by management. In 2012 WICS Anchor Jerry Lambert retired from the anchor desk. It appears to have been a decision of new WICD Station Manager Joe Norris. This left WICS and WICD without a major network affiliation. 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. Local SNL fans objected in a big way..in fact the backlash was huge! _taboola.push({flush: true}); December 21, 2011 | 2:42 pm EST by TVNewsCheck, State Journal-Register | Joe Crain has been a meteorologist at WICS Springfield, Ill., for 15 years. This is a complete newscast from August 1999 with Don Hickman and Susan Finzen. The News-Gazette The ad for a WICS Springfield, Ill., morning meteorologist showed up Tuesday on owner Sinclair Broadcast Groups website. Along with television, Elmer Balaban also owned a number of local radio stations in medium-size markets around the country. Fred Hickman, an influential sports broadcaster who became one of the early stars of CNN as host of "CNN Sports Tonight," has died. J.R. Evans Pictured are WICS staff members Robert Wilson and John McKinney. This ice storm would bring down the newly constructed WICD tower. 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. 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. On Sundays, WICS would sign on at 6:30 am with a block of religious programming and public affairs. Investigative Reporting, Journalism, Editing, Broadcast Journalism, Writing, Video, Avid, Final Cut Public Information Officer at Illinois State Treasurer's Office. 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. At that time the station's call letters were changed to WHNB-TV. 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. WICS serves the western half of the Central Illinois market while WICD serves the eastern portion. TVNewsCheck | Although the WRSP/WCCU newscast features market wide coverage, including contributions from WICD reporters based in Champaign, there is a separate weeknight weather segment for WRSP and WCCU that was seen. June 13, 2019 | 5:43 am EDT by Hank Price, Hank Price: The commitment of local broadcasters and their owners to the communities they serve is legendary. The switch was to take place on Labor Day of 2005. It may cost him his job", "Where is Joe Crain? Click on the button to see the program schedule from the dates indicated above. He worked as the main anchor of the 5, 6, and 10 pm news. One minute she's on the news, the next minute she's gone. Champaign's sister station was allowed to break from the WICS program schedule and it would air "Saturday Night Live" as broadcast on NBC. Quotation[10] = "'The statement from New York-based NBC was in response to a report on the FTVLive' - Bloomberg"; (from the Doug Quick Collection of TV Guide), The "Real People" Express visits Springfield, IL. WICD and its Sinclair sister station in the market, WICS, will begin sharing weekend newscasts that day. WICS would often time preempt NBC for the airing of local origination programming during the prime time during the month following a rating period. The trainwould stop in as many of the NBC affiliate home towns as possible amid fans and local media. 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. 1988 was the 50th anniversary of Springfield's Mel-O-Cream Donuts and Dave Heller did a report on the local company. 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. This facility would house the station for many years to come even after bringing the operations of the GoCom stations (WRSP, WCCU, and WBUI) into the fold in the 2010s. 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). Along with television, Elmer Balaban also owned a number of local radio stations in medium-size markets around the country. The company almost immediately turned around and announced it was selling the two (which count as one for regulatory purposes) plus KGAN in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Sunrise Television. 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. 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. Broadcast Journalism, News Writing, TV News Production, Media Relations, Video, Final Cut Pro, Director of Communication at Daughters of Wisdom, President at Savant Multimedia, LLC, Board Member Director of Communication at Daughters of Wisdom. By Justin Carter. The two stations operated as a regional network sharing most network and syndicated programming. WICS also pre-empted "Saturday Night Live" for a long period of time replacing it with a local-originated movie which allowed for more local ad sales than what was available during "SNL." The two stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. Although, that wasn't all. (YouTube). 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. June 8, 2019 | 8:03 am EDT by Matthew Cappucci. Now he might be out of a job", "A weatherman slammed his station's constant 'Code Red' warnings. Scott Baer A link to the page for WICS is here, just click on the button above. It was simply more profitable, since airing the NBC show would limit the time available for local commercials. (You Tube). Quotation[4] = "'FTVLive a TV news website that is often on the money' - LA Times"; 1976 Fall TV montage of shows broadcast during the week. She took to social media to inform viewers of her life outside of news: For weeks I have been very quiet on social media. He was 66. The Decatur Herald-Review Newspaper WICS continued to be owned by Plains Television Partners from its beginnings through 1986 and co-owned with sister station WICD in Champaign. WRSP and WBUI share studios with WICS but WBUI also maintains an advertising sales office on South Main Street/US 51 in downtown Decatur. This is a 10 pm newscast from February 24, 2016. March 3, 2015 | 10:02 am EST by TVNewsCheck, The State Journal-Register | That movie run would fill the 9:30 to 11 or 11:15 am time slot. In addition to sporting director, Hickman was also a news reporter and sometimes news anchor, former WICS news director Les Vann recalled. Writer and photographer at Illinois Times, Freelance Writer and Newsletter Editor at myself, Executive Director at Energy Education Council, Trustee at Springfield Park District, Press Secretary at Illinois House Republicans, Press Spokesperson for IL House Republican Leader Tom Cross, Press Secretary at IL Senate Republican Staff, Press Secretary, IL. It's been an incredible ride over the past 2+ years here in Springfield, one that I won't soon forget. 1976 Fall TV montage of shows broadcast during the week. 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. Please note that the schedule for WICD and WICS were virtually identical. Quotation [18] = " 'FTVLive is the Most Incrediable thing in our Business' - i24News" This is a recording of the "A" block of a newscast from WICS in early May of 1997. In the case of WICS/WICD, it was a late movie. And during Wednesday mornings broadcast, Crain had had enough. Here is a segment from a weekday feature on a local farmer's market with Thomas Patrick and an interview conducted by Joe Crain. YouTube videos are the property of the individual copyright holders and only posted for their historical significance. As a result, a nightly prime time newscast began airing on those two stations that was jointly produced by WICS/WICD. Most commercials were either done live or live on tape from the studios of WICS. Vice President at Frontline Public Strategies, Inc. Senior public affairs & media relations strategist, Founder of Frontline Public Strategies. The FCC ruled HMTF held enough stock in Sunrise that if it bought WICS/WICD, it would have created a duopoly between two of the four highest-rated stations in the market, which is forbidden by FCC rules. 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. In 1960, it bought WDAN-TV (another low-powered station in Danville) and changed the calls to WICD. It follows meteorologist Joe Crains on-air criticism of Sinclairs Code Red weather alert policy. This arrangement nearly brought down WICD, and for a time, it appeared the station would revert to a full-time satellite of WICS. 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. 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. On Saturday afternoon NBC would broadcast baseball during the major league season, while empty time slots were often filled with other off-network series reruns like The Odd Couple. The midday on Saturdays also included various locally produced and syndicated public affairs programs. Cindy Larson and others at WICS Quotation[5] = "'FTVLive was the first site to break the Jay Leno story' - KNX Radio"; 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. Brittany is no stranger to Illinois as she's worked at news stations in southern and central . This week I began a new career in a new industry. The time slots would also be occupied by adult fare as well as syndicated shows like, "The Mike Douglas Show," "The John Gary Show" and "The Merv Griffin Show." Both WRSP/WCCU and WBUI were initially operated from separate facilities from WICS/WICD. Randy Miller and his Facebook Photo Collection Combining the signals of WICS with WCHU, Channel 33 in Champaign, and WICD, Channel 24 in Danville increased the audience of the Plains Television stations to nearly that of Midwest Television's WCIA, Channel 3. 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 66. The Associated Press | WICS, WICD, WCIA, WRSP, WCCU, WAND, WBUI and WCIX are now broadcasting with ATSC 3.0 technology. Justin and Brittany are setting the record straight on why they will be away. Quotation[9] = "'FTVLive.com Scooped Everyone With News' - About.com "; At Sinclair, employees are our most valuable asset. Programming WICS from 1979 to 1986 The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 42. 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. This is a WICS 10 pm weathercast from February 4, 2014. They might have had a strange talent, demonstrated a stunt, had a peculiar occupation.I think you get the idea. During the 1979-1980 TV season, the WICS weekday schedule followed Today at 9am with the first run weekday syndicated Dating Game followed by the NBC daytime schedule which was solid through3pm. It wasn't purchased by Guy Gannett until 1994. Decatur Public Library WCHU, Channel 33 in Champaign only broadcast a radius of about 15 miles from downtown Champaign. WICS began operations on September 17, 1953 and was owned by Plains Television Partners of Springfield, which was a 50/50 joint venture of . Springfield, Illinois Area Sports Reporter/Anchor WYMT Jun 2016 - Jun 2018 2 years 1 month.