WICS
Encyclopedia
WICS is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for Springfield
and Decatur, Illinois
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter south of Dawson
and I-72
/US 36
. The station can also be seen on Comcast
channel 2 (with HD on digital channel 908) and Suddenlink
channel 10. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
, WICS has studios on East Cook Street in Springfield. Syndicated
programming on the station includes: Entertainment Tonight
, Judge Judy
, Dr. Phil
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
.
operates as a semi-satellite. That station simulcasts WICS' network and syndicated programming but airs separate commercials, identifications, and weekday local newscasts. Although WICD maintains its own studios on South Country Fair Drive in Downtown Champaign, master control and some internal operations are based at WICS' facilities. Outside weekday newscasts, commercials on WICD are controlled at the Springfield studios. WICS serves the western portion of the market
(Springfield and Decatur
) while WICD serves the eastern portion (Champaign/Urbana
/Danville
). The latter also serves as the default ABC affiliate for the Illinois
portion of the Terre Haute, Indiana
DMA since that area does not have an affiliate of its own.
WICS began operations on September 17, 1953 and was owned by Plains Television Partners of Springfield. It carried programming from all four networks of the era (NBC
, CBS
, ABC, and DuMont
). However, it was a primary NBC affiliate. 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 also aired whatever ABC programs WTVP in Decatur (now WAND
) had to turn down in order to air CBS shows not cleared by WCIA.
By 1958, WICS was an exclusive NBC affiliate. The station originally had facilities at the Leland Hotel on Capitol Street in Downtown Springfield. In 1964, it moved to its current studios on East Cook Street in East Springfield. The FCC considered making East Central Illinois an all-UHF market but dropped these plans under heavy lobbying from WCIA. However, WICS' signal was not nearly strong enough to reach the eastern portion of the area. At the time, UHF signals were not strong enough to cover large amounts of territory. Accordingly in 1959, Plains Television signed-on WCHU in Champaign as a low-powered satellite of WICS. In 1960, it bought WDAN-TV (another low-powered station in Danville) and changed the calls to WICD. At the same time, WCHU began breaking off from the WICS signal to air some local programming for the eastern side of the market, which was simulcasted on WICD. 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.
Plains Television sold WICS to Guy Gannett Communications
(no relation to the larger Gannett company) in 1986 but held onto WICD until 1994. The two stations operated as a regional network sharing most network and syndicated programming. This arrangement nearly brought down WICD, and for a time, it appeared the station would revert back to a full-time satellite of WICS. Guy Gannett finally bought WICD in 1994. Sinclair purchased most of Guy Gannett's stations, including WICS and WICD, in 1999.
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. However, the FCC did not allow Sunrise to buy WICS/WICD due to Sunrise's ownership structure. 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. HMTF is majority stockholder of the LIN TV Corporation, then-owner of WAND. The FCC ruled HMTF held enough stock in Sunrise making an acquisition of WICS/WICD a duopoly
between two of the four highest-rated stations in the market which is forbidden by FCC rules. As a result, Sinclair remains the owner of WICS/WICD and KGAN.
In 2005, the two stations swapped affiliations with WAND and became ABC affiliates as part of a larger national deal. On November 17, 2010, WICS became available to Dish Network
customers in Terre Haute as the ABC affiliate since the market lacks an affiliate of its own. WICD's transmitter is near the border between Illinois and Indiana
and WICD is carried on most cable systems on the Illinois side of the Terre Haute market. However, WICS is the only station up-linked by satellite providers due to contractual obligations. WICS will likely disappear from the Terre Haute local feed in the fall of 2011 when that city's Fox affiliate, WAWV-TV, rejoins ABC.
.
WICS has a slightly larger news department that WICD because it has more personalities. Several on-air personnel at the latter perform "one-man-band" journalism duties such as shooting, editing, and producing. On Saturday nights at 10:35, the two stations co-produce and simulcast a lifestyle/entertainment show called Illinois Central. Airing in a magazine-type format, the thirty minute program features more in depth feature stories from the entire area.
Lately, WICS/WICD have been very competitive in the local news race after years of being a distant second behind longtime dominant WCIA. Beginning with the November/December 2006 Nielsen ratings
, the two actually briefly led with viewership in East Central Illinois. This is because the station's ratings are combined by Nielsen Media Research
and considers WICS and WICD to be a single station for counting purposes. The latter is identified as "WICS+" in ratings books and has continued battling WCIA for the top spot splitting the position over various time slots. Basically, WICD's existence benefits WICS even though the former is technically combined with the latter.
The stations did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central
format for their newscasts but 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. The segment's host, Mark Hyman
, can now be seen in another on-air commentary.
On September 11, 2006, a news share agreement was established with the area's Fox affiliates, WRSP-TV/WCCU
(locally-owned by GOCOM Media of Illinois, LLC). As a result, a nightly prime time newscast began airing on those stations co-produced by WICS/WICD. Known as NewsChannel at 9 on Fox Illinois, it airs for a half-hour from WICS's Springfield studios but provides market-wide coverage. There is a separate weather forecast featuring both station's meteorologists. From the start, NewsChannel at 9 competed with a newscast seen on then-UPN
affiliate WCFN produced by WCIA. Unlike the WRSP/WCCU show, WCFN's broadcast originated from Champaign and was targeted specifically at a Springfield audience. On September 28, 2009, WCIA cancelled the show and launched an hour-long weeknight newscast at 7 on WCFN. On June 26, 2010, rival WAND became the first station in East Central Illinois to upgrade local newscasts to high definition level. Broadcasts on WICS/WICD and WRSP-TV/WCCU remain in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition and it is unknown if and/or when there will be an upgrade to 16:9
enhanced definition widescreen
or full high definition.
WICS' meteorologists provide CW affiliate WBUI
(sister station of WRSP-TV/WCCU) with on-air and online weather forecasts. The segments are appropriately titled "C-More Weather". In has been announced WICD will drop its weekend newscasts and simulcast those seen on WICS starting March 26, 2011. However, Champaign-based reporters will still provide coverage. This arrangement will also affect the WRSP/WCCU weekend show because a single weather segment will be offered instead of two. The change represents the second attempt at a joint market-wide product by WICS/WICD. At one point in time, there had been a simulcasted newscast weeknights at 5 originating from Springfield.
++ denotes Sinclair personnel
Anchors
Storm Team 20
Sports (both seen on Hangtime and The Blitz)
Reporters
Notable former personnel
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
and Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter south of Dawson
Dawson, Illinois
Dawson is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 466 at the 2000 census. It is about 10 miles east of Springfield, Illinois and is part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
and I-72
Interstate 72
Interstate 72 is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. Its western terminus is in Hannibal, Missouri, at an intersection with U.S. Route 61; its eastern terminus is at Country Fair Drive in Champaign, Illinois. In 2006, the Illinois General Assembly dedicated all of Interstate 72...
/US 36
U.S. Route 36 in Illinois
In the U.S. state of Illinois, U.S. Route 36 is an east–west highway that runs across the central portion of the state. It runs east from Missouri over the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River with Interstate 72. The eastern terminus of U.S. 36 in Illinois is located near the...
. The station can also be seen on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
channel 2 (with HD on digital channel 908) and Suddenlink
Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink Communications, formerly Cebridge Connections, is a top-10 cable broadband services provider in the United States with approximately 1.4 million subscribers. Suddenlink operates in 18 states in primarily medium-sized communities. With its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO,...
channel 10. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
, WICS has studios on East Cook Street in Springfield. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on the station includes: Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
, Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
.
Overview
WICD in ChampaignChampaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
operates as a semi-satellite. That station simulcasts WICS' network and syndicated programming but airs separate commercials, identifications, and weekday local newscasts. Although WICD maintains its own studios on South Country Fair Drive in Downtown Champaign, master control and some internal operations are based at WICS' facilities. Outside weekday newscasts, commercials on WICD are controlled at the Springfield studios. WICS serves the western portion of the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
(Springfield and Decatur
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
) while WICD serves the eastern portion (Champaign/Urbana
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
/Danville
Danville, Illinois
Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is the principal city of the'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Danville and Vermilion County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 32,467. It is the county seat of...
). The latter also serves as the default ABC affiliate for the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
portion of the Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
DMA since that area does not have an affiliate of its own.
History
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC, and DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
). However, it was a primary NBC affiliate. Although the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) had collapsed most of East Central Illinois
Central Illinois
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central section of the state, divided in thirds from north to south. It is an area of mostly flat prairie. The western section was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western...
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 also aired whatever ABC programs WTVP in Decatur (now WAND
WAND
WAND, virtual channel 17, is an NBC-affiliated television station serving the Decatur–Springfield–Champaign area. It is owned by Block Communications...
) had to turn down in order to air CBS shows not cleared by WCIA.
By 1958, WICS was an exclusive NBC affiliate. The station originally had facilities at the Leland Hotel on Capitol Street in Downtown Springfield. In 1964, it moved to its current studios on East Cook Street in East Springfield. The FCC considered making East Central Illinois an all-UHF market but dropped these plans under heavy lobbying from WCIA. However, WICS' signal was not nearly strong enough to reach the eastern portion of the area. At the time, UHF signals were not strong enough to cover large amounts of territory. Accordingly in 1959, Plains Television signed-on WCHU in Champaign as a low-powered satellite of WICS. In 1960, it bought WDAN-TV (another low-powered station in Danville) and changed the calls to WICD. At the same time, WCHU began breaking off from the WICS signal to air some local programming for the eastern side of the market, which was simulcasted on WICD. 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.
Plains Television sold WICS to Guy Gannett Communications
Guy Gannett Communications
Guy Gannett Communications -- no relation to the larger Gannett communications chain -- was a family-owned business consisting of newspapers in Maine and a handful of television stations in the eastern United States. The company was founded by its namesake, Guy P...
(no relation to the larger Gannett company) in 1986 but held onto WICD until 1994. The two stations operated as a regional network sharing most network and syndicated programming. This arrangement nearly brought down WICD, and for a time, it appeared the station would revert back to a full-time satellite of WICS. Guy Gannett finally bought WICD in 1994. Sinclair purchased most of Guy Gannett's stations, including WICS and WICD, in 1999.
The company almost immediately turned around and announced it was selling the two (which count as one for regulatory purposes) plus KGAN
KGAN
KGAN is the CBS-affiliated television station for Eastern Iowa licensed to Cedar Rapids. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter in Rowley near the junction of Buchanan, Benton and Linn Counties. The station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 2 and in...
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...
to Sunrise Television. However, the FCC did not allow Sunrise to buy WICS/WICD due to Sunrise's ownership structure. Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst (HMTF), an investment firm controlled by then-Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
and Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
owner Tom Hicks
Tom Hicks
Thomas Ollis Hicks, Sr. , is an American 'leveraged buyout' businessman living in Dallas, Texas. Despite Forbes Magazine estimating Hicks' wealth at USD 1 billion in 2009, Hicks was unable to pay off joint loans of circa £200 million the following year...
, owned a large block of Sunrise stock. HMTF is majority stockholder of the LIN TV Corporation, then-owner of WAND. The FCC ruled HMTF held enough stock in Sunrise making an acquisition of WICS/WICD a duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
between two of the four highest-rated stations in the market which is forbidden by FCC rules. As a result, Sinclair remains the owner of WICS/WICD and KGAN.
In 2005, the two stations swapped affiliations with WAND and became ABC affiliates as part of a larger national deal. On November 17, 2010, WICS became available to Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
customers in Terre Haute as the ABC affiliate since the market lacks an affiliate of its own. WICD's transmitter is near the border between Illinois and Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
and WICD is carried on most cable systems on the Illinois side of the Terre Haute market. However, WICS is the only station up-linked by satellite providers due to contractual obligations. WICS will likely disappear from the Terre Haute local feed in the fall of 2011 when that city's Fox affiliate, WAWV-TV, rejoins ABC.
News operation
Even though WICS and WICD operate separate news departments, there is a considerable sharing of resources between the two such as video footage and personnel. This can be the case particularly when covering Decatur which is located between each of the station's facilities. Since WICD focuses more the eastern side of the market, that station is more likely to provide coverage from the Illinois portion of the Terre Haute DMA. Likewise, WICS provides that station with coverage from the Illinois State CapitolIllinois State Capitol
The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, is the building that houses the executive and legislative branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth capitol of the state since its admission as a state of the United States in 1818. The...
.
WICS has a slightly larger news department that WICD because it has more personalities. Several on-air personnel at the latter perform "one-man-band" journalism duties such as shooting, editing, and producing. On Saturday nights at 10:35, the two stations co-produce and simulcast a lifestyle/entertainment show called Illinois Central. Airing in a magazine-type format, the thirty minute program features more in depth feature stories from the entire area.
Lately, WICS/WICD have been very competitive in the local news race after years of being a distant second behind longtime dominant WCIA. Beginning with the November/December 2006 Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, the two actually briefly led with viewership in East Central Illinois. This is because the station's ratings are combined by Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
and considers WICS and WICD to be a single station for counting purposes. The latter is identified as "WICS+" in ratings books and has continued battling WCIA for the top spot splitting the position over various time slots. Basically, WICD's existence benefits WICS even though the former is technically combined with the latter.
The stations did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central
News Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...
format for their newscasts but 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. The segment's host, Mark Hyman
Mark E. Hyman
Mark E. Hyman is the Vice President for Corporate Relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States. Hyman became a visible presence during local news broadcasts over Sinclair's stations, many of which aired The Point from late 2001...
, can now be seen in another on-air commentary.
On September 11, 2006, a news share agreement was established with the area's Fox affiliates, WRSP-TV/WCCU
WRSP-TV
WRSP-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Illinois licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter in Mechanicsburg. The station can also be seen on Mediacom and Comcast channel 7...
(locally-owned by GOCOM Media of Illinois, LLC). As a result, a nightly prime time newscast began airing on those stations co-produced by WICS/WICD. Known as NewsChannel at 9 on Fox Illinois, it airs for a half-hour from WICS's Springfield studios but provides market-wide coverage. There is a separate weather forecast featuring both station's meteorologists. From the start, NewsChannel at 9 competed with a newscast seen on then-UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
affiliate WCFN produced by WCIA. Unlike the WRSP/WCCU show, WCFN's broadcast originated from Champaign and was targeted specifically at a Springfield audience. On September 28, 2009, WCIA cancelled the show and launched an hour-long weeknight newscast at 7 on WCFN. On June 26, 2010, rival WAND became the first station in East Central Illinois to upgrade local newscasts to high definition level. Broadcasts on WICS/WICD and WRSP-TV/WCCU remain in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition and it is unknown if and/or when there will be an upgrade to 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
enhanced definition widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
or full high definition.
WICS' meteorologists provide CW affiliate WBUI
WBUI
WBUI is a television station licensed to Decatur, Illinois and serving the Central Illinois market, including the cities of Springfield, Champaign, and Urbana. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in Oreana along I-72. WBUI is affiliated...
(sister station of WRSP-TV/WCCU) with on-air and online weather forecasts. The segments are appropriately titled "C-More Weather". In has been announced WICD will drop its weekend newscasts and simulcast those seen on WICS starting March 26, 2011. However, Champaign-based reporters will still provide coverage. This arrangement will also affect the WRSP/WCCU weekend show because a single weather segment will be offered instead of two. The change represents the second attempt at a joint market-wide product by WICS/WICD. At one point in time, there had been a simulcasted newscast weeknights at 5 originating from Springfield.
Newscast titles
- Standard Oil News (1960s)
- WICS 20 News (1979–1991)
- 20 News (1991–1994)
- WICS NewsChannel 20 (1994–2005)
- ABC NewsChannel 20 (2005–present)
Station slogans
- "WICS and You" (1979–1987)
- "Turn to 20" (1994–1997, used with Frank GariFrank GariFrank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
's "Turn to News") - "Coverage You Can Count On" (1997–2002)
- "Your Hometown News Source" (2002–2004)
- "Central Illinois' #1 News Source" (2004–2007)
- "More Local Coverage" (2007-present)
News team
+ denotes WICD personnel++ denotes Sinclair personnel
Anchors
- Trey Paul - weekdays mornings and reporter (also reporter)
- Jessica McGee - weekday mornings and 11 a.m.
- Jerry Lambert - weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 (also reporter)
- Marianne Manko - weeknights at 9 and 10 (also reporter)
- Liz Foster - weeknights and reporter
- Kevilee Douglas - Illinois Central host
Storm Team 20
- Gus Gordon (NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
and AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seals of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights - Joe Crain - weekday mornings and 11 a.m.
- Kelly Curran - fill-in and news reporter
- + Katy Kramer - Weekends
Sports (both seen on Hangtime and The Blitz)
- Krista Lander - Sports DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights at 6, and 10 - Jeremy Rauch - weekend sports anchor and sports reporter
- + Steve Breitwieser
Reporters
- Mike Brooks - Agriculture
- Andrew Hansen - capitol bureau chief and fill-in anchor
- Katie Heinz - Springfield
- Heather Hubbs - Education
- Andrea Marvin - General assignment
- Shantel Middleton - General Assignment
- + A.J. Bayatpour - Vermilion CountyVermilion County, IllinoisVermilion County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois, between the Indiana border and Champaign County. It was established in 1826 and was the 45th of Illinois' 102 counties...
Bureau Chief - + James Fillmore
- + Liz Lohuis
- + Kate Springer
- ++ Mark Hyman - "Behind the Headlines" segment producer(Via owner Sinclair Boradcast Group)
- ++ Armstrong WilliamsArmstrong WilliamsArmstrong Williams is an African American political commentator, author of a conservative newspaper column, and host of a daily radio show and a nationally syndicated TV program, called The Right Side with Armstrong Williams. From 2004 to 2007, he co-hosted a daily radio program with Sam...
- political commentator(Via owner Sinclair Broadcast Group)
Notable former personnel
- Victoria LangleyVictoria LangleyVictoria Langley is a television journalist for Capitol News Service of Tallahassee, Florida, who primarily serves as a capitol beat reporter for Florida television stations, such as WFLA, WTVJ, and WBBH. She previously worked for WICS in Springfield, Illinois, and has been capitol beat reporter...
- Rebecca PaulRebecca PaulRebecca Paul Hargrove , professionally known as Rebecca Paul, is currently the President and CEO of the Tennessee Lottery. Prior to assuming her current position in 2003, Paul gained national fame within the lottery community for operating lotteries in Illinois, Florida, and Georgia...
- Scott HansonScott HansonScott Richard Hanson is an American television anchor and reporter for NFL Network. He is currently the host of the NFL RedZone channel which offers live, whip around coverage of every NFL game on Sunday afternoons....
- Fred HickmanFred HickmanFred Hickman is an American sports broadcaster who has had stints with CNN, TBS, YES Network, and ESPN. Born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, he graduated Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1978, joining as an original co-host of the CNN show Sports Tonight in 1980...