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Historical TV Schedules June 12, 1954
Sept 6, 1965
Aug 24, 1967
Aug 10, 1971




The First Days of Central Illinois Local Television

It's hard to believe that any new technology would attract so much attention today!  Even with the introduction of the past 30 years of TV related inventions: VTR's, VCR''s(Beta and VHS),  Camcorders(VHS, C-VHS, 8mm, Digital 8, DVD recording, etc.), Digital TV, Digital Hi-Definition, Plasma and other flat set formats, no event like it has EVER taken place since!



Television - It's Ready for You (circa 1952) - Click here for the most popular videos





Central Illinois Television Mania

Here's a montage of TV ads from November of 1953, the first month of WCIA's sign-on.  Note the large number of TV dealers which sprung up just within a year as the prospect of receiving local TV became a reality.  The Champaign-Urbana Television Dealers Association, being led by WCIA introduced the new appliance to the Champaign-Urbana households by hosting a weekend trade show like event at the Urbana Armory.  Each dealer had a booth in which they could display their models.  Television's with names like Arvin, Majestic, Hoffman, DuMont, Sentinel, Columbia, Motorola, joined brands known today like RCA, Philco, Zenith, Sylvania, Emerson and Admiral at the dealer's booths.  I would bet that most of not all were manufactured right here in the USA.  WCIA also gave a demonstration of just how attendees would look on TV by setting up a camera with a closed circuit "broadcast" within the confines of the Armory.  The event attracted thousands, with a newspaper account naming the east central Illinois and west central Indiana communties which were represented at the show.   It appeared that the advent of the TV age was coming into Central Illinois with a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement!

This was an ad for the C-U Television Dealers Association's TV Show Trade Show which took place at the Urbana Armory in early November of 1953.  This lists most of the local TV dealers which sprang up in the
Champaign-Urbana area at the time.
"What's new in TV?  What's best for me?  What kind of installation?  Should I buy now?  What programs will I get?"  Think about it, with TV prices at around
200-400 dollars, most family incomes were only around $50 a week.  What could you afford if TV's were 6 times your weekly salary?
A live demonstration of TV was a real crowd pleaser at the Armory for the TV Show,
sponsored by the C-U Television
Dealers Association.  The set up was provided by WCIA which signed on during the weekend.
Along with the TV dealers and brands represented, there were also dealers who dealt in TV antenna's, towers, roof mount masts and the like.  They sold amplifiers, also known as "boosters" which help to bring in those distant stations.  Both the Champaign-Urbana Couriers and the News-Gazette listed the programming of the Chicago and Indianapolis stations.  A viewer in the C-U area would have needed quite an array of an atenna to bring in those distant stations to any kind of reliable regularity.  You could probably add a couple of hundred dollars for most antenna systems, although I'm sure that most viewers depended on the "rabbit ears" indoor antennas.  That would limit any viewing to probably just WCIA.  Even reception from WTVP in Decatur and WDAN-TV in Danville would've required an outdoor antenna, with a rotator to aim the directional antennas toward the station's tower/antenna. 
(all images above are from the Champaign-Urbana Courier)



(from the Champaign-Urbana Courier)

(Left) Is a summary of the local TV scene from November of 1953 listing the statis of the central Illinois stations as they came on the air.  WCIA was  the only VHF station in the listing.
WTVP(WAND) was the first to sign on in August of 1953 and the only station on the air when this was published.  Note the statis of WDAN-TV, which had a target date of December 10th(actually happened a week or so later).   WBLN-TV was scheduled to go on the air at about the same time(Right now, it's unknown when WBLN signed on).

The list also included another station which ultimately didn't go on the air at all.  That would have put C-U's first UHF station on the air from a transmitter site near Mahomet at Channel 21.  Champaign-Urbana would have to wait 7 years for their first UHF station when WCHU signed on at Channel 33.
 (from the Champaign-Urbana Courier)


(from the Champaign-Urbana Courier)
(Left) is the story of the ill-fated Champaign-Urbana TV station which was proposed at Channel 21.  The owners of Champaign-Urbana Television Inc. were
headed by a group of University of Illinois professors of journalism and electrical engineering, even though the real money behind the effort came from a group of
New York realtors.  Among the names listed was Phillip Zimmerly "the local spokesperson for the firm." who
said,"that it would join WCIA-TV on the air in the near future."  Although it never did. 
From the article:  "Proposed station plans are to show both local live shows and also shows of national networks, although no network affiliation has been contracted yet.  Zimmerly reponded that the station
hopes to get one of the first color transmitters."




(Left) Here the article from the Champaign-Urbana Courier says that the WDAN-TV plans a December 10th, 1953 sign-on.  The article quoted Robert Burrow, Manager.   It stated that the crew has begun work on the new 400-foot AM/TV tower of the stations.  Meanwhile, WBLN in Bloominton had plans to begin transmitting the following week.








(left) The cameras weren't actually from WTVP,
although Channel 17 did broadcast the first U of I Illini Basketball game in December of 1953.  The camera's pictured were owned by the U of I Communications Department which produced the broadcast carried on the Decatur station.  

(Left below) The ad in the Champaign-Urbana Courier which ran as a promotion of the broadcast.  The game was with Butler University of Indianapolis playing against the Illini  at Huff Arena.

Additional note: Notice the ad for WKID radio, 1580AM in Champaign-Urbana.
(Above)Another article from the Champaign-Urbana
Courier which read, "A fourth area TV station goes on theair today when WDAN-TV, channel 24 offer the ABC network program, "Super Circus."  The  station at present is offering ABC network  programing exclusively for the next two weeks, and
will carry both commercial and sustaining shows. 
Between network shows the staion will show only it's test pattern."  Why?  Because of equipment installation problems which kept WDAN from any local origination.  The station was a prime example of "operating on the cheap" which kept it from
becoming a success over the years. 





The TV set shown above is a 1950 Zenith Porthole TV.
I inherited one just like it many years ago, and kept it in my
personal collection until just a few years ago, when I
donated it to the Vermilion County Museum.
The last time I visited the museum, it was on display.
Check it out at the Vermilion County Museum in Danville, Illiinois.






NEWSPAPER POLITICS---Comments by the Author....
In researching the local Champaign-Urbana newspapers for details about the sign-on of WCIA and WCHU it became obvious that the News-Gazette virtually ignored the news generated by the sign-on of WCHU, while the sign-on of WCIA 7 years earlier received maximum exposure.  Obviously the ownership issue was at play here, as members of the board of the N-G were also stock holders at Midwest TV and WCIA in the early days. Although, after 1955, outside of the occasional "off the air due to technical difficulties" stories, the most  favorable news of WCIA seemed to be ommitted in the News-Gazette as well. 
Perhaps WCIA was cutting into the profits of the N-G and WDWS.  But the N-G's media slant was even more obvious when looking at the listings of local radio.  The News-Gazette being the owner of WDWS radio, carried a full listing of programming of both the AM and FMstations, meanwhile the listings of thenewspaper competitor, the Urbana Courier only covered the local radio listings of WKID(1580-AM).  Other than that, the Courier seemed to be the most objective in their coverage of  the local television media.  It's that coverage which has been the basis of most of the information here.


Early Television and the Fighting Illini

The first University of Illinois "Fighting Illini" basketball game was telecast on WTVP in Decatur on December 9, 1953 as Butler University visited Huff Gym.   The reason it was broadcast first on the Decatur station isn't real clear, but it wasn't long before WCIA began broadcasting the games as well.  WCIA's first Illini game was on December 12, 1953.  It's also assumed that this was not an exclusive arrangement like today, because arrangements were also made for future basketball broadcasts of the Illini on WTVP.   It was reported that a portable microwave tower and repeater which was used to relay the Illini Football games to Danville and the coaxial network cable which sent the signal to Chicago and the network switchboard there was moved from it's location about 3 miles southeast of Ogden, Illinois, to it's new location 2 miles north and  1 mile west of Bement, Illinois.  The tower height was 78-feet originally, but after it was moved to Bement it was extended further to 102-feet.  Another relay system was located either on the Citizen's Bank Building in downtown Decatur or atop the Staley Manufacturing Office Building on Eldorado Street in Decatur.  It appears that the relay site in Decatur was not yet determined, and it's unknown where it ultimately ended up.  From either of these locations, the signal was relayed again to the receiver on the broadcast tower of WTVP on Southside Drive in Decatur.  The audio for the games was sent via phone lines.  The video for the games was provided by the University of Illinois Motion Picture and Television Unit, while the local stations provided their own announcers and audio. 

Earlier on December 5th of 1953, WCIA announced it would broadcast a total of 10 home games.  It's unknown how many games were broadcast by WTVP, plus it's unknown how many were actually simulcast by both WTVP and WCIA.  During the first game broadcast on WCIA just a few nights later, WCIA was hit by an unfortunate transmitter problem which knocked their audio transmitter off the air.  The station lost audio during the first quarter of the game, due to mice eating through some wiring and shorting out a fillament relay in the 250,000 watt audio transmitter.  It was also reported by the News-Gazette(who also owns WDWS radio), that many viewers used the audio of Larry Stewart(the sports announcer) on WDWS radio.





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updated  9/21/2008
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