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 "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,
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
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
(Above)Another article from
the Champaign-Urbana
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,
o utside
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.
