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


 
WCIA, Channel 3, Champaign, Illinois
 
Part 1 The Early Years...(1953-1960)


Pictured is the groundbreaking of WCIA's tower and transmitter at their initial location near White Heath, although the tower wasn't contructed here.  Find out why in the text below. 

Pictured on the left photo(left to right)  Henry Kaiser, President of Monticello Chamber of Commerce; Francis Anderson, Mayor of Monticello; Luella and Eddie McCartney, children of Dean McCartney(just outside the picture range at far left); Mrs. McCartney, Mrs. August Meyer; Mr August C. Meyer, President of Midwest Television(with shovel); J.C. Vinson, President of White Heath Community Club; also just outside the picture on the right was C.G. Holforty, President of First State Bank of Monticello.
Standing left: Merrill Lindsey, Board Member(representing the former Illinois Broadcast Company); F.R. White, Manager of White Heath Grain Company; Cloy Rudisaill, landowner. 
Kneeling are Rev. A.R. Cartlidge, Board Member(placed on the board by request of Helen M. Stevick and daughter Marajen Chinigo(of the Champaign News-Gazette and WDWS Radio)) ; Harold Davis of the Archetectural Firm of Royer and Davis; August C. Meyer, President of Midwest Television(in background), Russell O. Derby, Board Member, Robert Showalter, Monticello Attorney an C.G. Hofforty, President of First State Bank of Monticello.  Both pictures were published in the June 4, 1953 edition of the Urbana Courier Newspaper.




WCIA 1953 Ad
WCIA's Beginnings....

Channel 3, WCIA was the third of the original five Central Illinois Stations having signed-on  November 14, 1953 from studios on South Neil Street in Champaign.  It was also the first and only commercial VHF station in central Illinois.  Midwest Television was the original owner from 1953 to 2000, when it was sold to Nextar with several very controversial changes in staffing.  The fact is, WCIA was/is an influential part of Central Illinois like no other newspaper, radio station or TV station was or ever has been.

1953....it was a time in which the newspapers in Springfield, Decatur, Champaign-Urbana and Danville served their individual communities but not much beyond.  This was many years before the linking of these communities by Interstate 74.    To travel between Springfield and Danville, for example, the journey took you along U.S. 36, IL 48, 47 and 10, then to U.S. 150.  Traveling the market was not an easy chore along the two lane highways of central Illinois at thet time.  In fact Champaign-Urbana and Danville had more in common with Bloomington and Peoria being linked directly along U.S. 150 than with the larger towns to the west which were linked by U.S. 36.  Without getting into the socioeconomic make up of each of the cities it's safe to say that Springfield was about as opposite to Decatur as any two cities could be, while the same could be said about Champaign-Urbana and Danville.  It just so happened that the opposite cities were grouped together at opposite east-west ends in central Illinois.  The one common denominator was the vastness of the prairie and the rich black farmland which stretched across central Illinois east of the Illinois River.  This  made agriculture the major industry of the region.  


Before WICA went on the air, let us go back to September of 1948, when the F.C.C. halted any further allocation of television station licences.  At that point there were 108 TV stations on the air.  This "freeze" put an end to any new TV stations in the U.S. while, other than the ones which were already under construction.  The freeze allowed the F.C.C. to work out a formula allowing television stations to broadcast on the UHF band, in spite of the fact that there were no UHF transmitters designed or being built, and no TV receivers designed or built to receive the stations.  With very little testing, the F.C.C. decided to begin allocating UHF stations once the freeze was lifted.  This plan would allow for placement of VHF stations on those grandfathered in, and allow for other VHF stations to be added to major markets, while allocating UHF stations to smaller towns and communities.  The number of stations per community would depend on the population of that community.  Los Angeles and New York were granted 7 VHF stations and a maximum of 4 VHF stations in other secondary markets.  The separation of the same channel was based on 170 miles.



This ruling put stations broadcasting on the VHF band in a far advantage for success no matter what size market they were located, compared to that of their UHF competitors.  Again, consider that there were very few TV sets equiped to received UHF broadcasts.  Also, the larger more important TV networks were the ones in demand by local TV stations, and put those stations affiliated with CBS and NBC at an advantage, along with being the only VHF stations in the markets.  This put DuMont and ABC at a distinct disadvantage.  WCIA would benefit from this situation for years....but it was not without challeges.

Much like with the cities' newspapers, the coverage area of the newly assigned area UHF TV stations were limited to much smaller geographic areas.   WCIA was a different animal.  It's position at VHF Channel 3 made it inherently possible to cover much of the area from Springfield, Illinois to Covington, Indiana from the west to the east, and from Effingham to Kankakee from the south to the north.

(from Champaign-Urbana Courier)

(from Champaign-Urbana Courier)
 Being the only VHF station in the market, allowed WCIA to cover such a vast area like none of the other TV stations in Springfield, Decatur, Bloomington or Danville could.  There would be no other VHF allocations available in central Illinois.  While, early allocation tables allowed for Channel 2 in Springfield and Channel 8 in Peoria, those were never granted.  In fact, they were moved....as Channel 2 went to St. Louis and Channel 8 was moved to Moline, Illinois.  That was part of a plan to give Chicago more than it's share of dedicated VHF signals.  Other VHF allocations from surrounding markets around Chicago were reduced to move them to the Windy City to give them a 6 VHF stations.   It could have been because there was a Democrat in the White House, while Chicago was a very Democratic city.

Challenges to WCIA

There were at least two efforts taken by the other two leading stations in the market to change the dial position of WCIA from being the only VHFat channel 3 to a UHF channel, which would have probably been channel 27.  By changing from VHF to a UHF channel, it would have given WCIA a coverage area much like that of WICS(in Springfield) and WTVP(in Decatur). 

Beginning in 1957 there were actions being taken by the FCC to classify the entire market as "only UHF", triggered by the efforts of the Springfield and Decatur competitors.  The proposal was fought by WCIA to remain on VHF channel 3.  After several months of haggling and WCIA's public campaign threatning the loss of signal to nearly 150,000 viewers if it was to shift to a UHF channel, the FCC finally decided to make this market a VHF-UHF market during the spring of 1958. 

Another challenge was made during the early 1960's when the FCC proposed once again to make the market an all UHF market.  After much campaigning, helping to arrange community protests and getting the support of CBS the FCC eventually approved the "deintermixture"of the market to include both VHF and UHF stations.  The passing of the FCC all channel receiver law help save WCIA from making the switch to UHF.  It appeared that the inclusion of an all channel television receiver would somehow make all channels "equal" thus giving no station a dominant dial position.  WCIA, Channel 3 was pronounced "saved" in September of 1962.  This decision ultimately created a VHF "superstation" in the market for WCIA and forced the other UHF stations to remain relatively local in coverage areas for years.  It wasn't until the developement of high powered UHF transmitters and the use of extraordinarily tall broadcast towers in the 1970's that made the coverage areas of some UHF stations even come close to that of the VHF stations.  These high powered UHF transmitters, though, were very costly to operate, a fact which continues to be an unfair cost of doing business for these stations.

If the other major stations, WTVP and WICS, in the market had anything to do with the two challenges by the FCC to move WCIA into the UHF band, it wasn't the first time they had challenged WCIA.  The first challenge was undertaken early in 1953 by Prairie Broadcasting, WTVP(Channel 17) in Decatur when WCIA was under construction.  The original tower site was located north of White Heath on what was determined to be one of the highest points in central Illinois(see the ground breaking pictures at the top of this page).  The concrete footings were poured for the tower and the guy wire supports when WTVP filed with the FCC against WCIA alleging "invasion and encroachment" of it's territory.  To avoid delays in the construction, another site was chosen which engineers determined would be a minimal change in the proposed coverage area .  That site was the current tower site of WCIA near Seymour along Illinois route 10 west of Champaign.   The 1,000 foot tower and antenna  was completed on Monday, October 26, 1953 and was pitched as the tallest structure in downstate, possibly the entire state of Illinois.  The microwave tower at the rear of the studio at 509 South Neil was completed the same day.  That tower would help send the signal of WCIA from the studio to the transmitter site at Seymour.

The FCC approved the licence on February 26, 1953, but before it was awarded to Midwest TV, there was an incredibly smart move by Midwest TV to eliminate another applicant for Channel 3 by the Illinois Broadcast Company.  The Illinois Broadcast Company filed for the station on June 26, 1952 and proposed a broadcast tower at the southeast corner of Florida and Kirby in Urbana, Illinois.  A few days later on June 29, 1952, Midwest TV filed for the station proposing a broadcast tower 2.4 miles northwest of Champaign.  In order to avoid what would surely be a long drawn out series of hearings to award the licence, August C. Meyer, the President of Midwest offered a 20 percent stake in Midwest TV to the investors of the Illinois Broadcast Company.   An agreement was made with the other applicant and Midwest TV was formed.  The board of directors were as follows:  Mr. and Mrs. August C. Meyer, Merrill Lindsey(representing Illinois Broadcast Company), R.O. Derby(a C-U business man) and  Reverend A. Ray Cartlidge(of the First Presbyterian Church of Champaign).  The Rev. Cartlidge held the seat by request of Helen M. Stevick and daughter Marajen Chinigo(of the Champaign News-Gazette and WDWS Radio).  Mr. and Mrs. August Meyer held controlling interest at 51%.

Also at about the same time the license for Channel 3 was awarded there was another request for another Champaign TV station.  Champaign-Urbana Television Inc. filed a construction permit to establish a TV station on Channel 21.  Phillip Zimmerly, a spokesperson for the company, "hoped to join WCIA-TV in the near future" and applauded the TV dealers in the Twin Cities to pitch the advantage of having both VHF and UHF tuners to their customers.  C-U Television Inc. had proposed a 700-foot tower with a 50-foot antenna north of U.S. 150 and east of the Lake of the Woods road.  The key organizer of the group was Dallas Smyth, Professor of Economics and Communication Research at the U of I.  Other investors include: David F. Holshouser, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering; Vernon Fryburger, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Communications while controlling stock was owned by a group of New York realtors.  The group also hoped to be the station with the first color transmitter in the market, although no projected on-air date was stated.  More on this proposed C-U competitor in The Others.

During 1953 the staff began to assemble.  The first General Manager was Harry Maynard, who came to Champaign from KTLA(TV) in Los Angeles.  There he was Sales Manager, but his background included working at ad agency Batten, Baren, Durstine and Osbourn in Hollywood, as well as a staff assistant director with Warner Brothers, Paramount and Selznick film studios.  He was also a Marine in WWII.  His wife was the former Joan Casgrove and they had three daughters, Mary Sue(12), Julie Ann(10) and Sally Joan(8).  He graduated from San Jose State Normal College.  He started in June of 1953.   Other staffers included: James Fielding-Production Manager; Fred A. Sorenson-News Editor; Lou Martz-Sales; Martha Meyers-Office Manager; Geroge Pienderleith-Film Director; Allen Doyle-Engineering Staff; Robert Meyer-Assistant Chief Engineer; M.D. Hunnicutt Jr.-Chief Engineer; Guy Main-Commercial Manager; William Stinson-Art Director; John Ketterer-Music Director; Jerry F. Drake-Engineering Staff; Kenneith O. Fristoe-Engineering Staff; Carle W. St. John-Engineering Staff; Nancy Hill-Engineering Staff and Leonard Davis-Publicity Director.



Here WCIA anounces it's programming for the first week of broadcasting, mid November 1953.
(from Champaign-Urbana Courier)
 Here in the land of agriculture, farm programming was very important.
(from Champaign-Urbana Courier)

Everything Pointed to November 14, 1953

From the time of the granting of the licence in February 26, 1953 to the sign on of  WCIA, Midwest Television built the station in less than nine months!  That also included the last minute relocation of the tower site from White Heath to Seymour.  From the announcement of the new General Manager, to the various stages of construction, it appeared to go like well organized clock work.  If a goal was to have something acheived in a set number of weeks on a particular day, the goal was met on time.  Also during 1953 work had to be completed on a microwave system which would enable WCIA to receive network programming from Danville.


Here is a shot of the control room and studio of
WCIA right before sign-on in November of 1953.
(from Champaign-Urbana Courier)

It seemed that a major AT and T coaxial cable passed through Danville and not Champaign.  This coaxial cable linked Chicago with Terre Haute, Indiana and St. Louis.  Network programming would have to be switched in Danville by AT and T at specified times to feed CBS, DuMont or NBC programming to WCIA via a microwave relay system between Danville and Champaign.  Another relay tower was constructed by AT and T near St. Joseph(it was the old twin tower microwave tower just to the north of I-74, that was removed during the mid-late 90's) to relay the signal from the AT and T office tower in Danville to another receiving dish on top of the Inman Hotel in downtown Champaign.  From there it was cabled to 509 South Neil and the studios.  This would end up being a technical nightmare for WCIA which would bring CBS in to rectify the situation.  

The sign-on date for WICA was set even before some major equipment was installed and other construction projects were completed.  The sign-on date was also planned to coincide with a huge public introduction of television at a "TV Show" which would include TVdealers from the Champaign area as well as WCIA.  More on that later.  The sign-on date was set weeks in advance even down to the exact time, 10:45AM, Saturday, November 14, 1953. 

The first day of broadcasting on that November 14th included a short 15-minute film "Round South America"(a travel log), followed by the first CBS show "Big Top"(circus show for kids) and a local presentation of the western movie "Trail of the Silver Spur".  A test pattern followed from 1pm to 5:45pm, when programming resumed with a formal live welcome with community leaders until 6PM when the movie "Overland Trail" was broadcast ahead of the CBS primetime schedule beginning  with "The Jackie Gleason Show," "Two for the Money," and WCIA's first network rerun, an episode of "Amos and Andy."
Adding NBC to the Network Lineup

On December 4, 1953, WCIA announced it had signed a secondary affiliation agreement with NBC as station owner August Meyer returned from New York.  The first NBC program broadcast was the Notre-Dame and Southern Methodist Football game which ran the following Saturday afternoon at 12:45pm.  Negotiations were underway to add further NBC shows such as "The Voice of Firestone," "Dragnet," "Dave Garoway Show," "Ethyl and Albert" and "Television Playhouse."  It was reported that sponsors operate on quarterly budgets and some shows might not be added until the next 13 week cycle.  Remember, most TV shows at the time were actually info-mercials, in that the program and talent were owned by the advertising agency producing the show for it's sponsor client.  They in turn were under contract with the networks which provided them an outlet for their commercials and their programs.  They would pay the networks....and the networks would pay the local stations for air time.  With the addition of NBC, WCIA had almost a monopoly on the most popular networks with it's agreements with CBS, DuMont and now NBC.  Again, their VHF coverage area came into play, as the increased coverage area brought higher network compensation to WCIA.  TV listings of WCIA from time to time during the early days also included airing of some ABC shows, such as "The Advetures of Ozzie and Harriet!"   It appears that the ad agency, probably with the Kodak account, which sponsored the series at the time and owned "Ozzie and Harriet" saw more benefit being on the air waves of WCIA than ABC's own affilaite, WTVP!


One of the only "snags" in the sign on of WCIA was a problem with the audio transmitter.
(from Champaign-Urbana Courier)
 Newspaper photo of a studio rehersal at WCIA's studios from 1953.

(from Champaign-Urbana Courier)

WCIA Broadcast Schedule from June 11, 1954
7:00AM-   The Morning Show-The Baird puppets
9:00AM-   Test Pattern
10:00AM-  Film
10:30AM-  Strike it Rich-game(CBS-game show)
11:00AM-  Film
11:30AM-  Search for Tomorrow-(CBS-daytime drama)
11:45AM-  Film
12:30PM-  Rural Report
12:45PM-  University of Illinois Program
1:00PM-    Film
1:30PM-    Art Linkletter's House Party-Guest:    
family counselor Paul Popence(CBS-game/talk/variety show)
2:00PM-    The Big Payoff-game(CBS-game show)
2:30PM-    Film
3:00PM-    Welcome Travelers-Tommy Bartlett
3:30PM-    On Your Account-game(CBS-game show)
4:00PM-    Happy Home-Find ways to use Fresh Pineapple-DiAnne
4:30PM-    University of Illinois
4:45PM-    Western Theater		 5:45PM-    Cartoon Time(see above picture)
6:00PM-    Captain Video(DuMont-kids sci-fi show)
6:15PM-    Hammond Music Room
6:30PM-    Newsreel-Fred Soronsen
6:45PM-    Jack Prowell Sports
7:00PM-    Crown Theater(unknown program and source)
7:30PM-    Topper(CBS)
8:00PM-    Life Begins at 80-Comedian Larry Storch entertains regular panelists Fred Stein and Georgiana Carhart.  Jack Barry moderates.(DuMont)
8:30PM-    Original Amateur Hour(NBC-kinescope)
9:00PM-    My Friend Irma-Al brings a former school chum of Irma's to dinner.   Marie Wilson, Mary Shipp.(CBS-filmed sitcom)
9:30PM-    Schlitz Playhouse of Stars-Anita Colby(CBS)
10:00PM-  News Final-Fred Soronsen
10:05PM-  Weather Vane-Mr. Roberts
10:10PM-  Sports Report-Fred Soronsen
10:15PM-  Masterpiece Theater(assumed it was a late movie-local origination)
11:30PM-  Film Commercial


The Heritage of WCIA

WCIA set the standard for broadcasting in Central Illinois for most of it's broadcast history.  It's approach to news and programming was one with the region in mind, as opposed to being a local broadcast service.  The coverage area of WCIA included 41 counties in central Illinois and west central Indiana, with a population of more than 1.5 million people.  It's location in Champaign, home of the University of Illinois gave it a natural programming, labor and revenue source.  It was so exciting that over 41% of the homes in central Illinois had TV by 1954!  Champaign News-Gazette accounts read, "Television set owners.....will have little difficulty in receiving WCIA's signal from it's 1000 foot tower at Seymour.  The new channel 3 station will operate on maximum power at maximum tower height allowed by the Federal Communications Commission."  The tower of WCIA is actually 880 feet tall with the remaining 120 feet being the antenna itself.








Click on real audio icon or CBS logo for video


 The CBS "eye" used in the early 1950's to close out every CBS show.  It was unveiled on September 20, 1951 and developed by William Golden, Creative Director, CBS, Advertising and Sales Promotion Department.  It was originally to be used only during Network identification during station breaks.
 		WCIA carried a few NBC shows from 1953 to 1960.

Click on real audio icon or NBC logo for video



 		WCIA was a DuMont affiliate in the early 1950's  which added very little to the schedule. 
"Amos and Andy" was part of the CBS schedule on the first day of broadcasting on WCIA, November 14, 1953.  The first day included "The Jackie Gleason Show, " "Two for the Money" and "Amos and Andy."  "Amos and Andy" was WCIA's first rerun, even though it wasn't seen originally.  The show's last original episode was seen in June of 1953 on CBS, before WCIA signed on.

"The Adventures of Superman" ran on WCIA in 1954 through at least 1958  WCIA chose to run 30-minute syndicated adventure shows at 6pm, followed by 30-minutes of local news, preempting the 6:30PM CBS programs, which were then picked up by WTVP.  Other syndicated shows at 6PM included "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon,""Brave Eagle" and "Rin Tin Tin."  Among the sponsors who names were tied to these shows include Kellogg's on "Superman" and Quaker Oats on "Sgt. Preston."  It's unknown who the major sponsors were for the other syndicated shows. 
"The Colgate Comedy Hour" was a big budget comedy/variety series which  ran on NBC from 1950 to 1955 and was featured on WCIA.  Hosts included: Eddie Cantor, Martin and Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Abbott and Costello, Bob Hope and others during it's run.
 		"Mama" was one of CBS' original shows having premiered in 1949.  It continued to be a part of the CBS schedule on Friday nights as an occasional series(having rotated with others) at 7pm CT.  It starred Peggy Wood as "Mama" Hansen.  Dick Van Patten, the father on ABC's" Eight is Enough" was a child star at the time and starred in the role of Nels

"The Toast of the Town" later called "The Ed Sullivan Show" was an American Institution from the 50's through the 70's.  A variety show which introduced the US to Elvis, the Beatles as well as featured opera singers, broadway cast numbers, jugglers, animal acts, ballet, showgirl numbers, comedy and so much more.

"Portia Faces Life" began on NBC radio and aired on CBS TV from 1954 to 1955.  It starred Francis Reed(later on Days of Our Lives) as Portia Blake Manning.  Francis Reed was replaced later by Fran Carlton and the show was renamed "The Inner Flame."
CBS had a near monopoly on the Top Shows of the era.  Certainly WCIA had the right idea when the negotiation for network affiliation was done.  Among the top rated shows of the era included "George Burns and Gracie Allen" which ran on CBS from 1950 to 1958.  The first two years shows were produced live but went to a filmed show in 1952.  The title grahic is shown left.  One of the original "shows about nothing."
The graphic on the right was from the show after it was a filmed series.  Many times George would turn to the camera and address the audience with cigar in hand after some silly thing that Gracie would say.  This show also had the "show about nothing" attitude and based many episodes on some little thing which happened to Gracie.  Sponsors included Carnation Instant Dry Milk which showed up many times as set decoration in the sponsored episode


"The Lucky Strike Program starring Jack Benny" began on CBS TV while Jack was still starring in his long running radio show.  This one had to be the model for Seinfeld many years later.  Many times it was a show within a show featuring a great supporting cast.  This one ran from 1950 through 1964 on CBS and spent 1965 on NBC.  "The Jack Benny Show" was a Sunday night tradition for years on CBS radio and then on TV.  During most of it's run through the 50's, the show was only seen on alternate weeks, and didn't go everyweek until 1960.  One note, CBS brought back several classic episodes of "The Jack Benny Show" as a tribute during the summer of 1977


(photo left) Jack Benny(right) and Mel Blanc with the famous "Si, Sye, Sue" routine on the "Jack Benny Show." If you've never seen it, it's a classic comedy routine that displays Benny's great comedy timing.  In my opinion, and that of many others Jack Benny was a comic genius!  Mel Blanc, by the way, was the voice of many of the Warner Brothers cartoon greats including "Bugs Bunny," "Daffy Duck," and "Porky Pig.




Below a behind the scenes look at the local news with Fred Sorenson, WCIA's first news editor. 
This is from the WCIA's 50th Anniversary website.

"The Adventrues of Robin Hood" ran on CBS in the 1955 through 1958 seasons.  This was one of the series that aired at 6:30 PM on CBS, but was aired by WTVP, Channel 17(ABC) because it was picked up by the ABC station while WCIA aired it's local news at 6:30 PM weekdays.  Robin Hood was played by Richard Greene.  It was filmed entirely in England.  I include this here on the WCIA site, because reruns of this one also ran on Saturday mornings in 1958-59 on CBS, which WAS aired by WCIA. Based on the "Topper" movies, it starred a man and wife ghost team which would help out the stuffy character of  "Cosmo Topper" played by Leo G. Carroll.  The Ghosts of Marion and George Kirby were played by Anne Jeffreys and Robert Sterling.  It ran on CBS from 1953 to 1956.  Later it was rerun on ABC and NBC.  The series were based on the movie series of the same name.
Giving Kramer on Seinfeld the first name of "Cosmo" might have been a tribute to "Topper."


Walter Cronkite before he would anchor the CBS News.  He was a reporter with CBS at the time and anchored election coverage in the mid 50's.  Here he was hosting an unidentifed awards show for CBS.
 		Beyond the old "Texico Star Theater" hosted by Milton Berle, the "Buick Berle Show" obviously sponsored by Buick ran on NBC in 1953 and 1954 and aired on WCIA.
 		Sid Ceasar and Howard Morris of NBC's "Your Show of Shows."  Howard Morris later starred in the Andy Griffith Show as "Ernest T. Bass" and had a long career as a director of many sit coms.  The theme for this particular scene is never wave a hot dog in front of a hungry man.
 		Sid Ceasar and Imogene Coca togeher on "Your Show of Shows"  If you're a fan of the movie "National Lampoons Vacation" it was Imogene who played the grandmother who went with the Griswalds on vacation.
 		NBC's "Your Show of Shows" starred Sid Ceasar, Imogene Coca, Carle Reiner(creator of the Dick Van Dyke Show), Howard Morris, Bill Hayes(of Days of Our Lives) and was produced by Max Liebman.  Writers included: Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Woody Allen, Lucille Kallen, Larry Gelbart, Mel Tolkin and others.  It ran on NBC Saturday nights from 8-9:30pm CT and was one of the NBC shows which aired on WCIA.



"Dragnet" ran on NBC from 1952 to 1959 in it's first run on network TV after spending a few years on network radio.  Jack Webb played Sgt. Joe Friday with his right hand man played by Barton Yarborough, Barney Phillips, Herb Ellis and Ben Alexander.  A one of a kind series told in a very realistic documentary style.
 		"Dragnet" just one of the many, many TV shows which were ultimately owned by the ad agencies representing major tobacco companies.  Product placement was most of the time pretty obvious many times showing the sponsors product with the closing credits.

NBC used this slide as an opening for many of it's "Specials" seen on WCIA during the 1950's.
 		"Beat the Clock" sponsored by Sylvania Televisions was a CBS audience participation quiz show in which contestants would do silly stunts to win prizes.  It ran on CBS from 1950 to 1958.  It was one of the Mark Goodson and Bill Todman game shows.
 		This show came from network radio and was hosted by Bud Collyer.  He had the patience of a saint when it came to some of these people and was great at ad libbing around their successes or failures in a series of imaginative stunts which contained balloons, whipped cream, jello, marshmellows and custard pies.  He also hosted "To Tell the Truth" on CBS and was the voice of Superman on network radio.




Bob Keeshan was "Captain Kangaroo."  This was one of the first childrens shows on CBS having premiered on October 3, 1955 and ran through 1984 which made it the longest running children show on network TV.  It ran weekday mornings from 8 to 9am and ran from the early 50's through the mid 70's.  This particular graphic was from the very first show!  Note how the Captain changed over the years!  It's also sad that there is no record of many of the earliest broadcasts as they were not recorded(or kinescoped) and produced live.
Captaing Kangaroo also hosted the "J.L. Hudson Department Store's Annual Thanksgiving Parade" at least in 1958 as it was broadcast by ABC and WTVP.
 		Many NBC shows which were produced live were recorded for either the west coast feed by a process called kinescope.   The live broadcast was filmed from a TV screen and shown later.  Many secondary affiliates received films of the previous weeks live broadcast  the next week and would show them later.  Each time that a kenescope was shown, it was followed by this graphic which stated that the program was pre-recorded.  Since the prerecording of programs on radio and television wasn't that favored by the audience who would rather see them live,  this was an alternative way of saying that it was recorded, which was manditory by FCC regulations at the time.  If it wasn't for this process many live shows of the era would have been lost forever, and in fact, most of them have been lost.   If a show wasn't kinescoped it was actually performed again live for the west coast stations and not recorded at all so it would be lost foreever! "The Edge of Night" was one of the daytime serials of CBS radio which made the switch to TV in the 50's.  It ran from the early-mid 50's through the 70's where it moved to ABC for a short run.  It's believed to be one of the daytime serials produced by Proctor and Gamble Productions as a vehicle to advertise it's products.
Other daytime serials included "The Guiding Light" which premiered on June 30, 1952 and became the longest running daytime drama by 2002.
 		"The Honeymooners" ran as a 30-minute sit com from 1955 through 1956.  It's one of the best remembered sit coms in TV history, while having only 39 episodes.  In the early 80's Jackie Gleason released segments of his variety show which were produced live with the Honeymooners cast adding many more episodes.  The original was a skit within the "Jackie Gleason Show" hour long variety show which ran on DuMont and later on CBS.  The Honeymooners were the model for the ABC animated series of the 1960's, "The Flintstones."
 		Art Carney and Jackie Gleason from a "Honeymooners" episode in which Ralph is trying to learn to dance with Norton helping.  This is one of the 39 classic episodes of the one year long series.  This year long collection of "The Honeymooners" were only saved on film by the Electronicam kinescope process designed by the Alan B. DuMont laboratories.  It basically had all of the studio live cameras equiped with 35 mm cameras which would record the entire time on film.  As the director called the shots the Electronicam editor would indicate the camera shot change by making an electronic mark on the film to indicate which camera actually had the live shot.  The film would then be edited to match the original live broadcast.  The practical use of video tape eliminated the use of this system of recording within a short time.




"My Little Margie" was all over the dial having been seen on CBS and NBC during the 1950's.  It was a bit kinky by today's standards, as Margie was always medling in her father's affairs.  Margie was played by Gale Storm and her father Vern was played by Charles Farrell.  This one is unusual because it went to CBS radio after the TV show and the stars kept their roles on radio as well.  It began on CBS TV in 1952, went to NBC in 1952, then back to CBS in 1953 returning to NBC from 1953 to 1955. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" ran on CBS from 1955 through 1965. The theme was based on Bounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette."  Guest directors included: Robert Altman, Sydney Pollack and William Friedkin.  Guest stars included: Robert Redford, Bette Davis, Robert Duvall and Steve McQueen among others.
 		Many episodes broke new ground because it appeared as though the villian would come out ahead, but "Hitch" would end the show telling how the evil doer would slip up and get what they deserved.
 		The animated close to many CBS shows in the 50's that were produced at or by CBS.  This is part one in which the iris would open to...
 		show "CBS Television Network."



"Douglas Edwards with the News" was the nightly CBS network newscast.
 Most of the CBS operations originated from the CBS Production Center(now CBS Broadcast Center).  The "Douglas Edwards with the News" was broadcast from offices in Grand Central and occasionally from Liederkranz Hall in New York.




Don McMullin one of the WCIA newscasters of the 1950's after Fred Sorenson left the station  the first time in 1955..  Any guess what the sponsor was?   The point is that WCIA had the coverage area over the entire market which made it possible to attract national ad dollars like the other smaller UHF stations couldn't.  At the time, the Springfield, Decatur, Champaign-Urbana and Danville market was in the 40's in size to other TV markets.  Now it's in the 80's.
This is from the WCIA's 50th Anniversary website.


"Sky King" was a contemporary western which starred "the Song Bird" a twin engine Cessna, along with Kirby Grant as Sky King, his neice Penny(Gloria Winters) and nephew Clipper(Ron Hagerthy).  This one was all over the weekend schedule having been originally seen on ABC, it showed up on Saturday mornings on CBS(where I was a big fan), and NBC on Saturday afternoons for a while.  Sky King was sponsored by "Nabisco-The National Biscuit Company" "Our Miss Brooks" aired on CBS as a regular Friday night staple from 1952 through 1956.  It starred Eve Arden and Connie Brooks, english teacher at Madison High School.  Supporting cast included Gale Gordon(Mr. Mooney on Lucy), Richard "Dick" Crenna(later of "The Real McCoys" and the movie "Rambo"), Robert Rockwell, Gloria McMillan and even Gene Barry(of "Bat Masterson" and  NBCs "The Name of the Game").  This show originated on CBS radio in the 40's and was heard on CBS radio with just about the same cast.
 		"The Bob Cummings Show" sponsored by Winston cigarettes ran on both NBC and CBS during it's run from 1955 to 1959.  Bob Cummings was a swinging bachelor who was a photographer such as what would have been employed by Playboy.  But keep in mind this was 1950's TV, so they put him in a family situation living with his widowed? sister and her son, played by Dwayne Hickman.  Ann B. Davis played his office assistant who had a secret crush on Cummings, before she became the maid on the Brady Bunch.
 		"Love of Life" was another of the CBS daytime "soap operas" which lasted well beyond it's premiere date.  This one ran from 1951 to 1980.  It was another of the New York produced shows at the CBS Production Center on West 57th and at CBS's Studio 52 right behind the Ed Sullivan Theatre.  One bit of trivia, the Studio 52 was later moved to make room for the construction of a night club which would become Studio 54.  It premiered as a 15 minute show, but expanded to 25 minutes in 1958.  The remaining 5 minutes was taken by CBS news for a news update.
 		This was one of the TV westerns which changed the genre from being kids cowboy heros to real life characters and serious story situations.  "Gunsmoke" premiered on CBS and WCIA in  1955 and ran through 1975.  This was CBS longest running  western and was the last western series left on  the air.  It ran for 20 seasons!  Here is Jim Arness as Marshall Matt Dillon.  Also starred Milburn Stone as Doc, Amanda Blake as Kitty, Dennis Weaver as Chester, Kin Curtis as Festus and Glenn Strange as Sam.  This was another of the CBS shows which came from network radio. 

(Left) Danville native, Dick Van Dyke appeared on several CBS shows during the mid to late 1950's, including a morning show with Walter Cronkite.  Here he is pictured on one of his game shows of the 1950's.
(Right) Johnny Carson hosted a variety-comedy show, "The Johnny Carson Show" during the 1955-56 season on Thursday nights.  He did a lot of the same routines which ended up many years later on "The Tonight Show" for NBC.

 



The WCIA Studios at 509 South Neil in Champaign, the way it looked during the 1950's, before the addition of the front of the building.  Notice the four legged microwave tower at the rear.  The tower still stands. (photo is from the 50th Annivesary website of WCIA)







  
"I Love Lucy" began on CBS in 1951 well before WCIA went on the air, but the show was already successful a a Monday night regular having aired in the 8-8:30pm CT time slot for almost 6 years.  These titles are actually from the syndicated versions of "I Love Lucy."  The original titles ore closely resemble the ones seen on TV Land is visible.  Originally shown was the logo for Phillip Morris Cigarettes, the sponsor.  There's Lucy(upper right) the "first lady of television!"  Also shown (lower right) features William Frawley and Vivian Vance as Freed and Ethyl Mertz, the landlords and friends of the Ricardos.  "I Love Lucy" was also seen in syndication on WCIA on weekday mornings as well as afternoons in the 1950's and 60's.

"The Red Skelton Show" ran on NBC and CBS during the 1950's.  Beginning on NBC in 1951-53, it moved to CBS in September of 1953 where it ran until 1970, then moved to NBC to run for two years.  His theme was called "Holiday for Strings" played by David Rose and his Orchestra which provided the music for the variety/comedy show.  Red featured all of his characters: Clem Kadiddlehopper, Willie Lump-Lump, San Fernando Red, Freddie the Freeloader and others.

"The Red Skelton Show" was sponsored by Johnson's Wax Company.  Johnson's Wax is a family owned company which appreciates it's heritage as sponsors and owners of many hours of radio and TV entertainment.  Along with the Red Skelton Show, Johnson's Wax also sponsored "Fibber McGee and Molly Show" on network radio for years and holds the rights to those shows, but releases them to classic radio shows which run today in syndication and on XM satellite radio.  		"Father Knows Best" cast members (left to right) Elinor Donahue, who played the oldest daughter Betty, Jane Wyatt(also Spocks mother on Star Trek) as Margaret Anderson, and long time film star Robert Young as Jim Anderson the father.  Other cast members included Billy Gray(the young boy on "The Day the Earth Stood Still") and Lauren Chapin; the son and youngest daughter of the clan.  Probably best remembered as the classic wholesome family sitcom. Another of the agency owned TV shows which switched netoworks over the years of it's run. "Father Knows Best" began on CBS in 1954-55, then switched to NBC from 1955 to 1958, went back to CBS in 1958 where it stayed until 1962 when it finished it's run on ABC in 1963.   It's final TV season was the most successful  being ranked at number six for the season in the ratings.  Robert Young grew tired of the role having played Jim Anderson for 11 years on both radio and TV and decided to end the series.
"The Ernie Kovacs Show" was an NBC program which ran as a summer replacement for "Caesar's Hour" during 1956.  Here the TV comic genius who's life was cut so tragically short was playing one of the first "gay" characters on TV Percy Dovetonsils. Walter Cronkite the nation's first "anchor man" as called by CBS producer Don Hewitt.  Walter was the main anchor during the political conventions of the 50's as covered by CBS.
Edward R. Murrow of "See It Now."

The opening scene of "See It Now", called the first of the in depth TV documentary as hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

CBS' "See it Now" aired on CBS from 1952 to 1955.  It established the former radio reporter Edward R. Murrow as the ultimate journalist he was.  On the first telecast the show included a live shot of the Atlantic Ocean followed by a live shot of the Pacific Ocean.   At the time, it was a TV first.  Many firsts were included in this outstanding series from CBS.  The basis of the movie"Good Night and Good Luck."
Edward R. Murrow showed he just wasn't hard news, with "Person to Person" in which he would interview celebrities and newsmakers at their homes.  Here he interviewed Sen John F. Kennedy along with his wife Jackie.  Edward R. Murrow was replaced by Charles Collingwood  beginning in 1959 after Murrow wanted to clear his schedule.  This show aired from 1953-1961. 



Arthur Godfrey alone was credited for 30 percent of all profits made by CBS during his era!  He was the only personality in TV history to host two top rated programs running simultaneously in prime time for an extended run.  His ran for eight and a half seasons!  Plus, he did that while maintaining a daily show on CBS radio as well!

"Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" ran on CBS from 1948 to 1958 and occupied the Monday night slot preceeding "I Love Lucy" from 7:30 to 8pm CT on WCIA.  This was an early version of the typical talent shows of the era(and now for that matter).  People who performed on the show who later became famous included: Tony Bennett, Connie Francis, Rosemary Clooney, Steve Lawrence, Roy Clark, Patsy Cline, The Diamond and others.  It's interesting to note that Elvis and Buddy Holly both flunked auditions for the show!
Danville Illinois' own Dick Van Dyke auditioned for the host of the original NBC game show "The Price is Right."  The job ultimately  went to Bill Cullen.
Above is a rare publicity photo taken during his audition in 1958. 




"The Phil Silver Show" also known as "Bilko" in syndication was on CBS from 1955 to 1959.  It began with the title of "You'll Never Get Rich" but was changed after it's first 8 episodes or so.  A great buddy cast of Phil Silvers, Harvey Lembeck, Herbie Faye, Paul Ford, Joe E. Ross(before Car 54), Allan Melvin(Dick Van Dyke Show characters), Billy Sands(McHales Navy) and others.  The model for the animated ABC series "Top Cat." Art Linkletter, along with Arthur Godfrey, Jackie Gleason, Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Red Skelton, Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore and others were major TV stars which helped build CBS TV into the empire it was during the 50's and 60's.  This picture is from his daytime show "House Party" which was part game show, part talk show and part variety show.  Art  Linkletter also hosted "People Are Funny" on Sunday nights in 1956 on NBC, assuming the same ad agency sponsorship on both programs.  "People Are Funny" was simulcast on WCIA and WICS in Springfield on Sunday nights at 6PM in 1956. "Art Linkletter's House Party" premiered on September 1, 1952 and ran on CBS until November 15, 1968.  It ran weekday afternoons(along with a radio version which ran from 1944 to 1967) and included an interview segment with little kids.  Sometimes what the kids said was quite a surprise to both Linkletter, the audience and the kid's parents!  This segment inspired a series of books penned by Linkletter called "Kids Say the Darndest Things" which were best sellers during the 50's.  This show also included a short game show segment, audience participation segment, interviews and then wrapped up with the kids. "Perry Como" was probably first seen in central Illinois on WCIA as he was part of the CBS schedule when the station went on the air.  Even though he began on NBC in 1948-50, he moved to CBS in 1950 where he stayed until moving back to NBC in 1955.  He was one of the hottest properties in show business at the time with a string of hit records from the 40's and 50's and was already a radio star during the 40's.  One of his trademarks was the use of the music stand with a microphone as he calmly sung one of his easygoing hit songs.
"Lassie" ran on CBS from 1954 to 1971 at the same time period, Sundays from 6-6:30pm CT. During the 1959 season, "Lassie" aired on WTVP while WCIA aired kinescope/film of the ABC series "Zoro."   The series originally starred Tommy Rettig playing Jeff Miller from 1954 to 1957.  In 1957 he was replaced by Jon Provost  playing little Timmy Martin.  Provost continued with the role until 1964 but his episodes are probably the best remembered.   The series did finally end up on WCIA, but it wasn't until after 1960.  Even after it was dropped by CBS the show remained in syndication until the 1970's. "Plymouth, Chryler, DeSoto, Imperial all a part of the 'Forward Look' of the Chrysler Corporation"  I had to include this as it was the sponsor of "Climax." a dramatic anthology series which ran from 1954 to 1958 on CBS and WCIA. "Climax" was hosted by Willaim Lundigan and Mary Costa.  It featured a one hour drama originating from the CBS Television facility in Hollywood before Television City was opened for business.  The first episodes were done live, but later episodes included filmed and video taped presentations.  It was this show in which the original presentation of Casino Royale was presented with James Bond.  Barry Nelson played the first James Bond.  "Climax" aired on Thursday nights from 7:30 to 8:30pm CT. "Perry Mason" ran on CBS from 1957 to 1966.  It began it's run on Saturday nights for the 57-58 season, then was moved to Thursday nights where it remained until the 1965 season when it was changed to Sundays.  This is TV's longest running lawyer series and ran for 9 seasons originally starring Raymond Burr as the Erle Stanley Garner character.  It also ran on CBS radio from 1943 to 1955 and ran 5 days a week with another actor.  The radio show was evolved into another CBS mainstay "The Edge of Night" daytime soap which later moved to TV. Raymond Burr was "Perry Mason."   The series also starred Barbara Hale as Della Street, Willaim Hopper as Paul Drake and Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg.  His character was later replaced by Richard Anderson playing Lt. Drum in the 1965-66 seasons.  One of the most memorable episodes starred a young Dick Clark.  By the way, he did it.
"The $64,000 Challenge" was a spinoff of the successful game show "The $64,000 Question."  The first season it starred Sonny Fox, but was soon replaced by Ralph Story.  The episode I have with Sonny Fox, probably showed  why he was replaced.  His performance began with "Good Welcome Everybody" and went downhill from there.  This spinoff ran from 1956 to 1958. Here's Sonny Fox, the first host of "The $64,000 Challenge" sponsored by Revlon.  Sonny Fox also hosted a kids show in the 60's called "Wonderama" and now works for XM Satellite Radio as host for the adult comedy channel. One of the biggest success stories on this one was with a St. Louis cvil service employee who memorized the encyclopedia and could recall everything in it.  At the end of the series, he had racked up winnings of over $250,000 and was still going.  His name was Teddy Nadler. The "Gene Autry Show" premiered on CBS in 1950 and ran through 1956.  The filmed 30-minute series featured the famous cowboy Gene Autry.





 		The "Danny Thomas Show" moved from ABC to CBS during the 1957-58 season.  Pictured above was the "second wife" of Danny Thomas, played by Marjorie Lord.  She replaced Jean Hagen.  Other cast members included Sherry Jackson, Rusty Hamer and Angela Cartwright(pictured left to right) along with Hans Conried, Sheldon Leonard, Pat Harrington and  Sid Melton.




Dianne Thomas (below) on WCIA's "Happy Home" brought housewives of the 1950's the latest recipes and other houshold hints.
This is from the WCIA's 50th Anniversary website.


"Rawhide", move em' up, head em' out....  starring the great late Eric Flemming as trail boss Gil Favor, a young Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley(country singer and one who recorded "The Purple People Eater")and  Paul Brinegar as Wishbone.
The theme was recorded into a hit record by Frankie Laine and was featured in the "Blues Brothers" movie of 1979. It was written by veteran TV theme writer Dmitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington. 


Clint Eastwood as "Rowdy Yates" one of the cattlemen on "Rawhide" which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1966.  During the last two seasons Eastwood was the sole star, after Eric Fleming died.
 "Leave it to Beaver" originally aired on CBS during the 1957-58 season on Friday nights from 6:30 to 7pm CT.  It did move to ABC the following season where it ran until 1963.  Here 'the Beav' is shown, played by Jerry Mathers.  Other cast members included Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont and Tony Dow.  Supporting players included Ken Osmond, Rusty Stevens, Frank Bank, Richard Deacon and Stephen Talbot.  Books have been written about this series, so I won't go into any other details.

 "Make Room for Daddy" and "The Danny Thomas Show" were one in the same.  The only sitcom in which the mother ever died.  In 1956 the mother played by Jean Hagen quit and was replaced by Marjorie Lord.  "Make Room for Daddy" ran originally on ABC from 1953 to 1957 when "The Danny Thomas Show" moved to CBS in 1957 to 1965.  It was part of the Monday night lineup of CBS being aired from 8-8:30pm CT and 8:30-9pm CT during it's run.  Pictured above is Rusty Haver(who committed suicide in the 70's), Marjorie Lord, Danny Thomas and Sherry Jackson(the oldest daughter).  Others included Angela Cartwright(from "Lost in Space"), Sid Melton, Hans Conried, Sheldon Leonard, Pat Harrington Jr.(of "One Day at a Time"), Pat Carroll, and Jesse White(the Maytag Repairman)





Mr. Roberts (below) was WCIA's first weathercaster from November 15th, 1953 through the 1970's. His early segments were called "The Weather Vane." (Photo from WICA's 50th Anniversary Website)


Garry Moore one of the CBSs stable of performers who did several series at the same time.  This one is "I've Got a Secret" which ran on CBS from 1952 to 1967.  Garry Moore hosted all of the shows except from the 1964 to 1967 season, in which Steve Allen stepped in.  Panelists included Orson Bean, Bill Cullen, Kitty Carlisle, Henry Morgan, Jayne Meadows, Betsy Palmer, Bess Myerson and Faye Emerson.  In this particular graphic the guest actually witnessed the assassination of President Lincoln.  It was up to the panelists to ask him questionsthen guess that was his secret. "Bat Masterson" premiered on NBC in October of 1958 and ran until 1961.  It was included as part of the schedule of WCIA until WCHU went on the air in 1959. "The Ann Southern Show" ran on CBS from 1958 to 1961.  She played Katy O'Connor an assistant to the manager of a New  York hotel.  The series also starred Don Porter(of "Gidget") and Ken Barry(of "Mayberry RFD", "Carol Burnet Show" and "Mama's Family").  This aired on CBS Thursdays.  It was produced by Desilu Productions.  Ann Southern later starred in "My Mother the Car" in which she did the voice of the Jerry Van Dykes car.


"The Lucky Strike Hit Parade" originally aired on NBC from 1950 to 58, but moved to CBS in 1958 to 1959.  This had been featured on radio since 1935 and was a musical variety show in which a regualar cast would perform and sing the current hits of the day.  Cast members included Snooky Lanson, Dorothy Collins, Russell Arms, Gisele MacKenzie, Johnny Desmond and others.  With the incoming rock and roll era, the show didn't lend itself well to the top songs of the day and was cancelled by CBS. "Password", the word association game aired on CBS daytime as well as prime time beginning in 1962.  Hosted by Alan Ludden.  It premiered in daytime in October of 1961 where it remained until 1967.  It also ran in syndication from 1967 to 1969, later ran on ABC from 1969 to 1975, then on NBC from 1979 to 1982.  Ludden suffered a stroke in 1980 and died in 1981.  During that time he was replaced by Tom Kennedy.  NBC revived the show in 1984 with the name of "Super Password" with Burt Convy.  Ludden was the husband of Betty White.
 The "Lucy-Desi Co