WCIA Champaign(the 90's to the present)

WCIA, Channel 3, Champaign, Illinois

Page 4: The end of the Midwest TV era, beginning of Nexstar(2000-present)

Since the late 90's, the competitive playing field has leveled somewhat with an aging audience, and the advantages of being CBS and the only VHF being only a memory with the advent of cable as well as other competitors has changed the landscape of Central Illinois television.

In April of 2002 WCIA utilized it's Springfield full power satellite station to bring central Illinois viewers programming from the UPN network. This action left many central Illinois viewers without CBS programming who relied on WCFN-channel 49's simulcast of WCIA. When the stations converted to digital broadcasting in 2002, the multichannel digital service on both sides of the market(Springfield and Champaign) broadcast programming services of CBS-WCIA and UPN-WCFN on both signals. This allowed cable head-ends equipped with digital receivers to receive and send both services to subscribers. So, again, one of the last TV stations in the market to go stereo on it's analog channel is once again technologically behind the times in positioning itself to be one of the last stations to broadcast in HDTV.

WCIA finally achieved full power digital operation, but not without problems for some viewers. Several problems with the digital data stream caused several problems with video and audio distortions for nearby viewers who received the signal from their own antenna. There have also been several technical problems for those who received WCIA-DT from local cable companies as well. The cost for the digital upgrade had been estimated at over $2-million for the Seymour tower and just under $2-million for Springfield. Nexstar has continued to stall out the full power digital conversion for the Springfield station, beyond transmitting a low power signal from their WCFN transmitter east of Springfield. WCFN-DT broadcasts it's channel 49-MyTV signal as 49.1, and WCIA's digital signal(both standard and hi-def) on 49.2. One of the requests for FCC permission to delay the conversion stated that the company did not have the funds, or could obtain them by loans to complete the project, and that the conversion, when it was done, would be funded through normal cash flow.

Jerry Slabe and Marta Carreira-Slabe vs. Nextar: Nearing the end

A long running legal battle between former WCIA anchors Jerry Slabe and Marta Carreira-Slabe came to some conclusion in March of 2008. The legal fight goes back to 2000 when both Slabes were challenged by Nextar to add more hours to their work day, in an obvious effort to get them to quit their comparatively high salaried positions. The original contract was set up with the Slabes through the previous owners of WCIA, Midwest Television. It appears in an effort to reduce costs and increase cash flow of the station, Nextar wanted to clear the books of many long time on air staff members, who were presumably taking a large chunk of the stations operating costs. That's when long time News Director Dave Shaul left WCIA along with others such as Dick Adams, John Paul and Ed Kelly. Nextar's demands on the Slabes, brought about their refusal to work under those demands, and they were fired. This contract battle finally brought about a judgment in favor of the Slabes receiving back pay, plus the dollar value of some of their other contract benefits during the period between their firing and when their contracts would have expired. The issue of who's to pay the Slabe's legal fees are now in question, as Jerry has indicated from a News-Gazette interview in a Jim Dey column, that he would appeal. It's also stated in the same newspaper column that it's unsure what Nexstar would do.
(information from Jim Dey's Column from the Champaign News-Gazette, Saturday, March 29, 2008)

Various scenes from CBS News...from the 1990's through 2006...along with a Dan Rather guest appearance on David Letterman. Also includes Connie Chung from a short time in the early 1990's in which she co-anchored with Dan Rather. Pictured is also John Roberts(now with CNN) when he did weekends for CBS. Sunday morning was a Sunday morning staple of news and features.

After Jerry Slabe was forced out of WCIA's main anchor
position it was filled with Michael Marsh. Marsh continued
through the mid 00's. He was replaced by Dave Benton.

Jennifer Roscoe continued to co-anchor for virtually
the entire 00's. She continued today.

(Left): CBS "Eye" logo from 1990. (Right): A graphic from CBS campaign "Get Ready" from 1989.



CBS Daytime a long time ratings leader continued through the 1990's with daytime dramas "The Bold and the Beautiful," "The Young and the Restless," "Guiding Light" and "As The World Turns." The longest running program in broadcast history continues to be on the CBS/WCIA schedule. "Guiding Light" premiered on CBS Television even before WCIA was on the air, in June of 1952 and continues to this day. The actual program began on CBS Radio making the span of this series at over 68 years! It began on January 25, 1937. "The Young and the Restless" premiered on CBS daytime March 26, 1973 and continues to this day. "The Young and the Restless" is set in Genoa City and tells of the struggles of the Abbott and Newman families.

This sitcom was the story of a group of outspoken women who were partners in an interior design business called "Sugarbakers." The show "Designing Women" starred Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Jean Smart, Annie Potts and assistant Meschach Taylor. It ran on CBS from 1986 through the early 1990's.

This short lived CBS sitcom starred Matt Frewer(Max Headroom on HBO) as a eccentric doctor who is associated with a small medical clinic in Rhode Island. His character was Dr. Mike Stratford, in "Doctor, Doctor" which featured the song "Good Lovin" by the Rascals, and aired on CBS from 1989 to 1991.

A promo graphic for "Wiseguy."

One of the most successful TV movie franchises established by CBS was for "Lonesome Dove." It began in 1989

William Shatner hosted "Rescue 911" on CBS beginning in 1989 and was a reality based program shoing emergency workers acting on situations(some reinactments) but virtually all of them had happy endings, showing the victims after recovering from their tragic circumstances.

This was a spinoff of "The Golden Girls" with just a coupleof the original stars wet in a hotel.

"The Famous Teddy Z" refers to Teddy Zakalokis played by Jon Cryer as a mailroom clerk working for a talent agency, when he is mistaken by a famous client as an agent and keeps up the role in spite of the resentment of Al Rocco(pictured above) as Al Floss. It ran on CBS from 1989 to 1990. The situation was based on a real life story of agent Jay Kantor when he ended up representing Marlon Brando.

It was another western, with a twist, it was modern day with a martial arts expert, Chuck Norris. "Walker Texas Ranger" ran on CBS from 1993 to 2001.

Another of the CBS TV Movies of the era, this one from the early 90's entitled "Menu for Murder."

One of the many specials over the years based on the "Candid Camera" franchise. This one ran in the early 90's and featured earlier routines of the original black and white series, mixed with new segments featuring the theme of automobiles.

The 1990 series "Evening Shade" starred long time movie icon Burt Reynolds as former football pro, Wood Newton as a high school coach at his local high school. It also starred Marilu Henner as his wife, Hal Holbrook as his father-in-law, and a great supporting cast of Ossie Davis, Charles Durning, Elizabeth Ashley, Michael Jeter and others.

A graphic taken from the animated CBS Special Presentation opening. This one is from the early 1990's.

"The Rosie O'Donnell Show" was a syndicated show shown on WCIA during the 1990's. It ran during the daytime schedule at 9am and later at 3pm. Here she is pictured with long time TV talk show and game show creator Merv Griffin.

"Cosby" originally a major hit for NBC on Thursdays, returned in syndication on WCIA as a nightly strip series at 6:30pm for a time.

"The Nanny" premiered on CBS in 1993 where it continued through 1999. It starred Fran Drescher, Charles Shaughness, Daniel Davis, Lauren Lane, Nicholle Tom, Benjamin Salisbury and Madeline Zima. The plot revolved around Fran Fine, who was employed as a nanny for Maxwell Sheffield a wealthy and widowed Englishman.

"Murphy Brown" was probably the best show to date based in the setting of TV news. It began on CBS in 1988 and continued through 1998. It held the Monday, 8-8:30pm CT slot for most of it's run. Candice Bergan played the title character. Other characters included co-anchor Jim Dial, played by Charles Kimbrough, Frank Fontana by Joe Regalbuto, Corky Sherwood Forest by Faith Ford and Miles Silverberg by Grant Shaud..

Here's a promo shot of Canice Bergen as Murphy Brown showing how she dealt with small children.

Murphy Brown created a stir and probably contributed to the downfall of former Vice President Dan Quale in his run for President when he criticized Murphy Brown for having a child out of wedlock.


"Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman" was a rare series which appealed to all ages and was "family friendly" plus...it had a western setting. The only "western" on the schedule.

CBS telecast of Super Bowl 21.

Graphic for NFL Today on CBS during the 80's

Brent Musburger on "The NFL Today" broadcast on CBS.

A scene from an animated graphic for CBS Sports.

"The Early Show" was the title of the early morning CBS News program which competed with"Today Show" and "GMA."

"Frazier" was a spinoff of the longrunning NBC series "Cheers." Here it's shown because WCIA picked it up in syndication during the early 00's.
Here are stars of Frazier, including Eddie the dog.

"Two and a Half Men" ran on CBS from 2003 to the present and stars Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, Angus T. Jones, Marin Hinkle, Holland Taylor and othes. This capture is of a promo graphic with the WCIA logo.

The 2002-2006 seasons included "Still Standing" a CBS sitcome starring Mark Addy, Jami Gertz, Taylor Ball, Renee Olstead, Soleil Borda and Jennifer Irwin.

WCIA's 50th Anniversary(1953-2003)

In 2003 WCIA celebrated it's 50th Anniversary. The station hosted a meeting with former staffers which was video taped and included in an hour long special. It featured a look back into the some of the history of the station. It was great to see the many WCIA personalities who we were acquanted with throughout the years and how they've changed(along with us as well).

What is featured here are pictures of the various WCIA personalities featured on
the Anniversary show.

(All pictures from the Ed Mason Collection)

Chris Meyer was the Chief Executive Officer and son of August Meyer, the original President of Midwest Television owner of WCIA, WMBD and KFMB.

Fred Sorenson, was the first News Anchor and News Director of WCIA.

Ed Mason was "Captain Eddie" along with host of "The Hop", Director, Producer, Writer and Account Executive. He later became Local Sales Manager at WICD

Paul Davis was News Director from the mid 1960's through the late 1970's at WCIA. He later became News Director at WGN-TV.

Tom Jones was former host of "SunUp" as well as weekend sports anchor and did voicer overs at WCIA.

Larry Waters was behind the scenes at WCIA as Production Manager(later becoming Operations Manager at WICD)

Dave Shaul became News Director from the late 1970's through the Nextar ownership change in 2000.
He's now with WDWS/WHMS radio in Champaign.

Mary Sue Kruger was Promotions Director at WCIA, having done weather and other commerical appearances from the late 1960's into the early 1990's.

Steve Kelly was Sports Director at WCIA from the late 1980's into the late 1990's. He is now at WDWS/WHMS Radio in Champaign.

WCIA celebrated it's 50th Anniversary in 2003 with a TV special which featured most of the various personalities over the years,with one or two very notible exceptions. It's said that because of pending litigation Jerry Slabe and Marta Carreira had to be left out of all on-air mentions. It's too bad that WCIA had to re-write it's own history for such an occasion.

A segment of the Anniversary Special listed it's many News Anchors over the years, the names of Jerry Slabe and his wife Marta were ommited.

It began in 2000, "The Survivor" was a reality based show which struck a nerve with the public to become CBS' Number One show. A limited run series(each story goes for a few episodes then concludes).

Here is the CBS Graphic for the show "Survivor." There are actually 12 seasons(or limited runs-there's more than one "season" each year). The particular logo to the left is from "Survivor: Panama Exile Island" the 12th "season" of the series.

"Everybody Loves Raymond" ran on CBS from

"Yes Dear" premiered on CBS in October of 2000 and continued through 2006. The sit com is about two young couples and their views on being parents. Starring Jean Louisa Kelly, Anthony Clark, Liza Snyder and Mike O'Malley.

The "CSI" franchise was a major part of the CBS prime time lineup during the 00's.

After spending seasons on NBC, "JAG" moved to CBS where it did much better in the ratings.

"Hack" was a series based on the life on a disgraced former policeman and his rebuilding his life. He ended up driving a taxi in Philadelphia. It premiered on September 27, 2002, with it's final episode on March 13, 2004 running for two complete seasons.

"Criminal Minds" features an elite squad of FBI profilers who seal with the criminals with the most twisted minds and anticipate their next moves before they strike again. This one premiered on September 22nd, 2005 on CBS.

"King of Queens" aired on CBS from

Bob Barker is now in his 35th season as the host of "The Price is Right." It's been a staple of CBS daytime during that time since 1972. The syndicated version which ran during 1972 starred Dennis James as host. Other syndicated versions were hosted by Tom Kennedy and Doug Davidson. The daytime version was expanded to one hour in 1975.

From 2006 "Everybody's Watching CBS"

"The Late Show with David Letterman" began on CBS on August 30th, 1993 after a rather long lengthy controversy in the TV world about who would replace Johnny Carson after his retirement from "The Tonight Show." The story has been told in the book and movie "The Late Shift." The show started out winning the late night talk war, but later was overtaken by "The Tonight Show." Letterman, though, continues to entertaintain a very loyal late night audience on CBS and WCIA.

Bob Schieffer stepped in to anchor the CBS Evening News after the retirement of Dan Rather. Over the years, some of the most well known journalists in the world have been a part of it's history. From Douglas Edwards, to Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, it has been an institution over the years on CBS and WCIA. This is from early 2006.

"CSI" was an innovative, new type of crime drama showing the characters using cutting edge forensic tools to examine particular cases. This series continues to be a ratings winner for CBS having been in the top 10 over the last 6 seasons.

In 2006, it was announced that Katie Couric would replace Bob Schieffer as the anchor of the CBS Evening News after being a number of years with NBC and the "Today Show." After several months of hoopla, her premiere took place in September of 2006.

Psychologist, or life strategist but a very popular TV host. Phil McGraw was a frequent guest with "Oprah" and spun off his own series in the fall of 2002. This syndicated show was picked up as a companion piece to "Oprah" on WCIA. It ran weekday afternoons at 3-4pm CT.

"Oprah" has been a long running syndicated success story for WCIA for a number of years from the 90's through today.

Here is a promotional graphic telling of the repeat telecast of "Oprah" on WCFN late night.

The most current, as least as of 2006 with Oprah's hairstyle. Much has been made of the many, many different looks of the TV talk show host over the years.

"Ellen DeGeneres" Show in syndication has become a regular on WCIA at 9am.

More to Come

The original name of Quick-cast was replaced by "Fast-cast" after the use of the term "Quick cast" by WICD's Douq Quick.

Long time weather caster, protoge of Mr. Roberts, Judy Fraser has been a part of the WCIA lineup since 1976.

Judy Fraser is only the second regular nighttime weathercaster since WCIA went on the air in 1953!

WCIA's "The Morning Show" in 2006. Pictured is Jennifer Hendricks and Anne Dill.

News Graphics part one which introduced the 5pm newscast in 2006

News Graphics part two. Notice the colors of orange and blue, effective use of the colors of the University of Illinois.

Robert Reese, WCIA Meterologist from "The Morning Show."

Another shot from "The Morning Show" in 2006. Pictured is Robert Reese and Anne Dill.

Judy and Jennifer Roscoe from the News at 5pm, 2006.

Jennifer Roscoe has been at WCIA since 1993. Here she is anchoring the 5PM news in 2006.

Jennifer Roscoe with the latest anchor, Mike Benton. He replaced Michael Marsch, who was the first anchor after the Jerry Slabe debacle. Dave Benton joined the station in 2005.

Here is a shot of the WCIA news set from 2006. Jennifer Roscoe is the lonely anchor seated. It was seen during the credits of a 5PM newscast.

The WCIA anhor team from early 2006. Judy Fraser, Dave Benton, Jennifer Roscoe and Jason Elliott.

WCIA is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.

WCFN, Channel 49, Springfield, Illinois


It was Tuesday, April 2, 2002 WCFN was split from WCIA to become a separate TV station in Springfield. It was an affiliate of UPN which stood for United Paramount Network.	WCFN since 2005 has broadcast a separate Springfield local newscast at 9PM. Above are the graphics of the newscast from left above to above. Very much looking like a WCIA newscast with a single anchor and weathercaster it never really had a great deal of impact in the market.		Here the 9PM Springfield newscast is anchored by WCIA main anchor Dave Benton.

WCIA re-ran that day's Oprah on WCFN each evening at 10pm.	"Judge Mathis" a first run legal show from syndication weekday afternoons on WCFN.	The off network reruns of "Becker" from CBS showed up on WCFN during the 2005-6 season.	WCIA which ran "Frasier" on weekday evenings at 6:30pm moved the series to WCFN where it runs to this day.

The off network syndication rights to "Hawaii Five-O" have been owned by WCIA since it was offered. It is still a late night offereing on WCFN.	"Judge Hatchett" a first run legal show from syndication weekday afternoons on WCFN.	The off NBC network reruns of "Mad About You" with Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser are airing on WCFN weekday afternoons.	The off NBC Network reruns of "Matlock" with Andy Griffith airs on WCFN weekdays and overnights.

The former CBS series is running as an offnetwork rerun in syndication on weekday afternoons on WCFN.	Perry Mason which has been shown in reruns for years on WCIA and WAND now runs weekedays and overnights on WCFN.	Here is UPN's mainstay Wrestling.	WCIA repurposed(reran) Dr. Phil on the same day as the 3PM WCIA cast with a 11PM WCFN repeat.


Above are various graphics and scenes taken from WCFN, Channel 49, UPN. It was announced that UPN and WB were going to merge into The CW Network beginning in the Fall of 2006. The new CW Network has been announced by current WB affiliate, WBUI, Channel 23, in Decatur as being the network of choice in the fall of 2006. After the demise of UPN, FOX originated a second network called "My TV" which would provide some primetime network programming to Channel 49. Since the digital transition, Channel 49 became two signals under 49.1-My TV(WCFN) and 49.2 became WCIA. The digital channel was also changed to VHF channel 13. This would allow the station to broadcast over a larger area in central Illinois as well as reduce the operating expenses of the station.

There is more to come....as more will be added....in the meantime go back to "HOME" and explore the other stations.