Page
7: WICD(DT) The
Sinclair Years with ABC (2005-present)
The
network switch from NBC to ABC in September of 2005, ended up being a
good thing for WICS/WICD. NBC was entering a period of less than
desirable ratings for the former “must see network.” The runs of
most of the top shows had either ended or just had ended, or the shows
had “jumped the shark” and were entering the final days of
popularity. Meanwhile, ABC premiered “Desperate Housewives,”
“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Lost” and other
shows which would take ABC to the top of the ratings race.
Add to the upturn in ratings success of ABC, WICS/WICD also had some
winners in syndication which would enhance the ABC affiliation.
“Live with Regis and Kelly” was a ABC/Disney produced show which would
be used to promote the ABC schedule from time to time. Also, “Dr.
Phil” was picked up by the stations for the Fall of 2006 and gave a
strong lead in to the afternoon lineup of “Judge Judy.”
"Seinfeld" still has a pretty good hold on the audience, and shows very
little sign of wearing out.
Sinclair also made an agreement to include “The Tube” music video
channel to the 15.1 sub-channel of the digital signal. This had
to bring some credibility to a few of the 18-34’s who would perhaps
tune in to watch videos of the hits of the last 20 years. The
airing of “The Tube” would continue until December 31, 2005, when the
contract was not renewed. Speculation by some, although it’s not
entirely clear why “The Tube” was dropped, says that the FCC had
mandated that sub-channels be included in EAS notification and that a
certain number of hours of children’s programs for every sub-channel
station which were part of the digital signal. Since most of the
sub-channels were just passed through the master control from satellite
feeds, it would be an expensive process to what would be the
construction of separate control rooms for each of the channels, plus
the programming of perhaps more programming for children. So,
rather to take on the expense of additional facilities to satisfy the
alleged FCC requirements, many stations have chose to just eliminate
the use of their sub-carriers completely. The possible exception,
would be for stations which maintain a 24/7 weather channel, in which
compliance for the EAS notification would be much easier, as the
station would simply simulcast severe weather reports on both their
main channel and the sub-carrier.
2005 was also the year of the production of a separate news product for
the local FOX affiliates, WRSP/WCCU. An agreement was entered
into during the month of September of 2005 for WICS to control a 9PM
newscast, which would be microwaved to WRSP in Springfield and fed to
their sister station simultaneously in Champaign, WCCU. The main
anchor, Julie Staley, and weekend anchor Ashely Glass would anchor the
newscast combining news items from both WICS and WICD into one
newscast. Sports was also included, although it would originate
from WICD. Weather was handled by both weathercasters at WICS,
Gus Gordon for the WRSP side of the market, and Doug Quick at WICD for
the east side of the market at WCCU. Weekends were handled by Joe
Crain for WICS and for WICD, the late Keith Page and Danny Russell.
The Summer of 2007 saw the anchor desk change once again, with the
departure of Kent Ninomiya. That left Erin Murphy at 5PM
and Jennifer Copeland at 6 and 10, with Doug as Weather Anchor and Josh
Samuels as Sports Anchor. Other show anchors during this time
include Sara Vincent and Matt Coldagelli as anchors for Sunise This
Morning with Jill Noelle as Weather Anchor. Erin Murphy anchors
the 11am newscast with Jill Noelle as Weather Anchor
Actual screen pics
from the segment of the "The View" in which Meredith, Star, Joy and
Elisabeth welcomed the new ABC affiliates, WICS and WICD. By the
next year, the show would go through two cast changes with Meredith
going to NBC and Star Jones' contract not being renewed. Meredith
was replaced by Rosie O'Donnell, which breathed new life, as well as
controversy, into the show.
Here's the way the ABC/NewsChannel
15 set looked on the air the first day as an ABC affiliate.
Pictured
is Doug Quick, Aubrey Mika, Jim Neidelman and weekend Sports Anchor
Josh Samuals. The smaller picture at the right are the anchors and
Sports Director
Andrew Miller at the desk.
At left is the new
ABC/NewsChannel 15 logo. At right is Doug Quick, Aubrey Mika and
Jim Niedelman on the set from October of 2005. Note the new set
design. New paint, logos and an expanded Weather Center.
Doug Quick and
Natalie
Bomke at the Vermilion County Labor Day Parade in Danville on the day
of the affiliation switch, Labor Day 2005.
Here is Jay Searles
and Maira Ansari at the desk for Sunrise This Morning on the day of the
affilliation switch.
Imagine the shock,
when instead of being followed by "The Today Show" viewers saw "Good
Morning
America"
"Good
Morning America" was converted to Hi-Definition by 2006.
"Daybreak"was
one of the 2006-2007 entries, but didn't make it into 2007. The
show did have a cult following, but just not enough to make it a hit
for ABC.
Here's
one of the series which put ABC over the top during the 2005-2006
season, "Desperate Housewives" generated "water cooler talk" as well as
brought attention to the ABC Sunday night lineup.
Another
of the hits of the past couple of seaons for ABC was "Grey's
Anatomy." It was at 9PM on Sunday's during it's first season
following" Desperate Housewives" before being moved to Thursday night.
"Grey's
Anatomy" brought the phrase "Dr. McDreamy" to light during the first
season of the series.
Even
"The View" was changed over to Hi-Definition during 2006.
"Men in Trees" another of the off
beat shows which has been shifted at least once in the ABC schedule to
try to snag an audience...so far so good.
"The Nine" didn't catch on....but
an interesting premise....
"Brothers and Sisters" was the
return of Sally Field to prime time.
Jimmy Kimmel Live during the late night grew in popularity, especially
with the 18-34's. The show is produced in Hollywood.
One of the biggest hits of the 2005-2006 season was "Lost." It
was a mystery which went on and on....perhaps to no solution...we'll
see.
The Superbowl 2006 was broadcast in Hi-Definition by ABC and WICD,
NewsChannel 15.
Here are a few scenes from the Rolling Stones performance at half time
recorded from the actual digital signal of WICD.
"Good Morning America" continues to see ratings
growth during 2006, but lost Charlie Gibson to "ABC's World News
Now." Here he is pictured with Diane Sawyer. Also with the
morning news/entertainment program is Robin Roberts and Sam Champion.
Here's
What's on....
Shows currently on ABC during the 2006-2007 season
include 20/20, Boston Legal, Brothers and Sisters, Desperate
Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Men in Trees, Ugly Betty, What about
Brian, According to Jim, Big Day, George Lopez, In Case of Emergency,
The Knights of Prosperity, America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny and Wife Swap. Other shows on
WICD include: Live with Regis and Kelly, Dr. Phil, Judge Judy,
Seinfeld, E.R.(in syndication) and Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
"World News Now"
began 2006 with Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas in January....but by
May, a field trip to Iraq, at least for a while, ended the career of
Bob Woodruff as he was injured while covering the war for ABC.
Vargas continued for most of the year, but was replaced by Charlie
Gibson, who continues to enjoy a ratings upswing for the ABC evening
news show.
The evening ABC
news program which was previously anchored by the late Peter Jennings
went through some anchor changes(see left) until Charles Gibson was
transferred from Good Morning America to the evening news show, which
went through a name change to "World News with Charles Gibson."
The Sunday weekend
news interview show that was previously anchored by David Brinkley,
continues to be successful, as it is now hosted by George
Stephanopoulos along with George Will, Fareed Zakaria, Sam Donaldson
and Cokie Roberts over the years.
Here Kent Ninomiya is with Doug Quick along with Erin Murphy at the
Champaign County Fair in July of 2006. This is some of the fun
stuff that is part of the news.
Erin Murphy is pictured with Kent Ninomiya and Doug Quick and Todd
Salen from the Urbana Sweetcorn Festival organizers at the event held
in Urbana in August.
"All My Children"
continues it's successful run as a mid-day daytime drama.
Traditionally it's aired at Noon weekdays.
"George Lopez Show"
is the second longest running sitcom in TV history which stars latin
actors. It premiered in 2002 and continues it's run on ABC and
WICD.
"According to Jim"
premiered in 2001 and continues a run on ABC, sometimes twice or more
per week. It's also in syndication.
The most violent
show on television, "America's Funniest Video's" is a regular on Sunday
night, but also shows up as filler during the week from time to
time. The show is now hosted by Tom Bergeron.
"The Desperate
Housewives" began it's run on October 3, 2004 on WICD and continues on
Sunday nights. The show skyrocketed in the ratings for ABC and
set the network up for ratings success.
"Hope and Faith"
aired for three seasons on ABC starting in 2003. It starred Kelly
Ripa(Life with Regis and Kelly), Faith Ford(Murphy Brown) and Ted
McGinley(Happy Days and the Love Boat). There were only a total
of 73 episodes produced.
"Who wants to be a
Millionaire" ended up in syndication hosted by Merideth Viera.
WICD aired the show at varous times in the weekday schedule, late
mornings, later afternoons and even overnights, once Viera moved from
"The View" to NBC's "Today Show."
A surprise hit show
with a unique title, "Ugly Betty." The second ABC show to feature
"ugly" in it's title. The first was back in the 1960's with "The
Ugliest Girl in Town."
Here is a standard
definition view of the opening title to "Desperate Housewives."
It's just one of the ABC shows available in Hi-Def (see graphics above).
Here are a series
of graphics taken from the
opens of various newscasts with all of the main
anchors.
Aisha
Hasnie from the studio doing a report on Winterizing Your Car from
December of 2006
Ryann
Hubbard with a live report from Urbana.
WICD's
Kathy Morris doing a live report from the University of Illinois campus.
Maira
Ansari fronting a report on the passing of WICD weatherman Keith Page
in November of 2006
Melody
Mendez in the studio with a report on the attendence at the IHSA
Football Finals at the U of I.
Jennifer
Copeland on a NewsChannel 15 news promo.
Jennifer
Copeland and Kent Ninomiya at the anchor desk.
Weekend
weather with Danny Russell.
Entertainment
Tonight aired at 10:35pm weeknights since the network affiliation
switch in September of 2005.
"Seinfeld"
continues to dominate the schedule at 6:30pm.
At either side are
scenes from two WICD newcasts with Doug Quick, Jennifer Copeland
and Kent Ninomiya from December of 2006.
Danny
Russell and Melody Mendez anchoring the weekends in late 2006.
Emily
Carlson with a live report "..coming up." Emily left during the
Summer of 2007.
Melody
Mendez teasing a live report from the newsroom.
Josh
Samuels from 2005 at the anchor desk with a story on the Cubs.
Bart
Barker anchoring with a story on the Illini.
Dr. Phil joined the
weekday lineup at 3pm beginning on September 18, 2006.
"Sunrise This Morning" was anchored by Natalie Bomke, Jill Noelle and
Matt Coldagelli during most of 2006. It airs from 5 to 7am.
Jerry Seinfeld
(left) from one of the openings to an episode of "Seinfeld" on
ABC/NewsChannel 15.
Sometimes
controversial, sometimes not....Mark Hyman was the voice of Sinclair
with his daily commentaries.
By the Summer of 2007, the anchor
desk once again saw changes for the 5, 6 and 10 PM newscasts.
Leaving Erin Murphy, Jennifer Copeland with Doug doing weather and Josh
Samuels with sports. Pictured left is a billboard which pictured
the anchors from I-74 on Champaign's north side.
Pictured left is from September of 2007, when Rick Schutt joined
Jennifer Copeland, Doug Quick and Josh Samuels(not pictured) as the
main anchor team at ABC/NewsChannel 15.
Pictured right is Jennifer Copeland and Rick Schutt.
Ryann
Hubbard reporting from the ABC/NewsChannel 15 Newsroom.
Nick
Janes reporting from the U of I campus
Checkey
Beckford reporting from Danville.
Above
is Josh Samuels during a sportscast from the studio.
Left is 11am and 5pm anchor Erin Murphy pictured on a promotional
announcement for the station.
Below is Doug Quick during a weathercast.
By Fall of 2007, the
anchor lineup on "Sunrise This Morning" was Matt Coldagelli, Sara
Vincent, Jill Noelle and Aivana Crystal.
Jill Noelle, Sara Vincent and Matt
Coldagelli, the anchors of "Sunrise This Morning" on ABC/NewsChannel
15. This is from September of 2007.
Above-Jill Noelle during a
weathercast during "Sunrise This Morning." Right-Sara Vincent and a
studio guest at the new "Sunrise" set.
Cruisin'
Illinois is a 30-minute show which looks as the Harley-Davidson
lifestyle in central Illinois. It's produced by WICS-WICD and
sponsored by local Harley dealers.
Dr.
Phil's syndicated talk show aired 3pm weekday afternoons on
ABC/NewsChannel 15.
ABC's
"Dancing With the Stars" continued to draw large audiences to ABC
primetime during the fall of 2007.
ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" celebrated
it's first anniversary on top of the ratings during the Summer and Fall
of 2007.
Celebrating
50 years of Television in Champaign.....55 years of Television in
Danville
This
is the first of a series of anniversary segments for the 50th
anniversary of the first UHF station in Champaign, Illinois. WICD was
originally WCHU, channel 33 in Champaign. WCHU purchased WDAN-TV in
1960 and changed it's call letters to WICD. WDAN-TV went on the air in
late December olf 1953. So how old is WICD. Is it 50 or 55? Check
out this report as broadcast on WICD, April 24, 2009.
The
second installment featured an interview with Joe Norris who began with
WCHU in the early 60's as a combo employee(sales/on-air) finally
becoming Station Manager from 1978 to 1994. This segment also
features more information on "Uncle Ottos's General Store" which was
for the kids every weekday afternoon on WCHU and WICD in the early to
mid 1960's. This was broadcast on May 25th, 2009.
More coming soon
In
part three I talked with Bill Burow, the son of Bob Burow, the first
General Manager of WDAN-TV in 1953. He remembers some of the
problems of the early operation, as well as the marketing methods of an
outrageous local advertiser. You'll also see how much the
building really hasn't changed over the years. In fact, in the
final scene, I end the segment with a shot from the original TV studio
of the TV station which hasn't been a part of a broadcast since the
early 1960's! The glass window behind me was the original "announcers
booth" where a local announcer would read live commercials and
announcements. The room still has the studio light hangers in the
ceiling with outlets for lighting. I also relate the
relationship between the WDAN/WDNL radio stations with WICD, to which
I've been a part of since 1977.
In Memory of Keith
Page
Even though this takes us
through the entire history of WICD, new items will be added as they
become available.
I've tried to include a little something from everyone who's had at
least some influence at the station, it would be impossible to offer a
complete of the personalities and people behind the scenes at WDAN-TV,
WICD, WCHU over the last 53+ years. If you have any material, you
feel would enhance the history being told here, feel free to contact me
via e-mail at: dougquick@dougquick.com. If I have left anyone
out, I apologize.
All of the images, information, show titles, etc.. is all copyrighted
material and is owned by the copyright owners. The display of all
materials here on the WICD sites as well as the other pages on this web
site are to illustrate the history of central Illinois broadcasting.
More
will be added, so check back for updates....in the meantime explore the
other stations!
