Welcome to Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum. This website documents in detail the history of each of the viewable TV stations, past and present, across mid-Illinois in text, photos, and videos, as well as each station's current status. This site also includes local radio history and automated analog formats, again told in pictures, videos, and text.
Note that this website displays best on a full-size monitor, desktop, or laptop computer. If you're watching on your mobile phone, the mobile phone view has been replaced by the desktop view throughout this site. You can zoom in on the page if needed. Also, you may have to sign in to YouTube to view some videos. Some browsers do not allow some embedded videos to play, so click on the "YouTube" logo on the video to view it from YouTube.
From my retirement party at WCCU/WICD in September of 2021.
Doug Quick
Radio/TV Broadcaster/Historian, Author, Webmaster
complete bio available here.
TV Time Capsule
The TV Time Capsule is taking the summer off. It will return in the Fall.
Featured Videos
Now through June 28, the Featured Videos of the Week include various TV program genres.
You might not have seen or heard of the first video about 1950s jazzy private eyes. In this case, "Johnny Staccato" stars John Cassavetes as a jazz pianist and private eye.
I don't understand why many people dislike watching TV shows in black and white. Well, here's one just for those who refuse to watch anything not in color. (I know you're out there!) How about a several-generation dub of a color videotape of "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" from 1960?
It's now summer, which usually means rerun season is also here. This video is a summer rerun, as it was previously included as a Featured Video on this website. It's an episode of "The Untouchables" from 1961, including several up-and-coming guest stars and the original network TV commercials. It's definitely a TV Time Capsule!
You might not know that "The Untouchables" was remade in the 1990s with a new cast and scripts based on the original series and the Kevin Costner movie. I also feature the 2-part pilot show of that syndicated series.
Moving into 1963, there's an episode of "Route 66" with stars Martin Millner and Glen Corbett (who replaced George Maharis). It's set around St. Petersburg, Florida. I'll let you know the best way to watch this series and what to look for when you do below.
Then, another summer rerun, a "The Danny Kaye Show" segment featuring Buddy Ebson and Howard Morris. It's a hilarious hillbilly number and also includes the future "Carol Burnett Show " regular Harvey Korman.
I present a 1964 video from "The Ed Sullivan Show" in memory of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.
The final video is that of "The Donna Reed Show" from its eighth season, starring Donna Reed with Carl Betz, Paul Peterson, and Patti Peterson.
The Classic Radio selection is from a not-often-mentioned top 40 station heard by many across north central Illinois.
It was a rough couple of weeks for rock and pop music, as we lost Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. Be sure to watch both perform on two different TV shows.
The Classic Radio selection is from a not-often-mentioned top 40 station heard by many across north central Illinois.
One of the latest uploads to this site is a number of the Drake-Chenault automated radio formats from the mid to late 1970s, called XT-40. Listen to the format demo and see if you've heard it before on one or more of your favorite stations.
"Johnny Staccato" was canceled by NBC, but off-network reruns were picked up by ABC, which aired them through 1960. While on NBC, "Johnny Staccato" would have aired across Mid-Illinois on WICS, WCHU, WEEK, WGEM-TV, and KSD-TV. The series in reruns would have been seen a year later on ABC stations, WTVP, WTVH, WDAN-TV, and KTVI.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Johnny Staccato (1959) NBC Pilot Show
This series premiered on NBC on September 10, 1959, and was initially called "Staccato." It starred John Cassavetes as Johnny Staccato, a New York jazz pianist who also worked as a private eye. The club he would play piano for was called "Waldo's," where Eduardo Cianneli played the owner, Waldo.
This pilot episode featured a young singer played by Michael Landon as Freddie Tate. It was produced the same year that "Bonanza" aired on NBC with the character of Little Joe, also played by Michael Landon.
Others in the cast included Stacy Harris, Ruta Lee, Robert H. Harris, and Frank Sully. The late 1950s jazz selections and the series score were by Elmer Bernstein. Revue Productions produced the series at Universal Studios.
Johnny Staccato plays the piano at "Waldo's," the jazz club, during the episode for "Johnny Staccato."
(from YouTube)
Ella Fitzgerald, Andy Williams, and Dinah Shore from "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" shown above.
(YouTube)
The show also helped sell RCA color TVs to the public. She sang "See the USA in your Chevrolet" through the commercials and ended each show with a big kiss.
This installment includes guests Andy Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Hurt, and Perez Prado, who mainly performed jazz tunes from the era. This musical variety show was a classy TV show from 1960.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1960) NBC
This video is a rare color videotape recording (obviously, it's a few dubbing generations old) of "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" from Sunday, December 11, 1960, from 8 to 9 pm (CT). Only a few would have seen it in color, as only a few viewers could afford a color TV. Most NBC stations could broadcast network shows in color, including those in Mid-Illinois WICS, WCHU, WEEK-TV, WGEM-TV, and KSD-TV.
"The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" premiered on October 5, 1956, and aired through May 12, 1963. She was one of the few women who successfully hosted their own musical-variety show at the time. As the title suggested, General Motors-The Chevrolet Division sponsored it and most certainly help sell many Chevys to American families and drivers.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The Untouchables (1961) ABC "The Loophole"
This video is the only full-length episode of "The Untouchables," featuring the original network commercials broadcast on ABC on November 16, 1961. The episode is titled "Loop Hole" and stars many up-and-coming stars who continued on ABC and other network series through the 1970s. Be watching for Martin Landau ("Mission: Impossible"), Gavin MacLeod ("McHale's Navy" and "The Love Boat"), George Tobias ("Bewitched"), and Jack Klugman ("The Odd Couple").
Introduced by Desi Arnaz in 1959, "The Untouchables" was produced at the Desilu Studios.
(from YouTube)
We can thank Desi Arnaz for bringing us "The Untouchables," as the pilot aired on the Desilu Playhouse in April 1959. The anthology series featured the pilot show, and it was a ratings hit for ABC. That success brought the regular series, "The Untouchables," to the 1959 Fall TV season, premiering on October 15, 1959, and airing through September 10, 1963.
Even though the show was a hit for the network, it was controversial for its portrayal of Italian-Americans as gangsters based on historical records of Al Capone and others. The show's most significant controversy was violence, as at least two bloodbath shootouts were included in each episode. As the show continued, villains were given fewer ethnic names as the stories became more fictionalized.
The series's later guest stars were as popular as this episode's. Other episodes included William Bendix, Nehemiah Persoff, Clue Gulager, Elizabeth Montgomery, Lee Marvin, Cliff Robertson, Victor Buono, Rip Torn, Werner Klemperer, Brian Keith, and Peter Falk, with semi-regular guests Bruce Gordon (as Frank Nitti) and Neville Brand (a native of Kewanee, Illinois, as Al Capone).
Robert Stack played Eliot Ness, the main "Untouchable," with his fellow agents, Jerry Paris ("The Dick Van Dyke Show"), Abel Fernadez, Nick Georgiade, Anthony George, Paul Picerni, and Steve London. They were all considered immune to being "bought off" by the gangsters; hence, they were all "Untouchables."
The series would have been seen over Mid-Illinois on WTVP, WTVH, WDAN-TV, and KTVI.
To see more about "The Untouchables," click here.
The Untouchables (1994) Syndicated Pilot Part 2
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The Untouchables (1994) Syndicated Pilot Part 1
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
This syndicated (non-network) revival of "The Untouchables" was based on a mix of the previous TV and big-screen versions that starred Kevin Costner and Sean Connery. This series was also set in the 1930s and told the stories of Eliot Ness and his untouchable treasury agents fighting the underworld crime networks headed by Al Capone and Frank Nitti. In this series, after Prohibition, Al Capone planned to run for the Senate, but the mob resented him "going straight," bringing Nitti to turn him in for tax evasion.
This syndicated series was produced for two years, from 1992 to 1994, and aired beginning in January 1993. I don't recall any local TV stations airing it because Central Illinois had no strong independent TV stations that could afford to purchase the rights to air it or the barter needed to secure the rights.
If you remember any station receivable in central Illinois airing this series, let me know by using the comment form below.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Route 66 (1963) CBS
"Route 66" is one of my favorite series of all time. When you watch any episode of this series, I recommend having Google Earth alongside to revisit all the locations used as backgrounds.
The entire series was shot on location throughout the United States. "Route 66" starred Martin Milner (as Tod Stiles), with his original co-star being George Maharis (Buz Murdock). Glenn Corbett later replaced him
(Linc Case), who is in this 1963 installment.
"Route 66" stars Martin Milner and Glenn Corbett
(from YouTube)
"But What Do You Do in March?" was shot on and around the islands of Tierra Verde, off St. Petersburg, Florida. Many of the landmarks shown here still exist. One of the most intriguing parts of this series is, outside of the fictional drama of the storylines, the look and feel of what life was like in the era from 1960 to 1964.
Unfortunately, the series was shot in monochrome (black and white) instead of color, and I'm a big fan of black and white. Even though the monochrome helps to portray the mood of each episode's drama, it would have been even better to see the scenery of each location in color. I suppose the argument could be made that the series was a drama, not a travel log, but I'll stand by my statement that the series should have been in color. We can blame CBS chief executive William S. Paley for that.
The music of Nelson Riddle filled the show, especially with the jazz melody that gives one the feeling of driving down the highway. "The Theme from Route 66" was a mediocre hit for Nelson Riddle, reaching #30 on the Billboard Top 100. He previously had a number one hit in 1955 with "Lisbon Antiqua" and lesser hits with "Port Au Prince" and "Theme From 'The Proud Ones'" both from 1956. Surprisingly, "The Route 66 Theme" is one of his most recognizable songs 60+ years later!
"Route 66" was a rare youth-oriented series seen on CBS, as the network had a reputation for being the network watched more by your parents and grandparents.
This episode aired May 3, 1963, and was seen throughout Mid-Illinois on WCIA, WMBD-TV, KHQA, WTHI-TV, and KMOX-TV.
It was February 26, 1964, and "The Danny Kaye Show" was one of CBS's most popular variety shows. Although Danny Kaye's name has seemingly faded into the past in 2025, he was a comedian who starred in seventeen movies during the 1940s and 1950s and became a popular CBS television star.
The most popular annual movie with Danny Kaye is "White Christmas," in which he starred with Bing Crosby.
He was a master of what is called "patter songs." Another movie with Kaye is one of my favorites, "The Court Jester." I recommend this one, with one superbly classic scene with the line, "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace as the brew that is true!" Today, most might call his routines "raps."
It would be challenging to include all aspects of his work and life, as his life was most complex. I recommend even going to Wikipedia for more details.
Meanwhile, back in 1964, "The Beverly Hillbilies" was one of CBS's most popular shows, and Buddy Ebsen would be a terrific guest star for the variety series, plus it would help promote his series. Howard Morris was a popular recurring character as "Ernest T. Bass" on "The Andy Griffith Show."
You could call this a mash-up of the two popular CBS shows with "The Danny Kaye Show."
The show segment above is hilarious, just an 11-minute segment with Buddy Ebson. It's dated but still enjoyable, with its well-rehearsed dance number."
"The Danny Kaye Show" would have been seen throughout mid-Illinois on CBS affiliates WCIA, WMBD-TV, WTHI-TV, KHQA, and KMOX-TV.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Danny Kaye Show (1964) Hillbilly Sketch
Danny Kaye, Buddy Ebsen and Howard Morris
(from YouTube)
I present a clip from "The Ed Sullivan Show" from September 27, 1964, in memory of Brian Wilson, who passed away on Wednesday, June 11.
In this clip, the Beach Boys sing "I Get Around." Dennis Wilson plays the drums in this video; he died in 1983. Carl Wilson plays guitar; he passed in 1998, and Brian passed in 2025.
This video is from the Ed Sullivan YouTube Channel. To see more, click here.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The Ed Sullivan Show (1964) CBS
The Beach Boys
This is an installment of the "Midnight Special," a late-night music special on NBC. The August 9, 1974, edition was hosted by Sly Stone and his group, Sly and the Family Stone. It also includes performances from Elvin Bishop, Roger McGuinn, Henry Gross, and Little Feat.
Sly Stone leads his group on several of their hit songs including, "Thank You," "Time for Livin'," "Family Affair," "Dance to the Music," "I Want to Take You Higher," "If You Want Me to Stay," "Stand," and "Loose Booty."
Sly passed away on June 9, 2025.
Sly Stone performed at the Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois on March 6, 1971, and again on April 10, 2004. He and his group also performed with the local band One Eyed Jacks in February 1983.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The Midnight Special (1974) NBC
Sly and Family Stone
The original cast of "The Donna Reed Show" on ABC
(from YouTube)
The cast changed slightly as the kids grew up and "left home." Of course, Donna Reed played the doctor's wife, Donna Stone, as Carl Betz was Dr. Alex Stone. Mary Stone was played by Shelley Fabares (later in "Coach") but left the show in 1962 after her character moved off to college.
Paul Peterson played son Jeff. The part of the daughter was replaced by the real-life little sister of Paul Peterson, who played the adopted orphan Trisha from 1963 to 1966. (She looked much like Paul Peterson; Donna had to question Dr. Alex's activities about 8 years before).
Others in the cast included Bob Crane ("Hogan's Heroes") as Dr. Dave Kelsley from 1963-1965. His wife, Midge Kelsey, was played by Ann McCrea. Others in the cast were Janet Langard, as Jeff's girlfriend, Karen, and Darryl Richard, as Jeff's buddy Smitty.
The two original Stone kids, Paul Peterson and Shelley Fabares, became recording artists during the series' run. Paul had a hit with "She Can't Find Her Keys" in 1962 and a few others. Shelley Fabares had a hit with "Johnny Angel" that went to number one in 1962.
"The Donna Reed Show" was an ABC primetime hit and aired in reruns during the ABC daytime schedule from 1964 through 1968. It would have been seen during primetime on WTVP(later WAND), WTVH(later WIRL-TV), WDAN-TV(only through 1960), and KTVI.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Donna Reed Show (1965) ABC "The Tree"
This video was the ninth episode of the eighth and final season of this long-running family sitcom, "The Donna Reed Show," which aired in November 1965. The series aired on ABC beginning September 24, 1958, with its final episode broadcast on September 3, 1966.
Classic Radio
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
WIRL (early 1960s) "VLJ"
The jock's name was "VLJ" and WIRL was Peoria's local top-40 radio station. Listen for the era's station jingles and VLJ's "top-40" delivery, which disappears when he's reading the farm markets.
This audio presented here would have been pretty much how Top 40 radio sounded during the era of the "Route 66" installment above.
The owners of WIRL Radio eventually purchased WTVH, Channel 19, Peoria's ABC affiliate in 1967, and operated it through 1971 as WIRL-TV, Channel 19.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Drake Chenault Format XT-40 (1976-77)
This audio was taken from an LP distributed to radio stations by Drake-Chenault, producers of syndicated automated radio formats. It is from 1976 and features the sample of "XT-40," a Top 40 Contemporary Music format. Other formats are featured in other YouTube videos on this channel.
The original Drake-Chenault recording had longer music segments and commercial samples but was edited further to avoid copyright claims.
This format was heard across Mid-Illinois radio stations from the mid- to late 1970s. The list of stations that played it is in the RADIO HISTORY section, then Automated Radio Formats.
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Latest Updates to the Museum
2025-0510 Several updates and additions were made to the History of WCIA, WICS, and the WAND pages. The second page of the WAND has been edited to put the story in chronological order, making more sense.
I added samples from daytime dramas to each page, including the first episodes of "Days of Our Lives" and "General Hospital" and samples of classic daytime dramas from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Watch for more video samples and even more pictures from each station as time passes.
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
2025-0516 I've nearly finished updating the early histories of WCIA, WICS, and WTVP. The displays for each station now include many pictures and videos. I've also included news coverage from ABC, CBS, and NBC of President Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963.
I've also tried to show many of each station's stories more chronologically. I'll continue to add to each as I move to the period from the late 1960s through 2000. I hope to have it completed soon.
2025-0516 After being absent from this website for several years, I've added the stories of the "Ghost TV Stations" from St. Louis. One has a link to a radio and TV station in Mid-Illinois. Their stories have also been revised beyond what I published in my book, with several clarifications and rewrites that better tell the stories. I added pictures for both stations that broadcast for less than a year. Plus, I'll explain to you why they failed.
2025-0517 We're making more changes, enlarging the WJJY-TV story, and moving the information to its page under the heading "Central Illinois' Ghost TV Stations." There will be more changes in the coming days!
2025-0602 Updated and new Drake-Chenault Automated radio format samples have been added to the Radio Automated Format page. More will be added soon!
2025-0606 I finally added some material I've wanted to complete for over 10 years! It takes me a while sometimes...
I added better examples of the Drake-Chenault format samplers that the radio music syndicated company produced and distributed to radio station owners/managers to sell their services to mostly FM stations. The company began in the late 1960s, as more FM stations signed on to the air, but it didn't produce much income to support a full-fledged radio airstaff.
Drake-Chenault offered several popular music formats that would run on automation systems. That would satisfy the FCC's non-simulcast regulations for AM/FM radio facilities.
I rerecorded the format samples from 1974-75 and added the samples from the 1976-77 LP set to the Automated Radio Format page. You'll hear aircheck samples from all their formats from both promotional LP sets sent to radio stations to sell their services.
The LP cover from the 1976-77 box set is shown above. If you start with the introduction, at the end you'll find the link to the next cut on the record set.
2025-0617. The Automated Radio Formats page has another interesting addition: a long-lost demo of the "Olde Golde" automated format from 1972. Central Illinois had two radio stations airing the format in the early 1970s. Find out what stations were broadcasting the format long-time radio programmer Chuck Blore developed. IGM, a manufacturer of the IGM Automation systems, introduced the format.
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Much of the information on the history of TV pages on this site comes directly from my 2016 book "Pictures on the Prairie: The First Ten Years of Mid-Illinois Television." There are many more pictures on this site than in the book as space was limited.
Latest TV
Headlines
Allen Meida Group
Proposes Sale
2025-0602-You might remember a "not-so-popular" decision of Allen Media Group, owners of local TV stations, WLFI, Channel 18, Lafayette, IN, WTHI-TV, Channel 10, Terre Haute, IN, and WSIL-TV, Channel 3, Carterville-Harrisburg, IL. That decision eliminated many meteorologists at the local TV station in favor of using co-owned The Weather Channel to produce local weather for broadcast at the local stations.
It's been reported that Allen Media Group is putting its stations up for sale. The group includes 28 ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates in 21 markets., including the ones listed above.
The group has experienced financial pressures over the last couple of years.
Click here to learn more about the Allen Media Group and its proposed sale.
2025-0419 Now is the time to contact your congressional representative and senators to maintain federal support for Public Media. For more details, visit Illinois Public Media.
An Update on Sinclair's sale of the five TV Midwest TV stations, including WICS, WICD, KHQA, WTVO, and WTVT
The FCC has not yet acted on selling the stations listed above. The approval is pending a hearing by the Commission regarding a public interest group called "Frequency Forward, " and its objection to Sinclair's ownership of the stations.
To find out more about the group and its reasoning for the objection, click here.
Now Streaming Nationally
Click on the image above to listen to MeTVFM. It's the popular music companion to MeTV, Memorable Entertainment Television, America’s #1 all classic television network. Launched at 87.7FM in late February, 2015, MeTVFM features a unique mix of timeless and memorable music incorporating a wide variety of classic hits, deep tracks and softer sounds spanning several decades of popular music.
Previously on Videos of the Week...
If you've missed any of the "Videos of the Week" or "Classic Radio" recordings, you'll find them here. Unfortunately, there's no written narrative to go along with each. You have to visit each week for that.
Radio Classics
WLS 890AM Chicago (1973) Charlie Van Dyke/Fred Winston/JJ Jeffries/John Landecker/Bill Bailey
KPNX-TV, NBC 12 News, Phoenix, Arizona
Bonanza (1960-61) NBC 14 Episodes
All in the Family (1972) CBS "Sammy's Visit"
What's Happening (1977) ABC "Doobie or Not Doobie"
Carol Burnett Show-The Family (1977) CBS "Elephant Story" segment
Classic Radio
WLS-FM (1982) Chicago Steve Dahl and Garry Meier
Starsky and Hutch (1975) ABC First Episode
All-Star Party for Burt Reynolds (1981) CBS
The Twilight Zone: Rod Serlings's Lost Classics (CBS) 1994 Special with James Earl Jones
People Are Funny (1955) NBC Art Linkletter
You Bet Your Life (1955) NBC Groucho Marx
Classic Radio
Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show (1940s) NBC Over 11 hours of shows
The Cara Williams Show (1964) CBS Pilot
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1968) CBS
Jackie Gleason Show (1969) CBS
Baretta (1976) ABC Robert Blake
Diff'rent Strokes (1978) NBC Pilot
Classic Radio
KXOK Documentary "The Glory Days of Radio in St. Louis"
The Red Skelton Hour (1965) CBS
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Whales (1968) ABC
CBS News with Walter Cronkite (1970) CBS
Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971) CBS
Classic Radio
WWTO (1973) Drake-Chenault Solid Gold
WLRW (1974) Drake-Chenault Solid Gold
The Ed Sullivan Show (1964) CBS The Beatles
The Hollywood Palace (1965) ABC
The Jack Benny Hour (1966) NBC
The Dick Cavett Show (1971) ABC Guest: John Lennon
Classic Radio
WLS, 890AM, Chicago (1963) Dick Biondi Show
KSHE, 94.7FM, St. Louis (1974)
Johnny Staccato (1959) NBC Pilot Show
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1960) NBC
The Untouchables (1961) ABC "The Loophole"
The Untouchables (1994) Syndicated Pilot Part 1
The Untouchables (1994) Syndicated Pilot Part 2
Danny Kaye Show (1964) Hillbilly Sketch
The Ed Sullivan Show (1964) CBS The Beach Boys
Donna Reed Show (1965) ABC "The Tree"
Classic Radio
Next Regular Update June 28
to be announced....
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