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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 If you're watching on your mobile phone, the mobile phone view has been replaced by the desktop view throughout this site.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.

Doug Quick
Radio/TV Broadcaster/Historian, Author, Webmaster
complete bio available here.

Featured Videos

The Made for TV Movies Era and a Truck Driving TV Series, also the passing of an AM Central Illinois Radio Station

Welcome to Central Illinois’ On-Line Broadcast Museum. Now through April 11th, we take time to include some made-for-TV movies and pilot shows from 1966 through 1981.

We begin with the pilot show for what would become “The Name of the Game,” a rotating series with a single umbrella theme, which, by the 2000s, had become one of the worst nights in prime-time TV: Fridays. It proved successful during its run in the late 1960s, on the same weeknight.

I followed that with the pilot episode of a series I referenced in the former set of Featured Videos on this website in mid-March: “Cannonball,” which aired in 1958. This updated version of that original series premiered its pilot in 1974 and became one of the then-current President’s favorite shows!

Next are five made-for-TV movies during the era of popular prime-time theatrical films, and those TV movies attracted major audiences for the networks. All three networks aired them, some on competing nights.

This edition of Featured Videos/Classic Radio includes a retrospective on what was WIRL AM1290 in Peoria, which will go dark on March 31st.

Classic Television

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

Fame is the Name of the Game (1966) NBC

In the 1960s, Universal Studios produced a boatload of TV shows for NBC. Among those shows were “Laramie,” “Wagon Train,” “The Virginian,” “Run For Your Life,” “Laredo,” “Dragnet,” “Ironside,” “Adam-12,” and “The Name of the Game.” This video is the pilot episode of the series, titled “Fame is the Name of the Game,” that starred Tony Franciosa, Jack Klugman, Susan St. James, and Jill St. John.

This TV movie probably served as a pilot for what would become “Name of the Game,” a long-form TV drama with a rotating cast of Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack, and a supporting cast of Susan St. James, Ben Murphy, Cliff Potter, and Mark Miller. It wasn't shown until later in the series' run.

The shows were primarily crime dramas and were connected by the various magazines published by Howard Publications, headed by Glenn Howard, played by Gene Barry. Franciosa played the aggressive reporter Jeff Dillon working for Fame Magazine. Robert Stack played Dan Farrell, a former FBI agent who was the editor of Crime Magazine, published by Howard Publications.

Each week, one of the stars would lead the cast to solve a crime. Peggy Maxwell, played by Susan St. James, was common to all three shows and ended up being one of the most popular characters in the entire series leading to roles in “It Takes a Theif” with Robert Wagner, playing the young wife of Rock Hudson’s wife in "McMillan and Wife (1971-1976) along with winning an Emmy in 1969. She also received several Emmy nominations for “McMillan and Wife” during the 1970s.

Susan St. James and Tony Franciosa from a scene of the video above.
(YouTube screen grab)

"Fame is the Name of the Game" was shorted to "The Name of the Game" when the show premieried as a weekly rotational series on NBC.

below: The three main stars are shown in the shows opening segmen and include Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry and below, Rovbert Stack.

(YouTube screen grabs)

“The Name of the Game” aired on NBC, Friday evenings from 7:30 - 9 pm (CT) during its run from September 20, 1966, through September 10, 1971. It was seen on WICS, WICD, WGEM-TV, WTWO, and KSD-TV.

At right is the TV listings of "Fame is the Name of the Game" from November 26, 1966, from the Bloomington Pantagraph.

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

Movin' On (1974) NBC

One of the Featured Videos on this site earlier in March, before this selection of classic shows, was “Cannonball,” a 1958 episode about a team of two truck drivers delivering goods. This series, “Movin’ On,” was very similar, but updated, to at least 1974’s standards of over-the-road haulers. The drivers were Sonny Pruitt, played by Claude Akins, and Will Chandler, played by Frank Converse. To get you into the mood of truck driving, the theme song was written by Merle Haggard, one of the more popular country music performers of the early to mid-1970s.

Sonny and Will were the “odd couple” of drivers, each from very different backgrounds. Sonny was more typical, a rugged, physical type who liked to fight and was a veteran of the highways. Sonny, on the other hand, was much younger and a law school graduate who chose the temporary career of truck driving to “find himself,” a popular term used by many in the 1970s who sometimes did something for a time that was totally unrelated to their life’s initial career goal.

Frank Converse and Claude Akins in "Movin' On" a series similar to one in 1958 called "Cannonball." Find a link to "Cannonball" in the previous weeks links in the right column.
(YouTube screen grab)

This episode of “Movin’ On” is a "fan-made compilation movie based on what apparently was a two-part Christmas time episode. The series originally aired on the all-important Thursday, 9 pm (CT), September 12, 1974, through September 14, 1976. “Movin’ On” aired over Mid-Illinois on NBC affiliates, WICS, WEEK-TV, WGEM-TV, WTWO, and KSD-TV. That was the former time period of “The Dean Martin Show” and much later “L.A. Law.”

As a side note, former President Ford was a big fan of the show and met the cast, in particular Claude Akins, at an Atlanta hotel where the cast and crew were staying during a shoot of an episode.

WCIA Fall Promo 1981

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

ABC Sunday Night Movie (1978) “Crash”

Here’s a TV time capsule: a complete broadcast of the TV movie “Crash,” complete with commercials, by ABC on October 29, 1978. This is being presented here in recognition of the star’s 95th Birthday this month. William Shatner stars along with Eddie Albert, Adrienne Barbeau, Brook Bundy, Christopher Connelly, Ron Glass, Lorriane Gary, Sharon Gless, George Maharis, Ed Nelson, among others. It was an “all-star” cast of TV actors at the time.

This TV movie was based on a real-life plane crash of a passenger jet, Flight 401, into the Florida Everglades on December 29, 1972. In that crash, 96 people were killed, 75 survived, with 58 of them suffering serious injuries. The movie includes one of the most realistic crashes ever in a TV movie, and also one of the most expensive.

William Shatner stars as the National Transportation Safety Board crash investigator, Carl Tobias. “Crash” was the second TV movie based on the plane crash; the first, broadcast earlier in the year, February 1978, was on NBC.

Above is the TV listings of ""Crash" as broadcast on ABC on October 29, 1978, from the Bloomington Pantagraph.

William Shatner as NTS investigator in "Crash." He jusrt recently celebrated his 95th birthday! Happy Birthday, Captain Kirk!

(YouTube Screen Grab)

This edition of ABC’s Sunday Night Movie was seen over mid-Illinois on WAND, WRAU, WBAK, and KTVI.

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

The ABC Sunday Night Movie intro from 1978.

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

CBS Tuesday Night Movies (1979) “Speedtrap”

From the YouTube Description: “This film stars Joe Don Baker as Pete Novick, a private investigator hired by an insurance company to investigate a string of unsolved car thefts. Also starring a pre-Cagney & Lacey Tyne Daly, plus Robert Loggia, Richard Jaeckel, Morgan Woodward, Lana Wood, and Timothy Agoglia Carey.”

Joe Don Baker from a scene in "Speedtrap" (1979).
(YouTube screen grab)

This was recorded from KDFW, Channel 4, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and is posted on the Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV). It also includes the original commercials during the broadcast. There are many other videos posted at the Fuzzy Memories website that you can visit, and I hope you’ll consider contributing to the Museum of Classic Chicago Television.

This CBS broadcast was seen over Mid-Illinois on WCIA, WMBD-TV, KHQA, WTHI-TV, and KMOX-TV.

The CBS Tuesday Night Movie Intro from 1979

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

ABC Sunday Night Movie (1980) “Fighting Back”

This is about one of the few sports-based videos I can include in the Featured Videos on this website. This made-for-TV movie was about Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rock Bleier, portrayed by one of my favorite TV actors of the 1970s, Robert Urich. This was based on Bleier’s 1975 autobiography with the same name.

It’s a story of a football player who the Army drafted during the Vietnam War. He was injured during combat by a bullet and a hand grenade to the lower right leg. He was told that because of those injuries, he would never walk again. This tells the story of how he beat the odds and returned to train with the Steelers, later playing with the team and winning the Super Bowl.

Art Carney and Robert Urich in "Fighting Back" an ABC

made-for-TV movie broadcast in 1980

(YouTube Screen Grab)

Others in the cast included Bonnie Bedelia, Art Carney, and Richard Herd. MTM Productions produced it in association with ABC. It would have been broadcast over Mid-Illinois by WAND, WRAU, WBAK, and KTVI. This recording was taken from KABC, Channel 7, New York.

By the way, this was broadcast on the evening of December 7, 1980, and within 24 hours, after the broadcast of this movie on television, John Lennon was murdered in New York.

How "Fighting Back was explained in the TV listings of the Bloomington Pantagraph for the date of broadcast December 7, 1980.

abc_sundaynightmovie_grfx_reproducedwidescreen_1980.jpg

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

The ABC Sunday Night Movie intro from 1982

This is a wide-screen recreation of the ABC Sunday Night Movie opening and buffers from 1982, but it is the best video I've seen of the title. Kudos to APRICEPRODUCTION and his YouTube Channel for the effort! This is a tremendous piece of work!

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

ABC Summer Movie (1980) "Make Me an Offer"

This TV movie aired on January 11, 1980, and was rerun on July 1, 1981, on ABC affiliates in Mid-Illinois: WAND, WRAU, WBAK-TV, and KTVI. The video here shows reruns of most of the commercials from the broadcast, recorded from WLS-TV, Channel 7, Chicago.

'Make Me an Offer" starred Susan Blakely, Patrick O’Neal, John Rubinstein, Edie Adams, and Stella Stevens. It featured Susan Blakely as a realtor working in Los Angeles. The title theme features the Billy Joel song “Just the Way You Are,” performed by a similarly sounding vocalist.

Susan Blakely and Patrick O'Neal starred in "Make Me An Offer" as broadcast on ABD's Summer Movie series in 1980.

(YouTube Screen Grab)

This is a YouTube screen shot of the graphic for ABC's Summer Movie taken from the video above.

(You Tube screen grab)

"Make Me an Offer" was listed in the program section of the Bloomington Pantagraph as shown here for July 1, 1981.

Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.

CBS Special Movie Presentation (1981) “The Other Victim”

I present another TV Time Capsule, another TV movie, this one from 1981, from CBS. It’s “The Other Victim” starring William Devane and Jennifer O’Neill. This video was recorded from WTVJ, Miami, Florida. Others in the cast include James Blendick, Charles Hallahan, Todd Susman, and Mary McDonough.

This TV movie served as a pilot for a series that would have starred the main characters. It was introduced as a well-promoted TV movie, but failed to attract enough viewers to justify a spot on the CBS schedule.

This recording also includes the original commercials. It would have been seen across Mid-Illinois on CBS affiliates, WCIA, WMBD-TV, KHQA, WTHI-TV, and KMOX-TV.

Jennifer O'Neill and William Devane stars in "The Other Victim" a made-for-TV movie for CBS in 1981.

(YouTube screen grab)

Broadcast on November 4, 1981, here is the listing for "The Other Victim" from the Bloomington Pantagraph.

Note that the Bloomington Pantagraph Newspaper listings were published on the Saturday before the upcoming weeks schedule. Also that Channel 2 is WBBM-TV, Chicago, Channel 5 is WMAQ-TV Chicago and Channel 7 is WLS-TV Chicago.

Classic Radio

Mid Illinois Heritage Full Serivce AM Radio Station Goes Dark

It was announced last week that WIRL, 1290AM Peoria, IL, was going dark. It’s a trend we’ve seen over the last few years for stations on the AM band. Many stations, small low-powered daytime-only stations, and even full-service, clear-channel stations have seen changes such as reduced power, simulcasting on FM stations (using the FM frequency as its main dial position and ignoring its AM frequency), and selling their operations to religious or non-English-speaking formats, or just going dark. Many AM stations have even sold their “tower farm” (tower locations) to land developers for cash and are now using lower-powered signals from single towers elsewhere.

It seems the AM band is now home to mostly stations that broadcast all-sports, conservative talk, ethnic, or religious programming. Very few music formats are heard on the AM band today.

In the case of WIRL, it went from a full-service regional station (even owning and operating the Peoria ABC television affiliate in the late 1960s and early 1970s; see History of WTVH-TV) to a Top 40 giant, then to an oldies format simulcast on a low-powered FM translator for several years, then full-time sports. In 2022, the station's owner, Midwest Communications, which had owned the station since 2019, signed a nationally conservative talk network to broadcast on WIRL and its FM translator. Then, earlier in March of this year, the announcement came that the AM station was going “dark,” leaving the lower-powered FM station to spread right-wing conservatism in Peoria.

The station has been owned and operated by Midwest Communications since 2019, which also purchased WIRL’s original sister FM station, WSWT, as well as former competitors WMBD (AM), WPBG (FM), WKZF (FM), and WXCL (FM). The company also owns several low-power translators in the Peoria area, with one airing the oldies format, originating on WIRL a few years earlier and also on WPBG’s HD-2 signal, and another low-power translator airing the conservative talk format and simulcasting with WPBG's HD-3 signal, also heard earlier on WIRL. Even though the 1290AM signal is going away with the call letters, two of the station’s formats live on via translators and HD channels.

So to shine a spotlight on this Mid-Illinois former AM radio giant, which died on March 31st, I present several video/audio airchecks and other items from WIRL available on YouTube.

Click on the image to listen to the audio/video directly from YouTube.

WIRL 1290AM Peoria (1961)
DJ: VLJ*

Click on the image to listen to the audio/video directly from YouTube.

WIRL 1290AM Peoria (Jan 23, 1963)
DJ: VLJ

Click on the image to listen to the audio/video directly from YouTube.

WIRL 1290AM Peoria (1965)
DJ: Ron Thorne

Click on the image to listen to the audio/video directly from YouTube.

WIRL 1290AM Peoria (Jun 16, 1968)
DJ: VLJ

Click on the image to listen to the audio/video directly from YouTube.

WIRL 1290AM Peoria (Feb 1, 1969)
News: Don Strickland DJ: VLJ

Click on the image to listen to the audio/video directly from YouTube.

WIRL 1290AM Peoria (Jan 1976)
DJ: Wayne R. Miller

Click on the image to listen to the audio/video directly from YouTube.

WIRL 1290AM Peoria (Dec 3, 1981)
DJ: Curt Shaffer

* VLJ stands for Volney Lamb Jr.

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Latest Updates to the Museum

Small additions and edits are made on the site everyweek. Most would be unnoticeable. I'll describe any significant additions or updates here as they are made.

CBS News when it was honored and respected as the jewel of the "Tiffaney network" and featured America's most trusted man, Walter Cronkite. It appears that's no longer the case.

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"Pictures on the Prairie: The First Ten Years of Central Illinois Television" by Doug Quick

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
Radio
Headlines

More TV stations could appear soon in the Central Illinois market

2026-0319 For the first time in several years, March 19th was the day applicants could file for new low-power TV stations. Nationally, over 1000 applications were filed with the FCC. Each applicant, after legally filing including engineering studies and paying the $910 filing fee, now awaits the FCC's decision on their request and the issuance of a construction permit.

In Illinois, filings were made for Arlington Heights, 3 for Chicago, 2 for Yorkville, 2 for Elgin, Justice, and 1 each for Springfield and Champaign.

The applications for both Springfield and Champaign were submitted by the same person/group, whose address is 26 N. Halsted, Chicago. That is the home of Weigel Broadcasting. Two of the contacts listed in the application are with Weigel Broadcasting.

Weigel is the owner of MeTV, MeTV Toons, Movies!, H&I, StartTV, Story Television, Catchy Comedy, Dabl, West, and MeTV+. I'm assuming it's their intention to place all, or at least some, of those TV networks on each designated channel as digital subchannels.

In Springfield, the application is for Channel 14 with a power of 15kW from a tower/antenna height of 489-feet.

For Champaign the group is seeking Channel 33 with a power of 15kW from an tower/antenna, 450 feet high.

This Message from Protect Public Media

2026-0320 In Congress, federal funding decisions don’t happen all at once. They take shape over months, starting with the funding priorities lawmakers are setting right now.

That’s why it’s so important they hear that public media matters to you. Tell Congress to prioritize restoring federal funding for local public media stations this year.

Last year’s loss of federal funding was a setback and has put dozens of local public radio and television stations at risk of closure.

Publicly and privately, Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have expressed concern about what the loss of federal funding means for local stations and the communities they serve. But their concern alone won’t restore federal funding, they must keep hearing from the millions of Americans who rely on their stations for reliable information, education and connection.

Speaking out now – early in the federal funding process – keeps funding for local public media stations in the conversation. It reminds champions in Congress that they must keep fighting to save our stations, and it signals to even the toughest opponents that their constituents still care about their local stations.

And the reason this matters is simple: communities stand to lose their only source of local media. Once a station is gone, its local service is nearly impossible to replace. Send a message now to protect their future.

With gratitude and resolve,
The Protect My Public Media Team

Nexstar-Tegna Merger Approved by the FCC But Challenges Remain

Updated 2026-0327

The FCC approved the merger of Nexstar Media Group and former competitor Tegna, but lawsuits have now emerged to challenge the deal.

The purchase price is $6.2 billion, which would create a mega media owner with 265 TV stations in 44 states, including Washington, DC. The company would include the affiliations of all three heritage TV networks, plus upstart FOX.

The deal needed the FCC's approval, which is now fully controlled by Brendon Carr and the Trump Administration, and the FCC approved a waiver of FCC “rules” that limit the number of local stations one company can own.

Perry Sook, chairman and CEO of Nexstar, actually thanked Trump for approving the merger.

Now, the sale faces lawsuits filed by DirecTV, attorneys general in eight states and o ther groups are now opposing the merger, arguing that it will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle local journalism.

Nexstar owns and operates WCIA, WMBD-TV, along with KTVI and KPLR in St. Louis and WGN in Illinois. Tegna owns and operates KSDK-TV in St. Louis and WQAD-TV in the Quad Cities.

CBS Radio News to Shut Down After Nearly a Century of Broadcasting!

from CBS News: 2026-0320

CBS News announced Friday that CBS News Radio will be shutting down this spring after nearly 100 years of broadcasting. The company cited "challenging economic realities" and a shift in radio programming strategies as reasons behind the decision.

About 700 affiliated stations nationwide carry CBS News Radio programming, which will end on May 22. All jobs on the radio team will be eliminated, the company said.

"We understand how difficult this news is for our staff and their colleagues, who have worked side by side with us to cover some of the most significant stories of our time," CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss said in a statement.

They also paid tribute to the historic role of CBS News Radio in covering major events worldwide since the dawn of the broadcasting era.

For more click here:

WIRL, AM 1290, Peoria, is reported to “Go Dark” soon

Another heritage broadcast operation is set to leave the air soon. Peoria’s longtime Top 40 AM radio station, which has more recently been broadcasting oldies, will shut down on March 31st. The station also simulcasts its talk format on an FM translator in Peoria, which will continue.

During the final week of WIRL, it’s been said that the station will broadcast a series of recordings from its past and conclude with its shutdown on March 31st.

WIRL went on the air on August 18, 1948, and operated at 5-thousand watts. WIRL is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc., which also owns and operates WSWT, WMBD, WPBG, WKZF, and WXCL, all in Peoria.

Check out the Classic Radio section below for a number of recorded air checks from the middle years of the Top 40 format of WIRL AM1290.

MeTV Returns "Hogan's Heroes to it's Schedule

It may have been the apparent viewer social media outcry when it was announced that the nightly 9 pm showing of “Hogan’s Heroes” was being replaced by “The Golden Girls” or maybe it wasn't. Weigel Broadcasting, was reportedly inundated by negative reaction via social media posts, so now has decided to return “Hogan’s Heroes” to the schedule!

Maybe it was the plan all along, as people also complained over exposure of “M*A*S*H” with the 4 episodes being aired back to back on weekdays and multiple weekend showings as well.

It’s been announced on social media that “Hogan” will be aired from 5 pm to 6 pm (CT) weekdays beginning on March 30th, replacing two of the four weekday episodes of “M*A*S*H” beginning at the same time. MeTV has officially announced that the WWII sitcom will definitely air on Sunday evenings from 11 pm to Midnight.

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.