Thursday, November 21st, 7-8 pm at the Urbana Free Library
This includes a presentation on the early History of Champaign-Urbana Television
Books will be available for purchase for just $19.99 and I'll sign your purchased book and your pre-purchased book as well!
Meanwhile, consider a copy of my book as a great Christmas gift for someone who remembers the early days of mid-Illinois television! Order now, and bring it to my next book signing event in your community!
"Pictures on the Prairie"
would make a great
Christmas Gift!
Listen for Doug on WDWS, Tuesday, Nov 19, 10-11 am with Brian Barnhart
BOOK EVENTS
Local Television Today
Looking to "cut the cable?"
Find out what's available to you "off the air" with the use of an antenna. Some times an indoor antenna is all you need, but most of the time an attic, rooftop or tower mounted antenna will be necessary. Find out what is available absolutely free once your investment in an antenna is made.
No matter where you are in mid-Illinois, Peoria, Terre Haute, St. Louis or Chicago areas you'll see what available to you with no monthly subscription fees.
CHECK OUT THE NEW "CUTTING THE CABLE" PAGE by clicking on the link here or from the drop-down menu above under TV Today.
You can also click on the Yahoo link for a program grid of the current "over-the-air" channels in your area.
Examine the history of each of the mid-Illinois TV stations along with stations in Peoria and St. Louis
Each station has a unique history, with ownership diversity and a different path to success. Some achieved success and are now some of the oldest businesses in their respective cities of license. Others fell by the wayside.
Follow their paths from the very beginning in "Pictures on the Prairie: The First Ten Years of Mid-Illinois Television" then catch up with the histories of each station from the early 1960s to the present on Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum.
I spotlight stations which became very special in my radio career. WTIM/WTIM-FM in my hometown and WDAN/WDNL at which I spent most of 25 years.
The select area radio stations all have something in common, in that they were all automated and I worked at two of the stations highlighted.
Legendary radio stations include in my opinion the greatest radio stations heard in mid-Illinois during the era
Automated Radio formats include those program syndicators as well as the equipment used by stations to establish many FM stations during the AM radio era.
There's audio from the companies represented of demos of many of the formats. You'll also see which local stations subscribed to each format.
See photos of many automation systems used by many radio stations from around the country as well as local stations.
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Industrial audio/video training
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Industrial video narration
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Infomercials
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TV commercials
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Public Service announcements
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Radio commercials
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Powerpoint presentations
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Telephone on-hold messages
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In-store announcements for music services
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TV Station news/promo image voice
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Website Audio narration/training
Videos of the Week
A 1980s Thanksgiving Flashback
Here's a 1980s Thanksgiving flashback of some program elements, commercials, Thanksgiving Parades, promos and more.
Some of the commercials are from outside of the area such as San Francisco, New York, and other locations, but there is a K's Merchandise commercial from central Illinois also included. It's a Thanksgiving Holiday TV Flashback Collection from Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum.
"Burns and Allen" Thanksgiving episode from 1951
This is Thanksgiving themed kinescope of a live episode of "George Burns and Gracie Allen" from 1951.
This was probably never seen in central Illinois as it was broadcast live, although it is possibly seen via kinescope reruns at one time or another in the early to mid-1950s.
Check out the blatant product placement of the sponsor. This was seen on CBS Television, but not locally as local TV stations were not yet one the air.
(Source: YouTube and various posters and contributors.
They may be removed without notice)
Classic Radio
"The Jello Program with Jack Benny" from Thanksgiving 1939
Here is a Thanksgiving episode of "The Jack Benny Show" from 1939. It's known as the "Ostrich Thanksgiving" episode. As you can imagine, Jack finds a 65-pound turkey...only it isn't a turkey.
Catch the fun as Jack prepares Thanksgiving for the gang! It's the original "show about nothing" and one of the first ensemble sitcoms as broadcast on NBC Radio. Mostly likely heard on WMAQ and KSD.
(Source: YouTube and various posters and contributors.
They may be removed without notice)
Historical
Television
Highlights
Click on each Graphic/Title Below to go directly to an in depth story of each with pictures/videos of Television's Past
What's New?
July 21, 2019-The "nearly" complete History of WICS covering the years 1966 to the present has been posted. I still have more recent material to add, but I also am asking for those with material to contact me about adding it to the page. For more details go to the bottom of the page to find out what I'm looking for. Meanwhile, check out the new pate with updates, The History of WICS 1966-present!
August 2019-TV Today updated with more recent information on the repack which is coming soon for many TV markets including across mid-Illinois. There have been some TV network affiliate switches in Chicago which have been noted. Check out the format of the listings of each station and click on the links for even more.
September 2019-The Home Page got a new look along with Doug's Bio Page.
September 28, 2019-Finally added pictures to the Picture Gallery Page with pictures from the 2019 Labor Day Parades and the Walk to Defeat ALS event on September 28
October 20, 2019-Once again I made the Rich Warren column in the October 20th News-Gazette. Read the column by going to the Picture Gallery Page and scrolling to the bottom of the page or click here.
October 20, 2019-Once again I made the Rich Warren column in the October 20th News-Gazette. Read the column by going to the Picture Gallery Page and scrolling to the bottom of the page or click here.
November 9, 2019- Updated TV Now pages to reflect new affiliations with sub-channels in most markets.
Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum and dougquick.com supports the work of the St. Louis Media History.
Visit their website at:
