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Biography

Doug Quick

Doug Quick was the market's longest-tenured weathercaster upon his retirement on September 30, 2021, having been at the Champaign studios doing weather since 1996. He began at WICD as Promotions Director in 1994 and began to do weekend weathercasts in 1995. Doug later left promotions to become the first weathercaster and co-anchor for Sunrise in 1998 moving to the evening newscasts in 2002. By 2006, he was doing weathercasts for the 5, 6, and 10 pm newscasts as well as at 9 pm on WCCU, Channel 27.  He added co-anchoring to his role on WICD in 2013.  In 2015 Doug would become the exclusive weathercaster and co-anchor for FOX-Champaign News at 5:30 and 9 pm on WCCU which is also broadcast on WBUI, CW23 from Decatur, Illinois at 9 pm. He would continue through his retirement.

After graduating from Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Doug’s broadcast career began in 1974 in his original hometown of Taylorville, Illinois at WTIM/WTIM-FM. He later returned to college at Western Illinois University where he co-anchored a local newscast on the WIU cablecast television station. He also worked at radio stations, WTIM/WTIM-FM, and WTAX/WDBR in Springfield. After his time at WIU Doug was offered a position at the sister stations of WTAX/WDBR in Danville, WDAN/WMBJ.

 

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Doug's first radio station job was at his hometown station, WTIM/WTIM-FM. After trying and failing to get a job there in 1972, he tried again in 1974 and was hired to host an evening rock show, that he successfully pitched to ownership, on what was then a beautiful music station, WTIM-FM. After a few months, he was asked to do the morning show on WTIM(AM). With that, he took a year off from college to reconsider what was a major in pharmacy. After working the morning show at WTIM, he went back to college at Western Illinois University, majoring in mass communications and a minor in chemistry.


It was during his time at Western Illinois, that he got a summer job at his dream radio station, WTAX/WDBR in Springfield. He worked both stations in the news department, mostly the afternoon/evening news block on WTAX and late afternoon/evening newscasts on WDBR. He would also fill in a few weeks as the afternoon WTAX host. When the summer was over, he continued as a weekend jock on Adult Top 40 WDBR through the Fall. Meanwhile, he was still working weekends at WTIM, and what was then WEEE(FM), and finishing up at Western Illinois University.

During the Holiday break, he shifted the format of WEEE to what was an oldie/current mix format, returning to the station full time in March of 1977. He would continue as program director of the automated station overseeing its operation, while also selling advertisers' time on the station through September of that year.

After joining WDAN/WMBJ in Danville in September of 1977, he helped in the change of WMBJ to WDNL and a contemporary high personality radio station.  He was the first morning DJ on the new D-102 radio station from October 1977 through May 1979. At that time he left WDNL for a short three-month stint at WDZ/WDZQ in Decatur, Illinois before returning to WDNL as an afternoon drive DJ and for an advertising sales position.  For most of the next 25 years, Doug would take on many other roles at WDAN/WDNL, sales manager, and eventually general manager in 1989, all while keeping his on-air role as DJ/announcer.

In 1993, he spent a year as the first station manager of WWDZ(FM), 94.9FM in Danville, then returned as the late afternoon announcer at WDNL. Meanwhile, he joined WICD, NBC-Channel 15 in Champaign in December of 1994 as the station promotions director. He oversaw the change of the station's new image campaign to become NewsChannel 15, producing on-air promotional announcements, as well as overseeing the station's community initiatives with the station being involved in many community events and activities.  

In 1995 he added the job of weekend weathercaster to his television activities, and by 1998 was the morning anchor/weathercaster of the morning "Sunrise" show on NewsChannel 15. His radio and television careers were continuing simultaneously from 1994 to 2002, but television won out when he left WDNL on the radio station's 25 anniversary to work exclusively at WICD through 2016 as the evening weathercaster for newscasts at 5, 6, and 10 pm.

In 2016, the ownership of WICD and operator of WCCU flipped the news operation away from WICD and placed it on WCCU, FOX-Illinois 27. That move would shift Doug to being the news/weather anchor for FOX-Champaign, and FOX-Illinois newscasts at 5:30 and 9 pm. He still occasionally filled in on NewsChannel 15/20-Springfield as part of the STORM TEAM. 

 

Along with broadcasting, Doug has a commercial and industrial video voice-over career over the last 40 years. His voice has been on local television stations, many national and regional commercials, many industrial and educational videos, military web training projects, and even a video game.  He has written historical articles which have been published in Central Illinois newspapers and has been featured in articles in the Danville Commercial-News and the Champaign News-Gazette.
 

In 2013 Doug received the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Award based on his work is documenting mid-Illinois Television history on this website, Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum. In 2017 he received a Silver Dome Award for Best Medium Market News Anchor from the Illinois Broadcasters Association.


His outside activities have included the Vermilion County Conservation Foundation where he was a member of the Board of Directors. He is also a former director on the board of the First Illinois Credit Union.  Doug has spoken before many civic groups, students at all grade levels who are considering broadcasting as a career, broadcast history, weather, or the Foundation. He is an avid classic movie fan and classic TV show collector and has his own audio/video editing studio at home.


In December of 2017, he completed his book "Pictures on the Prairie: The First Ten Years of Mid-Illinois Television History" in which he traces in minute detail the first ten years of a budding new industry which saw both failures and successes of the early television pioneers.  Copies can be obtained from a link on the homepage.

 

Doug is now retired from broadcasting and will continue to make Vermilion County, Illinois his home. Doug and his wife Melissa have been married since 1978 and are the parents of two adult married daughters and grandparents to a grandson….and pet parents of their Shih Tzu, Moka.

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