WSIL-TV
WSIL-TV, virtual channel 3 (UHF digital channel 34), is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Harrisburg, Illinois, United States, serving Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, the Purchase area of Western Kentucky, and Northwest Tennessee. The station is owned by Quincy Media. WSIL-TV's studios are located on Country Aire Drive (IL 13) in Carterville, and its transmitter is located near Creal Springs, Illinois.
 | |
| Harrisburg/Marion/Carbondale, Illinois United States | |
|---|---|
| City | Harrisburg, Illinois |
| Channels | Digital: 34 (UHF) Virtual: 3 (PSIP) |
| Branding | WSIL-TV 3 (general) News 3 (newscasts) |
| Slogan | We've Got You Covered |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 3.1: ABC 3.2: Heroes & Icons 3.3: True Crime Network 3.4: Court TV 3.5: Ion Television |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Quincy Media (sale to Gray Television pending;[1] to be resold to another owner thereafter) (WSIL License, LLC) |
| History | |
First air date | December 19, 1953 |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 22 (UHF, 1953–1959) 3 (VHF, 1959–2009) |
Call sign meaning | Southern ILlinois |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73999 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 291 m (955 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°36′50″N 88°52′20″W |
| Translator(s) | K10KM-D 10 Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
| Website | www |
| Satellite of WSIL-TV | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Poplar Bluff, Missouri United States | |
| Channels | Digital: 15 (UHF) Virtual: 15 (PSIP) |
| Branding | KPOB-TV 15 (general) News 3 (newscasts) |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 15.1: ABC 15.2: Heroes & Icons 15.3: True Crime Network 15.4: Court TV 15.5: Ion Television |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Quincy Media (sale to Gray Television pending;[1] to be resold to another owner thereafter) (WSIL License, LLC) |
| History | |
First air date | September 15, 1967 |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 15 (UHF, 1967–2009) Digital: 18 (UHF, until 2009) |
Call sign meaning | POplar Bluff |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 73998 |
| ERP | 34.5 kW |
| HAAT | 184 m (604 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 36°48′4″N 90°27′6″W |
| Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
KPOB-TV (virtual and UHF digital channel 15) in Poplar Bluff, Missouri operates as a full-time satellite of WSIL-TV; this station's transmitter is located along US 60/67 in Poplar Bluff. KPOB-TV covers areas of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas that receive a marginal to non-existent over-the-air signal from WSIL-TV, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' contours otherwise. KPOB-TV is a straight simulcast of WSIL-TV; on-air references to KPOB-TV are limited to Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-mandated hourly station identifications during newscasts and other programming. Aside from the transmitter, KPOB-TV does not maintain any physical presence locally in Poplar Bluff.
WSIL-TV can also be seen on a digital translator, K10KM-D (channel 10), in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
History
WSIL signed-on for the first time December 1, 1953. It originally broadcast an analog signal on UHF channel 22, but moved to VHF channel 3 in March 1959 as did numerous stations originally assigned to UHF allocations before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated that television-set manufacturers include UHF tuning capability in their products in 1964. The original UHF transmitter had been built in Harrisburg before Paducah, Harrisburg, and Cape Girardeau had been collapsed into one large market. The station moved its facilities from Harrisburg to Carterville in 1989.[2]
However, some parts of Southeast Missouri could not receive channel 3's signal clearly, presumably because WSIL had to conform it to protect co-channel WREC-TV (now WREG-TV) in Memphis, Tennessee in the next market to the south. As a result, KPOB signed-on September 15, 1967 to provide service to those counties, although Jonesboro, Arkansas' KAIT (another ABC station) may have been visible in much of the area.
WSIL was the first station in the market to broadcast a digital signal at a full 1 megawatt of power (equivalent to 5 megawatts in analog) on October 22, 2002. It was also the first to air a mobile digital signal.
On January 3, 2018, WSIL and KPOB began airing Heroes & Icons on their .2 subchannels.
On October 31, 2018, it was announced that Quincy Media would acquire WSIL and KPOB for $24.5 million.[3][4][5] WSIL would be Quincy's fourth station in its home state of Illinois. The sale was approved by the FCC on December 20.[4] The sale was completed on January 15, 2019.[6][7]
On January 7, 2021, less than two years after acquiring WSIL, Quincy Media announced that it had put itself up for sale.[8] A few weeks later, Gray Television announced it had purchased Quincy for $925 million. As Gray already owns the market's KFVS-TV and both that and WSIL rank among the top four in ratings in the Paducah–Cape Girardeau–Harrisburg market, it intends to keep KFVS and sell WSIL (and KPOB) in order to satisfy FCC requirements.[1]
Digital television
Digital channels
The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | WSIL PSIP Short Name |
KPOB PSIP Short Name |
Programming[9][10] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 15.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WSILABC | KPOB-TV | Main programming / ABC |
| 3.2 | 15.2 | 480i | 4:3 | HandI | KPOB-TV | Heroes & Icons |
| 3.3 | 15.3 | 16:9 | Crime | True Crime Network | ||
| 3.4 | 15.4 | CourtTV | Court TV | |||
| 3.5 | 15.5 | Ion | Ion Television | |||
Analog-to-digital conversion
Both stations shut down their analog signals, respectively on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital channel allocations post-transition are as follows:[11]
- WSIL-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3; the station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3.
- KPOB-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to channel 15
Programming
Syndicated programming on WSIL includes The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Rachael Ray, and The Dr. Oz Show, among others.
For many years, WSIL did not air the weeknight broadcasts of ABC News, broadcasting instead a children's show featuring cartoons and Three Stooges shorts in the 5:30 to 6:30 time slot. It was not until sometime in the late-1970s it became the last ABC affiliate in the United States to abandon the practice of preempting the network news. However, in ABC's earlier years, quite a number of local stations did not carry the newscasts because their ratings trailed competitors CBS and NBC by a large margin. This changed when ABC initiated the World News Tonight format in 1978, finally establishing the network as a significant news operation.
The station was one of the ABC affiliates that refused to air NYPD Blue during its first season in 1993–1994. Station Manager Steve Wheeler appeared on Good Morning America to explain his decision. During the interview with Charles Gibson, Wheeler announced that if the program was successful, WSIL would reconsider. During this first season, Fox affiliate KBSI aired the program during the assigned network slot Tuesdays nights at 9 Central Time.[12]
News operation
WSIL's newscasts focus almost exclusively on Southern Illinois, unlike the other big three stations in the area. This is despite the presence of KPOB, which is a straight simulcast of WSIL. In fact, channel 3 does not even mention the market's other two main cities (Paducah and Cape Girardeau) in its on-air identifications, choosing to identify as "Harrisburg/Marion/Carbondale". Its newscasts are known as News 3, though some electronic program guides redundantly and erroneously title those newscasts as News 3 News. Unlike most ABC affiliates, WSIL does not air a midday newscast during the week.
On January 18, 2004, the news operation underwent a major renovation, including the set, logo and on-air graphics. Some personnel changes were also made.[13]
On October 6, 2010, WSIL became the first station in the market to offer news in high definition.[14]
Former on-air staff
- Tony Laubach - Meteorologist; Weather Warrior
- Christen Drew - reporter
- Briggs Gordon - children's show host
References
- Goldsmith, Jill (February 1, 2021). "Gray Television Acquires Quincy Media For $925 Million In Cash". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- "Southern Illinois' First Television Station » South of 64". southof64.cdale.biz. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
- "Quincy Buys Second Station This Week". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia LLC. October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- https://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1795174.pdf
- "Application For Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- "Quincy Media now owns WSIL-TV". WSIL-TV. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
- https://kwwl.com/2021/01/07/quincy-media-inc-considering-sale-of-company/
- RabbitEars TV Query for WSIL
- RabbitEars TV Query for KPOB
- "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=781790 Vanderbilt Television News Archive
- 2004], JOHN D. HOMAN THE SOUTHERN [Sat Jan 17. "WSIL-TV MAKEOVER EXPECTED TO SURPRISE VIEWERS". The Southern. Retrieved October 2, 2018.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- TVTechnology. "WSIL-TV Launches HD Newscast". TvTechnology. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
External links
- WSIL-TV/KPOB-TV
- WSIL Station History
- WSIL-TV in the FCC's TV station database
- KPOB-TV in the FCC's TV station database
- K10KM-D in the FCC's TV station database