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48-545: WCIA (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Champaign, Illinois , United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Central Illinois region. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Springfield -licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WCIX (channel 49). Both stations share studios on South Neil Street/ US 45 in downtown Champaign and also operate a sales office and news bureau on West Edwards Street near

96-405: A barter in some cases. Standard definition Standard-definition television ( SDTV ; also standard definition or SD ) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition . Standard refers to offering a similar resolution to the analog broadcast systems used when it was introduced. SDTV originated from the need for

144-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

192-714: A new digital transmission line and antenna. WCIA was the longtime home to Illinois Fighting Illini football and men's basketball games that were not aired on national television. Originally produced by WCIA, the station later carried the Illini via the Big Ten Conference 's syndicated package with ESPN Plus . Beginning in 2007, these games have since moved to the Big Ten Network . The station still airs Illini men's basketball games that are carried as part of CBS's overall NCAA and Big Ten contracts including

240-479: A shock to the community. In his early battle, WCIA sold red ribbons in support of Reese and the American Cancer Society . On September 11, 2014, WCIA anchor Dave Benton announced on-air that he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and that he had only months to live. He explained that the doctors told him that his cancer had returned and that it was too large for surgery or radiation. Benton

288-591: A standard to digitize analog TV (defined in BT.601 ) and is now used for digital TV broadcasts and home appliances such as game consoles and DVD disc players. Digital SDTV broadcast eliminates the ghosting and noisy images associated with analog systems. However, if the reception has interference or is poor, where the error correction cannot compensate one will encounter various other artifacts such as image freezing, stuttering, or dropouts from missing intra-frames or blockiness from missing macroblocks . The audio encoding

336-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

384-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

432-512: Is a subchannel of WCCU as part of the market's ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) hosting arrangement. Originally, WCFN/WCIX aired its digital signal in a reduced 4:3 480i standard-definition format on both its main channel and the digital subcarrier of WCIA. In June 2015, WCIX upgraded to a full 1080i 16:9 high definition signal, the same as WCIA. In September 2016, WCIA begin broadcasting Bounce TV on 3.3 and Grit TV on 3.4. WCIA shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009,

480-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

528-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

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576-405: Is the last to suffer a loss due to the lower bandwidth requirements. Standards that support digital SDTV broadcast include DVB , ATSC , and ISDB . The last two were originally developed for HDTV , but are also used for their ability to deliver multiple SD video and audio streams via multiplexing . The two SDTV signal types are 576i (with 576 interlaced lines of resolution, derived from

624-658: The Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. WCIA's transmitter is located west of Seymour, Illinois . Since WCIA's over-the-air signal cannot be seen in western parts of the market (including Springfield and Jacksonville ), it is simulcast in high definition on WCIX's second digital subchannel (49.2) from a transmitter in Clear Lake Township . Nielsen Media Research treats WCIA and WCIX-DT2 as one station in local ratings books, using

672-451: The U.S. Agriculture Department over the past three months alone." WCIA acknowledged running the releases in the early hours of its morning news as part of its traditional service of agribusiness news to its rural viewers. The station gained national attention in April 2021 when reporter Abigail Metsch posted a photo of herself on Instagram in a thong bikini , with Metsch's back facing

720-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

768-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

816-1155: The 5 p.m. news as long as his health allowed. Benton died at home on May 26. On December 3, 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire the assets of Chicago -based Tribune Media for $ 6.4 billion in cash and debt. The deal—which would make Nexstar the largest television station operator by total number of stations upon its expected closure late in the third quarter of 2019—resulted in WCIA and WCIX gaining additional sister stations in nearby markets including Chicago ( independent station WGN-TV ) and St. Louis ( Fox affiliate KTVI and CW affiliate KPLR-TV ). (Ownership conflicts existed in two existing Nexstar markets involving Nexstar's duopoly of CW affiliate WISH-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (which were both sold to Circle City Broadcasting) and Tribune's duopoly of Fox affiliate WXIN and CBS affiliate WTTV/WTTK in Indianapolis and Nexstar's virtual triopoly of CBS affiliate WHBF-TV , CW affiliate KGCW and Fox-affiliated SSA partner KLJB and Tribune-owned ABC affiliate WQAD-TV (which

864-702: The 5:00 p.m. newscast, WCIA and sister station WCIX began broadcasting local news in high definition. This made the WCIA/WCIX operation the third local news operation and second "Big Four" network affiliated station to have made the upgrade. However, the newscasts on WCIX continued to be seen over the air in a letterboxed format until June 19, 2015, because its main channel was still transmitted in 4:3 standard definition until it upgraded to HD on that date. In April 2015, WCIA expanded its 6 p.m. newscast from 30 minutes to one hour to provide better coverage of local news. In late 2015, WCIA expanded its news coverage from

912-566: The European-developed PAL and SECAM systems), and 480i (with 480 interlaced lines of resolution, based on the American NTSC system). SDTV refresh rates are 25, 29.97 and 30 frames per second , again based on the analog systems mentioned. In North America, digital SDTV is broadcast in the same 4:3 fullscreen aspect ratio as NTSC signals, with widescreen content often being center cut . In other parts of

960-651: The Illinois stations in 2001. WCIA was a primary CBS affiliate, carrying secondary affiliations with NBC and DuMont . DuMont shut down in 1956 and WCIA dropped NBC in 1959 when WCHU-TV (now WICD ) started. It also carried a few ABC shows during the 1953–1954 television season. As the only commercial VHF station in Central Illinois, WCIA has been one of the country's most dominant television stations for most of its history. On two occasions, it fought off attempts by WICS /WICD and WAND to force it onto

1008-643: The Peoria market without numbers being further stunted by WCIA. A group known as "Citizens to Keep WCIA on-the-air" petitioned Nexstar to revert the change, but was unsuccessful. WCIA's Grade B signal still covers the Bloomington–Normal area decently (extending as far west as Morton ), meaning that Bloomington–Normal residents can still receive WCIA over-the-air . In November 2006, work began to re-secure WCIA's existing tower in Seymour so it would be able to hold

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1056-422: The Springfield market's first hour-long 4 p.m. news program; the show utilizes interactivity with viewers, through the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, along with online polls and audience quizzes via text message and the station's website. The show also utilizes the station's new set, which is also used for the station's morning show, as well as other programs. On October 24, 2012, during

1104-749: The State Capitol. The station now produces and airs Capitol Connection on Sunday mornings after CBS' Face the Nation . The show is also carried on other Nexstar stations in Illinois. In October 2016, WCIA expanded its morning show from four hours to five hours, making the station have the only local news at 9 a.m. in the market. In an article published on March 13, 2005, The New York Times documented WCIA's use of government video news releases without clear attribution as such. The Times reported, "WCIA, based in Champaign, had run 26 segments made by

1152-647: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

1200-563: The UHF band by claiming that moving to UHF would cause it to lose 150,000 viewers. Despite its dominance of the market, WCIA provides only a Grade B signal to the Springfield area. Meyer realized early on that Champaign– Urbana and Springfield/ Decatur were going to be one giant television market. He originally wanted to build WCIA's tower in White Heath , roughly halfway between Champaign and Decatur. The tower would have been placed on some of

1248-517: The actual image and 16 pixels are reserved for horizontal blanking, though a number of broadcasters fill the whole 720 frames. The display ratio for broadcast widescreen is commonly 16:9 (pixel aspect ratio of 40:33 for anamorphic ); the display ratio for a traditional or letterboxed broadcast is 4:3 (pixel aspect ratio of 10:11). An SDTV image outside the constraints of the SMPTE standards requires no non-proportional scaling with 640 pixels (defined by

1296-542: The camera with her head turned towards the camera, completely exposing her buttocks and mentioning the station in the photo caption. After a viewer complained to the station, the News Director asked her to remove the photo. WCIA management reportedly planned to keep the punishment "in house" until it was reported on television news industry website FTVLive.com, after which the Nexstar corporate office got involved and

1344-448: The highest ground in Central Illinois. However, just after construction began, Prairie Television (owner of WTVP, now WAND) filed an objection. Prairie claimed WCIA was encroaching on its territory. To avoid delays, WCIA moved its transmitter to the current location in Seymour. Despite this, Decatur (the second-largest city in the western half of the market) receives WCIA's signal very well. While it frequently trounced WICS/WICD and WAND in

1392-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

1440-809: The identifier name WCIA+ . WCIA made its first broadcast on November 14, 1953. It was owned and operated by Champaign-based Midwest Television, headed by August C. Meyer Sr., a lawyer and chairman of the board of the Champaign-based Bank of Illinois. Meyer founded Midwest Television in 1952, and expanded the company's footprint by buying WMBD-AM – FM – TV in Peoria, Illinois , in 1960 and KFMB-AM – FM – TV in San Diego, California , in 1964. Midwest sold off controlling interest in its Illinois television holdings to Nexstar in 1999. That company acquired Midwest's remaining interest in

1488-408: The image. Nominal analog blanking should not be confused with overscan , as overscan areas are part of the actual 4:3 or 16:9 image. For SMPTE 259M-C compliance, an SDTV broadcast image is scaled to 720 pixels wide for every 480 NTSC (or 576 PAL) lines of the image with the amount of non-proportional line scaling dependent on either the display or pixel aspect ratio . Only 704 center pixels contain

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1536-464: The incident "to be sure an error like the one we made never happens again." Miller, who worked at the station from 1997 to 2016, the last 10 of those years as news director, was brought in as interim news director in June to implement reforms. WCIA and WCIX broadcast two shared channels (CBS on 3.1 and 49.2 and MyNetworkTV on 3.2 and 49.1) and two unique diginets each. Also broadcast on the WCIA multiplex

1584-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

1632-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

1680-568: The official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 48, using virtual channel 3. On January 17, 2020, WCIA moved to channel 34 as a result of the spectrum repack. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,

1728-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

1776-1080: The ratings, Meyer decided to open a low-powered relay of WCIA on UHF channel 49 to get better coverage in the state capital. In 1985, this became full-powered station WCFN. In 2002, WCFN separated from WCIA and became the area's UPN affiliate. However, few viewers on the western half of the market lost access to WCIA due to the extremely high penetration of cable and satellite, which is all but essential for acceptable television in much of this vast market. The few viewers who lost access regained it soon afterward when WCIA and WCFN activated their digital television services and added each other to their second digital subchannels. WCFN's main channel instead carried WCIA's main schedule in full high definition, with WCFN's channel remaining in standard definition until multiplexing technology improved to allow WCIA and WCFN's main channels to both be in HD. This, and area cable and satellite access, assured both stations full market coverage. WCFN changed its call letters to WCIX in 2011. For decades, WCIA

1824-469: The station was forced to terminate Metsch. Metsch removed the photo and went private on all of her social media accounts. Metsch has since resurfaced as a reporter for KBTX-TV in Bryan, Texas . On May 19, 2021, WCIA reported that Champaign police officer Chris Oberheim had been killed in the line of duty. Officer Oberheim had responded to a domestic dispute call; during that call, shots were fired. Oberheim

1872-515: The station. On May 24, WCIA apologized for the story, admitting that it fell short of station standards. The station also apologized on-air on both the 9 p.m. newscast airing on WCIX and on the 10 p.m. newscast on WCIA. In subsequent weeks, general manager Sharon Rachal and news director Rich Flesch were quietly pushed out. Almost two months later, on July 13, Nexstar regional manager Traci Wilkinson and local content director Andy Miller joined anchor Jennifer Roscoe to discuss further changes made since

1920-535: The team's championship appearance in 2005 and will air any Illini football games carried by CBS beginning in 2023 as part of its new Big Ten football package . In 2009, WCIA's longtime weathercaster Judy Fraser retired from the station after 34 years. She was only the second head weathercaster in the station's history at the time. Meteorologist Robert Reese took over as Chief Meteorologist. His death in connection with complications from cancer in October 2012 came as

1968-528: The video into a pillarbox . The pixel aspect ratio is the same for 720- and 704-pixel resolutions because the visible image (be it 4:3 or 16:9) is contained in the center 704 horizontal pixels of the digital frame. In the case of a digital video line having 720 horizontal pixels (including horizontal blanking), only the center 704 pixels contain the actual 4:3 or 16:9 image, and the 8-pixel-wide stripes on either side are called nominal analog blanking or horizontal blanking and should be discarded when displaying

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2016-468: The world that used the PAL or SECAM color systems, digital standard-definition television is now usually shown with a 16:9 aspect ratio , with the transition occurring between the mid-1990s and late-2000s depending on the region. Older programs with a 4:3 aspect ratio are broadcast with a flag that switches the display to 4:3. Some broadcasters prefer to reduce the horizontal resolution by anamorphically scaling

2064-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

2112-641: Was available on cable systems in Bloomington – Normal , in the Peoria market, along with sister station WMBD-TV. In March 2000, shortly after Nexstar bought controlling interest in both stations, it announced it would drop WCIA from AT&T Cable Services (now Comcast Xfinity ) and cable systems in surrounding areas, a move that would eventually be forced nationwide, due to CBS affiliation agreements requiring only one affiliate being authorized per market on pay television services. It would centralize WMBD's advertising revenue and preserve its ratings standing within

2160-545: Was diagnosed with a glioblastoma in November 2013 after doctors found a tumor on the left side of his head. He underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy and completed radiation treatment in February 2014. On April 13, 2015, Benton announced on the 6 p.m. newscast that he was stepping down from the anchor chair due to continued health issues and failed treatments, though he hoped to continue his signature crime reports for

2208-475: Was shot and killed, along with Darion Lafayette who originally fired shots at the responding officers. On May 21, WCIA reported on the incident and appeared to memorialize Lafayette. A graphic provided by the Lafayette family was displayed on screen, which depicted Lafayette with angel wings. This led to a firestorm of community outrage, with complaints on social media and several businesses pulling their ads from

2256-627: Was sold to Tegna ) in the Quad Cities .) The sale was approved by the FCC on September 16 and was completed on September 19, 2019. WCIA currently broadcasts its news from its studios in Champaign. It currently broadcasts 40 hours of news a week, and one hour on Saturday and Sunday. For most of its history, it has been central Illinois' dominant news station, owing to its status as the market's only VHF station. On September 12, 2011, WCIA debuted an hour-long lifestyle and news program titled ciLiving.tv ,

2304-678: Was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

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