WCIA
WCIA is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Central Illinois region of the United States that is licensed to Champaign. It broadcasts a high-definition (HD) digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter in Seymour, Illinois; along the Champaign and Piatt County line.
Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, it is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate WCIX (which is also carried on the WCIA's digital subchannel) and the two share studios on South Neil Street (also known as U.S. 45) in downtown Champaign. They also operate a sales office and news bureau on East Edwards Street near the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield along with a newsroom on North Water Street in downtown Decatur. The station can also be seen on WCIX's second digital subchannel on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter east of Springfield. WCIX (X-49) is now broadcasting in high-definition (HD) 16:9 on WCIX 49.1 and WCIA 3.2 as of 6/19/15
History
The station's first broadcast was on November 14, 1953, and it was owned and operated by Midwest Television, headquartered in Champaign. August C. Meyer Sr., a lawyer and chairman of the board of the Champaign-based Bank of Illinois, founded Midwest Television in 1952. Meyer expanded the company's market presence 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 the Illinois stations in 2001.
