WCIX (channel 49) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, United States, serving the
Central Illinois
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. Also known as the ''Heart of Illinois'', it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agri ...
region as an affiliate of
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
. It is owned by
Nexstar Media Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
alongside
Champaign
Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...
-licensed
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliate
WCIA
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 W ...
(channel 3). Both stations share studios on South Neil Street/
US 45
U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as .
US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...
in downtown Champaign and also operate a sales office and
news bureau
A news bureau is an office for gathering or distributing news. Similar terms are used for specialized bureaus, often to indicate a geographic location or scope of coverage: a ‘Tokyo bureau’ refers to a given news operation's office in Tokyo; ' ...
on East Edwards Street near the
Illinois State Capitol
The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, houses the Illinois General Assembly, legislative and Governor of Illinois, executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth to serv ...
in Springfield. WCIX's transmitter is located in
Clear Lake Township.
Since WCIX's over-the-air signal cannot be seen in eastern parts of the
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
(including Champaign,
Urbana __NOTOC__
Urbana can refer to:
Places Italy
*Urbana, Italy
United States
*Urbana, Illinois
**Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois
*Urbana, Indiana
* Urbana, Iowa
*Urbana, Kansas
* Urbana, Maryland
*Urbana, ...
, and
Danville), it is
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
in
high definition on WCIA's second
digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...
(
UHF channel 34.2 or virtual channel 3.2) from a transmitter west of
Seymour, Illinois
Seymour is a census-designated place in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 317. It is part of Mahomet-Seymour Community Unit School District No. 3.
Geography
Seymour is located at (40.1069769, - ...
.
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
treats WCIX and WCIA-DT2 as one station in local ratings books, using the identifier name WCIX+.
History
Before WCIA signed-on in 1953, it originally wanted to build its transmitter tower in
White Heath, halfway between Champaign and
Decatur. The tower would have been placed on some of the highest ground in Central Illinois. However, after construction began, then-
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate WTVP (channel 17, now
WAND
A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal or plastic.
Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, which c ...
) filed an objection. Even though it was obvious that Champaign–Urbana and Springfield/Decatur would be considered a single market, WTVP owner Prairie Television claimed WCIA was trying to encroach on its territory. To avoid delays, that station moved its transmitter to its current location in Seymour. While the signal from the Seymour tower covered Decatur very well, it was barely viewable in Springfield until
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
arrived in the market in the early 1960s.
WCIA quickly established itself as the dominant station in the region despite its signal issues in the western half of the market. Eventually, then-owner Midwest Television decided to open a
low-powered satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
relay of WCIA on UHF channel 49 to get better coverage in Springfield and the surrounding area. This relay launched in
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
under the
callsign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
W49AA. On February 4, 1985, Midwest Television upgraded channel 49 to a full-power station under new calls, WCFN. However, like its low-powered predecessor, WCFN was a straight simulcast of WCIA, even airing its commercials. WCFN's existence was only acknowledged in WCIA's legal
station identification
Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...
s.
In 2002, WCFN broke off from the simulcast to be the market's first full-time
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
affiliate. That network had previously been seen in off-hours on
Pax
Pax or PAX may refer to:
Peace
* Peace (Latin: ''pax'')
** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace
** Pax, a truce term
* Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services
* Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly ki ...
outlet WPXU (channel 23, now
WBUI
WBUI (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Decatur, Illinois, United States, serving the Central Illinois region as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by GOCOM Media, LLC, alongside Springfield-licensed Fox affiliate WRSP-TV, chann ...
) in Decatur. However, few viewers actually lost access to WCIA, given the extremely high penetration of cable and
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
in central Illinois.
The removal of CBS service from the station would be temporary with the launch of WCFN's digital transmitter, meaning that despite the conversion to UPN, WCFN's schedule could also air as a WCIA subchannel, with WCIA's main CBS channel able to be carried by WCFN. Accordingly, the main channel 49 schedule was added to WCIA-DT2 with channel 3's schedule airing on WCFN-DT2. WCIA's signal aired in full
1080i
1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...
high definition, with the main WCFN schedule only seen in a reduced
480i
480i is the video mode used for standard-definition digital television in the Caribbean, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Laos, Western Sahara, and most of the Americas (with the exception of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The ''480 ...
standard definition
Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
over-the-air on both channels 49.1 and 3.2 as
multiplexing
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
of two high-definition signals was not yet possible. In September 2006, with
ACME Communications
ACME Communications was a U.S.-based broadcasting company that was involved in operations of television stations and programming from the late 1990s to the year of 2013.
Company profile
ACME Communications was co-founded by Chairman and origina ...
's WBUI (then with executive connections with a
former WB network executive) ''de facto'' taking
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
affiliation by default, WCFN joined MyNetworkTV instead in the wake of the
WB/UPN merger.
In early 2007, Nexstar and the
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fed ...
came to an agreement to carry coverage of IHSA tournaments in the market on channel 49. Central Illinois had previously been without an over-the-air flagship station for these kind of events. Also, from the
2010–11 NBA season to the
2019 Major League Baseball season
The 2019 Major League Baseball season began on March 20, while the regular season ended on September 29. It was the 150th anniversary of professional baseball, dating back to the 1869 foundation of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The postseason beg ...
, the station carried
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...
,
Cubs, and
White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
games which aired in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
on
WCIU and
WLS-TV
WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State S ...
and were produced by
WGN Sports
WGN Sports (originally known as WGN-TV Sports from 1948 to 1993) was the programming division of WGN-TV (channel 9), an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois, United States—which is owned by the Nexstar Media Group—that ...
. The station carried
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
preseason football games starting in
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
. Before 2011, WCFN featured
Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
coverage of the
US Open tennis tournament from
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
because of WCIA's commitment to air the ''
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
MDA Labor Day Telethon
The ''MDA Labor Day Telethon'' was an annual telethon held on (starting the night before and throughout) Labor Day in the United States to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Muscular Dystrophy Association was founded i ...
''. In
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, the tennis coverage shifted fully to WCIA since the telethon was limited to the night before Labor Day.
On August 29, 2011, the station's call sign was changed to WCIX—a call sign used on CBS
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
WFOR-TV
WFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WBFS-TV (channel 3 ...
in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
from 1967 to 1995, when that station changed from channel 6 to channel 4 and swapped with
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's
WTVJ
WTVJ (channel 6) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Fort Lauderdale–licensed WSCV (ch ...
. At that point, the station's logo was changed to resemble that of sister station
KARZ-TV
KARZ-TV (channel 42) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate KARK-TV (channel 4); Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox affi ...
in
Little Rock, Arkansas
(The Little Rock, The "Little Rock")
, government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager
, leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_ ...
; which is also a MyNetworkTV affiliate associated with a
big three network-affiliated station (in that case, NBC outlet
KARK-TV
KARK-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV (channel 42); Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox aff ...
).
In June 2015, Nexstar upgraded the transmitters of WCIA and WCIX to allow high definition multiplexing, so WCIX's main MyNetworkTV channel began to be carried on both stations in full 1080i
16:9 on both 49.1 and 3.2.
On December 3, 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire the assets of Chicago-based
Tribune Media
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
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—would result in WCIX and WCIA gaining additional
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
s in nearby markets including Chicago (
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
WGN-TV
WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...
) and
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
(
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
affiliate
KTVI
KTVI (channel 2) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station KPLR-TV (channel 11). Both stations share studios on B ...
and CW affiliate
KPLR-TV
KPLR-TV (channel 11) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, airing programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate KTVI (channel 2). Both stations sh ...
). (Ownership conflicts existed in two existing Nexstar markets involving Nexstar's duopoly of CW affiliate
WISH-TV
WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, C ...
and MyNetworkTV affiliate
WNDY-TV
WNDY-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Marion, Indiana, United States, serving the Indianapolis area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Indianapolis-licensed CW affiliat ...
(which were both sold to Circle City Broadcasting) and Tribune's duopoly of Fox affiliate
WXIN
WXIN (channel 59) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Bloomington, Indiana, Bloomington-licensed C ...
and CBS affiliate
WTTV/WTTK in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
and Nexstar's virtual triopoly of CBS affiliate
WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities area. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Burlington, Iowa–licensed The CW, CW owned-and-op ...
, CW affiliate
KGCW
KGCW (channel 26) is a television station licensed to Burlington, Iowa, United States, serving the Quad Cities area with programming from The CW. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Rock Island, Illin ...
and Fox-affiliated SSA partner
KLJB
KLJB (channel 18) is a television station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Quad Cities area. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Nexstar Medi ...
and Tribune-owned ABC affiliate
WQAD-TV
WQAD-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Moline, Illinois, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of ABC and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Park 16th Street in Moline, an ...
(which was sold to
Tegna
Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into t ...
) in the
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...
.)
The sale was approved by the FCC on September 16 and was completed on September 19, 2019.
News operation
On April 7, 2005, WCIA began airing the market's first prime time newscast on WCFN. Known on-air as ''Primetime News at 9'', the broadcast originated from the main studios in Champaign but was targeted specifically at a Springfield-based audience. The name was altered to ''myCFN News at 9'' in September 2006 to reflect WCFN's affiliation change to MyNetworkTV.
There would not be any competition in the time slot until September 11, 2006 when rival ABC affiliates
WICS
WICS (channel 20) is a television station licensed to Springfield, Illinois, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on East Cook Street in Springfield's Eastside; its ...
/
WICD
Wicd, which stands for Wireless Interface Connection Daemon, is an open-source software utility to manage both wireless and wired networks for Linux. The project started in late 2006 with the creation of Connection Manager, which eventually becam ...
began co-producing a nightly prime time newscast at 9 on Fox affiliates
WRSP/WCCU. That program was based out of WICS' Springfield studios but, unlike WCFN's show, featured market-wide coverage (including contributions from WICD reporters based in Champaign). However, there was a separate weeknight
weather forecast
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th centu ...
segment seen on WRSP and WCCU that was specifically geared towards the Springfield and Champaign areas, respectively.
Also in 2006, WCIA began airing an hour-long extension of its weekday morning newscast at 7 a.m. on WCFN. This originally included a simulcast of the 6 o'clock hour of ''The Morning Show'' from WCIA. At the end of the first hour, viewers were always reminded to flip the channel to WCFN which offers a local alternative to the national
morning programs seen on the big three networks. In 2007, another hour was added to the show which can now be seen from 7 until 9.
In 2009, WCIA announced it would cancel ''myCFN News at 9'' and launch a new sixty-minute newscast weeknights at 7 on WCFN beginning September 28. As a result, MyNetworkTV programming now airs out-of-pattern, via an hour
tape delay, from 8 to 10 p.m. The broadcast would eventually be reduced to 30 minutes in length. On October 24, 2012, WCIA upgraded local news production to high definition level. However, WCIX's newscasts were initially seen over-the-air in a letterboxed format because its main channel only transmitted in 4:3 standard definition until it was upgraded to full HD in 2015. WRSP/WCCU added competition to the weekday morning news race on January 20, 2014 after WICS began producing a two-hour extension of its morning show on the Fox affiliates. In addition to WCIA's main facilities, it operates bureaus in Springfield (on East Edwards Street near the
Illinois State Capitol
The Illinois State Capitol, located in Springfield, Illinois, houses the Illinois General Assembly, legislative and Governor of Illinois, executive branches of the government of the U.S. state of Illinois. The current building is the sixth to serv ...
) and Decatur (on North Water Street).
In September 2017, the station moved its newscast from 7 to 9 p.m.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
WCIX-DT1 and WCIA-DT2 both broadcast in 1080i, upscaled from MyNetworkTV's default
720p
720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...
format.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WCIX (as WCFN) shut down its analog signal, over
UHF channel 49, 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 signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 53, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to
VHF channel 13.
Through the use of
PSIP
The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the AT ...
, digital television receivers display the station's
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former UHF analog channel 49.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wcix
MyNetworkTV affiliates
Ion Mystery affiliates
Laff (TV network) affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1967
CIX
Nexstar Media Group
1967 establishments in Illinois
Springfield, Illinois