WBUI
Encyclopedia
WBUI is a television station
licensed to Decatur, Illinois
and serving the Central Illinois
market, including the cities of Springfield
, Champaign
, and Urbana
. The station broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in Oreana
along I-72. WBUI is affiliated with The CW Television Network
(on virtual channel 23.1) and This TV
(23.2). Owned by GOCOM Media of Illinois, the station is sister to the area's Fox affiliates WRSP-TV/WCCU
. WBUI's studios are located on South Main Street in Decatur, with some support operations handled at WRSP's studios in Springfield
.
. In 1997, the station was sold to Paxson Communications, who re-called
the station as WPXU. ACME Communications
would acquire the station from Paxson in 1999 and change it to WB affiliate WBUI. (The WPXU
call letters are now used by a ION Media Networks
station in Jacksonville, North Carolina
.) WBUI remained affiliated with The WB until September 18, 2006, when the station joined the new CW Network, an amalgamation of The WB and UPN networks.
On June 20, 2007, GOCOM Media announced its intent to purchase this station from ACME Communications. The sale was approved on September 14 by the Federal Communications Commission
, which waived its duopoly
rules for the sale; the Central Illinois TV market did not have enough station owners at the time to legally permit another duopoly under normal conditions (there was already an existing duopoly in the market
as Nexstar Broadcasting owns both WCIA and WCIX), but ACME claimed it was losing money on WBUI and could not find a buyer that did not require a duopoly waiver. The sale to GOCOM Media officially closed on October 25, 2007.
Current WBUI programming includes the full CW
network lineup; original syndicated
programming including The Daily Buzz
, The Dr. Oz Show
, Family Feud
, and Swift Justice with Nancy Grace
; and reruns including My Name Is Earl
and The Office. Meteorologists from WICS
provide hourly "Cmore Weather" updates every weekday from WICS' facilities on East Cook Street in Springfield. WBUI was previously Central Illinois' over-the-air home to select St. Louis Cardinals
broadcasts, a relationship that ended after the 2010 season when Cardinals broadcasts moved exclusively to Fox Sports Midwest. On September 11, 2009, WBUI added the classic movie channel This TV
to subchannel 23.2, branded as This TV Illinois. This TV is available on local cable (Mediacom
digital channel 115, and Comcast
digital channel 232). WBUI's website is currently a subsection of WRSP's FoxIllinois.com website, and has been since Broadcast Interactive Media took over WRSP's website in 2010 (clicking on WBUI's former URL, CentralIllinoisCW.com, takes the browser to the WBUI section of the WRSP site).
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
licensed to Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
and serving the Central Illinois
Central Illinois
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central section of the state, divided in thirds from north to south. It is an area of mostly flat prairie. The western section was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western...
market, including the cities of Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, Champaign
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
, and Urbana
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
. The station broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in Oreana
Oreana, Illinois
Oreana is a village in Macon County, Illinois, United States whose population was 892 at the 2000 census.It is included in the Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Oreana is located at ....
along I-72. WBUI is affiliated with The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
(on virtual channel 23.1) and This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
(23.2). Owned by GOCOM Media of Illinois, the station is sister to the area's Fox affiliates WRSP-TV/WCCU
WRSP-TV
WRSP-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Illinois licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter in Mechanicsburg. The station can also be seen on Mediacom and Comcast channel 7...
. WBUI's studios are located on South Main Street in Decatur, with some support operations handled at WRSP's studios in Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
.
Station History
This station's on-air run began in May 1984 as WFHL, owned and operated by the local Foursquare ChurchInternational Church of the Foursquare Gospel
The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, commonly referred to as the Foursquare Church, is an evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination. As of 2000 it had a worldwide membership of over 8,000,000, with almost 60,000 churches in 144 countries. In 2006, membership in the United States...
. In 1997, the station was sold to Paxson Communications, who re-called
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
the station as WPXU. ACME Communications
ACME Communications
ACME Communications is a United States-based television broadcasting company. The company was co-founded by current Chairman and former CEO Jamie Kellner, who previously served as a Fox Television Network executive and was founding CEO of The WB Television Network. Kellner used the name Acme as a...
would acquire the station from Paxson in 1999 and change it to WB affiliate WBUI. (The WPXU
WPXU-TV
WPXU-TV is one of two Ion Television affiliates for the Greenville/Jacksonville/New Bern/Washington, North Carolina television market. It is licensed to Jacksonville...
call letters are now used by a ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks is an American television broadcasting company that owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major American markets. It is now a privately owned company.-History:...
station in Jacksonville, North Carolina
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Jacksonville, North Carolina, is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the population stood at 70,145, which makes Jacksonville the 14th largest city in North Carolina...
.) WBUI remained affiliated with The WB until September 18, 2006, when the station joined the new CW Network, an amalgamation of The WB and UPN networks.
On June 20, 2007, GOCOM Media announced its intent to purchase this station from ACME Communications. The sale was approved on September 14 by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
, which waived its duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
rules for the sale; the Central Illinois TV market did not have enough station owners at the time to legally permit another duopoly under normal conditions (there was already an existing duopoly in the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
as Nexstar Broadcasting owns both WCIA and WCIX), but ACME claimed it was losing money on WBUI and could not find a buyer that did not require a duopoly waiver. The sale to GOCOM Media officially closed on October 25, 2007.
Current WBUI programming includes the full CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
network lineup; original syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming including The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz
The Daily Buzz is a nationally syndicated breakfast television news and infotainment program. The show is produced by Fisher Communications and is owned and distributed by ACME Communications; it is broadcast every weekday morning from studios at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida...
, The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
, Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
, and Swift Justice with Nancy Grace
Swift Justice With Nancy Grace
Swift Justice with Jackie Glass is a syndicated court program hosted by Judge Jackie Glass....
; and reruns including My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
and The Office. Meteorologists from WICS
WICS
WICS is the ABC-affiliated television station for Springfield and Decatur, Illinois. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter south of Dawson and I-72/US 36. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 2 and Suddenlink channel 10...
provide hourly "Cmore Weather" updates every weekday from WICS' facilities on East Cook Street in Springfield. WBUI was previously Central Illinois' over-the-air home to select St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
broadcasts, a relationship that ended after the 2010 season when Cardinals broadcasts moved exclusively to Fox Sports Midwest. On September 11, 2009, WBUI added the classic movie channel This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
to subchannel 23.2, branded as This TV Illinois. This TV is available on local cable (Mediacom
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
digital channel 115, and Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
digital channel 232). WBUI's website is currently a subsection of WRSP's FoxIllinois.com website, and has been since Broadcast Interactive Media took over WRSP's website in 2010 (clicking on WBUI's former URL, CentralIllinoisCW.com, takes the browser to the WBUI section of the WRSP site).