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Bloomington’s Local TV Debacle In-Person
When the FCC lifted the freeze on issuing television broadcast licenses, entrepreneurs began investing in local television. Many mid-Illinois cities’ applications for TV stations came from media companies which owned newspapers and/or radio stations. Several were stand-alone new companies created by investors to get in on this new thing called “television.” When the Bloomington-Normal media did not pursue a permit, it was awarded to Cecil W. Roberts. He owned and operated four small radio stations in Missouri and Kansas. He applied for television markets in Missouri and Illinois and got Bloomington’s allocation of Channel 15 which would become WBLN. Join Central Illinois Broadcaster Doug Quick at Bloomington Library as he tells the story of WBLN in a multi-media presentation of pictures and videos. His presentation includes the history of Peoria TV, too. These stations are the subject of his recently published book Pictures on the Prairie: The First Ten Years of Mid-Illinois Television. Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase after the program