The new hour-long ciLiving.tv will offer local lifestyle news programming hosted by station veteran Drew Wilder and broadcasting newcomer Heather Roberts.
DMA 84 (CHAMPAIGN-SPRINGFIELD-DECATUR, ILL.)
WCIA Adds Local News-Lifestyle At 4 P.M.
Nexstar’s WCIA, the CBS affiliate in Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill. (DMA 84) announced today that it will launch ciLiving.tv on Monday, Sept. 12. ciLiving.tv, the station says, will be the market’s first one-hour live, local news and lifestyle 4 p.m. program.
ciLiving.tv will focus on local lifestyle content including segments from experts on myriad topics of personal and community interest. The show will also promote instant interactivity with viewers, leveraging the power of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and with real-time polling and audience quizzes via text message and the station’s online portal, illinoishomepage.net.
Commenting on the upcoming launch of ciLiving.tv, WCIA 3 Vice President and General Manager Coby Cooper said, “The show is going to be unlike anything else produced in this region and will highlight WCIA-TV’s commitment to provide our viewers with convenient, timely and topical lifestyle programming. We will provide a fresh product every day to address the evolving dynamics of local viewer interest while offering additional results-driven marketing opportunities for our advertising clients. We believe this program is the next great venture for a station that’s committed to serving our communities and our advertising partners.”
ciLiving.tv will be co-hosted by Drew Wilder and Heather Roberts. Drew came up through the WCIA ranks as a sports reporter and anchor. Heather Roberts is a newcomer to television, but she’s no stranger to Central Illinois. She grew up in the market and was, until recently, a full time stay-at-home mom with a young family. Roberts was selected after an on-air campaign inviting local residents to submit a video sample explaining why they’d be the perfect fit for this project.
WCIA assigned Executive Producer Nancy Foreman to head up this new endeavor. She brings more than 10 years of TV experience to this new position, much of it as a producer at WCIA. New hire Joe Barlow rounds out the ciLiving.tv team as a local storyteller.
WCIA renovated its set, adding a working gourmet kitchen and an interview/demonstration set to showcase the unique attributes of ciLiving.tv.
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Comments (9)
alicia farmer says:
September 9, 2011 at 2:26 pm
“Offering…marketing opportunities for our advertising clients”.
Sounds perfectly dreadful.
spike spike says:
September 9, 2011 at 5:10 pm
You must be with a non-commercial station or just don’t understand the adverstising/ business world. And that’s perfectly dreadful!
spike spike says:
September 9, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Also understand perfectly why you are a former GM!
alicia farmer says:
September 9, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Joe – Are you sure you don’t want to add anything else?
Jeannine Aversa says:
September 9, 2011 at 5:21 pm
How many TV viewers bought their large screen HD TVs to watch “marketing opportunities for our advertising clients”?
len Kubas says:
September 9, 2011 at 8:59 pm
every single one implicitly did so.
Andrea Rader says:
September 9, 2011 at 6:40 pm
How many commercial television stations stay on the air WITHOUT “marketing opportunities for our advertising clients?”
Teri Keene says:
September 9, 2011 at 9:12 pm
Make that Tuesday : the Monday premiere is being pre-empted by the U.S. Open Final.
kendra campbell says:
September 10, 2011 at 12:22 pm
I believe “formergm” was referring to infommercials inside programming, which is one of the elements in WCIA’s new program. The regular comercial load has expanded significantly in most stations newscasts.The average in my market is around 12 minutes per half-hour. This is a major viewer turnoff, and when coupled with “marketing opportunities” replacing normal content it’s a legitimate concern.