WSIL signed-on for the first time December 1, 1953. It originally broadcast an analog signal on UHF channel 22, but moved to VHF channel 3 in March 1959 as did numerous stations originally assigned to UHF allocations before the Federal Communications Commission mandated that television-set manufacturers include UHF tuning capability in their products in 1964. The original UHF transmitter had been built in Harrisburg before Paducah, Harrisburg, and Cape Girardeau had been collapsed into one large market. The station moved its facilities from Harrisburg to Carterville in 1989. However, some parts of Southeast Missouri could not receive channel 3's signal clearly, presumably because WSIL had to conform it to protect co-channel WREC-TV in Memphis, Tennessee in the next market to the south. As a result, KPOB signed-on September 15, 1967 to provide service to those counties, although Jonesboro, Arkansas' KAIT may have been visible in much of the area. WSIL was the first station in the market to broadcast a digital signal at a full 1 megawatt of power on October 22, 2002. It was also the first to air a mobile digital signal. On January 3, 2018, WSIL and KPOB began airing Heroes & Icons on their.2 subchannels. On October 31, 2018, it was announced that Quincy Media would acquire WSIL and KPOB for $24.5 million. WSIL would be Quincy's fourth station in its home state of Illinois. The sale was approved by the FCC on December 20. The sale was completed on January 15, 2019.
Both stations shut down their analog signals, respectively on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital channel allocations post-transition are as follows:
WSIL-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3; the station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3.
KPOB-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15; the station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 18 to channel 15
Programming
programming on WSIL includes The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Rachael Ray, and The Dr. Oz Show, among others. For many years, WSIL did not air the weeknight broadcasts of ABC News, broadcasting instead a children's show featuring cartoons and Three Stooges shorts in the 5:30 to 6:30 time slot. It was not until sometime in the late-1970s it became the last ABC affiliate in the United States to abandon the practice of preempting the network news. However, in ABC's earlier years, quite a number of local stations did not carry the newscasts because their ratings trailed competitors CBS and NBC by a large margin. This changed when ABC initiated the World News Tonight format in 1978, finally establishing the network as a significant news operation. The station was one of the ABC affiliates that refused to air NYPD Blue during its first season in 1993–1994. Station Manager Steve Wheeler appeared on Good Morning America to explain his decision. During the interview with Charlie Gibson, Wheeler announced that if the program was successful, WSIL would reconsider. During this first season, Fox affiliate KBSI aired the program during the assigned network slot Tuesdays nights at 9 Central Time.
News operation
WSIL's newscasts focus almost exclusively on Southern Illinois, unlike the other big three stations in the area. This is despite the presence of KPOB, which is a straight simulcast of WSIL. In fact, channel 3 does not even mention the market's other two main cities in its on-air identifications, choosing to identify as "Harrisburg/Marion/Carbondale". Its newscasts are known as News 3, though some electronic program guides redundantly and erroneously title those newscasts as News 3 News. Unlike most ABC affiliates, WSIL does not air a midday newscast during the week. On January 18, 2004, the news operation underwent a major renovation, including the set, logo and on-air graphics. Some personnel changes were also made. On October 6, 2010, WSIL became the first station in the market to offer news in high definition.
