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WHOI-TV

WHOI
Peoria/Bloomington/
Normal, Illinois
United States
Channels Digital: 19 (UHF)
Virtual: 19 ()
Affiliations Comet (O&O)
Owner Sinclair Broadcast Group
(WHOI Licensee, LLC)
First air date October 20, 1953 (1953-10-20)
Call letters' meaning We're the Heart Of Illinois
Sister station(s) Hannibal, MO/Quincy, IL:
KHQA-TV
Springfield/Decatur/
Champaign, IL:

WICS/WICD, WRSP/WCCU,
WBUI
Former callsigns WTVH (1953–1965)
WIRL-TV (1965–1971)
WRAU-TV (1971–1985)
Former channel number(s) 8 (VHF analog, 1953–1963)
19 (UHF analog, 1963–2009)
40 (UHF digital, 2003–2009)
Former affiliations CBS (1953–1957)
ABC (1953–2016; secondary until 1957)
DuMont (secondary, 1953–1955)
UPN (secondary, 1995–1999)
The CW Plus (DT2, 2006–2016)
Transmitter power 195 kW
Height 203.1 m
Class DT
Facility ID 6866
Transmitter coordinates 40°39′11.1″N 89°35′14.4″W / 40.653083°N 89.587333°W / 40.653083; -89.587333 (WHOI)
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS

WHOI is a television station licensed for Peoria, Illinois. It broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on North Stewart Street in Creve Coeur, a village in Groveland Township, Tazewell County. The station was the ABC-affiliated television station for North-Central Illinois until 2016. As of October 2016, WHOI only carries the Comet network owned by their parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group.

WHOI was Peoria's second television station, signing-on as WTVH on October 20, 1953. The station was founded by Hugh Norman and Edward Schoede. Hilltop Broadcasting, which co-owned the Peoria Journal Star bought the station in 1954. Its first studios were on Main Street in Peoria. Originally broadcasting an analog signal on VHF channel 8, it was a primary CBS affiliate but also carried shows from ABC and DuMont. WTVH lost DuMont when the network ceased operations in 1955, and lost CBS when WMBD-TV began broadcasting.

The Metropolitan Broadcasting Corporation, later known as Metromedia, purchased the station in 1959. In 1963, WTVH was bumped down to UHF channel 19 so that a third commercial VHF station could sign-on in the Quad Cities using that channel (the new station, WQAD-TV, is also an ABC affiliate). In 1965, Metromedia sold the station to Mid-America Media, owners of WIRL radio (1290 AM) who, on September 12 of that year, changed the call sign to WIRL-TV. It became WRAU-TV in 1971 and adopted its present calls of WHOI in 1985. The WTVH call sign was picked up by a station in Syracuse, New York in 1976.


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