WSIL-TV

WSIL-TV and KPOB-TV
Channels for WSIL-TV
Channels for KPOB-TV
Branding
  • WSIL-TV: WSIL-TV 3; News 3 WSIL
  • KPOB-TV: KPOB-TV 15
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
  • WSIL-TV: December 6, 1953 (1953-12-06)
  • KPOB-TV: September 1, 1961 (1961-09-01)
Former channel numbers
  • WSIL-TV:
    • Analog: 22 (UHF, 1953–1959); 3 (VHF, 1959–2009)
  • KPOB-TV:
    • Analog: 15 (UHF, 1961–2009)
    • Digital: 18 (UHF, until 2009)
Call sign meaning
  • WSIL-TV: Southern Illinois
  • KPOB-TV: Poplar Bluff
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID
  • WSIL-TV: 73999
  • KPOB-TV: 73998
ERP
  • WSIL-TV: 1,000 kW
  • KPOB-TV: 34.5 kW
HAAT
  • WSIL-TV: 291 m (955 ft)
  • KPOB-TV: 184 m (604 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
Translator(s)K10KM-D 10 Cape Girardeau, MO
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wsiltv.com

WSIL-TV (channel 3) and KPOB-TV (channel 15) are television stations licensed respectively to Harrisburg, Illinois, and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, United States, serving as the ABC affiliates for Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, the Purchase area of Western Kentucky, and Northwest Tennessee. Owned by Allen Media Group, the stations maintain studio facilities on Country Aire Drive (near the IL 13–Wolf Creek Road interchange) in Carterville, Illinois. WSIL-TV's transmitter is located near Creal Springs, Illinois, while KPOB's tower is on US 60 northwest of Poplar Bluff.

KPOB-TV serves as a full-time satellite of WSIL-TV, covering the Missouri Bootheel and northeastern Arkansas. WSIL-TV also operates translator K10KM-D (channel 10) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

WSIL-TV was the first television station in southern Illinois, debuting on ultra high frequency (UHF) channel 22 on December 6, 1953. It soon affiliated with ABC and NBC before moving to channel 3 in 1959 and becoming a sole ABC affiliate. KPOB-TV went on the air in 1961; aside from a brief period in the 1980s, it has simulcast WSIL with separate legal identifications for the better part of its history. The station has focused its news coverage almost exclusively on Southern Illinois since the 1980s, since its broadcast coverage area is not as large as those of the other major stations in the market. It has traditionally fallen behind its two rivals in the market in news ratings and resources, though less so now than in decades past. After having two ownership groups almost all of its first 65 years on air, it was sold first to Quincy Media in 2018 and to Allen in 2021.