History
What is now WRSP signed on June 1, 1979, as WBHW, a religious independent (the call letters stood for "We Believe His Word"). It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 55 and was built by the Windmill Broadcasting Company, which had received the construction permit in September 1978.[1] It was the first new commercial station in the market (not counting satellite stations) since WCIA launched back in 1953. On November 24, 1982, it was sold to new owners who changed the call letters to WRSP-TV and turned it into the area's first general entertainment independent.
In the winter of 1985, WRSP announced it would join the upstart Fox network the following year. As part of the agreement, on February 19, 1986, it added full-time satellite WCCU in Urbana, with an analog signal on UHF channel 27. Both stations began transmitting digital signals in mid-2000 with programming from Fox in high definition. It eventually introduced a new website based on the "My Fox" owned-and-operated station platform licensed from News Corporation Interactive.
On June 20, 2007, GOCOM Media announced its intent to purchase WBUI from ACME Communications. The sale was approved on September 14 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which allowed GOCOM to buy WBUI under a "failed station" waiver to its duopoly rules. The Central Illinois market already had one duopoly, Nexstar Broadcasting Group's WCIA and WCFN, and under normal conditions there wouldn't have been enough unique station owners to allow a second duopoly.
However, ACME claimed it was losing money on WBUI and could not find a buyer that did not require a duopoly waiver. The sale to GOCOM Media officially closed on October 25, 2007. At that point, WBUI consolidated its operations from its original studios at North Parkway Court in Decatur into WRSP's facilities in Springfield. In mid-2010, WRSP's web site was taken over by Broadcast Interactive Media.
On December 31, 2012, Sinclair closed on the purchase of the non-license assets of GOCOM's three television stations, WRSP/WCCU and sister station WBUI for approximately $25.6 million. Sinclair is providing sales and other non-programming services to the stations pursuant to shared services and joint sales agreements. Both WRSP/WCCU and WBUI were initially operated from separate facilities from WICS/WICD.
However, WCCU quickly moved its advertising sales operation from its location on South Neil Street/US 45 in Champaign into WICD's studios. Eventually, WRSP and WBUI also moved from their offices on Old Rochester Road in Springfield and were consolidated into WICS' facility.
On July 28, 2021, the FCC issued a Forfeiture Order stemming from a lawsuit against WRSP/WCCU/WBUI owner GOCOM Media. The lawsuit, filed by AT&T, alleged that GOCOM failed to negotiate for retransmission consent in good faith for the stations. Owners of other Sinclair-managed stations, such as Deerfield Media, were also named in the lawsuit. GOCOM was ordered to pay a fine of $1,536,684.[2]
