Long time central Illinois broadcaster Doug Quick has announced his retirement from WCCU, FOX-Illinois
27 as news weather anchor. He retires on September 30th as central Illinois’ longest tenured
weathercaster having been on the air at WICD, Channel 15 in 1995 through 2015 and presently with
WCCU.
On beginning at WICD he was the stations promotion director from December 1994 to 1998. He was
then co-anchor on “Sunrise Today” through October 2002, shifting to the newscasts at 5, 6 and 10 on
NewsChannel 15, while also serving as local weathercaster for the FOXIllinois News at Nine. He was host
of the public affairs feature, Spotlight 15 from 1997 through 2015. In 2015 with the news department
shift to WCCU, FOXIllinois, Channel 27, he would take the role of news/weather anchor once again
where he continues to the present. He also provides daily weathercasts for 3-local radio stations.
THE EARLY YEARS OF DOUG QUICK’S CAREER
His broadcast career began in 1974 when he was hired by his hometown radio stations, WTIM/WTIMFM in Taylorville. When he finished Lincoln Land Community College with a major in pre-pharmacy, he
took a break from college to reassess his career direction. He worked as an announcer at both Taylorville
stations, but from late 1975 through early 1977 he would work weekends while attending Western
Illinois University as a mass communications, Radio/Television major.
During the summer of 1976, he also worked for Sangamon Broadcasting’s WTAX/WDBR in Springfield
where he would be an announcer at both stations, serving as a radio news anchor for WTAX as well as a
newscaster for WDBR. He also later became a weekend DJ for WDBR through the fall of 1976, while he
continued as a student at WIU, he co-anchored a newscast for the campus TV station, and was an
announcer at WIUM(FM) campus radio station.
At the end of his time at WIU he returned to Taylorville to work as a program director for WEEE and
supervised a format flip to Top-40. He would also serve as the stations account executive through early
September 1977.
In mid-September of 1977, he would return to work for Sangamon Broadcasting with their purchase of
WDAN/WMBJ in Danville, Illinois. He and others worked to flip the format of WMBJ to Top-40 with a call
letter change to WDNL. He would remain with the Danville stations for most of 25 years as
announcer/DJ, sales executive, sales manager and eventually became general manger in 1989 through
1992. He worked through two ownership changes from Sangamon to Majac in 1987, then to Neuhoff
Broadcasting in 1991.
He did have a short stint in Decatur at WDZ/WDZQ during 1979 where he was an announcer/DJ at WDZ
and account executive for both stations. He returned in late 1979 to WDAN/WDNL to continue his time
there through 1992.
In 1993, he would be the first station manager at Danville’s WWDZ(FM) now K-Rock as well as the voice
of “The Eagle” 96.1FM in Champaign leaving that broadcast group to return in 1994 to WDNL as an
announcer/DJ where he would continue through 2002. His time at WDNL also coincided with his hiring
in 1994 at WICD, Channel 15.
On staying in the Danville area, Doug stated, “It was always my intention to stay in central Illinois, I
didn’t want to move from one community to another, plus, when we had kids, I didn’t want to move
from one school district to another. Both Melissa and I were raised on the edge of our respective
hometowns, next to corn fields and went to our respective schools without ever changing. That’s what
we wanted for our kids.”
AWARDS
He was selected by the Mid-America Chapter of the National Television Arts and Sciences as the
recipient of the Silver Circle Award. It was awarded to him in St. Louis in October 2013 for his work in
documenting the history of local television. In 2017 he was named the Medium Market TV Best News
Anchor with the Silver Dome Award from the Illinois Broadcasters Association.
OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES
He is a former director of the First Illinois Credit Union and a former director of the Vermilion County
Conservation Foundation. He has also been an active voice-over announcer and commercial talent for
ad agencies, local television stations, production houses, industrial videos and has worked with a
military contractor to voice military web training videos all from his home studio.
CENTRAL ILLINOIS ON-LINE BROADCAST MUSUEM
Around 2003 he began a website that would become Doug Quick On-Line, Central Illinois On-Line
Broadcast Museum (www.dougquick.com). He researched the history of TV stations at local libraries
across mid-Illinois, newspaper files, FCC records and published stories about each station and its
employees. He gathered hundreds of pictures, testimonials of former and current broadcasters to be
featured on his website. The website has expanded to include radio history, pictures from his own
community outreach, videos of his many activities, historical narratives about his home town of
Taylorville, and a current profile of every television station in mid-Illinois, Peoria and St. Louis. He will
continue to act as curator of the Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum.
PICTURES ON THE PRAIRIE
In just a few years, he had so much material that he decided to put it in book form. He eventually
compiled a record of the first 10 years of the heritage television stations in Springfield, Decatur,
Champaign, Danville, Bloomington, Peoria and St. Louis. He wrote about the physical building of the
stations, the owners, the local programs, the local personalities, samples of program schedules, and
included hundreds of pictures to tell the stories of the pioneer television broadcasters of central Illinois.
The over 500-page book was published in 2018 as “Pictures on the Prairie: The First Ten Years of MidIllinois Television.”
Before the pandemic, he hosted many book signing events, lectured at Danville Area Community
College, the Danville Public Library, the Vermilion County Historical Museum, Bloomington Public Library
and at the Urbana Free library. We know Doug is looking forward to returning to the book signing circuit
when it is safe to do so.
FAMILY
Doug and his wife Melissa, who he met after he moved to Danville, had their first date January 10, 1978,
were engaged January 28th and married July 1, 1978. They are the parents of two married daughters,
Miranda (Herb Simmons) and Mindi (Derek Martin) and grandparents of Pete Martin. They’re also dog
parents to their Shih Tzu “Moka.”
