Doug Quick (born in 1954) is an American broadcast weather newsman, author and web museum curator.[1] He is best known as the news weather anchor at WCCU Fox-Illinois 27, serving Champaign, Urbana and Danville, Illinois . When he retired in 2021, after 47 years in broadcasting, he was Central Illinois' longest tenured weathercaster.[2][3]
Doug Quick | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954 |
| Alma mater | Lincoln Land Community College Western Illinois University |
| Occupation(s) | Weather broadcaster, author, Virtual museum curator |
| Years active | 1974-present |
| Television | WCCU (TV) & WBUI 2010 - 2021 WICD (TV) 1994 - 2021 |
| Spouse | Melissa Quick |
| Children | 2 |
| Career | |
| Station(s) | WTIM WTAX (AM) WDBR WTAX (AM) WDBR WDAN/WMBJ WDNL WDZ/WDZQ WWDZ(FM) |
| Website | dougquick.com |
Early life and education
editQuick was born in 1954 in Taylorville, Illinois to Robert and Bette Quick. He graduated from Taylorville High School and Lincoln Land Community College. He also studied mass communications and radio & television at Western Illinois University.
Career
editQuick began his broadcasting career in 1974 at WTIM AM & FM in Taylorville, Illinois. He worked 47 years in the broadcasting industry.[4] When he retired in 2021 he was Central Illinois longest serving weather broadcaster.
Television
editIn 1994, Quick joined WICD (channel 15) in Champaign, Illinois. He served as promotions director, later becoming co-anchor of Sunrise Today, host of the public affairs Spotlight 15, providing newscasts and local weather over a 10 year period.
He began doing weather for WCCU in 2010, then in 2015 he became news/weather anchor at WCCU (TV) FOX 27, serving Champaign, Urbana and Danville, Illinois, where he remained until his retirement on September 30, 2021.[5][6]
Radio
editQuick continued to work as an announcer at WTIM AM & FM when he returned to college at Western Illinois University. He also worked the summer of 1976 for WTAX (AM) and WDBR in Springfield, then returned to WTIM/WEEE(FM) in Taylorville as program director and sales for WEEE. In 1977 he moved to Danville's WDAN/WMBJ where he helped convert it to Top-40 WDNL. Except for a brief stint in 1979 as announcer & DJ and sales at WDZ/WDZQ in Decatur and a year in 1993 at WWDZ(FM) in Danville as sales manager, he spent most of the next 25 years at WDNL as announcer/DJ, sales executive, sales manager and eventually becoming general manager. For eight years, from 1994 to 2002 he worked simultaneously for WDNL and WCID-TV/WCCU-TV, eventually leaving WDNL to work full time at WCID/WCCU.[3][6]
Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum
editIn 2003, Quick developed the Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum. It is a free virtual museum website that documents, in detail, the history of television stations broadcasting in Central Illinois, United States.[1] The museum is a record of the heritage television stations in the Illinois cities of Springfield, Decatur, Champaign, Danville, Bloomington and Peoria, and in St. Louis, Missouri. It hosts information on the building of the stations, the station owners, local programs and personalities, program schedules and hundreds of photographs and videos. Eastern Illinois University journalism instructor Joe Astrouski said "Doug's work chronicling the history of local television is a treasurer, both for those who work in TV and those who enjoy it".[7]
Quick built the website from information he assembled from records of the FCC, local newspapers and libraries.[3] Among the television stations covered are:
- WTVP/WAND, Decatur
- WCIA, Champaign
- WICD, Champaign
- WICS, Springfield
- WBLN, Bloomington
- WEEK, Peoria
- WTVH, Peoria
- WMBD, Peoria
The website also covers several radio stations that were heard in Illinois from Chicago to St. Louis.[1]
Author
editIn 2018, Quick released Pictures on the Prairie - The First Ten Years of Mid-Illinois Television, a 500 page book in which he tells the stories of the pioneer television broadcasters of Central Illinois.[3][8]
Awards and recognitions
edit- 2013 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Award[9]
- 2017 Illinois Broadcasters Association Silver Dome Award "Best TV Anchor"[10]
- 2022 Illinois Broadcasters Association W. Russell Withers Jr. Downstate Broadcast Pioneer[11][12]
- 2024 Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society Foundation's Historical Preservation Award[13]
- 2024 103rd Illinois General Assembly Commendation HR0626[14]
Personal life
editQuick is married to Melissa Quick. They have two adult daughters and reside in Vermilion County, Illinois[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c Tarter, Steve (19 September 2022). "Online museum recalls the history of central Illinois radio and TV stations". Peoria Public Radio. WCBU FM 89.9. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ Brandy, Steve (3 September 2021). "Former D102 DJ Doug Quick Announces Retirement from Broadcasting". Vermilion County First. Community Media Group. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Doug Quick, former Taylorville broadcaster, retires". The Taylorville Daily Breeze Courier. No. 15. 5 September 2021.
- ^ Hinton, Dave (15 September 2021). "Name Dropping Central Illinois broadcast mainstay nears retirement". The News-Gazette. Paul Barrett. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ staff (2 September 2021). "WCCU announces the retirement of anchor Doug Quick". Fox Illinois. Fox News. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ a b Quick, Doug. "Doug Quick Biography". dougquick.com. Doug Quick. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Broadcaster to talk about TV history". Journal Gazette & Times Courier. No. News page A3. April 9–10, 2022.
- ^ Quick, Doug (23 February 2018). Pictures on the Prairie The First Ten Years of Mid-Illinois Television. Founders House Publishing LLC. ISBN 978-1-945810-13-8. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ^ "Former Taylorville man receives the Silver Circle Emmy Award". The Breeze - Courier. No. Business page 6. 19 May 2013.
- ^ Norris, Kyle (2017). "Taylorville Native Doug Quick Wins "Best TV Anchor" Award". Taylorville Daily News. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ "Doug Quick Downstate IBA Pioneer". Illinois Broadcasters Association. Illinois Broadcasters Foundation. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ "Former Neuhoff Media GM Doug Quick Named Illinois Broadcasters Association's 2022 "W. Russell Withers Jr. Downstate Broadcast Pioneer"". Neuhoff Media. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ^ Brandy, Steve (30 April 2024). "Doug Quick, State Sen Scott Bennett Honored by Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society Foundation". Vermilian County First. Community Media Group. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ^ "Full Text of HR0626 103rd General Assembly". State of Illinois General Assembly. State of Illinois. Retrieved 18 August 2024.