Both stations share studios on South Neil Street/US 45 in downtown Champaign and also operate a sales office and news bureau on West Edwards Street near the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield.

Since WCIA's over-the-air signal cannot be seen in western parts of the market (including Springfield and Jacksonville), it is simulcast in high definition on WCIX's second digital subchannel (49.2) from a transmitter in Clear Lake Township.

Meyer founded Midwest Television in 1952, and expanded the company's footprint by buying WMBD-AM–FM–TV in Peoria, Illinois, in 1960 and KFMB-AM–FM–TV in San Diego, California, in 1964.

While it frequently trounced WICS/WICD and WAND in the ratings, Meyer decided to open a low-powered relay of WCIA on UHF channel 49 to get better coverage in the state capital.

In March 2000, shortly after Nexstar bought controlling interest in both stations, it announced it would drop WCIA from AT&T Cable Services (now Comcast Xfinity) and cable systems in surrounding areas, a move that would eventually be forced nationwide, due to CBS affiliation agreements requiring only one affiliate being authorized per market on pay television services.

It would centralize WMBD's advertising revenue and preserve its ratings standing within the Peoria market without numbers being further stunted by WCIA.

In November 2006, work began to re-secure WCIA's existing tower in Seymour so it would be able to hold a new digital transmission line and antenna.

[3] WCIA was the longtime home to Illinois Fighting Illini football and men's basketball games that were not aired on national television.

Originally produced by WCIA, the station later carried the Illini via the Big Ten Conference's syndicated package with ESPN Plus.

The station still airs Illini men's basketball games that are carried as part of CBS's overall NCAA and Big Ten contracts including the team's championship appearance in 2005 and will air any Illini football games carried by CBS beginning in 2023 as part of its new Big Ten football package.

On September 11, 2014, WCIA anchor Dave Benton announced on-air that he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and that he had only months to live.

On September 12, 2011, WCIA debuted an hour-long lifestyle and news program titled ciLiving.tv, the Springfield market's first hour-long 4 p.m. news program; the show utilizes interactivity with viewers, through the use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, along with online polls and audience quizzes via text message and the station's website.

On October 24, 2012, during the 5:00 p.m. newscast, WCIA and sister station WCIX began broadcasting local news in high definition.

However, the newscasts on WCIX continued to be seen over the air in a letterboxed format until June 19, 2015, because its main channel was still transmitted in 4:3 standard definition until it upgraded to HD on that date.

In an article published on March 13, 2005, The New York Times documented WCIA's use of government video news releases without clear attribution as such.

The Times reported, "WCIA, based in Champaign, had run 26 segments made by the U.S. Agriculture Department over the past three months alone."

[24] The station gained national attention in April 2021 when reporter Abigail Metsch posted a photo of herself on Instagram in a thong bikini, with Metsch's back facing the camera with her head turned towards the camera, completely exposing her buttocks and mentioning the station in the photo caption.

[32] In subsequent weeks, general manager Sharon Rachal and news director Rich Flesch were quietly pushed out.

Also broadcast on the WCIA multiplex is a subchannel of WCCU as part of the market's ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) hosting arrangement.