Peoria's WAOE-TV is moving its antenna to LaSalle County.
In July, the Federal Communications Commission approved Four Seasons Peoria's application to shift the station's main transmission site from Tazewell County to a location not far from Starved Rock State Park.
The antenna move still keeps the MyNetwork TV affiliate on the air in most of the Tri-County area, and the station will remain licensed to Peoria.
But moving north will also allow the station's over-the-air signal to penetrate large portions of the Chicago TV market, including much of northern and western Cook County, and many of the collar counties. It would allow the station to reach a population of more than 3.5 million people.
WAOE appears to plan on broadcasting from the former 418-meter-tall antenna of WWTO-TV, a religious station that used the site until 2017. That station is now licensed to Naperville.
The station's projected coverage is slightly smaller than Fox affiliate WYZZ-TV, the Peoria-Bloomington market's largest station by broadcast area.
Four Seasons manager Lawrence Rogow has not replied to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, station ownership told the FCC an antenna component couldn't be delivered until November, delaying the launch of the new broadcasting site.
Before the advent of cable, LaSalle County was part of the Peoria TV market. But it was later shifted to Chicago.
WAOE's main channel largely broadcasts syndicated programming, as well as some Chicago sports. It also broadcasts Antenna TV and Light TV on its subnets.
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