Local Channels in Illinois: Every TV Market, Station and Way to Watch

Illinois TV markets and their channels

Each Illinois TV market has its own ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX stations, and Nielsen calls each market a DMA, short for designated market area. Illinois shares several markets with its neighbors. The Metro East watches St. Louis, Moline and Rock Island share the Quad Cities with Iowa, and the far south watches Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg. Our guide to local channels by state explains how markets work nationwide. Our Missouri guide covers St. Louis, Quincy-Hannibal and Cape Girardeau from the other side of the river.

We took the numbers below on November 2, 2026 from the broadcast records on RabbitEars. They show what each station sends to your TV, and we compared them with the list of Illinois TV stations.

Market	Main Illinois cities	ABC	CBS	NBC	FOX
Chicago	Chicago, Aurora, Joliet, Naperville	7	2	5	32
St. Louis	Belleville, Edwardsville, Alton	32	4	5	2
Peoria-Bloomington	Peoria, Bloomington, Normal	25.2	31	25	43
Champaign-Springfield-Decatur	Springfield, Champaign, Urbana, Decatur	20 / 15	3	17	55 / 27
Rockford	Rockford, Freeport, Belvidere	17	23	13	39
Quad Cities	Moline, Rock Island, East Moline	8	4	6	18
Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk	Quincy, Macomb	7.2	7	10	10.3
Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg	Harrisburg, Carbondale, Marion	3	12	6	23
Terre Haute	Robinson, Paris	38	10	2	10.2

Where a cell shows two numbers, the market has two stations for that network. Springfield gets ABC on 20 and Champaign on 15, and the same split applies to "Fox 55/27 Illinois." A subchannel is a second stream from the same station, numbered like 10.3. In Quincy, for example, two stations carry all four networks.

Spanish-language TV is strongest in Chicago, with Telemundo 44, Univision 66, UniMás 60 and Estrella TV 40. Rockford and the Paducah market each have a smaller Spanish-language station.

ABC on 32 in St. Louis, and NextGen TV in Chicago

On September 1, 2026, ABC left KDNL channel 30 in the St. Louis market and moved to a subchannel of KMOV, the CBS station. Your TV shows it as 32, according to RabbitEars and KDNL's station history. KDNL is now an independent station. Viewers in Belleville, Edwardsville and Alton should rescan to find ABC on 32.

Chicago changed in a less visible way. WBBM's own signal on VHF 12 now carries NextGen TV, the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard. It is a sharper format that only newer TVs and tuners can decode. Regular TVs receive CBS 2 from WGN's tower instead:

Market	Channel you watch	Regular signal comes from	NextGen TV on
Chicago	CBS 2	WGN, UHF 19	WBBM, VHF 12
Champaign	Fox 27	ABC 15 (WICD), UHF 32	WCCU, UHF 36
Springfield	Fox 55	ABC 20 (WICS), UHF 15	WRSP, UHF 16

For most viewers, this means one thing: aim at the tower that sends the regular signal. If CBS 2 drops out in Chicago, aim toward WGN's transmitter and rescan.

Why some Illinois channels won't come in

VHF, the band that covers channels 2 to 13, causes most antenna trouble outside Chicago. Compact indoor antennas pick it up poorly:

Market	Station on VHF	Shows as	Broadcasts on
Rockford	WREX (NBC)	13	VHF 13
Quad Cities	WHBF (CBS)	4	VHF 4, with a UHF 19 fill-in
Paducah-Cape Girardeau	KFVS (CBS), WSIU (PBS)	12, 8	VHF 11, 8
Terre Haute	WTHI (CBS, with FOX on 10.2)	10	VHF 10
Champaign-Springfield	WILL (PBS)	12	VHF 9

Our finding: For regular TVs, all four networks in Chicago, St. Louis and Peoria broadcast on UHF, so a basic antenna is usually enough there. The trouble sits in smaller markets. The Quad Cities' CBS 4 is on low VHF 4, which needs a large antenna. Terre Haute loses both CBS and FOX if VHF 10 fails.

The fix is an antenna with VHF elements, mounted high and aimed using the FCC reception map. In Rockford, for example, a small window antenna often finds ABC 17 and FOX 39 but loses NBC 13.

Ways to watch local channels in Illinois

Xfinity is the largest cable company in the Chicago area, and Mediacom, Spectrum and smaller systems serve much of downstate Illinois. Cable bills add a broadcast TV fee on top of the plan. The main ways to get your locals compare like this:

Option	What it costs	Illinois locals	Watch out for
Antenna	One-time purchase	Every station in range	VHF stations downstate, and ABC on 32 in the Metro East
Cable (Xfinity, Mediacom, Spectrum and others)	A typical bill is about $125 a month with fees	All main locals	Fees on top of the plan price, as our monthly cable cost guide shows
Live-TV streaming	YouTube TV $82.99 a month; DIRECTV Entertainment $89.99	The big-market stations in most ZIP codes	Smaller markets like Quincy or Terre Haute may be incomplete
Free station apps	Free	Local news	News only
IPTVZ	From $29.99 for 3 months, $74.99 for 12	Stations from Chicago, Peoria, Springfield, Rockford, the Quad Cities and more	Needs a steady connection, about 15 Mbps per HD screen

Streaming prices from YouTube TV and DIRECTV, checked October 17, 2026. Over 12 months, IPTVZ comes to about $6.25 a month. For more options, see the cheapest live TV with local channels, or compare the two approaches in IPTV vs cable.

Illinois local channels on IPTVZ

IPTVZ carries stations from every market serving Illinois. We matched each one in our panel catalogue of October 16, 2026 by call sign, so the table reflects the station's current network:

Market	Confirmed on IPTVZ
Chicago	CBS 2, NBC 5, ABC 7, FOX 32, WCIU 26
St. Louis (Metro East)	FOX 2, CBS 4, NBC 5
Peoria-Bloomington	NBC 25, CBS 31, FOX 43
Champaign-Springfield-Decatur	CBS 3, NBC 17, ABC 20
Rockford	NBC 13, ABC 17, CBS 23, FOX 39
Quad Cities	CBS 4, NBC 6, ABC 8, FOX 18
Quincy and the south	CBS 7, NBC 10 (Quincy); NBC 6, CBS 12, FOX 23 (Paducah-Cape Girardeau)
Terre Haute	NBC 2, CBS 10, FOX 10.2

Our catalogue still files KDNL as ABC 30, but KDNL lost ABC in September 2026. We left it out until we confirm a feed for ABC 32. Search the IPTVZ channel list for any station by name. Since IPTV runs over the internet, a Chicagoan who moves downstate can keep watching hometown news.

Illinois sports on TV in 2026-27

Chicago's teams kept their own networks, while the St. Louis teams downstate moved after FanDuel Sports Network closed:

• Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox: local games air on Chicago Sports Network, channel 200 on Xfinity in Chicagoland. Gray stations carry it over the air in some markets, such as WSLN 19.3 in Rockford.
• Cubs: local games stay on Marquee Sports Network.
• Cardinals: MLB produced their 2026 local games for Cardinals.TV, priced at $99.99 for the season.
• Blues: the team's own Blue Note+ network carries 73 games in 2026-27. Ten Thursday games also air free on ABC 32 and other Gray stations.
• Bears and Illini: most Bears Sunday games air on the local FOX or CBS station. Big Ten games are spread across FOX, CBS, NBC and Big Ten Network.

IPTVZ carries the Illinois network stations that air NFL games, plus ESPN and the national sports networks. Our guide to the cheapest way to watch the NFL prices a full season. New to streaming TV? The explainer on how IPTV works covers the basics.

Local channels in Illinois FAQ

How many TV markets serve Illinois?

Nine: Chicago, St. Louis, Peoria-Bloomington, Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Rockford, the Quad Cities, Quincy-Hannibal-Keokuk, Paducah-Cape Girardeau-Harrisburg and Terre Haute.

What channel is ABC in the St. Louis area now?

ABC is on 32, a subchannel of KMOV, since September 1, 2026. Channel 30, KDNL, is now an independent station. Rescan your TV if ABC is missing.

Why does CBS 2 Chicago come from WGN's tower?

WBBM switched its own VHF 12 signal to NextGen TV. Regular TVs now get CBS 2 from WGN's transmitter on UHF 19, so aim your antenna toward WGN and rescan.

Which Illinois channels are on VHF?

NBC 13 in Rockford, CBS 4 in the Quad Cities, CBS 12 in Cape Girardeau and CBS 10 in Terre Haute. PBS stations WILL and WSIU also use VHF.

Where can I watch the Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox?

On Chicago Sports Network, channel 200 on Xfinity in Chicagoland, or over the air on partner stations in some markets.

Do I need cable for local channels in Illinois?

No. All the network stations broadcast free over the air, and they also come with streaming services and IPTV. Chicago Sports Network and Marquee are the part that needs a specific provider.