WTVP was launched on 27th June 1971 in Peoria by the Illinois Valley Public Telecommunications Corporation.

It showed Doctor Who between 1983 (The Five Doctors was its first formal broadcast) through to 1990, and again between 1991 and 1993. It was one of several PBS stations who broadcast the first series with Christopher Eccleston in 2007, and later continued with David Tennant's  first and second series.