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This page only shows primary logo variants.
For other related logos and images, see:
1957–1961 1961-1969 1969-1971 1971-1973 1973-1978 1978-1986 1986-1995
1957–1961 1961-1969 1969-1971 1971-1973 1973-1978 1978-1986 1986-1995
1996-1997 1997-2005 2005-2007 2007-2013 2013-2016 2016-2022 2022-present
1996-1997 1997-2005 2005-2007 2007-2013 2013-2016 2016-2022 2022-present

1957–1961[]

WPTA1957

WPTA first signed on the air on September 28, 1957. It was founded by Sarkes Tarzian, an Indianapolis engineer whose company owned Bloomington's WTTV and several other stations in Indiana. The WPTA call letters come from the long tradition of other Tarzian stations, including once former sister station WPTH, that base the call letters upon the initials of family members of company management. Upon its launch, channel 21 took all ABC programming from NBC affiliate WKJG-TV (channel 33, now WISE-TV) and CBS affiliate WANE-TV (channel 15).

1961–1969[]

Wpta2162

1969–1971[]

Wpta

1971–1973[]

Wpta2172

1973–1978[]

Screen Shot 2015-11-14 at 11.26.24 PM

On April 4, 1973, Tarzian sold the station to Combined Communications for $3.6 million. Under new management, WPTA purchased new cameras and a more modern switcher. On June 7, 1979, Combined merged with the Gannett Company.

1978–1986[]

WPTA1978

On July 3, 1978, WPTA replaced its Eyewitness News format for its newscasts with the "Alive" (as "21 Alive") format, originating from a studio doubling as the station's newsroom; WXIA-TV in Atlanta is another former Combined station that currently uses the "Alive" brand, though it abandoned the open newsroom concept in the early 1980s.

On May 12, 1983, Gannett sold WPTA (along with WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky) to Pulitzer Publishing for an undisclosed amount after it purchased WLVI-TV in Boston from Field Communications and WTCN-TV (now KARE) in Minneapolis from Metromedia. This was because the WLVI-TV and WTCN purchases put Gannett with two stations over the Federal Communications Commission's seven-station ownership limit for television stations that was in effect at the time. The station was sold again to Granite Broadcasting on September 25, 1989, for $22.15 million.

1986–1995[]

WPTA1986

1996–1997[]

WPTA1996

1997–2016[]

1997-2005 (primary); 2005-2008 (secondary)[]

1997–2005[]

WPTA1997

2005–2008[]

WPTA 2000s

2008–2013[]

WPTA 2008

2013–2016[]

WPTA 2013 Logo

2016–present[]

2016–2022[]

WPTA 2016 logo

In a YouTube post on October 19, 2016, WPTA announced it would re-brand as "ABC 21" on November 7. With the rebranding, WPTA retired the "Alive" brand after 38 years.

2022–present[]

WPTA 21Alive (2022)

On October 12, 2022, the station posted a fall promo video to its Facebook page; it shows a revised logo without the ABC logo, and "ALIVE" where the station's call sign currently sits, teasing a brand revert in time for the November sweeps. On October 17, 2022, the station returned to the "21Alive" brand ahead of a planned reconsolidation of its news product across all of its subchannels.

External links[]


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