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1949–1954 1954–1957 1957–1964 1964–1967 1967–1971 1971–1979 1979–1984
1949–1954 1954–1957 1957–1964 1964–1967 1967–1971 1971–1979 1979–1984
1984–1988 1989–1998 1998–2003 2003–2006 2006–2008 2008–2014 2015–present
1984–1988 1989–1998 1998–2003 2003–2006 2006–2008 2008–2014 2015–present

1949–1954[]

WTTV 1949

Originally signed on the air on November 11, 1949, as a primary NBC affiliate with secondary affiliations with ABC, the DuMont Television Network and occasionally CBS on VHF channel 10, which later moved to channel 4 on February 21, 1954 and switched affiliations to ABC in 1956. It was first owned by Sarkes Tarzian, a Bloomington-based radio manufacturer and broadcaster, who also established former sister radio station WTTS (1370 AM, now WGCL) and WTTV-FM (92.3 FM, now WTTS) in 1960.

1954–1957[]

Logopedia InfoWhite LOGO MISSING

The station lost the ABC affiliation after WISH-TV signed on in July 1954. In 1956, the station lost the NBC affiliation to WFBM-TV; WTTV rejoined ABC after WISH-TV took a primary affiliation with CBS.

1957–1964[]

WTTV (1959)

On October 30, 1957, WTTV became an independent station after losing the ABC affiliation to upstart WLWI (VHF channel 13, now WTHR).

1964–1967[]

Logopedia InfoWhite LOGO MISSING

1967–1971[]

WTTV 1969

1971–1979[]

Wttv0475

Tarzian sold channel 4 to Teleco for $26.5 million in September 1978 (while retaining the radio stations, which are still owned by his relatives as of 2020); the station was then sold to the Tel-Am Corporation in March 1984. The station was also considering a re-affiliation with NBC, until the network chose outgoing ABC affiliate WTHR on June 1, 1979, when the former chose the high-rated WRTV.

1979–1985[]

Screenshot 2015-11-17-15-19-55

1984–1988[]

WTTV (1984)

Although WTTV was Indianapolis' strongest independent station at the time, the station declined an offer to affiliate with the upstart Fox network, who later chose eventual sister station WXIN (UHF channel 59) on October 9, 1986. In 1987, Tel-Am purchased the construction permit for WWKI-TV (channel 29) in Kokomo, 52 miles (84 km) north of Indianapolis, from B.G.S. Broadcasting. B.G.S., who also owned WWKI radio (100.5 FM) until 1986, had concluded that there were not nearly enough viewers in north-central Indiana for WWKI-TV to be viable as a standalone station, and its merger with WTTV allowed channel 29 to come on the air. On May 1, 1988, Tel-Am signed channel 29 on as WTTK, a full-time satellite of WTTV, to improve its over-the-air coverage in northern portions of the market that could not receive the WTTV signal. Tel-Am filed for bankruptcy in 1987; Raleigh, North Carolina-based Capitol Broadcasting Company purchased WTTV and WTTK in July 1988, after an attempt to sell the station to locally based Emmis Communications fell through.

1989–1998[]

WTTV (1989)

This logo resembles what WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh currently uses. Capitol sold the two stations to River City Broadcasting in 1991, who would later be acquired by the Hunt Valley, Maryland–based Sinclair Broadcast Group (owner of fellow Bloomington-licensed inTV affiliate WIIB on UHF channel 63, now an Ion affiliate owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings). In 1997, Sinclair signed a deal with The WB to affiliate with several UPN-affiliated and independent stations that the company either managed or owned outright. While WTTV was not included in the original deal, Sinclair subsequently notified UPN that it was not interested in renewing the station's affiliation, leading network sister company Paramount Stations Group to strike a deal to buy WB charter affiliate WNDY-TV (UHF channel 23), though Paramount pledged at the time to keep WNDY a WB affiliate through the expiration of its contract in January 1999. WTTV temporarily returned to being an independent station when its contract with UPN expired on January 16, 1998, filling its primetime schedule with movies; on January 22, WNDY began to carry UPN programming in addition to The WB. WTTV then replaced WNDY as the market's WB affiliate on April 6, and changed its on-air branding to "WB 4 Indiana"; channel 23 then became a full-time UPN affiliate.

1998–2003[]

Newnavbar 01

Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting acquired WTTV and its Kokomo satellite WTTK (UHF channel 29) from Sinclair (who would later attempt to acquire Tribune in 2017) on April 29, 2002 and the sale was finalized on July 24 of that year, resulting in a duopoly with WXIN.

2003–2006[]

WTTV WB4

2006–2008[]

WTTV 1

2008–2014[]

WTTV 4 Indiana

2015–present[]

WTTV 2

On August 11, 2014, CBS and Tribune Broadcasting announced that WTTV would become Indianapolis' CBS affiliate beginning on January 1, 2015. The deal, which was part of an agreement that also renewed the CBS affiliations on Tribune-owned stations in four other markets, including WTKR, which was owned by Dreamcatcher Broadcasting and operated by Tribune through a shared services agreement (SSA), was driven by CBS' desire for reverse retransmission consent compensation from its affiliates; WISH-TV had been in negotiations to renew its agreement with the network, but station management reportedly balked at CBS' demands. This led to CBS reaching a deal with WTTV, which Tribune was eager to land since the network holds the broadcast television rights to the AFC, which includes rights to most of the Indianapolis Colts' regular season games. This marked the second time that WTTV has taken a network affiliation away from WISH, the first being when it took the ABC affiliation in 1956. After initially announcing plans to move The CW to its second digital subchannel, Tribune announced on December 22, that it would instead sell the CW affiliation in the market to WISH-TV's owner, Media General (which finalized its merger with that station's longtime owner, LIN Media, three days earlier); as a result, WISH effectively swapped affiliations with WTTV and became a CW affiliate.

External links[]


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