on nights when network programs did not air. Until then, WXIN aired a movie at 8:00 p.m. As was the case with other Fox stations during the network's early years, channel 59 was still programmed as a de facto independent station, as Fox initially ran prime time programs only on weekends and would not offer nightly programming until September 1993. WXIN became a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company when the network launched on October 9, 1986, after WTTV-despite its status as one of the strongest independent stations in the country-turned down an offer to become an affiliate. The station lost the Pacers broadcast rights after the sale, with the telecasts returning to WTTV for the 1985-86 season.Īs a Fox affiliate (1986–present) The station's call letters were then changed to the current WXIN on August 10 of that year, a decision not precipitated by the ownership change but by a desire to avoid confusion (particularly in ratings diaries) with the similar-sounding cable channel WTBS and PBS. Palamara, Duffy and Simon sold the station to Outlet Broadcasting (through its Atlin Communications subsidiary) in 1985. WPDS' primary competitor was the market's established independent, WTTV (channel 4, now a CBS affiliate) in Bloomington it would gain another competitor when WMCC (channel 23, now MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV) signed on November 1, 1987. The station originally operated from studios located at 1440 North Meridian Street in Indianapolis' Television Row section, a facility that had previously been occupied by WFYI until it moved to a larger building across the street. Through Simon's part-ownership of the station, it also aired Indiana Pacers NBA games in the 1984–85 season. Originally operating as an independent station, channel 59 maintained a general entertainment programming format featuring cartoons, movies, classic sitcoms and drama series. Palamara had promised the station would be on air by New Year 1984 due to weather delays, that turned into the Chinese New Year when WPDS-TV signed on February 1, 1984. The reconfigured ownership group changed channel 59's call letters to WPDS-TV, after Palamara, Duffy and Simon's initials. Anacomp was headed by Ron Palamara, while one of the vice presidents in Anacomp was Chris Duffy, who had been the general manager at WTHR for five years before joining Anacomp in 1981. The $800,000 acquisition produced capital to be invested in the construction of the station. Melvin retained 10 percent, while his other brother, Herbert Simon, bought a 10 percent stake. That year, 80 percent of the stock in the company was sold to locally based computer services company Anacomp, Inc. The new construction permit, initially held by Indianapolis Television-a consortium of shopping mall and Indiana Pacers co-owner Melvin Simon, his brother Fred, and Gerald Kraft-took the call letters WSMK and was initially planned as a subscription television operation, but the expansion of cable TV made such operation impractical by 1983. Indianapolis Television Corporation secured the channel in a joint settlement, reimbursing its competitors a combined $128,300 in the process. In the late 1970s, the FCC began taking applications for channel 59 in Indianapolis, receiving four, from Indianapolis Television Corporation Channel 59 of Indiana United Television Corporation of Indiana (owned by United Cable) and Indianapolis 59 (subsidiary of a young Sinclair Broadcast Group). After that station moved its allocation to UHF channel 18 in 1957, UHF channel 59 would remain dormant until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) later reassigned the allotment to Indianapolis. The allocation would become occupied by CBS affiliate WFAM-TV (now WLFI-TV), which original owner Sarkes Tarzian (who also founded WXIN's present-day sister station WTTV) signed on in June 1953. The UHF channel 59 allocation in Central Indiana was originally assigned to Lafayette (located approximately 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis). History Prior history of UHF channel 59 in Central Indiana Both stations share studios on Network Place (near 71st Street and I-465) in northwestern Indianapolis, while WXIN's transmitter is located on West 73rd Street (or Westlane Road) on the northern outskirts of the city. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Bloomington-licensed CBS affiliate WTTV, channel 4 (and its Kokomo-licensed satellite WTTK, channel 29). ![]() ![]() WXIN (channel 59) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with the Fox network.
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