WTTV
WTTV is a
The WB affiliate in the
Indianapolis television market. Broadcasting on analog channel 4, the station is owned by the
Tribune Broadcasting. It is
licensed to
Bloomington (50 miles southwest of Indianapolis) and operates a satellite (WTTK 29) in
Kokomo (50 miles north of Indianapolis) to serve the northern areas of the market. It was announced that in September
2006 WTTV will become the home of the new
CW Network.
WTTV began operation on
November 11,
1949 on channel 10 as central Indiana's second television station (after WFBM, now
WRTV). The station was owned by Sarkes Tarzian, a Bloomington-based radio manufacturer, and was an
NBC affiliate with a secondary
ABC affiliation. Its transmitter was located in
Trafalgar, which made it difficult for people on the north side of Indianapolis to get a good signal.
WTTV moved from channel 10 to channel 4 on
February 21,
1954. The station became a full ABC affiliate later that year, after the NBC affiliation moved to WFBM-TV (now
WRTV). WTTV remained an ABC affiliate until
1957, when WLWI Channel 13 (now
WTHR) signed on and took the ABC affiliation. WTTV then became an
independent station. At that point, the station signed on air weekdays at 2pm, and showed a test pattern until 4pm, when its programming began. The station initially ran old movies and low budget syndicated shows as well as producing some of its own local programming.
Throughout the
1960s,
70s and early
80s, WTTV was known in Central Indiana for its local programming, including children's shows
Janie (previously
Popeye and Janie) and
Cowboy Bob's Corral (previously
Chuckwagon Theatre, both starring Bob Glaze as Cowboy Bob). By then WTTV was on the air by 6am and stayed on until at least 2am. In addition to local programming WTTV aired alot of movies in the early afternoon and prime time slots. They also aired cartoons both mixed in with locally produced children's shows in the afternoons from 3pm to 5 pm. In the evenings WTTV aired off network sitcoms. Horror movies were presented late-nights by Sammy Terry, a ghoulish vampire character portrayed by Bob Carter.
By the mid 1980's WTTV increased the amount of cartoons on the station as well as airing more recent off network sitcoms during the evening. The station was on 24 hours a day by then as well. During the day WTTV began airing first run syndicated talk shows. In 1989, Sarkes Tarzian bought WWKI-TV, channel 29 in Kokomo, and made the station a full-time satellite of WTTV as WTTK. Channel 29 had signed on in 1987.
The station was sold to River City Broadcasting in the late
1980s and became a
UPN affiliate in
1995. It came under the ownership of the
Sinclair Broadcast Group following the group's merger with River City. The station became a
The WB affiliate in
1998 after swapping affiliations with
WNDY-TV.
In
2002, the station was sold by Sinclair to Tribune, making WTTV and
WXIN-59 sister stations. WTTV's 10pm newscast, produced by
WRTV, was promptly cancelled by Tribune as it would compete against WXIN's own 10pm news. Because of WTTV's signal coverage requiring a translator, Tribune decided to protect UHF station WXIN's Fox affiliation by not swapping affiliations with WTTV, which is on the VHF dial.
Sports
The station also referred to itself as "Indiana's Sports Station" for years, having been the home of
Big Ten basketball - with a focus on
Indiana University and
Purdue University - since the
1950s, via both in-house productions and later syndication deals with Raycom and ESPN Plus. WTTV also presents other Big Ten football and men's basketball matchups on Saturdays, but when the Big Ten's cable/satellite channel launches in August 2007, all college sports are expected to leave the station.
WTTV traditionally broadcast the boys' and girls' state
high school basketball "Final Fours" and football class championship games; however, after the Indiana High School Atheltics Association converted its basketball tournament from single-class to multi-class in
1997, WTTV chose not to renew those rights due to declining ratings.
WTTV has also served as the TV flagship for the
Indiana Pacers since the team's days in the
ABA, except for a period in the mid-'80s when
WXIN held those rights. In addition, the station is the broadcast home of
Indianapolis Colts preseason games.
From The WB to The CW
On
January 24,
2006, the WB and UPN networks announced they would merge. The newly combined network would be called
The CW, the letters representing the first initial of its corporate parents
CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of
Time Warner. WTTV was announced as one of the network's charter affiliates. The merger would take effect on-the-air in September 2006. Current UPN station
WNDY-TV, owned by
LIN Television will go to
My Network TV.
*
Indiana's WB 4*
What Columbus Watched... - History of television in central Indiana, from the perspective of a
Columbus, Indiana resident
*
Sammy Terry's official web site*
Tribune Company: Press Release: Tribune Completes Acquisition of WTTV-TV (WB4), Indianapolis -
July 24,
2002
