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WFNI
Broadcast areaIndianapolis metropolitan area
Frequency1070kHz
Programming
FormatSports
AffiliationsESPN Radio
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
October 30, 1938
(85 years ago)(1938-10-30)
Former call signs
WIBC (1938–2007)
Former frequencies
1050 kHz (1938–1941)
Call signmeaning
"Fan Indianapolis"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID19521
ClassB
Power
  • 50,000watts(day)
  • 10,000 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
39°57′21″N86°21′30″W/ 39.95583°N 86.35833°W/39.95583; -86.35833
Links
Public license information
1070 at Emmis Communications

WFNI(1070AM) is acommercialradio stationlicensed toIndianapolis, Indiana.[2]It is owned byEmmis Corporationand carries asportsradio format,featuringESPN Radioprogramming. The studios and offices are located at 40Monument Circlein downtown Indianapolis.

WFNI's AM signal, 50,000wattsby day and 10,000 watts at night, wentdarkat midnight on August 3, 2021. Emmis Broadcasting sold the land on which the six-tower arraystood, off Perry Worth Drive nearInterstate 65inWhitestown, Indiana.Emmis says it is looking for a new site for its AMtransmitterbut none has been found yet.[3]Programming continues to be heard onFM translatorsat 93.5 and 107.5MHzin Indianapolis. They are fed bysister station93.1WIBC'sHD Radiosubchannel.

1070 AM as WIBC

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Early years

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The stationsigned onthe air on October 30, 1938;85 years ago(October 30, 1938).[4]Its originalcall sign,WIBC, stood for the owner, the Indiana Broadcasting Company. Theconstruction permithad previously held the call letters WGVA, for Glenn Van Auken.[5]He was the company's president. WIBC began as a 1,000-wattdaytime-onlystation.[5]It was sold in 1939 to H. G. Wall.[5]

The station was approved in 1940 to broadcast at night. It moved from 1050 to 1070kilocyclesas part of the enactment of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement(NARBA) in 1941. With the move, the daytime power increased to 5,000 watts.[5]Initially independent, the station became anetwork affiliateof theMutual Broadcasting Systemin April 1941.[6]

WIBC was sold in 1944 to theIndianapolis News,making it the first newspaper in Indiana to own a radio station.[7]Four years later, WIBC was separated from theIndianapolis Newsand sold directly to Charles M. Fairbanks and his associates, who owned the newspaper.[8]In 1950, WIBC got a power boost to 50,000 watts by day and 10,000 watts at night.[5]

Fairbanks attempted to start a television station on Channel 13. However, theFederal Communications Commissionruled in favor of the competing bid of theCincinnati-basedCrosley Broadcasting Corporation,which launchedWLWI.Fairbanks sued, arguing that a local owner should be prioritized for the last VHF allocation available in town. Fairbanks prevailed in the initial battle to have the 1957 grant to Crosley overturned, but the FCC set aside the order in 1961.[9]The two parties settled the dispute in 1962 when Crosley sold Fairbanksits Atlanta television station.[10]

In 1960, WIBC added an FM station at 93.1,WIBC-FM,which initially aired anautomatedclassical musicformat in its early years.[11]

Indianapolis 500

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Beginning in 1946, WIBC carried theIndianapolis 500as a Mutual Broadcasting System affiliate, since Mutual had the rights to broadcast the motor race.[12]WIBC establish a broadcasting tradition when the station struck a last-minute deal to provide coverage of the1952 Indianapolis 500,withSid Collinsas the lead announcer, after Mutual pulled out as the Indianapolis 500 official broadcaster.

The next year, its coverage grew to include personalities from and wassimulcaston the other major stations in town:WFBM (1260 AM),WIRE (1430 AM),WISH (1310 AM),andWXLW(1590 AM).[13]WIBC became the flagship station of theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Networkand remains so as WFNI.

"Radio Indiana, WIBC"

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As television took over most network programming in the 1950s and 60s, WIBC switched to amiddle of the road(MOR) format of popular adult music, news, sports and talk. The station established itself as a highly regardedfull servicebroadcaster, placing an emphasis on its colorful air personalities.

In the 1970s, the WIBC stable includedJerry Baker,who was also the voice ofIndiana University Hoosiersbasketball and theIndiana Pacers;Paul Page,the voice of theIndianapolis 500on radio and later on television, and who served as an award-winning newsman at WIBC in the early 1970s, reporting from the first Indianapolis-area traffic helicopter (known as the "Ten Seven-Oh Whirlybird" ) until a serious crash nearly killed him and his pilot in 1977;[14]andChuck Riley,who did afternoons before becoming a very successfulvoice-overtalent in Los Angeles. Doing sports on Riley's afternoon drive-time show was"Hockey Bob" Lamey,who got that nickname from doing play-by-play for the short-livedIndianapolis RacersWHAteam a decade before theIndianapolis Coltsmoved from Baltimore and named Lamey the "Voice of the Colts". Another long-time fixture was former news director Fred Heckman, who began at WIBC in 1957 and was recognized for his "My Town Indy" features.

During theGreat Blizzard of 1978,WIBC was granted temporary emergency authorization for nighttime broadcasting at full daytime power (50 kW) until the storm was over. Normally the station was licensed to transmit with only 10 kW of power at night.

Switch to talk

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Over the 1980s, more talk programming was added and music was reduced, as listeners increasingly turned to FM for music. Under new general manager Tom Durney, WIBC became a full-time talk radio station in January 1993—eliminating all music shows—and also updated its presentation and cut back its news department.[15]The moves were controversial: news director Heckman walked out, claiming a hostile working environment, while far-right host Stan Solomon's statements resulted in a suspension and backlash from advertisers.[15]

Current owners Emmis, who also ownedWENS (97.1 FM),purchased WIBC and the FM station, by then WKLR-FM, in 1994 from Horizon Broadcasting for $26 million.[16]Heckman, who had sued WIBC for age discrimination, settled his claim[17]and returned to the station later that year.[18]He remained at WIBC until retiring in 2000 at the age of 76.[19]

Sports radio WFNI

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Former station logo as "1070 and 107.5 The Fan", used from 2017 until the station ending on August 2, 2021

WFNI was born as a result of a three-frequency, two-company station swap. These moves were provoked in part because Emmis had acquired the rights to theIndianapolis Coltsfootballteam for the 2007 season, which left the station with the rights to all major sports teams in Indianapolis. To avoid tedious shuffling of games among its stations and frequent preemption of regular programming, Emmis decided to clear a frequency for a new all-sports station in Indianapolis. The move began on October 8, 2007, when the format and branding ofTop 40WNOW-FM( "Radio Now" ), which was struggling, was sold toRadio Oneand moved to 100.9 MHz, the former frequency of now defunctsmooth jazzWYJZ. This was done so that Emmis could clear the 93.1 frequency for news/talk WIBC, which had been on 1070 kHz on the AM band.

On October 8, 2007, it was announced[1]that effective December 26, the WIBC call letters and news/talk programming would move to 93.1 FM, and that WIBC's sports programming would remain on 1070 AM, joined by programming from ESPN Radio, effective January 7, 2008. The new call letters WFNI were announced in December. 93.1 beganstuntingan all-Christmas musicformat as WEXM between October 8 and December 25.[20]With the 1070 frequency open, Emmis launched its sports radio format on December 26 with a series of classic Indianapolis sporting events, ahead of its official launch date, January 7, 2008.

Prior to WFNI's launch, ESPN Radio talk programming had been heard on 950WXLW,a lower-power station, from 2002 to 2007. Before that, 1260WNDEwas an ESPN Radionetwork affiliatefrom 1992 to 1994 and again from 1996 until switching toFox Sports Radioin 2002. WIBC carried some ESPN Radio programming from 1994 to 1996, mostlyGameNighton weekend evenings and some major live sporting events.

ESPN Radio's national sports broadcasts (MLB baseball, college football and NBA basketball) were all heard on WFNI, finally sorting out an unusual rights division among as many as four stations in the market during the early 2000s. (The NBA had often been heard on WIBC and Sunday Night Baseball on WNDE, regardless of which station had the main network affiliation.)

Local sports

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WFNI was theflagshipstation of theNBA'sIndiana Pacers,and the co-flagship, alongsidesister stationWLHK,for theNFL'sIndianapolis Colts.WFNI was also the flagship of theIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network,carrying theIndianapolis 500(simulcast with WIBC), the rest of theNTT IndyCar Series,and allNASCARraces held at IMS.

In addition, WFNI aired the Indiana High School state championship games in football and girls' and boys' basketball (which was shared with WIBC in the event of Pacers conflicts).

Previously, WFNI airedIndiana Universityfootball until 2021, when it moved to WIBC, the longtime Indianapolis home of Indiana's men's basketball games. In addition, they were also the flagship forButler Bulldogs men's basketballfrom 2010 to 2021.

FM 107.5 The Fan

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The simulcast withFM translatorW298BB (107.5 FM) was officially launched on February 19, 2013, following a short test period.[21]At first, the translator sometimes broke away from 1070 with a different broadcast schedule, carrying ESPN Radio'sThe HerdandSVP & Rusilloin middays before simulcasting WFNI'sThe Ride with JMV.All other local shows and local play-by-play were simulcast, with the AM and FM feeds splitting whenever conflicts arose.

On October 16, 2015, Emmis split the simulcast of WFNI and W298BB. A new translator, W228CX at 93.5, began simulcasting WFNI full-time, as W298BB began carrying ESPN Radio on a full-time basis.[22]

On March 30, 2017, the simulcast switched back to W298BB, due to problems with W228CX interfering with other nearby stations, while also discontinuing the full-time ESPN national feed. With the move, WFNI began calling itself "107.5 and 1070 The Fan."[23]In preparation for the station's wind-down, the signal source for W298BB became WIBC-HD2 instead of WFNI, with the branding changing to "93.5 and 107.5 The Fan".

The AM frequency went off the air at midnight on August 3, 2021;3 years ago(August 3, 2021).Emmis sold portions of the land on which the AM station'stowerswere located for commercial real estate development.[24]

On June 13, 2022, Emmis announced it would sell all of its Indianapolis stations to Urban One.[25]Emmis continues to own the license and occasionally runs WFNI on a temporary transmitter since it was signed off to preserve the license. The national ESPN Radio schedule is heard, aside from an hourlystation identification.

References

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  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WFNI".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^"AM Query Results -- Audio Division (FCC) USA".
  3. ^"Original WIBC Frequency Goes Silent for Now".July 19, 2021.RetrievedAugust 5,2024.
  4. ^"WIBC To Go On Air Today; Dedicatory Program At 12".Indianapolis Sunday Star.October 30, 1938. p. 4.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  5. ^abcdeFCC History Cards for WFNI
  6. ^"A new radio program".Indianapolis News.April 8, 1941. p. 10.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  7. ^"The News Acquires Radio Station WIBC".Indianapolis News.February 16, 1944. p. 1.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  8. ^"WIBC Being Sold to Fairbanks, Associates".Indianapolis News.August 30, 1948. p. 19.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  9. ^"FCC Sets Aside Order Putting WLWI Off Air".Anderson Herald.Associated Press. November 23, 1961. p. 7.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  10. ^"Petitions May Resolve TV Licensing".Indianapolis Star.June 12, 1962. p. 23.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  11. ^"Broadcasting by Station WIBC-FM to Start Monday".Indianapolis News.December 1, 1960. p. 61.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  12. ^Cochran, Polly (May 30, 1952)."Everyone In Reach Of Radio Will Have 'Ticket' To Race".Indianapolis Star.p. 18.RetrievedJune 17,2020.
  13. ^"Radio Coverage Bigger As Stations Combine Forces".Indianapolis Star.May 30, 1953. p. 19.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  14. ^Rubinton, Noel."WIBC Radio's Paul Page, 2 Others Hurt: Copter Crashes At High Speed".Indianapolis Star.p. 1.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  15. ^abShaffer, David J. (August 8, 1993)."WIBC's Durney is making radio waves".Indianapolis Star.pp. D1,D2.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  16. ^Dinnen, S.P. (April 16, 1994)."Emmis tunes in for market share, to buy WIBC, WKLR for $26 million".Indianapolis Star.p. A1,A2.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  17. ^"Heckman, WIBC settle age-discrimination suit".Indianapolis Star.May 21, 1994. p. E2.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  18. ^"Less talk and more Heckman at WIBC".The Star Press.Associated Press. September 17, 1994. p. 1A.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  19. ^Allan, Marc D. (September 29, 2000)."After 43 years in his town, WIBC's Heckman to sign off".Indianapolis Star.pp. A1,A7.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  20. ^Smith, Erika D. (October 9, 2007)."On-air musical chairs: Pop makes way for talk on FM with WIBC move".Indianapolis Star.pp. A1,A5.RetrievedJune 16,2020.
  21. ^"Format Changes".Your Midwest Media. February 19, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon March 17, 2013.RetrievedFebruary 24,2013.
  22. ^"W228CX-FM 93.5 MHz - Indianapolis, IN".radio-locator.
  23. ^"1070 and 107.5 Reunited" (blog)
  24. ^Brown, Alex (July 19, 2021)."Emmis sells 1070 tower site, signal to go dark".WISH-TV.RetrievedAugust 5,2024.
  25. ^Emmis Sells Indianapolis Stations To Urban One
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