Indianapolis’ WRTV sold to Circle City Broadcasting; creates triopoly
Another case of broadcasters challenging FCC regulations
In yet another instance where broadcasters are challenging the FCC’s media ownership rules, Scripps’ WRTV in Indianapolis is being sold to Circle City Broadcasting, which already owns CW affiliate WISH-TV and independent WNDY-TV, creating a triopoly in the nation’s 26th-largest market for $83 million.
“As a native of Indianapolis and a career small business owner, I am excited to expand Circle City Broadcasting’s footprint with the acquisition of WRTV-ABC,” said DuJuan McCoy, who is the owner of Circle City, a locally-owned, private company. “This strategic transaction reinforces our long-term commitment to Indiana, enhances our current broadcast capabilities, and creates meaningful value for both our audiences and our advertisers across Indiana.”
He went on to say, “ABC’s high-profile programming — including Monday Night Football, College Football, NBA and WNBA regular season games, playoffs, finals, and Super Bowl LXI in 2027 and Super Bowl LXV in 2031 — pairs perfectly with WISH-TV’s more than 90 hours per week of live local news and entertainment. It also complements the 100-plus live local and regional sporting events on WNDY, along with WRTV’s local news programming. Together, these properties strengthen our position as a formidable, Indianapolis-based, locally owned and operated media company dedicated to serving all communities in Indiana with purpose-driven content.”
McCoy became the first Black TV station owner in Indiana by purchasing WISH and WNDY from Nexstar for $42.5 million in 2019. Nexstar had to sell WISH and WNDY after it purchased Chicago-based Tribune Media, which already owned CBS affiliate WTTV and Fox affiliate WXIN, because ownership rules at the time prevented a company from owning more than two stations in a market outright.
But now, broadcasters are seeking to eliminate most ownership rules, arguing that these regulations stymies future growth, especially as they face competition from unregulated streaming services led by Big Tech companies such as Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. President Trump’s re-election to the White House last year resulted in his appointment of Brendan Carr as FCC Chairman, who had long sought to eliminate the rules. Circle City is the second broadcaster to force the issue at the FCC and the government; Nexstar announced in August that it was purchasing rival broadcaster Tegna for $3.6 billion, giving it 265 stations covering 80 percent of the country, blowing past the 39 percent cap.
If approved by federal regulations, Nexstar would also own three stations in Indianapolis, including Tegna’s NBC affiliate WTHR, and would be the second top-thirty media market to have only two local news operations remaining, as a similar Nexstar-Tegna merger in St. Louis would have three stations (KTVI, KPLR, and KSDK) under the same roof with CBS affiliate KMOV as the other (ABC affiliate KDNL does not have a news operation.)
WRTV is Indiana’s oldest TV station, signing on in 1949 as WFBM-TV, and became an NBC affiliate in 1956. As was the case with several NBC stations in the late 1970s when the network’s ratings weren’t good, WRTV switched to ABC in 1979 while WTHR assumed the NBC affiliation. WRTV has struggled in the local news ratings for the last two decades or so, finishing behind WTHR and other competitors. In 2011, McGraw-Hill sold WRTV and its entire broadcasting portfolio to Scripps, ending 41 years of ownership.
Circle City has been at the center of some controversy since its formation. According to the Indianapolis Star, meteorologist Ashley Brown Elliot sued the company earlier this year after she was fired from WISH after she questioned how Black female employees were treated at the station, a claim McCoy denied. Eliot sued Circle City to void her non-compete clause in her contract. With Circle City unsuccessfully sending her case to arbitration, a judge ruled the non-compete unenforceable under Indiana Law (non-competes are banned in Illinois.) Last month, WISH attempted to force employees to sign non-compete agreements while they were still under contract, resulting in the termination or resignation of eleven employees.
In another matter, McCoy unsuccessfully sued U-Verse, DirecTV, and Dish in 2020 over retransmission fees for his two stations, alleging racial discrimination. The cases were dismissed by a judge, citing a lack of evidence, as her ruling was upheld on appeal. Neither WISH nor WNDY is currently available on Dish or DirecTV, and it remains to be seen if WRTV would stay on those platforms when Circle City takes over, which would almost certainly use the ABC affiliate as leverage.