WNDY-TV

WNDY-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Marion, Indiana, United States, serving the Indianapolis area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Indianapolis-licensed CW affiliate WISH-TV (channel 8). The stations share studios on Meridian Street (at the north end of the Television Row section) on the near north side of Indianapolis; WNDY-TV and WISH-TV also share transmitter facilities on Walnut Drive in the Augusta section of the city's northwest side (near Meridian Hills).

Channel 23 went on the air as WMCC, with full programming beginning October 19, 1987. It was the third independent station for the Indianapolis market and largely subsisted on sports, children's programs, and movies. By the early 1990s, it was available on cable systems throughout central Indiana. Wabash Valley Broadcasting, owned by the Hulman-George family, acquired WMCC in 1994. The station was relaunched as WNDY-TV "Indy TV" on January 9, 1995, with major changes in programming and new studio facilities near the Hulman-owned Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition to becoming an affiliate of The WB, it acquired the rights to Indiana High School Athletic Association state championships, The Bob Knight Show, and Hoosier Millionaire. Locally syndicated radio talk show host Mike Pence had a weekly program on the station, while Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR produced a nightly 10 p.m. newscast.

After higher-than-expected losses, the Hulman-George family sold WNDY-TV in 1997. After the first buyer dropped out, a bidding war ensued and ended with Paramount Stations Group buying the station to flip it from The WB to UPN, which took place in January 1998. LIN TV, owner of WISH-TV, acquired WNDY-TV in 2005, and the stations have been commonly owned since under several owners. In 2006, the station switched from UPN to MyNetworkTV.

Channel 23 was assigned to Marion in 1970, after the city's first TV station, WTAF-TV (channel 31), sought to move to channel 17. The assignment was deemed to conflict with land mobile uses in Chicago, so channel 23 was assigned instead. WTAF-TV never moved, as its license was canceled at the same time Marion was assigned channel 23. The channel remained dormant for more than a decade until 1983, when two companies applied for the channel. The Mississinewa Communications Corporation was composed of men from Fort Wayne and Huntington, Indiana; Metro Program Network was owned by Jerry Fitzgerald of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The applications were designated for comparative hearing by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that December, but Metro Program Network withdrew its application in May 1984, leaving Mississinewa to be granted the construction permit. The firm struggled to get financial backing for WMCC, which prompted the company to scrap initial plans to have the station on the air by the start of 1985.

In April 1986, Mississinewa agreed to sell WMCC for $52,168 to Gerald J. Robinson, owner of WYZZ-TV in Bloomington, Illinois, and WSMH in Flint, Michigan. The next year, Robinson set out to construct the station. The studios and transmitter were located at Strawtown, 35 miles (56 km) south of Marion and 25 miles (40 km) from Indianapolis. WMCC began broadcasting a test signal on October 5, 1987, with full programming beginning October 19. WMCC entered the market at a fraught time. It was the third independent station to serve Indianapolis, after WTTV (channel 4) and WXIN (channel 59). WXIN's entry had caused program costs to rise, contributing to WTTV filing for bankruptcy protection. In programming, the station focused on children's programs, movies, and sports.

Local program production was minimal. By 1990, the station was airing a weekly public affairs program, Indiana Living. For 13 weeks beginning in July, WMCC aired a locally produced soap opera, It's My Life, starring local teenagers and discussing teen issues.

While it was available on cable systems in Marion, Muncie, and Kokomo, cable providers in the Indianapolis area did not offer it when it launched. This changed in 1993, as new must-carry requirements led to its addition to many local cable lineups. That year, the station reached a verbal agreement to become the Indianapolis-market affiliate of The WB, a new national TV network to debut in January 1995.

Wabash Valley Broadcasting agreed in May 1994 to acquire WMCC. The company was owned by the Hulman-George family, owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and owned WTHI-TV in Terre Haute and two TV stations in Florida as well as a television production operation. The president of Wabash, Chris Duffy, had previously been the general manager of WTHR (channel 13) and helped start WPDS—which became WXIN—in 1984. The transaction closed on December 7 The station was made over, including a new call sign. An attempt to pry the WIND call sign from a Chicago station failed, but a donation to Wabash College was successful in securing rights to use WNDY. On January 9, 1995, two days ahead of The WB's debut, WMCC became WNDY-TV "Indy-TV". The station traded heavily on racing imagery in its overhaul. A checkered flag was incorporated into the new logo; Mario Andretti starred in an advertising campaign to raise awareness of the new station; and one print ad depicted a racing helmet with stickers representing the station's syndicated programs. Station operations moved from Strawtown to a new, 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m²) facility owned by the Hulmans near the speedway.