WISH-TV

WISH-TV, digital channel 9 (virtual channel 8), is the CW affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its digital transmitter and main antenna are also located in Indianapolis, on the northwest side at 7619 Walnut Drive (though the property is officially listed by the City of Indianapolis as 2500 Westlane Road[1] ). The station's original transmitter and tower were on the southeast side of the city, at 553 S. Post Road. The station is owned by LIN TV, which also owns the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23, digital 32) and a low-power station WIIH-CA (channel 17), which is currently dark, pending final FCC approval to turn it into a fill-in translator for WISH-TV.

WISH-TV and WNDY-TV are co-located in a building at 1950 N. Meridian Street, which also serves as an operations hub for other LIN TV stations in the Midwestern U.S. The building also marks the north end of Indy's Television Row. WISH-TV also offers a 24-hour weather service, LWS (Local Weather Station), which is broadcast on WISH-TV's digital subchannel 8.2 (identified as both WISH-DT and WIIH-LD), and was previously carried over-the-air via WIIH-CA. LWS is also available on select cable systems across central Indiana, and from a live stream on the station's website. A 24-hour live feed of Forecast 8 Live Doppler Radar is also broadcast on digital subchannel 8.3.

History
Early History

The station first signed on the air on July 1, 1954 at 6:00 p.m. Founded by C. Bruce McConnell—owner of WISH radio (1310 AM, now WTLC)—it was the third television station to sign on in the Indianapolis market, after WFBM-TV (channel 6, now WRTV), which signed on in May 1949 and Bloomington-licensed WTTV (channel 10, now on channel 4), which signed on six months later in November 1949. WISH-TV originally operated as a primary ABC affiliate with a secondary affiliation with DuMont Television Network and NBC. WISH-TV originally transmitted its signal from a tower it shared with WISH radio; the following year, the station constructed a 1,000-foot (305 m) transmitter tower, which allowed the station to improve its signal coverage in the market.

CBS affiliate

In 1956, McConnell sold the station to the Indiana Broadcasting Company, the broadcasting subsidiary of J.H. Whitney & Company and owners of WANE-TVin Fort Wayne. The new owners persuaded CBS to move its programming to channel 8,[3] taking that affiliation from WFBM. Conversely that same year, WISH-TV lost the ABC affiliation to WTTV; this resulted in WLBC-TV, channel 49 in Muncie (whose allocation is now occupied by PBS member station WIPB) serving as the de facto ABC affiliate for the northern part of the market as WTTV's signal did not extend very far north outside of Indianapolis's northern suburbs as its transmitter was located farther south than the market's other stations. Also in 1956, WISH became one of the first television stations in the United States to install a videotape machine.

Indiana Broadcasting became the Corinthian Broadcasting Corporation in 1957, with WISH-TV serving as the company's flagship station. From 1958 to 1959, it was an affiliate of the NTA Film Network. Corinthian merged with Dun & Bradstreet in 1971. Dun & Bradstreet sold its entire broadcasting unit to the Belo Corporation in February 1984. However, the merger put Belo two stations over the television ownership limits that the Federal Communications Commission had in effect at the time. As a result, the company sold WISH-TV and WANE to LIN Broadcasting (the predecessor of LIN Media) the following month in March 1984. LIN was headquartered in Indianapolis for many years, with WISH-TV serving as that company's flagship television property; the company eventually moved its headquarters to Providence, Rhode Island in the late 1990s, resulting in WPRI-TV replacing WISH as LIN's flagship station. LIN later acquired low-power independent station W11BV (channel 11, now WIIH-CD channel 17) in 1992. In 1995, WISH-TV relocated its transmitter to a new tower built in the Augusta section of Indianapolis.

WISH-TV signed on its digital signal on VHF channel 9 on December 17, 1998;[4] two days later on December 19, the station broadcast its first program in high definition when it broadcast an NFL game telecast in the format. In 2002, WISH-TV began handling the master control operations of WANE-TV and fellow sister station WLFI-TV in Lafayette. The hub expanded to include the Buffalo duopoly of WIVB-TV and WNLO in October, with other LIN-owned stations gradually being added to the WISH hub by the summer of 2003.[5]

On February 10, 2005, the Paramount Stations Group subsidiary of Viacomsold UPN affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) as well as its Columbus, Ohio sister station WWHO to LIN TV for $85 million, creating a duopoly with WISH-TV when the sale was finalized that spring.[6]On May 18, 2007, the LIN TV Corporation announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives that could have resulted in the sale of the company.[7]

On September 15, 2008, LIN and Time Warner Cable entered into an impasse during negotiations to renew retransmission consent deals for some of the group's television stations. Bright House Networks, one of two major cable providers serving Indianapolis, negotiates retransmission consent contracts through Time Warner Cable. LIN TV requested compensation for carriage of its stations in a manner similar to the deals that cable networks have with pay television providers, as other broadcast station owners began to seek compensation from cable and satellite providers for their programming. The carriage agreement with Bright House expired on October 2.[8] By 12:35 a.m. on October 3, LIN's television stations were replaced on Time Warner Cable systems in markets where the group owns stations and where either provider operates systems with programming from other cable channels. LIN's stations (with the exception of WIIH-CA) were restored 26 days later on October 29 through a new carriage agreement reached between Time Warner Cable and LIN TV.

The station shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition VHF channel 9.[9][10] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 8.

On August 7, 2009, WISH-TV began operating a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 8.1, which originally was only accessible via an app for BlackBerry devices.[11]

On January 29, 2010, LIN TV filed an application to the FCC to operate a digital fill-in translator on UHF channel 17,[12] an allotment that was previously occupied by the analog signal of Class A sister station WIIH-CA; the FCC granted a construction permit to build the translator's transmitter facilities on June 16.[13] The translator, which shares the same transmitter facility as WISH's main signal in the Augusta section of Indianapolis and began operating on January 13, 2011, serves parts of Indianapolis that lost signal coverage after the 2009 digital transition. The translator is mapped as virtual channel 8, which results in PSIP channel duplication while tuning sequentially on digital tuners in areas that are able to receive both signals, as the translator simulcasts WISH-TV's main channel and its two digital subchannels. As mentioned above, in late March 2015, a simulcast of WISH's main signal was added via WNDY-DT3.

On March 21, 2014, Media General announced that it would buy LIN Media in a $1.6 billion deal, described as a "merger."[14][15]The merger was completed on December 19.[16]

As an CW affiliate On August 11, 2014, Tribune Broadcasting announced that CW affiliate WTTV would become the market's CBS affiliate on January 1, 2015, as part of an agreement that also renewed the CBS affiliations on Tribune-owned stations in five othermarkets.[17] The deal, which resulted in the end of WISH-TV's 58-year relationship with CBS, was reportedly struck as a result of WISH station management balking at the network's demands for sharing of retransmission consent revenue from its affiliates.[18] This marked the second time in Indianapolis television history that WTTV took an affiliation from WISH, the first being ABC in 1956.

As the other major broadcast networks had existing affiliation deals with other area stations (WRTV's ABC affiliation was up for renewal around this time, though the E. W. Scripps Company reached a deal to allow WRTV and nine of the company's other stations to remain with ABC the day prior to the announcement[19]), WISH announced on December 11, 2014 that it would become an independent station upon losing CBS, filling timeslots previously occupied by network shows with additional newscasts and an expanded inventory of syndicated talk shows, newsmagazines and sitcoms,[20] including some shows relocated from sister station WNDY-TV to make up for the loss of CBS daytime and late-night programs on channel 8's schedule and a national news program from TouchVision (the latter of which was later replaced with an additional half-hour of the station's morning newscast, 24-Hour News 8's Daybreak, on July 13, 2015) to serve as a replacement for the CBS Morning News.[20][21][22]

However, on December 22, 2014, Tribune announced that it would sell the market's CW affiliation to Media General—the deal occurred three days after the completion of the company's merger with LIN. As a result, WISH instead became a CW affiliate, in effect switching affiliations with WTTV and preventing a situation in which The CW, which WTTV originally planned on carrying over its second digital subchannel (which had previously been affiliated with This TV prior to December 2014), would be relegated to the lower digital subchannel tier on local cable systems and probable subjection to non-carriage by satellite providers for months until carriage agreements were struck.[23][24] The loss of WISH's CBS affiliation also affected the Media General-LIN merger, with the purchase price being lowered by $110 million in stock, though no other factors were affected.[25]

Media General signed an agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment to affiliate several of its stations with GetTV. WISH added the network on its .2 subchannel on February 1, 2016.[26]

 Nexstar ownership 

After a failed bid for Media General to merge with Meredith Corporation,[27][28] Nexstar Broadcasting acquired Media General in January 2017. The WISH-WNDY duopoly gained new sister stations in nearby markets within Indiana: the Evansville virtual duopoly of ABC affiliate WEHT and fellow CW affiliate WTVW, and the Terre Haute virtual duopoly of NBC affiliate WTWO and ABC affiliate WAWV-TV. CBS affiliate WANE-TV in Fort Wayne was the only existing sister station of WISH and WNDY that became part of the combined group, as Media General and Nexstar each sold certain Indiana stations they already owned (Nexstar's Fox affiliate WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne and Media General's two other Indiana-based CBS affiliates, WTHI-TV in Terre Haute and WLFI-TV in Lafayette to Heartland Media, and Nexstar's WEVV-TV in Evansville to Bayou City Broadcasting) to alleviate conflicts with FCC ownership rules.[29][30][31][32][33]

In late March 2015, Media General added a 1080i HD simulcast feed of WISH's main signal on the 23.3 subchannel of WNDY-TV, mainly for the convenience of over-the-air viewers, especially those unable to receive WISH's VHF channel 9 signal due to signal limitations by way of their geographic location in proximity to the transmitter and or a lack of an antenna able to properly receive VHF signals.[34] In January 2016, the station converted the subchannel from a 24-hour feed of its Doppler radar into an affiliate of the Justice Network.[35]

 Sale to Circle City Broadcasting 

On December 3, 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire the assets of Chicago-based Tribune Media—which has owned Foxaffiliate WXIN (channel 59) since July 1996 and CBS affiliate WTTV since July 2002—for $6.4 billion in cash and debt. Due to FCC ownership rules, Nexstar could not retain both duopolies.[36][37][38][39] On April 8, 2019, it was announced that Circle City Broadcasting (owned by DuJuan McCoy of Indianapolis, the principal owner of the aforementioned Bayou City Broadcasting) would acquire WISH and WNDY for $42.5 million.[1][40] The sale was completed on September 19, 2019.

2008 Retransmission consent dispute
On September 15, 2008, it was announced that LIN TV, owners of WISH and WNDY, and Time Warner Cable were at an impasse in retransmission consent deals. Bright House Networks, a major cable provider for Indianapolis, negotiates retransmission consent through Time Warner Cable. LIN TV was requesting compensation for carriage, much like cable networks. The deal with Bright House expired October 2[2]. By 12:35am on October 3, LIN TV stations were replaced by substitute programs. 26 days later, LIN TV and Time Warner Cable reached an agreement, and LIN TV service was restored.

Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed: Translator Locally Weather Service

WISH-TV originally launched digital subchannel 8.2 in 2005 as an over-the-air feed of its 24-hour weather service, LWS (or "Local Weather Station"); formatted similarly to the now-defunct SkyTrak Weather Network service previously operated by WTHR and its low-power sister station WALV-CD (channel 46), the service also began to be simulcast on low-power sister station WIIH-CA on January 1, 2009, after that station lost its Univision affiliation; WIIH-CA dropped the service when it was converted into a fill-in translator of WISH-TV in January 2011. Until February 2016, Channel 8 carried a half-hour simulcast of the LWS service on its primary channel on Friday nights/early Saturday mornings.

Sports Programming
In its later years as a CBS affiliate, WISH-TV aired most Indianapolis Colts regular season games as well as any playoff games involving the team through CBS, via the network's broadcast rights to the NFL's American Football Conference. The move of Colts games to WISH-TV when CBS acquired the rights to the AFC in 1998 coincided with the debut of rookie quarterback Peyton Manning, as well as the station's coverage of the Colts' victory in Super Bowl XLI. WISH-TV also aired Indiana Pacers games from their absorption into the NBA from 1976 until 1990, through CBS' NBA broadcast contract. The station provided local coverage of the 1987 Pan-American Games, which were held in Indianapolis.

As a result of WISH swapping its CBS affiliation with CW affiliate WTTV in January 2015, the station's status as the unofficial "home" station of the Colts ended after the 2014 NFL regular season. Consequently, it no longer aired any Colts related programming after the 2014 season (except for Countdown to Kickoff and possibly Huddle Up Indy), nor were WISH and WNDY affiliated with the Colts. Colts games began to air on WTTV on January 4, 2015, when the Colts defeated the Cincinnati Bengalsin the first round of the NFL playoffs. The coach's show and Colts Up Close moved to WTTV and its sister Fox affiliate WXIN(channel 59) for the 2015 NFL season.[41]

After losing CBS, WISH gradually cobbled together agreements to restore sports events onto the station's schedule in order to make up for both the loss of sports coverage provided by CBS as well as the absence of such content from The CW's schedule. First on February 17, 2015, WISH signed a two-year agreement with the Indy Eleven to carry home matches from the North American Soccer League team during the 2015 and 2016 seasons; WISH replaced sister station WNDY as the Eleven's local television broadcaster, as that station carried the team's games during its inaugural 2014 season. All game telecasts and a half-hour post-game show that follows each game are produced under an outsourcing agreement with Indianapolis-based video production firm WebStream Sports. The first Indy Eleven game to air on WISH was the April 11 home season opener with the New York Cosmos.[42][43]

On March 20, 2015, Media General announced that WISH and WNDY would become part of the Chicago Cubs and White Soxbroadcast television networks and carry many of the games the teams broadcast locally in the Chicago market through ABC owned-and-operated station WLS-TV, then-fellow CW affiliate WGN-TV and new CW affiliate WPWR-TV (excluding those broadcast by the cable/satellite-only Comcast SportsNet Chicago). WISH carries a Sunday-only schedule of games due to program preemption restrictions within its CW affiliation contract, with WNDY airing the remainder of the weekday game schedule and a few Sunday games. The deal for carriage of the games in Indianapolis was required after Tribune Broadcasting discontinued airing sports events involving Chicago-area teams over its WGN America cable channel at the end of 2014. Both of Chicago's Major League Baseball teams claim Indianapolis as part of their broadcasting territories, sharing the market with the Cincinnati Reds, which have games that originate on Fox Sports Ohio carried by sister network Fox Sports Indiana.[44]

On June 30, 2015, WISH reached an agreement to carry Atlantic Coast Conference college football and basketball games produced by Raycom Sports (via the syndicator's ACC Network service) effective with the 2015–16 ACC football season, as Indianapolis is in the ACC market covered by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The first ACC game to air on the station through this deal was the September 5 game between the Wofford Terriers and Clemson Tigers.[45][46] On October 6, Media General announced that WISH would carry NHL games involving the Chicago Blackhawks produced by WGN-TV, with an initial slate of 19 Saturday and Sunday games during the 2015–16 season starting with the team's October 10 game against the New York Islanders. This marked the first time outside of Canadian cable distribution quirks involving WGN-TV that WGN's Blackhawks coverage aired outside the Chicago market (WGN America never carried Blackhawks telecasts).[47][48]

News operation
WISH-TV presently broadcasts 76 hours of locally produced newscasts and programs each week (with 12½ hours each weekday, six hours on Saturdays and 7½ hours on Sundays); weekdays include Indy Style from 10 to 11 a.m. and Sundays include Pet Pals TV at 10 a.m. followed by Great Day TV with Patty Spitler at 10:30 a.m. and Sportslocker at 10:30 p.m. and Indy Sports Tonight, which airs every night at 11:15 p.m.

In 1963, WISH-TV became the first television station in the market to provide extensive live coverage of a major local news event, when it covered the deadly explosion at the Fairgrounds Coliseum. WISH-TV's newscasts were the highest-rated in the Indianapolis market from the mid-1980s until WTHR overtook it for the #1 position in 2002. The station's ratings success was largely attributed to the longevity of most of its news staff, some of whom have been at the station for over 20 years. Mike Ahern was the station's main weeknight news anchor as well as the de facto face of its newsroom for more than 30 years (the longest tenure of anyone in Indianapolis television history); he joined channel 8 as a reporter in 1967 and was promoted to lead anchor in 1974, where he remained until his retirement from the anchor chair on December 1, 2004 (Ahern later hosted sister station WNDY's now-cancelled interview program One on One). Debby Knox joined Ahern as co-anchor on the weeknight newscasts in 1980 and remained with the station until she retired on November 26, 2013. Stan Wood served as the station's main weather forecaster from the 1960s until 1991, while Patty Spitler served as anchor of the noon newscast and entertainment reporter from 1982 to 2004. Lee Giles, who left the station in 2004, was one of the longest-tenured news directors in local broadcasting.

For a time during the 1990s, WISH-TV advertised that "more people in Central Indiana get their local news from 24-Hour News 8 than from any other source" at the close of many of its newscasts and in promos for its newscasts. The station's local newscasts are currently at a distant second place behind WTHR in most timeslots, except during the 5 to 6:30 p.m. period on weeknights, when both stations maintain a much tighter viewership margin. However, due to the strength of CBS' prime time lineup in the 2000s and 2010s (as well as the fact its late news served the lead-in for Indianapolis native David Letterman's late night talk show on the network, the Late Show), WISH regained the lead in the 11:00 p.m. slot. The station's "I-Team 8" investigative reports have earned the station numerous journalism awards, including Regional Emmy, Peabody and Edward R. Murrow Awards (the station was awarded the latter in 1998 and 2006). In 2008, the Indiana Associated Press Broadcast Association honored WISH-TV with the "Outstanding News Operation" and "Outstanding Weather Operation" designations.

In 1990, WISH-TV implemented the "24-Hour News Source" concept that was originally developed that year by WEWS-TV in Cleveland; the format, which began spreading to other television stations nationwide around that timeframe, involves the production of 30-second news updates that air at or near the top of every hour during local commercial break inserts – even during primetime network and overnight programming – in addition to the station's long-form newscasts in regularly scheduled timeslots. The station continues to utilize the format to this day (which is reinforced in the branding that the station has used for its news programming off-and-on since 1990, 24-Hour News 8, and all but one of the varying news slogans it had used from 1990 to 2014), even as stations elsewhere had discontinued the hourly update format by the early 2000s. However, as of June 4, 2018, WISH-TV has dropped the 24-Hour moniker from its newscast name (the moniker part of its slogan has been dropped for years). Now, as of June 2018, Grand Rapids, Michigan sister station WOOD-TV (which still brands its newscasts as 24-Hour News 8) and KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (which is the only station left to use the 24-Hour News Source as its slogan) are the only remaining U.S. television stations that still utilize the "24-Hour News Source" concept in some form.

For many years, the news themes that WISH-TV had commissioned have incorporated components (including the eight-note musical signature) from the song "Back Home Again in Indiana"; these include two custom packages by Stephen Arnold Music– "Newsleader" (used from 1991 to 1997) and the "WISH-TV News Music Package," a customized version of Arnold's "Counterpoint" package (used from 1997 to 2004) – and an alteration of the V.3 package from 615 Music's "In-Sink" (used from 2004 to 2012). The 615-composed custom package "A New Wish," introduced on September 5, 2012, was the first theme used by the station in 21 years to omit compositional ties to "Back Home Again in Indiana". As of June 4, 2018, WISH-TV has returned to using the "In-Sink" news music package containing the "Back Home Again in Indiana" melody. On February 28, 2005, shortly after LIN TV announced its purchase of channel 23, WISH-TV took over production of WNDY's 10 p.m. newscast from WTHR, which had produced the program from its inception on March 16, 1996; this partnership expanded to include an hour-long extension of WISH's weekday morning newscast at 7 a.m., which debuted on January 5, 2009.

On September 8, 2008, WISH-TV became the second television station in Indiana to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition; the WNDY newscasts were included in the upgrade. On September 9, 2013, WISH-TV added a half-hour to its weekday morning newscast at 4:30 a.m., becoming the last English-language news-producing station in the market to expand its morning newscast to a pre-5 a.m. timeslot (WTHR had an eight-year head start, expanding its morning newscast into the 4:30 slot in 2005; that station was later joined by WXIN in 2009 and WRTV in 2010. WTTV became the last station in the market, again, to air a pre-5 a.m. timeslot when their news operation debuted in 2015).

When it became an affiliate of The CW on January 1, 2015, WISH-TV became one of three CW affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone (the others being WPIX in New York City and WCCB in Charlotte) with a fully functioning independent news department. It expanded its news programming by 20 hours (increasing its weekly total from 34 to 54 hours a week). Most existing newscasts were retained, though the 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. newscasts it produced for WNDY moved to channel 8 (the former of which is part of an expansion of Daybreak that extended the weekday edition of the program by two hours and the weekend editions by one), while the noon newscast expanded to one hour and a 6:30 p.m. newscast on weeknights was added. The weekend 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts were also shortened to a half-hour, with the Sports Locker being moved to bookending the latter and the 11:00 p.m. news on Sunday nights, and a new sports program (Indy Sports Tonight) taking up 15 minutes of the 11:00 p.m. news.

Newscast titles

 * The Big News (1960s-1974)
 * Channel 8 News (1970s-early 1980s)
 * 8 On the Scene News (early 1980s-1984)
 * News 8 (1984–1990 and 2017-present)
 * 24-Hour News 8 (1990–2017; sometimes called simply News 8)
 * 24 Hour News 8's Daybreak (morning newscast)
 * 24 Hour News 8 at Noon (weekday noon newscast)
 * 24 Hour News 8 at 5 (weeknight 5 p.m. newscast)
 * 24 Hour News 8 at 5:30 (weeknight 5:30 p.m. newscast)
 * 24 Hour News 8 at 6 (nightly 6 p.m. newscast)
 * 24 Hour News 8 at 10 (nightly 10 p.m. newscast)
 * 24 Hour News 8 at 11 (nightly 11 p.m. newscast)
 * 24 Hour News 8's Sports Locker (weekend sports wrap-up program)

News packages

 * Take A Look by Tuesday Productions (1978-1982)
 * KHOU-WISH 1981 News Theme by unknown (1981-1984)
 * NewsCenter II Theme by Michael Randall Music (1984-1989)
 * First News by Non-Stop Music (1989-1991)
 * Newsleader by Stephen Arnold Music (1991-1997)
 * WISH-TV News Music Package by Stephen Arnold Music (1997-2004)
 * In-Sink by 615 Music (2004-2012 and 2018-present)
 * A New Wish by Warner Chappell Production Music (2012-2018)

Station slogans

 * The Best is Right Here on Channel 8/Channel 8 is Easy on the eyes (1973-1974, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * See The Best...Channel 8 (1974-1975; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Catch The Brightest Stars on Channel 8 (1975-1976; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Channel 8, We're The Hot Ones (1976-1977; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * There's Something in Air, on Channel 8 (1977-1978; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Channel 8, Turn Us On, We'll Turn You On (1978-1979; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * We're Looking Good, on Channel 8 (1979-1980; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Looking Good Together on Channel 8 (1980-1981; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Reach for the Stars on Channel 8 (1981-1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Great Moments on Channel 8 (1982-1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * We're Indiana's Own (1984–present; general slogan)
 * You and Channel 8, We've Got the Touch (1984-1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * We Are the Team (1984–1994; used in image campaign by Michael Randall, paired with the "We're Indiana's Own" slogan)
 * We've Got the Touch on Channel 8 (1985-1986; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Share the Spirit on WISH-TV (1986-1987; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * WISH-TV, spirit oh yes (1987-1988; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Hey Indy, Get Ready for WISH-TV (1989–1990; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Indiana's Only 24-Hour Television News Service (1990; news slogan)
 * Indiana's Only 24-Hour News Service (1990–1991; news slogan)
 * Get Ready for WISH-TV (1990–1991; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Look of Indy, is WISH-TV (1991-1992, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Central Indiana's Only 24-Hour News Service (1991–1993; news slogan)
 * This is CBS on WISH-TV (1992-1993; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Where More People Turn To Get Their News Than Any Other Source (1993-1995; news slogan)
 * The Best News You Get All Day (1993-1996; news slogan)
 * The One & Only WISH-TV (1996-1999; slogan)
 * News 8 Gets You Closer (1997–1999; news slogan)
 * Your 24-Hour News Station (1999–2006; news slogan)
 * Your 24-Hour News Source (2006–2017; news slogan)
 * Your Local News Source (2017-present; news slogan)
 * Today, Tomorrow, Always. (2017-present)

On-air personalities
(Year joined WISH-TV indicated through parenthesis)

Anchors

 * Scott Sander - weekday mornings "News 8 Daybreak" (4-10am) (2005)
 * Drew Blair - weekdays mornings “News 8 Daybreak“ (4-10am) (2013)
 * Kylie Conway - weekdays mornings “News 8 Daybreak“ (4-10am) (2013)
 * Phil Sanchez - weeknights at 5, 6, 10, and 11pm (2007-2011; 2015)
 * McKenzie Roth - Entertainment Insider/All Indiana Anchor (2020)
 * Alexis Rogers - All Indiana Anchor/Evening Anchor (2020)
 * Randall Newsome - All Indiana Anchor/ reporter (2018)
 * Hannah Mordoh - Weekend Daybreak Anchor/Reporter (2020)

Storm Watch 8 Weather Team

 * Ashley Brown - (Chief Meteorologist) weeknights at 5, 6, 10, and 11pm (2018)
 * Randy Ollis - weekdays on “News 8 Daybreak” (4-10am) and 11am (1984)
 * Stephanie Mead - weekdays on “News 8 Daybreak” (4-10am) (2017)
 * Marcus Bailey - weekends on “News 8 Daybreak” (5:30-10am) (2015)
 * Tara Hastings - weekends at 6, 10, and 11pm (2018)

Sports Team

 * Anthony Calhoun - Sports Director; weeknights at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m., also host of "Sports Locker", "Countdown to Kickoff" and "The Bill Polian Show" (1998)
 * Charlie Clifford - sports reporter (2017)
 * Olivia Ray - sports reporter (2019)

Reporters
Garrett Bergquist - reporter (2021)
 * Richard Assex - multimedia reporter (2018)
 * Camila Fernández - reporter (2021)
 * Dr. Mary Gillis, D. Ed. - senior medical reporter (2020)
 * Aleah Hordges - reporter (2019)
 * Demie Johnson - reporter (2019)
 * Jasmine Minor - Investigative Reporter (2021)
 * Adam Pinsker - MMJ (2021)
 * Katiera Winfrey - multimedia reporter (2019)

Chopper 8

 * Keith McCutchen - Chief Pilot

Indy Style

 * Amber Hawkins (2015)
 * George Mallet
 * Randy Ollis
 * Randall Newsome

Notable WISH-TV former employees

 * Mike Ahern - anchor (1967-2004, now retired)
 * Paul Anthony - voiceover for WISH-TV (1989-2004)
 * Sean Ash - weekend evening meteorologist (now at WXYZ-TV in Detroit)
 * Bill Aylward (news anchor 1964-1967 later anchor WJZ-TV Baltimore, WABC-TV NY, WRC-TV Washington NBC News Now retired)
 * David Barras - reporter/morning & evening news anchor (1980-2017; retired)
 * Steve Bray - meteorologist (1995-2015)
 * Ken Brewer - meteorologist (2001-2018)
 * Angela Buchman - meteorologist (2001-2013) (now at WTHR)
 * Sandra Chapman reporter - (1993-2003, went to competitor WTHR)
 * Annessa Chumbley - anchor on weekdays at 4pm/Nutrition Contributor & Substitue Cohost, "Indystyle" (2010-2021)
 * Jeane Coakley - Sports Anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Tom Cochrun - former news director/PM Magazine co-host (now with Nineteenth Star Productions)
 * Chet Coppock (sports director, 1975–1981, now at WMVP ESPN Radio 1000 AM in Chicago)
 * Mike Corbin - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Tina Cosby - anchor/reporter/director (1990-2001 and 2002-2017)
 * Bill Crafton (former co-anchor)
 * Nina Crisucolo - former multimedia journalist (2014-2021; now a Birth Doula & Videographer at Blue Egg Birth Stories)
 * Jeannie Crofts- weekday morning reporter/fill-in anchor (2005-2008)
 * Liza Danver - general assignment reporter
 * Rick Dawson - reporter/weekend news anchor (1987-2011) (later at WFYI-TV, committed suicide in 2013)
 * Deanna Dewberry - anchor (2005-2012)
 * Joy Dumanden - anchor/reporter (now at WFXT)
 * Pam Elliott (investigative reporter, now at sister LIN station WDTN in Dayton, Ohio)
 * Kay Field - original "Weather Girl" (1954-1967) (deceased; passed away in 2020)
 * Betty Fields (host of public affairs shows "Roads to Learning" and "Summer Showtime", died 2-27-10)
 * Tim Fritz (reporter, later went to WTHR)
 * Doug Garrison, investigative reporter (2003–2004)
 * Lee Giles - former longtime news director (1963-2003; was named news director in '68; left to become a professor at IU)
 * Marlee Ginter (reporter, now at KOMO in Seattle)
 * Ruthanne Gordon - anchor/reporter (1989-2008)
 * Ray Gray( weekend anchor/reporter mid-late 1960s, retired in Indianapolis )
 * Ed Harding (former sports director, now at WCVB in Boston)
 * Eric Halvorson - anchor/reporter (1983-2015)
 * Wil Hampton - sports director (1995-2004)
 * Kohr Harlon - anchor/reporter (1999-2003)
 * Kimberly Harms (sports reporter, weekend sports anchor)
 * Rick Hightower (1993–2006, now at competitor WRTV)
 * Kim Hood (reporter, PM Magazine co-host, now retired)
 * Leah Hope - weekend anchor (now at WLS-TV)
 * Renee Jameson (reporter, now at competitor WRTV)
 * David James - weekend meteorologist (2021-2022; retired, was previously a weatherman at competitor WRTV for 20 years)
 * Fred Kalil - former sports director (1989-1992; later at WXIA, now at WGCL-TV)
 * Shana Kelley - weekend evening news anchor (1997-2006)
 * Debby Knox - anchor (1980-2013; later retired, now at WTTV)
 * Carol Krause (anchor, mid to late 70s)
 * Kathy Layne (weekend weathercaster, late mid-late 70s)
 * Linda Lupear - reporter (1966-1973; left to work at WRTV, where she reported for the next 24 years; now retired)
 * Josh Littman (reporter, deceased)
 * Nicole Manske (sports anchor/reporter, current host of NASCAR Now on ESPN)
 * Brooke Martin - former weeknight anchor (2012-2021; left to pursue a career outside of TV news)
 * Bob McConnell - former longtime general manager (1954-1980; later retired; died in 2012)
 * Mary McDermott - general assignment reporter (1997-2010)
 * Jennifer McGilvray, (reporter 2006-2008)
 * Scott McKain [2] (entertainment reporter; anchor of weekend morning news; now bestselling author and professional speaker)
 * Leticia Miele (reporter)
 * Neal Moore - news anchor/reporter (1985-1997)
 * Mike Morris (PM Magazine co-host)
 * Suzy Nelson - secondary voiceover for WISH-TV
 * Cliff Nicholson - chief meteorologist (1991-1996, later at competitor WTHR, deceased)
 * Leslie Olsen, education reporter
 * Ken Owen - evening anchor (1989-1998, later went to WRTV, now Executive Director of Media Relations at DePauw University)
 * Mark Patrick - sports director (1990-1999, now an afternoon radio host on WNDE)
 * Jane Pauley (former co-anchor - 1972-1975, former anchor/correspondent for NBC News)
 * Joe Pickett (host of the afternoon "Money Movie", now retired)
 * Anthony Ponce (reporter, now at WMAQ in Chicago)
 * Dick Rea - sports anchor (1981-1998, later a competitor at WTHR)
 * Ray Rice - weekend noon anchor/feature reporter “Indiana’s Own” (1979-2002)
 * Connie Rosenthal (reporter)
 * John Samples (Nightbeat & Daybreak Anchor/Producer 1982-1985, now with Christian HolyLand Foundation)
 * Jim Shella - political reporter (1982-2016) (retired)
 * Rolland Smith - anchor (1967-1969)
 * Twila Snyder (feature Weekend Morning News Reporter, now director and narrator for several WFYI-TV programs)
 * Ray Sparenburg (Horror movie host known as "Selwin", deceased)
 * Patty Spitler - noon anchor/entertainment/film critic reporter (1982-2004) (retired)
 * John Stehr (anchor/reporter/host of "Nightbeat" 1982, former CBS News corespondent, later a primary anchor at competitor WTHR, now retired)
 * AJ Sterling (reporter, now at WFLD Chicago)
 * Sage Steele (sports reporter, now at ESPN's First Take)
 * Scott Swan (anchor, now at competitor WTHR)
 * Derren Taylor (reporter, weekend weathercaster, PM Magazine co-host)
 * Anne Marie Tiernon - anchor (1991-2000; now at competitor WTHR)
 * Maureen Tighe (reporter, weekend weathercaster)
 * Mark Voigtmann (reporter 1978-1989, now a partner at the law firm of Baker & Daniels)
 * Vince Welch (sports reporter, now at ESPN/ABC)
 * Anna Werner (reporter, now at KPIX-TV in San Francisco)
 * Dick Wolfise - longtime feature reporter (retired)
 * Stan Wood - longtime chief meteorologist (1957-1991, now retired)
 * Ben Woods - meteorologist (1991-1995)
 * Chris Wright - meteorologist (1996-2000; later at WTHR)
 * Rob Youngblood, 5:30 and 10 (WNDY) anchor 2007-2009

Former Programming on WISH-TV


 * Judge Judy
 * Judge Joe Brown
 * Judge Mathis
 * The People’s Court
 * The Gayle King Show
 * Jeopardy
 * Wheel of Fortune
 * Designing Women
 * Inside Edition