WISH-TV

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WISH-TV
Indianapolis, Indiana
Branding	WISH-TV8 (general) 24-Hour News8 (newscasts)
Slogan	We're Indiana's Own Your 24-Hour News Station
Channels	8 (VHF) analog, 9 (VHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS (secondary until 1956)
Owner	LIN TV
Founded	July 1, 1954
Call letters meaning	wish (as in making a wish)
Former affiliations	ABC (1954-56) NBC (secondary, 1954-56) DuMont (secondary, 1954-56)
Website	www.wishtv.com

WISH-TV channel 8 is the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its transmitter is also located in Indianapolis. It is the flagship of the LIN TV group, which also owns area stations WIIH-CA (a Univision affiliate) and WNDY-TV (a My Network TV affiliate). WISH-TV, WNDY-TV and WIIH-TV are co-located at a building on Meridian Street, which also serves as an operations hub for other LIN television stations in the Midwest. WISH also offers a 24-hour weather service, LWS to central Indiana cable systems.

Contents 1 History 2 Newscasts 2.1 Weekdays 2.2 Saturdays 2.3 Sundays 3 Notable WISH-TV Alumni 4 External links

[edit] History

The station began broadcast operations at 6pm on July 1, 1954, and was owned by C. Bruce McConnell along with WISH-AM 1310 (now WTLC). It was a primary ABC affiliate with a secondary DuMont affiliation. It also carried several CBS and NBC shows turned down by WFBM-TV (now WRTV) and WTTV, respectively. In 1956, McConnell sold the station to the Indiana Broadcasting Company, who also owned WANE-TV in Fort Wayne. The new owners persuaded CBS to move its affiliation from WFBM-TV. Indiana Broadcasting became the Corinthian Broadcasting Corporation in 1957, with WISH-TV as the flagship station.

Corinthian merged with Dun & Bradstreet in 1980. Dun sold its entire broadcasting unit to Belo in 1984. However, the merger left Belo two stations over the FCC's ownership limits of the time. Belo sold WISH and WANE to LIN Broadcasting (the predecessor of LIN TV) shortly thereafter.

From the mid-1980s until 2002, WISH was the leading news station in the Indianapolis market until WTHR took over the position. This was due largely because most of its news team has been at the station for over 20 years. At one time, WISH boasted 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 newscasts and in promos.

Mike Ahern was the station's main evening news anchor, as well as the de facto face of WISH's newsroom for more than thirty years. He joined the station as a reporter in 1967, and retired from the anchor chair on December 1, 2004. His longtime co-anchor, Debby Knox, joined him in 1980 and is still on the air today. Stan Wood served as the station's main weatherman for much of the 1960s through the early 1990s, while Patty Spitler was an afternoon news anchor and entertainment reporter from 1982 to 2004. News director Lee Giles, who left the station in 2004, was one of the longest-tenured news directors in local broadcasting.

Currently, WISH is a distant runner-up behind WTHR in most timeslots, except during the early news when it runs neck and neck with WRTV. However, due to the recent strength of CBS' primetime lineup, WISH has recently regained the lead at 11 pm.

WISH-TV's newsroom began to produce WNDY's 10pm newscast in 2005, when LIN purchased WNDY from Viacom.

Since 1991, all of WISH's news music themes have had components of the song Back Home Again in Indiana. This tradition continues today.

[edit] Newscasts

[edit] Weekdays

• Daybreak Early Edition - 5 AM-5:30 AM
  • Scott Sander, Joy Dumandan, Julie Patterson (traffic), Randy Ollis (weather), Jeannie Crofts (Live Reporter)
• Daybreak First Edition - 5:30 AM-6 AM
  • Scott Sander, Joy Dumandan, Julie Patterson (traffic), Randy Ollis (weather), Jeannie Crofts (Live Reporter)
• Daybreak - 6 AM-7 AM
  • Scott Sander, Joy Dumandan, Julie Patterson (traffic), Randy Ollis (weather), Jeannie Crofts (Live Reporter)
• Daybreak 'Til Eight - 7 AM-8 AM
  • Scott Sander, Joy Dumandan, Julie Patterson (traffic), Randy Ollis (weather), Jeannie Crofts (Live Reporter)
• WISH-TV 8 Noon News - Noon-12:30 PM
  • David Barras, Deanna Dewberry, Randy Ollis (weather)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Five - 5 PM-6 PM
  • Debby Knox, Karen Hensel, David Barras, Deanna Dewberry, Steve Bray (weather)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Six - 6 PM-6:30 PM
  • Debby Knox, Eric Halvorson, Angela Buchman (weather), Anthony Calhoun (sports)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Ten on MyNDY - 10 PM-10:35 PM
  • Karen Hensel, Angela Buchman (weather), Anthony Calhoun (sports)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Eleven - 11 PM-11:35 PM
  • Debby Knox, Eric Halvorson, Angela Buchman (weather), Anthony Calhoun (sports)

[edit] Saturdays

• Daybreak Saturday Early Edition - 6 AM-7 AM
  • Daniel Miller, Ruthanne Gordon, Ken Brewer (weather)
• Daybreak Saturday Morning - 7 AM-9 AM
  • Daniel Miller, Ruthanne Gordon, Ken Brewer (weather)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Six - 6 PM-7PM
  • Mike Corbin, Jeannie Crofts, Sean Ash (weather), Jeané Coakley (sports)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Ten on MyNDY - 10 PM-10:35 PM
  • Mike Corbin, Jeannie Crofts, Sean Ash (weather), Jeané Coakley (sports)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Eleven - 11 PM-11:22 PM
  • Mike Corbin, Jeannie Crofts, Sean Ash (weather), Jeané Coakley (sports)
• SportsLocker - 11:22 PM-Midnight
  • hosted by Anthony Calhoun

WISH-TV is one of several CBS affiliates that do not carry the Saturday Early Show, aired instead over WNDY.

[edit] Sundays

• Daybreak Sunday Early Edition - 6 AM-7 AM
  • Daniel Miller, Ruthanne Gordon, Ken Brewer (weather)
• Daybreak Sunday Morning - 7 AM-9 AM
  • Daniel Miller, Ruthanne Gordon, Ken Brewer (weather)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Six - 6PM-7 PM
  • Mike Corbin, Gene Rodriguez, Sean Ash (weather), Jeané Coakley (sports)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Ten on MyNDY - 10 PM-10:35 PM
  • Mike Corbin, Gene Rodriguez, Sean Ash (weather), Jeané Coakley (sports)
• 24 Hour News 8 at Eleven - 11 PM-11:22 PM
  • Mike Corbin, Gene Rodriguez, Sean Ash (weather), Jeané Coakley (sports)
• SportsLocker - 11:22 PM-Midnight
  • hosted by Anthony Calhoun

WISH-TV does not air the CBS Evening News weekend broadcasts.

[edit] Notable WISH-TV Alumni

• Mark Patrick, (Sports Director until late 1990's and former host of Hoosier Millionaire on WTTV)
• Mike Ahern (anchor 1967-2004, now retired)
• Stan Wood (chief meteorlogist until 1987, now retired)
• AJ Sterling (reporter, now at WFLD Chicago)
• John Stehr (anchor, now primary anchor at WTHR, Indianapolis)
• Sandra Chapman (reporter, now at competitior WTHR)
• Anne Marie Tiernon (anchor, now at competitor WTHR)
• Scott Swan (anchor, now at competitor WTHR)
• Chris Wright (meteorologist, now chief meteorologist at competitor WTHR)
• Dick Rea (sports anchor 1981-1998, now at competitor WTHR)
• Rick Hightower (1993-2006, now at rival WRTV)
• Joe Pickett (host of the afternoon "Money Movie", now retired)
• Bill Crafton (former co-anchor, now News Director at WSBT in South Bend)

[edit] External links

• WISH-TV website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WISH
• What Columbus Watched... - History of television in Indianapolis and Central Indiana from the perspective of a Columbus, Indiana resident

CBS Network Affiliates in the state of Indiana
WISH 8 (Indianapolis) - WTHI 10 (Terre Haute) - WANE 15 (Fort Wayne) - WLFI 18 (Lafayette) - WSBT 22 (South Bend) - WEVV 44 (Evansville)
See also: ABC, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, Religious and Other stations in the state of Indiana