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WRTV
Indianapolis, Indiana
Branding	RTV6 (general) 6 News (newscasts)
Slogan	On Your Side
Channels	6 (VHF) analog, 25 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC (secondary 1949-54, sole affiliate since 1979)
Owner	McGraw-Hill
Founded	May 30, 1949
Call letters meaning	We aRe TV
Former callsigns	WFBM-TV (1949-72)
Former affiliations	CBS (1949-56) NBC (1956-79) DuMont (secondary, 1949-56)[1]
Website	TheIndyChannel.com

WRTV , "RTV6", is the ABC television affiliate in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its transmitter is located in Indianapolis.

The station's audio signal can also be heard on 87.7 FM in much of central Indiana. The audio component of television channel 6 is on the same wavelength as 87.7 FM.

Contents 1 First In Indiana 2 Affiliations 3 WRTV today 4 Newscasts 4.1 Weekdays 4.2 Weekends 5 ABC in the Terre Haute Market 6 Notable WRTV Alumni 7 Trivia 8 External links

The station, signed on the air on May 30, 1949 under the call sign WFBM-TV with a documentary entitled Crucible of Speed covering the history of the Indianapolis 500, followed by the inaugural live television broadcast of the event. It is Indiana's oldest television station. It was owned by Consolidated Television and Radio Broadcasters along with WFBM-AM 1260 (now WNDE). Consolidated merged with Time-Life in 1957. The station was purchased in 1972 by the McGraw-Hill Companies.

It was originally a CBS affiliate with secondary ABC and DuMont affiliations. When WTTV signed on a few months later, WFBM shared ABC programming until 1954, when WISH-TV signed on and took over the ABC affiliation. In 1956, WFBM took the NBC affiliation from WTTV.

As part of an FCC-mandated sale, WFBM-TV was sold to McGraw-Hill in 1972 along with sister station KLZ-TV (now KMGH-TV) in Denver. At that time, the station assumed its current calls, WRTV. In 1979, WRTV traded affiliations with WTHR and became an ABC affiliate. NBC was the lowest rated network in the late 1970s while ABC rose to the ranks of the highest rated network that same time and was seeking out stronger local stations in many markets, thus motivating this affiliation switch in Indianapolis. WRTV is one of the few stations in the country to have been a primary affiliate of all three original networks.

WRTV has always been a pioneer in Indiana broadcasting. Some of WRTV's innovations have included the first station in the state to broadcast in color, the first use of videotape, the first news mini-cams, the first satellite truck for news (NewStar 6), the first cable news on NewsChannel 64 (now 6 News 24/7), the first use of non-linear digital editing, the first use of digital news cameras, the first entry into web publishing (TheIndyChannel.com), and the first into cellphone delivery of news and VODcasting.

WRTV continues to air the entire ABC network schedule, although the station has no weekend morning local newscasts.

-6News Good Morning Indiana (5:00-7:00 AM)

• Dan Spehler, Grace Trahan, Paul Poteet (Weather), Tom Davis (traffic)

-6News at Noon (12:00-12:30 PM)

• Grace Trahan, Paul Poteet (Weather)
• 6News First at 5 (5:00-6:00 PM)
• Martha Weaver, Ray Cortopassi (field anchor), Kevin Gregory (weather), Rafael Sanchez (Call 6), Tom Davis (traffic)

-6News at 6 (6:00-6:30 PM)

• Martha Weaver, Ray Cortopassi (field anchor), Kevin Gregory (weather), Tom Davis (traffic) and Dave Furst (sports)

-6News Nightcast (11:00-11:35 PM)

• Martha Weaver, Ray Cortopassi (field anchor), Kevin Gregory (weather), and Dave Furst(sports)

WRTV launched a morning newscast in 1999, but was cancelled in 2001 due to poor ratings.

-6News at 6 (6:00-6:30PM)

• Ericka Flye, Crystal Wicker (weather) and Kip Lewis (sports)

-6News Nightcast (11:00-11:30 PM)

• Ericka Flye, Crystal Wicker (weather), Kip Lewis (sports)

When WBAK in Terre Haute (now WFXW) left ABC for Fox, WRTV became the default ABC station for the Indiana side of the market. It is viewable in Terre Haute with a rooftop antenna and is carried by all cable systems on the Indiana side of the Terre Haute market. For the Illinois counties in the Terre Haute television market, many systems offer WICD from Champaign, Illinois or WEHT from Evansville, Indiana.

• Howard Caldwell (anchor for many years, now retired)
• Barbara Lewis (anchor from the late 1980s to mid 1990's, now health reporter for Inside Indiana Business)
• Clyde Lee (anchor 1976-2001, now married to former co-anchor Diane Willis)
• Diane Willis (anchor 1987-2001, now married to former co-anchor Clyde Lee)
• Barbara Boyd
• Durward Kirby (sidekick of Garry Moore and Alan Funt)
• Greg Todd (now at XETV in San Diego, CA)
• Gerry Dick (reporter, now host of Inside Indiana Business)
• Jim Gerard (midday talk show host, now retired)
• Reid Duffy (feature reporter, critic, and pundit; now correspondent for "Across Indiana" on WFYI)

• One of WRTV's current news staff is Emily Gimmel. Gimmel is the youngest of news reporters at WRTV at the age of 22.
• Kevin Gregory (the chief meteorologist) is the son of former WTHR chief meteorologist Bob Gregory.
• Bob McLain, who still appears occasionally, was the station's primary meteorologist from 1972 to 2001; he covered the Super Outbreak of 1974 and the Great Blizzard of 1978.
• In 1993, local video of hockey game and the station logo is used in the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

• TheIndyChannel.com
• WRTV History at TheIndyChannel.com
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WRTV

ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Indiana
WRTV 6 (Indianapolis) - WPTA 21 (Fort Wayne) - WEHT 25 (Evansville) - WBND-LP 57 (South Bend)
See also: CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, Religious and Other stations in the state of Indiana