WTHR Indianapolis

Tegna-owned NBC affiliate WTHR Indianapolis (DMA 25) has hired Felicia Lawrence as a weekday evening anchor, alongside local news veterans Scott Swan and Anne Marie Tiernon. She has nearly a […]

John Stehr, longtime anchor at Dispatch’s NBC affiliate WTHR Indianapolis (DMA 28) has announced his retirement. Stehr’s final day as weekday anchor of 13 Eyewitness News will be Dec. 21. […]

The Dispatch Broadcast Group stations expand coverage leading up to the midterm elections by carrying debates, weekly political shows plus online offerings.

John Stehr, longtime anchor at Dispatch Broadcast Group’s NBC affiliate in Indianapolis (DMA 28), announced that he will retire on June 20. “John has made a tremendous impact on our […]

The last of Indianapolis broadcast affiliates disappeared this week from Comcast’s station lineup in Lafayette, Ind., completing a purge of stations after Star City Broadcasting introduced its three network affiliates to the Lafayette market over the past two years.

Dispatch Broadcast Group’s WTHR Indianapolis (NBC) and WBNS Columbus, Ohio (CBS) are now off of DirecTV and AT&T U-verse. In a statement, Dispatch said that it “has completed numerous retransmission agreements in the past 12 months at fair market rates without any service interruption. Unfortunately, after offering an extension last Friday to hopefully reach a fair market deal, the deadline to reach a fair agreement with DirecTV and AT&T U-verse has passed, resulting in the interruption of service …. We will continue to work towards a fair agreement with DirecTV and AT&T U-verse and hope to resolve this situation as soon as possible.”

WTHR Indianapolis and WBNS Columbus, Ohio, are now carried on the local live-streaming subscription TV service.

Four 2017 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards go to local television news investigations: KXAN in Austin, Texas, for documenting racial profiling, WVIT in West Hartford, Conn., for uncovering widespread faulty home construction, Indianapolis’ WTHRfor exposing a corrupt charity, and Atlanta’s WXIA for spotlighting problems with the 911 emergency system.

WTHR Indianapolis and WBNS Columbus, Ohio, are the station group’s latest to add the local ratings service.

In television, size matters — and station operators nationwide are in a mad rush to get bigger faster. Every Indianapolis station except one — local leader WTHR. the NBC affiliate — has been touched by merger mania in the last five years. Now, some industry experts have begun to wonder if WTHR’s Tiny Tim-size parent, Columbus, Ohio-based Dispatch Broadcasting Group, can survive in this land of ever-growing giants.

The last year has been a tumultuous one for TV broadcasters in the 27th market. One local media buyer called the current picture “utter chaos.” When CBS moved its affiliation from WISH to WTTV, the latter added another 24.5 hours of local TV news to the market mix. And to fill the CBS hole, WISH increased its local news offering 42%, to 64.5 hours per week. WRTV also added newscasts, upping its weekly amount to 40 hours. WXIN, already a local TV news heavyweight, broadcasts a whopping 66 hours per week while local ratings king WTHR airs 38.5.

Dispatch-owned NBC affiliate WTHR has nearly lapped the social local media competition in Indianapolis (DMA 27) with over 10.4 million social actions in the last six months according to Shareablee data. Ramping up video posts has helped widen the lead, but Tribune-owned WXIN still edges the station out on fans/followers with nearly 564,000 in this week’s Social Scorecard.

Owner Dispatch Broadcast Group and the satellite carrier reach a multi-year deal.

Dispatch Broadcast Group’s NBC affil WTHR Indianapolis and CBS affil WBNS Columbus, Ohio, have posted alerts at their websites saying their current carriage deal with Dish expires on Monday, June 15, at 2 p.m. ET, and they “continue to work toward an agreement with Dish and hope to resolve this situation as soon as possible.”

The award-winning reporter for Dispatch Broadcast Group’s Indianapolis NBC affiliate believes local TV can have a far greater impact on communities than network news. But, he emphasizes, stations have to make a commitment to investigative journalism “in good times and bad,” versus the more widespread practice of building I-Teams and the like only to dismantle them when money gets tight.

Dispatch Broadcast Group’s NBC affiliate WTHR Incianapolis (DMA 26) has hired outspoken Indianapolis Star writer Bob Kravitz. WTHR President-GM Larry Delia said: “Bob’s reputation and unique insight into Indiana sports […]

Dispatch Broadcast Group’s NBC affiliate WTHR Indianapolis (DMA 26), announced today that Colts Punter Pat McAfee will be joining the station for The Pat McAfee Show beginning Sept. 27 at […]

One of the benefits of my job is that as I travel around the country working with TV stations, I see story ideas that spread like kudzu from one market to the next. One station in one city finds some success with the story, others hear about it, copy the idea and localize it.  I find most of these cut and paste ideas pop up around “sweeps” months and most are awful.  Here’s one that isn’t. It is worth looking at where you are and it may keep some kid from getting hurt.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences unveiled nominations for the 35th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards.Regional nominees are WTHR, WFAA, WISN, KXTX, WNBC, KING, KNXV and KXAS. PBS led networks with 43 nominations followed by CBS with 42. The awards will be presented Sept. 30 during a ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Dispatch Broadcast Group’s NBC affiliate WTHR Indianapolis (DMA 26), today named Naomi Pescovitz weekend morning anchor for 13 Eyewitness News Sunrise effective July 9. Pescovitz will anchor both the Saturday […]

Dispatch Broadcast Group-owned NBC affiliate WTHR Indianapolis (DMA 26) announced today that beginning Monday Feb. 24, its 13 Eyewitness News Sunrise will begin weekdays at 4 a.m., one-half hour earlier […]