states branding wthi 10 general news 10 newscasts myfox10 dt2 slogan leading the way channels digital 10 vhf virtual 10 psip subchannels 10.1 cbs 10.2 fox mynetworktv 10.3 ion television affiliations cbs secondary through 1973 fox mynetworktv dt2 ion television dt2 owner media general sale to heartland media pending indiana broadcasting llc first air date july 22 1954 1954 07 22 call letters meaning theatre hulman inc. or terre haute indiana former channel number s analog 10 vhf 1954 2009 former affiliations secondary nbc 1954 1965 abc 1954 1973 dumont 1954 1955 upn 1995 2006 transmitter power 27 kw height 293 m facility id 70655 transmitter coordinates 39 14 36 n 87 23 7 w 39.24333 n 87.38528 w 39.24333 ; 87.38528 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wthitv.com wthi tv virtual and vhf digital channel 10 is a cbs affiliated television station located in terre haute indiana united states . the station is owned by media general . wthi maintains studio facilities located on 8th and ohio streets in downtown terre haute and its transmitter is located along u.s. 41 u.s. 150 in unincorporated sullivan county south of farmersburg ; master control and some internal operations are housed at the studio facilities of sister station wish tv on north meridian street in northwestern indianapolis . on cable wthi tv is available on time warner cable channel 12 in standard definition and in high definition on digital channel 712 . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 4.1 notable former on air staff 5 references 6 external links history edit wthi tv first signed on the air on july 22 1954 . it was the first television station in the terre haute market . it was founded by local businessman and indianapolis motor speedway owner tony hulman owner of radio station wthi 1480 am now wpfr and 99.9 fm . channel 10 has been a cbs affiliate since its sign on ; however it initially carried programming from nbc abc and the dumont television network as well through secondary affiliations . wthi tv originally operated from a studio facility at 918 ohio street at the intersection of south 9th and ohio streets in downtown terre haute which also became occupied by wthi fm upon the television station s sign on the building was originally constructed in 1906 to house a garment factory . 1 wthi lost the dumont affiliation when the network ceased operations in august 1956 ; nbc programming moved to the city s second television station wtwo channel 2 when it signed on the air in september 1965 . the station exclusively aligned with cbs when the abc affiliation moved to wiil tv channel 38 now wawv tv when it signed on in april 1973 . local programs airing on the station during its earlier history featured jerry van dyke of coach and my mother the car fame and captain jack hanes whose most famous guest was eventual indiana pacers legend larry bird . wthi logo used from 2006 to 2012 . wthi became a charter affiliate of the united paramount network upn when the network launched on january 16 1995 ; it carried the network s programming during the overnight hours after cbs s late night programming . the hulman family continued to own wthi tv until 1998 when they sold the station to emmis communications . 2 emmis communications announced the sale of its 16 television stations on may 15 2005 in order to concentrate on its radio properties . emmis sold wthi tv to the lin tv corporation in august 2005 placing it under common ownership with lin s three other cbs affiliates in indiana wane tv in fort wayne wlfi tv in lafayette and at the time wish tv in indianapolis the affiliation has since moved to wttv in january 2015 . in october 2012 the station relocated its operations to a new facility located one block west of its original studios at 800 ohio street in downtown terre haute ; 3 4 the original studio building which was also shared with former sister stations wwvr 105.5 fm which along with wthi fm remains owned by emmis communications was demolished in december 2012 to accommodate parking for a new office building being constructed nearby . 3 the move completely separated wthi tv from wthi fm which had moved into the new office building that august . 1 3 on march 21 2014 media general announced that it would merge with lin media in a 1.6 billion deal . 5 6 the merger was completed on december 19 . 7 shortly thereafter after an aborted merger plan with meredith corporation media general announced on january 27 2016 that it was being acquired by nexstar broadcasting group with the new company named nexstar media group . as nexstar already owns wtwo and operates wawv tv and since the terre haute market is too small to allow duopolies in any case in order to comply with fcc ownership rules as well as planned changes to rules regarding same market television stations which would prohibit future joint sales agreements the company will be required to sell either wtwo or wthi to another company . 8 9 on march 4 2016 nexstar declared its intention to keep wtwo wawv and sell wthi to another company ; 10 on june 13 2016 it announced that wthi and four other stations would be acquired by heartland media through its usa television midamerica holdings joint venture with msouth equity partners for 115 million . 11 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 12 10.1 1080i 16 9 wthi tv main wthi tv programming cbs 10.2 720p fox mynetworktv myfox10 10.3 480i 4 3 ion television wthi digital subchannel 10.2 originally ran a live 24 hour feed of the station s storm team 10 fury radar system with audio provided by local noaa weather radio station wxk72 . on october 25 2010 the station replaced the radar feed noaa audio simulcast with the music video network thecooltv as part of an agreement with lin to carry the network across many of its stations . 13 however within days of the switch the station received heavy viewer feedback pillorying the move suggesting that the radar channel was appreciated ; as a result on november 5 2010 wthi relaunched the fury radar feed on a new third digital subchannel . 14 15 on august 25 2011 it was announced that wthi had signed affiliation agreements with fox and mynetworktv which both began broadcasting on wthi s second digital subchannel on september 1 2011 ; wfxw now wawv tv which had been the market s original fox affiliate since it switched to the network from abc in january 1995 rejoined abc on that date in concurrence with a dispute between management partner nexstar broadcasting group and fox as well as an affiliation renewal deal with abc for the company s other affiliates of that network . wthi tv became the third lin media station to carry major network affiliations on both the main channel and a digital subchannel lin owned nbc affiliate wood tv in grand rapids michigan and fox affiliate wnac tv in providence rhode island the latter of which is owned by super towers inc. and operated by lin both carry mynetworktv on a second digital subchannel . 16 branded as myfox 10 wthi dt2 carries fox primetime programming from 8 00 to 10 00 p.m. eastern time 7 00 to 9 00 p.m. central on the illinois side of the market while mynetworktv programming airs on a three hour tape delay from 11 00 p.m. to 1 00 a.m. eastern 10 00 p.m. to 12 00 a.m. central ; 17 wthi dt2 became the terre haute market s first television outlet for the mynetworktv programming service as it had previously been one of the few markets without a mynetworktv affiliate since the service s september 2006 launch . as a result of the dual affiliations wthi dropped thecooltv one year before lin terminated its agreements with the network for its other stations . on the same day that fox and mynetworktv programming began airing on wthi dt2 the subchannel debuted a half hour primetime newscast at 10 00 p.m. eastern 9 00 p.m. central 18 19 20 to preserve bandwidth for the myfox10 subchannel on 10.2 the live feed of storm team 10 fury radar was removed for the second time on august 31 2011 . on december 1 2015 ion television was added on 10.3 . analog to digital conversion edit wthi tv discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 10 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 24 to vhf channel 10 for post transition operations . 21 programming edit wthi tv clears the entire cbs network schedule ; however it airs the cbs dream team lineup in two blocks with the first two hours airing on saturday mornings leading into the saturday edition of cbs this morning which itself airs two hours later than most cbs stations that carry the broadcast and the final hour airing on sunday mornings . syndicated programs broadcast by wthi include the ellen degeneres show live with kelly and michael entertainment tonight the closer and inside edition . news operation edit wthi tv presently broadcasts 19 hours of locally produced newscasts each week with 3 hours on weekdays and one hour each on saturdays and sundays ; unlike most cbs affiliates in the eastern time zone the station s early evening newscast at 5 00 p.m. runs only for a half hour with the station opting to fill the 5 30 p.m. half hour with syndicated programs currently the syndicated newsmagazine inside edition . in addition to its main studios the station operates a southern bureau located at the studios of pbs member station wvut channel 22 on north 2nd street and rosedale avenue in vincennes . local news programming has been a presence on wthi since the station s inception . the newscasts were branded during the late 1970s and early 1980s as newscenter 10 . the title was changed to action 10 news in 1985 and modified to action 10 news wthi in 2001 . on september 18 2006 the branding was changed to news 10 concurrent with the introduction of a new logo and graphics package . wthi tv did not air an early evening newscast 5 00 p.m. until september 12 2011 when wthi debuted a half hour newscast in the timeslot replacing the daytime talk show dr. phil which itself moved to nbc affiliate wtwo after that station moved its hour long 5 00 p.m. newscast to sister station wawv tv after the former fox affiliate switched to abc on september 1 . 22 coinciding with the move to its new facility on ohio street on october 20 2012 beginning with that night s 11 00 p.m. newscast wthi became the first commercial television station in the terre haute market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition . 23 notable former on air staff edit david goodnow anchor reporter later at cnn headline news 24 mike king sports anchor now voice of the indianapolis motor speedway radio network 24 cheryl lemke meteorologist later at the weather channel now at wics tv in springfield il 24 liam mchugh sports anchor reporter later at kokh tv in oklahoma city now with nbc sports 24 mary jo mitchell reporter later at cnn headline news now at wlex tv in lexington kentucky jerry van dyke talk show host later an actor best known for his roles in the sitcoms