station . for the fm radio station see wfyi fm . wfyi indianapolis indiana united states branding wfyi public media slogan for your information channels digital 21 uhf virtual 20 psip affiliations .1 pbs .2 v me .3 create indiana channel classic arts showcase owner metropolitan indianapolis public broadcasting first air date october 4 1970 ; 46 years ago 1970 10 04 call letters meaning for your information or for you indiana sister station s wfyi fm former channel number s analog 20 uhf 1970 2009 former affiliations net october 4 5 1970 transmitter power 200 kw height 236 m facility id 41397 transmitter coordinates 39 53 56.9 n 86 12 02.4 w 39.899139 n 86.200667 w 39.899139 ; 86.200667 wfyi licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.wfyi.org wfyi virtual channel 20 uhf digital channel 21 is a pbs member television station located in indianapolis indiana united states . the station is owned by metropolitan indianapolis public broadcasting and is a sister station to npr member radio station wfyi fm 90.1 . wfyi maintains studio facilities located between pierson and illinois streets using a north meridian street address in northwestern indianapolis within the city s television row section and its transmitter is located on west 79th street and township line road on the city s northwest side near meridian hills . on cable wfyi is available on comcast xfinity channel 3 citation needed bright house networks and at & t u verse channel 20 in standard definition and in high definition on xfinity and at & t u verse channel 1020 and bright house networks digital channels 1020 and 1329 . contents 1 background 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 references 5 external links background edit local community leader ardath y. burkhart formed a small grassroots campaign to launch an noncommercial educational television station to serve indianapolis . burkhart whose group became known as ardath s army quickly gained support in the community by stating his case to residents in indianapolis and surrounding counties . the volunteers raised enough funds over the course of a few weeks to cover a year s worth of operating expenses . the station first signed on the air on october 4 1970 ; for its first two days on the air it served as a member station of national educational television before becoming a member of the public broadcasting service pbs when it launched on october 6 1970 . wfyi s transmitter originally operated at low power providing a signal reach not far outside of downtown indianapolis . it started with a small staff of nine employees from its meridian street studio facilities located just north of downtown which formerly housed the headquarters of utility company indiana gas ; despite the fact that color television had become commonplace at the time the station could only afford to purchase three cameras that were only capable of recording locally produced programming in black and white . the station eventually increased its transmitter power to allow its signal to cover a 58 miles 93 km radius from the tower expanding to cover a larger portion of central indiana . in the early 1980s wfyi s programming was originally relayed on translator station w39aa in fort wayne the uhf channel 39 allocation in that part of the region had previously been occupied by fellow pbs station wbgu tv in bowling green ; that station became a separate full powered pbs member outlet wfwa in december 1986 . the station s current president and ceo lloyd wright also serves on pbs s national board of directors . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 1 20.1 1080i 16 9 wfyi 1 main wfyi programming pbs 20.2 480i 4 3 wfyi 2 v me wfyi 2 20.3 wfyi 3 create 4 00 a.m. 4 00 p.m. indiana channel 4 00 p.m. 1 00 a.m. classic arts showcase 1 00 4 00 a.m. wfyi 3 on digital subchannel 20.2 the station carries programming from the spanish language network v me . digital subchannel 20.3 airs a mix of programming from create during the daytime hours programming from the indiana channel during the late afternoon and evening hours and the classic arts showcase during the overnight hours . analog to digital conversion edit wfyi signed on its digital signal in 2003 . the station shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 20 at 11 59 p.m. 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 . wfyi ran a video in the minutes leading up to the shutdown of the analog signal overviewing its primary digital channel and two subchannels wfyi 2 and wfyi 3 which re aired following a retrospective on the station s history . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 21 . 2 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 20 . programming edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message wfyi s most notable locally produced programs include the travel programs across indiana and indiana expeditions with rick crosslin the business discussion program inside indiana business legal advice program indiana lawmakers film showcase reel time and the public affairs programs indiana primetime and indiana week in review . the station s locally originated programming has earned wfyi over 30 regional emmy awards since the mid 2000s . references edit rabbitears tv query for wfyi dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . external links edit official website query the fcc s tv station database for wfyi listing 1027896 . antenna structure registration database . u.s. federal communications commission . biafn s media web database information on wfyi tv v t e television stations in central indiana including indianapolis english stations wttv wttk 4.1 29.1 cbs 4.2 29.2 independent 4.3 29.3 comet wrtv 6.1 abc 6.2 htsn 6.3 laff 6.4 escape wish tv wiih cd 8.1 the cw 8.2 get tv 8.3 justice network wthr 13.1 nbc 13.2 cozi tv 13.3 metv wfyi 20.1 pbs 20.3 create indiana channel classic arts showcase wndy tv 23.1 mntv 23.2 bounce tv 23.3 wish tv walv cd 46.1 metv wbxi cd 47.1 local wx wipx lp 51 silent wxin 59.1 fox 59.2 antenna tv 59.3 this tv wipx tv 63.1 ion 63.2 qubo 63.3 ion life 63.4 ion shop 63.5 qvc 63.6 hsn spanish stations wdni cd 19.1 telemundo wfyi 20.2 v me wclj tv 42.4 enlace religious whmb tv 40.1 lesea 40.2 wht wclj tv 42.1 tbn 42.2 tcc 42.3 juce tv 42.5 soac wdti 69.1 ds outlying areas martinsville wrep ld 15 a1 terre haute wudz ld 28.1 buzzr 28.2 tcn 28.3 sonlife 28.4 lc 28.5 qvc 28.6 qvc bloomington wtiu 30.1 pbs 30.2 world 30.3 create 30.4 v me wclj tv 42.1 tbn 42.2 tcc 42.3 juce tv 42.4 enlace 42.5 soac muncie wipb 49.1 pbs 49.2 create indiana channel 49.3 weather wbst fm audio simulcast marion wiwu cd 51.1 tln cornerstone wht wsot ld 27.1 the walk nrb tln cable channels wcty tv 16 gov. access fox sports indiana cn81 comcast network defunct muncie wmun lp 26 tbn indianapolis wkog lp 31 wkgk lp 50 religious brookston wajn lp 43 ind. adjacent areas central illinois chicago cincinnati dayton evansville fort wayne lafayette louisville south bend terre haute v t e pbs member stations in the state of indiana wnin 9 evansville wfyi 20 indianapolis wvut 22 vincennes wtiu 30 bloomington wnit 34 south bend elkhart wfwa 39 fort wayne wipb 49 muncie wyin 56 gary see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in indiana retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wfyi tv & oldid 744088873 categories pbs member stationsmedia in indianapolistelevision stations in indianapolistelevision channels and stations established in 19701970 establishments in indianahidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from july 2014articles needing additional references from may 2015all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 13 october 2016 at 01 44 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view