WLFI-TV
WLFI-TV, virtual channel 18, is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Lafayette, Indiana, United States. The station is owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Entertainment Studios. WLFI-TV's studios are located on Yeager Road in West Lafayette, and its transmitter is located on County Road 700 in rural northwestern Clinton County. On cable, WLFI-TV is available on Comcast Xfinity channel 8 and Metronet channel 18 in standard definition and on Xfinity digital channel 1018 and Metronet channel 818 in high definition.
History
The station first signed on the air at 6:00 p.m. on June 15, 1953 as WFAM-TV, broadcasting on UHF channel 59. It was founded by O.E. Richardson, owner of radio station WASK. The station originally operated as a primary CBS and DuMont affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.WFAM-TV's transmitter had originally broadcast at low power, making it unreceivable in parts of west-central Indiana outside of the immediate Lafayette area. Out of its original 20-person staff, only one person had any experience in television; the rest were radio personalities who pulled double duty.
In 1957, the station was sold to WASK to assistant general manager Henry Rosenthal, who filed with the Federal Communications Commission to move WFAM-TV to channel 18, but the station instead went dark in May 1959. Rosenthal sold the station to Sarkes Tarzian, a radio manufacturer based in Bloomington, which also owned primary NBC/secondary ABC and DuMont affiliate WTTV in Indianapolis and ABC affiliate WPTA in Fort Wayne. It was Tarzian who finished the relocation to channel 18, returning WFAM-TV to the air on that channel on November 15 of that year. The station changed its call letters to WLFI-TV in 1967. In 1979, the station was purchased by Block Communications. In 2000, LIN TV Corporation acquired WLFI from Block in exchange for a 67% ownership interest in ABC affiliate WAND in Decatur, Illinois.
WLFI's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.
On March 21, 2014, Media General announced that it would merge with LIN Media in a $1.6 billion deal. The merger was completed on December 19. Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced on January 27, 2016 that it would merge with Media General in a $4.6 billion acquisition; it then announced on June 13, 2016 that it would sell WLFI-TV and four other stations to Heartland Media, through its USA Television MidAmerica Holdings joint venture with MSouth Equity Partners, for $115 million, to comply with FCC ownership caps following the merger.
WLFI was the Lafayette area's only commercial network television broadcaster from its 1953 start until the 2016 launch of WPBI-LD, a Fox and NBC affiliate. Cable providers have long supplemented the area with stations from Indianapolis. Comcast Xfinity dropped the Indianapolis stations from its lineup on March 7, 2018, but resumed carriage of NBC affiliate WTHR and ABC affiliate WRTV two days later.
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP short name | Programming |
| 18.1 | 720p | CBS | Main WLFI-TV programming / CBS | |
| 18.2 | 720p | CW | Lafayette's CW18 | |
| 18.3 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | |
| 18.4 | 480i | GETTV | GetTV |
WLFI formerly carried TheCoolTV on digital subchannel 18.2 from 2011 to 2013, when LIN Media terminated its affiliation agreement with the music video network. The live feed of "Storm Team 18 Live Doppler Radar" moved from digital subchannel 18.3 to 18.2 in the fall of 2013. Sony Pictures Television's GetTV network, which features classic movies, replaced the weather radar channel on WLFI-DT2 in early 2015. In Fall 2015, WLFI-DT3 was launched to serve as an Ion Television affiliate. The CW Plus began to be broadcast over WLFI-DT2 in 720p HD in August 2017, moving GetTV to a new DT4 subchannel and leading to the CBS feed on their main channel being downscaled into 720p for the time being. WLFI-DT2 is being identified on-air as "Lafayette's CW18".
Programming
WLFI-TV carries 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 and the final hour airing on Sunday mornings. Syndicated programs broadcast by WLFI-TV include Dr. Phil, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.News operation
WLFI-TV presently broadcasts 22½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week ; 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 run syndicated programs during the 5:30 p.m. half-hour.Even after cable systems began piping in Indianapolis stations in the 1970s, the station's newscasts have performed well in the ratings; its success was largely attributed to the longevity of most of its news staff, some of whom had been at the station for over 20 years, including former anchors Jeff Smith and Chris Morisse, sports anchor Larry Clisby and meteorologist Steve Scherer .
In September 2012, WLFI became the third television station in Central Indiana to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition; as part of the upgrade, the station unveiled a new graphics package and a new set for its newscasts.