No Subject

Heading back inside 465, the city's northwest corner is dominated by a
cluster of tall TV towers.  WTHR (and WALV-LP) sit just north of 465,
about three miles from the rest of the group.  WRTV and WFYI-TV (and
public radio stations WICR 88.7 and WFYI 90.1) occupy the two
northernmost towers in the cluster.  Just to the south is an FM stick
that's home to WFBQ, WRZX, and WTPI.  WHMB is just to the west of the
FM tower and just north of WISH-TV.  The southernmost stick in this
group belongs to WXIN.

Moving south again, we passed the industrial park that's home to the
Radio One cluster of stations: rhythmic CHR WHHH (96.3), smooth jazz
WJYZ (100.9 Lebanon), and urban AC WBKS (106.7 Greenwood).  Radio One
bought the group from veteran Indy broadcaster Bill Shirk, who still
does middays on WBKS, and whose original station sits just a mile or
so to the south.  WXLW (950) was Indy's top-40 outlet in the sixties,
and now programs religion from its three towers behind a shopping mall
on W. 56th Street.  

WMYS transmits from two towers near the Butler University campus, and
we were amused to see that its transmitter building is now leased out
by a church.  This 1430 outlet has a long history in Indianapolis; it
was best known as WIRE, another top-40 legend, and later as WCKN and
WFXF, among other calls.  (The studio building at the transmitter site
was home to 1430 and 103.3, ex-WMJC and WFXF, until just a few years
ago when the stations were split off to separate owners.)

Two more stops awaited us in Indianapolis: across the river on the
Butler campus, the tower of WTBU and WGLD, which was a Butler-owned
noncommercial outlet (as WAJC) for decades before being sold to
Susquehanna; and on the city's northeast side, the three towers of
WBRI (1500).  The religious station is co-owned with Christian
contemporary WXIR (98.3 Plainfield), "Love 98."

With all that, we still didn't see quite everything the city had to
offer, radio-wise.  On the FM side, several high schools program
noncommercial outlets: in Indianapolis itself, there's WJEL (89.3) on
the north side at the J. Everett Light Career Center; WBDG (90.9)
programming rap from Ben Davis High School; WEDM (91.1) on the east
side at Warren Township High School ("Ed 91," playing country when we
heard it); and WRFT (91.5), "The Flash" from Franklin Township High
School.  North of town, WHJE (91.3 Carmel) runs 24/7 with automation
and student programming, while out in Greenfield, WRGF (89.7) is the
newest high school station in the area.

We didn't get out to Greenfield, alas, which means we also didn't get
to see the east side towers of WTLC-FM (along I-70), WENS (way out to
the southeast), or the group tower that's home to WNOU, WFMS, and
WZPL.  Also outlying, and thus beyond the reach of the NERW-mobile,
were Bloomington's WTTS (92.3, playing AAA) and Danville's modern rock
WEDJ (107.1, formerly classical WSYW-FM).  

On the AM side, we missed out on gospel WNTS (1590 Beech Grove) and on
WKWH (1520 Shelbyville) south of town...maybe next time!  

Leaving Indy behind us, we headed north to Anderson and Muncie, where
Michael Schwartz (remember Wilks-Schwartz Broadcasting?  That's him!)
has combined five small stations into a regional presence as part of
Indiana Radio Partners.  Anderson's WHBU (1240) is the news-talk AM,
while Muncie's WERK (104.9) and Elwood's WURK (101.7) simulcast
oldies and Alexandria's WHTY (96.7) and Hartford City's WHTI (93.5) do
hot AC as "Max."  Any of the five can - and do - break off for local
sports or Sunday-morning religion.  (Thanks to chief engineer Sean
Mattingly for showing us how it's all set up!)