WDNI CD

Updated on Jan 16, 2024

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Subchannels 19.1 Telemundo Owner Radio One		Affiliations Telemundo
Branding Telemundo Indy (general) Noticiero Telemundo Indianápolis (newscasts) Channels Digital: 19 (UHF) Virtual: 19 (PSIP) First air date March 7, 1989 (1989-03-07)

WDNI-CD, virtual and UHF digital channel 19, is a Telemundo-affiliated television station located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The station is owned by Radio One. WDNI maintains studio facilities located at Radio One's Indiana headquarters on East St. Joseph Street in downtown Indianapolis, and its transmitter is located on North Hawthorne Lane and 23rd Street (south of I-70) on the city's near-northeast side. On cable, WDNI-CD is available on AT&T U-verse channels 19 and 3007, Comcast Xfinity digital channels 245 and 600 and Bright House Networks digital channels 355 and 803.

Early history

The station first signed on the air on March 7, 1989 as W53AV, broadcasting on UHF channel 53; founded by Hoosier Radio and TV, it was branded on-air as either "WAV53" or as "Hoosier TV 53". The station aired a variety of programming including public domain movies and Major League Baseball games from the Cincinnati Reds; it also carried the wrestling program ECW Hardcore TV on Sunday evenings. For a brief period in the early 1990s, the station served as an affiliate of the defunct Network One, Local personality Bill Shirk also hosted certain programs seen on the station. In 1999, the station moved its allocation to UHF channel 65 and changed its callsign to W65DW.

As "Indy's Music Channel"

The station was purchased by Radio One in 2000, which changed its call sign to the lettered WDNI-LP the following year; at the same time, WDNI rebranded as Indy's Music Channel, adopting a music video format focused on the rock, alternative rock, hip-hop, R&B, dance and heavy metal genres.

The station's weekday programming featured music shows such as Drive Time with Reka; The Tease with host (and music director) Deacon; The Main Attraction with Scotty Davis; Max Hits with Mikey V; Free Style with JJ; The Rock Block with Rusty; The List with Stick; Hip Hop Rhythm & Vibes with Jay Rio and The After Party with DJ Wrekk1. The station also produced The Amos Brown Show, an hour-long locally produced weekday talk show that spotlighted notable figures in Central Indiana's African American community; the program was discontinued in 2007. Religious programming under the banner "IMC Goes to Church" aired for much of the day on Sundays. In 2009, the station relocated its signal to UHF channel 19.

Switch to Telemundo

On March 6, 2013, Radio One announced that had signed an agreement with Telemundo to affiliate with WDNI-CD, making it the first television station in the Indianapolis market to carry programming from a major commercial Spanish language network since WIIH-CA (channel 17) discontinued its affiliation with Univision in January 2009. WDNI-CD's affiliation switch to Telemundo became official on March 11, 2013.

Analog-to-digital conversion

The station shut down its analog signal and flash-cut its digital signal into operation on UHF channel 19 in February 2009. Because the Federal Communications Commission granted a license upgrade to Class A status after it transitioned to digital-only broadcasts, WDNI's call letters were not given an "-LD" or "-CA" suffix, but rather the rarely used "-CD" suffix.

News operation

WDNI-CD presently broadcasts five hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with one hour on weekdays); the station currently does not produce newscasts on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, the station produces the hour-long public affairs program En Contexto, which airs weekend mornings at 10:00 a.m. and is rebroadcast weekday mornings at 5:00 a.m.; the program is hosted by Luis Navarro, who served as one of the original members of WIIH-CA's news staff during that station's tenure as a Univision affiliate.

After receiving the Telemundo affiliation, Radio One announced plans to develop a news department for the station to produce and broadcasting local Spanish-language newscasts such as on weekday mornings as Noticiero Telemundo Indianápolis: Primera Edición at 5:00-7:00 am, before Un Nuevo Día, and weeknights as Noticiero Telemundo Indianápolis at 5:30, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. The station hired additional staff members for the full-time news operation (including anchors, meteorologists, reporters, producers, editors, writers, Internet/Wi-Fi operators and photographers, etc.).