WRTV-6 began its service to the Indianapolis community in 1924 as the radio station WFBM. In the 1940s chief engineer Harold Holland and Frank Sharp turned their eyes toward the emerging world of television by installing a TV studio and a TV and FM tower. In 1949 WFBM-TV became the first Indianapolis television station. On May 30 of that year, WFBM-TV began its ground-breaking live coverage of the 500-Mile Race. In 1957 Harry Bitner sold WFBM to Time-Life, Inc., beginning a long partnership between the station and Time-Life Productions. In 1961 the station began partnering with several universities and other channels throughout the region to produce Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction (MPATI), an initiative to broadcast classroom programs on videotape directly to classrooms in the Midwest. In June 1972 Mc-Graw-Hill Companies bought the station and changed the its call-letters to WRTV. The station became permanently affiliated with the ABC Television Network in 1979. WRTV remains a leader in the Indianapolis television market.
From the description of WRTV-6 (McGraw-Hill Broadcasting, Inc.) film collection, 1920-1980 (bulk 1949-1980). (Indiana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 54754097
