WPTA (channel 21) — "21 Alive"

1957 – today

Founded: 28 September 1957, Fort Wayne (licensed to Roanoke). The History Center's collection description and the station histories agree: WPTA, channel 21, ABC, signed on 28 September 1957, Fort Wayne's third station, with its studios and transmitter in Fort Wayne but its licence in Roanoke — because, in the History Center's words, the FCC deemed Fort Wayne "too small of a market to support three full-power stations." It identified as "Roanoke/Fort Wayne" until the licence was officially transferred to Fort Wayne in the 1970s (exact year not established on the sources in hand).

Founder: Sarkes Tarzian, Inc., of Indianapolis — Sarkes Tarzian, an Indianapolis engineer whose company owned Bloomington's WTTV and other Indiana stations, founded the station; the call letters are his children's initials, Patricia and Thomas A. (Tarzian).

What it did: ABC network television for Fort Wayne — on signing on it took all ABC programming from the secondary ABC affiliations of WKJG-TV and WANE-TV (entries 40–41) — plus local production: the News-Sentinel's 1950s account gives it a staff of 24 at the start, operating on West State Street within two weeks of WANE's move to that neighbourhood (the 1974 almanac lists it at 3333 Butler Road), with local wrestling, dance and children's shows alongside the ABC schedule.

Course (ownership and brand): Tarzian sold on 4 April 1973 to Combined Communications for $3.6 million; Combined invested in the news department, and in July 1978 WPTA replaced its Eyewitness News format with the "21 Alive" brand (3 July 1978 in the logo-history account) — the brand it is still known by. Combined merged into Gannett on 7 June 1979; Gannett sold WPTA on 12 May 1983 to Pulitzer Publishing; Pulitzer sold on 25 September 1989 to Granite Broadcasting for $22.15 million. On 9 March 2005 Granite, having bought WISE-TV (entry 40), sold WPTA to the Malara Broadcast Group for $45.3 million and continued operating it — the Granite/Malara Fort Wayne pair ran a combined news operation. Quincy Media acquired WPTA in the Granite break-up (FCC approval 15 Sept 2015, completed 2 Nov 2015). Under Quincy, on 1 August 2016, WPTA gained NBC on its second subchannel from WISE, and in October 2016 it retired the "21 Alive" brand after 38 years; the brand was revived on 17 October 2022.

Fate: Still operating. On 2 August 2021 Gray Television completed its acquisition of Quincy Media, so WPTA is now a Gray Media station: channel 21, ABC on the main channel, NBC on DT2 and MyNetworkTV on DT3, in a duopoly with WISE-TV (entry 40), and again branded 21 Alive (since 2022).

Sources:

1. History Center, Collection 89.9.1, WANE-TV Videotapes description (third station WPTA, ABC, launched 28 Sept 1957, licensed to Roanoke because the FCC deemed Fort Wayne too small for three full-power stations; licence officially moved to Fort Wayne in the 1970s) — https://fwhistorycenter.org/virtual-exhibits/vex16/00F48451-00D2-4FE6-ACBF-563911331074.htm
2. WPTA station history (28 Sept 1957 sign-on; Sarkes Tarzian, Indianapolis engineer, WTTV owner; Patricia and Thomas call letters; Roanoke licence, Fort Wayne studios/transmitter; ABC taken from WKJG-TV and WANE-TV; 4 Apr 1973 Combined sale, $3.6M; 7 June 1979 Gannett merger; 12 May 1983 Pulitzer sale; 25 Sept 1989 Granite sale, $22.15M; 9 Mar 2005 Malara sale, $45.3M; 2014–2015 Quincy acquisition; July 1978 "21 Alive" launch; 2016 brand retirement and 17 Oct 2022 revival) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPTA
3. News-Sentinel, Doug LeDuc, "Everything was new on television" (1950s history) (third station in 1957, Channel 21, ABC, staff of 24, West State Street start within two weeks of WANE's move there; local wrestling, dance and children's programmes) — http://egen.fortwayne.com/ns/projects/history/2000/1950/atom8.php
4. Gray Television, Form 8-K / SEC Quincy transaction filing, 2 Aug 2021 (Quincy acquisition completed 2 Aug 2021; Fort Wayne DMA listing "WPTA/WISE — ABC/NBC/CW") — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/43196/000143774921025228/R9.htm
5. International Television Almanac 1974, Fort Wayne listings (WPTA Channel 21, ABC, Sarkes Tarzian, Inc., 3333 Butler Road; operation 1957) — https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/55882000/almanac/185