Updated on March 31, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In late October 2025, RBR+TVBR first shared the news that Indiana television station owner DuJuan McCoy-led Circle City Broadcasting signed an asset purchase agreement that would give him the ABC affiliate in Indianapolis.
Acquisition of the E.W. Scripps Co. station would require a waiver, given Circle City’s ownership of WISH-8 and WNDY-23 in the market. On Friday, February 27, the Commission said yes — and used language that it very much could use in a forthcoming OK of the Nexstar-TEGNA merger.
As the first quarter of 2026 came to a close, closing the deal came for McCoy. He now owns WRTV-6 in Indianapolis.
In April 2019, thanks to the need by Nexstar to divest properties in Indianapolis in order to complete its merger with Tribune Broadcasting, Circle City ended up with ownership of The CW Network-affiliated WISH and WNDY, a MyNetwork TV affiliate.
Since then, much has changed with respect to broadcast media rule reform, as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has signaled the need for “modernization” that includes a review of the 39% national television household audience cap set in place by Congress in January 2004.
Ahead of any rule changes, the FCC has been open to waivers of its local ownership rules. The final week of February 2026 alone saw Sinclair Inc. ask the Commission for a waiver so it may convert a longtime JSA to outright ownership in Wilkes Barre-Scranton. At the same time, Scripps seeks a Commission waiver to buy back the INYO stations it needed to divest five years ago in order to complete its ION Networks purchase.
It’s a safe bet that the Commission will say yes, given its decision to grant the transfer of control applications associated with WRTV-TV, paving its $83 million sale from Scripps to Circle City. And, one need not look further than Erin Boone — now officially Chief of the Media Bureau — as the individual the NAB and broadcast TV groups will be sending big Thank You notes to.
In a four-page order signed by Boone distributed on Feb. 27, the Media Bureau head said the proposed transaction “would result in a violation of the Local Television Ownership Rule. The Commission’s rules, however, may be waived for good cause shown … We find that special circumstances warrant grant of the Waiver Request.”
These “special circumstances” are linked to the argument, which Boone agreed with, that Circle City’s purchase of WRTV “is essential to its continuing viability as a broadcaster in the Indianapolis DMA.” If the waiver grant had been denied, this would have put the wheels in motion for McCoy to attempt to sell WNDY-TV — “a prospect considerably complicated by that station’s exceedingly low audience share, as well as the lack of its own infrastructure and staff.”
Any prospective buyer of WNDY-TV would need to invest “significant capital” to build it out as an independent station, “likely without garnering sufficient advertising and retransmission revenue to obtain quality programming,” Circle City argues.
Boone agrees. “We cannot assume that such buyer would continue to produce and air on WNDY-TV the substantial amount of local news and community service programming that Circle City does,” she said in granting the waiver. “The public interest would not be served by severely diminishing WNDY-TV as an independently-operated station or, in the event a buyer could not be found, letting it go dark.”
Boone also states that common ownership of the three stations would not harm competition in the Indianapolis DMA but bolster it by strengthening Circle City’s position relative to station owners with significantly greater market power.
In response to RBR+TVBR‘s request for comment, McCoy said via e-mail on February 27, “Today’s approval of a ‘triopoly’ waiver in my hometown of Indianapolis was truly a blessing. A special THANK YOU goes to Chairman Carr and his Media Bureau for approving my transaction, and more importantly, for advocating to assist broadcasters’ survival by modernizing many of our outdated rules.”
McCoy also points out that with this transaction, Circle City Broadcasting will become the first entity led by an African American to own and/or control a “Big Four” affiliate in a market within the top 25 DMAs.
“I now look forward to closing in the coming days and providing more local content for our viewers,” McCoy said.
That came on March 31, with Scripps confirming the consummation, without comment, in a press release distributed following the Closing Bell for U.S. financial markets.
That greater market power is about to upend the Indianapolis market even further.
At present, the top-rated TV station in the market is TEGNA-owned NBC affiliated WTHR-13, fueled by the Super Bowl, Olympics and NBA All-Star Game across February. With approval of the Nexstar-TEGNA merger, WTHR would become a sibling of Nexstar pair WXIN “FOX 59” and CBS affiliate WTTV-4. With the Eighth Circuit all but nullifying the FCC’s “Top Four” rule, the stage is now set for two owners to control six television stations in Indianapolis.
