WYIN

WYIN, virtual channel 56 (UHF digital channel 17), is a PBS member television station located in Gary, Indiana, United States. The station is owned by Northwest Indiana Public Broadcasting, Inc., and is a sister station to NPR radio outlet WLPR-FM (89.1 FM). The two stations share studio facilities located on Indiana Place (Mississippi Street) in Merrillville; WYIN maintains transmitter facilities located near Lake Dalecarlia (due south of Cedar Lake). WYIN is one of three PBS member stations serving the Chicago television market, alongside Chicago-licensed WTTW (channel 11) and WYCC (channel 20).

History

WYIN evolved from WCAE, a non-commercial educational station that was originally licensed to the Lake Central School Corporation in St. John, which broadcast on UHF channel 50. The school system was unable to maintain broadcast operations and the station went dark in 1984.

Metrowest Corporation (owned by Fred Eychaner) purchased the station's license for $1.5 million, in exchange for the construction permit for WGMI, a proposed commercial independent station licensed to Gary on channel 56 that had been held by a group of Indiana businessmen since 1976, but was never built. Metrowest eventually took the channel 50 license to air as commercial station WPWR-TV (now a MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station). The non-commercial license that was now reassigned to channel 56 was secured by the founding group of WYIN, who signed the station on the air on November 15, 1987.