Participating Organizations

Known for quality programming throughout Central Indiana, WFYI Public Media provides more than just the standard radio and television services. WFYI has been involved as a community leader and partner in education, health, public affairs, and the arts since 1970. We serve as a public forum where people are encouraged to discuss and debate issues important to the local community. Our award-winning documentaries and public affairs programs have addressed many relevant topics ‒ including financial literacy, healthcare, workforce development and environmental affairs. This broadcast schedule combines with local community outreach programs to focus on developing successful solutions to local issues.

Forty-three years ago WFYI Public Media was formed after many local residents in Central Indiana voiced the need to create the state’s first educational television system. A local community leader, Ardath Y. Burkhart, passionately led a small grass-roots campaign to create a local educational television station. This group became affectionately known as "Ardath's Army" and quickly gained community support by traveling door-to-door across Indianapolis and its six surrounding counties. The volunteers pushed the station into existence in just a few short weeks by raising enough money to cover a full year of operating expenses. The station first signed on the air with a no-frills staff of nine employees, three black-and-white television cameras, and a signal that reached just beyond downtown Indianapolis. WFYI was the city's first UHF television signal and the only channel to provide commercial-free programming ‒ a novel idea, even 40 years ago.

Now, more than 80 professionals work hard at WFYI Public Media to make it Indiana’s chief PBS and NPR member station and one of Central Indiana’s leading not-for-profits. The WFYI headquarters is a state-of-the-art facility conveniently situated at 1630 N. Meridian St. in Indianapolis. The WFYI location is one of Indianapolis' premier media hubs and centers for civic engagement.

As WFYI Public Media looks towards the future, it will continue to focus on expanding its local production capacity; enhancing its community services to both mainstream and underserved audiences; and building on its proven track record of delivering first-rate local, national and international news coverage.