TV channels & antenna towers in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is a city of about 830,000 people in Indiana. Within 70 miles of the town center we count 30 licensed TV transmitters: 15 full-power, 7 Class A, 7 low-power and 1 translator. Based on each transmitter's power, antenna height and distance, 24 are likely to arrive at fair strength or better, and 21 at good or strong strength.

20 of them are within 25 miles of Indianapolis, 4 sit 25 to 45 miles away and 6 are more than 45 miles out. Indianapolis is a broadcast hub in its own right: seven of the 13 network stations in range are licensed here.

For the networks, the best local options are ABC on channel 6 (WRTV), CBS on channel 29 (WTTK), NBC on channel 13 (WTHR), Fox on channel 59 (WXIN), CW on channel 8 (WISH-TV), ION on channel 63 (WIPX-TV), Telemundo on channel 19 (WDNI-CD), Univision on channel 40 (WHMB-TV) and MeTV on channel 46.1 (WALV-CD). Spanish-language viewers can pick up Telemundo (good signal) and Univision (good signal). 6 full-power stations in range have no network listed in our data; these are typically public television, religious, shopping or independent stations.

Point your antenna NNW, at about 347°. The main network towers for Indianapolis sit in that direction, so a single directional antenna can pick them all up.

Five network stations, WXIN, WTTK, WISH-TV, WHMB-TV and WRTV, transmit from the same tower site about 8.6 miles north of Indianapolis (344° NNW). That one direction covers every station on the site.

Of the 10 full-power and Class A network signals that reach Indianapolis at fair strength or better, 70% arrive from the north; the rest are spread across two other directions.

All of the main network towers are within their radio horizon as seen from Indianapolis, so signals arrive fairly directly and a well-placed antenna should hold them steadily.

The farthest main network tower for Indianapolis is WTHR (NBC), 11 miles away with a good estimated signal. That is why we suggest an indoor antenna here. Skip that station and you may get away with a smaller antenna.

WXIN is only 8.6 miles away with a strong signal. Signals that strong can overload an amplifier, so start without one and add it only if distant channels are missing. Read when an amplifier helps.

With 24 stations at fair strength or better, Indianapolis ranks 29th of 352 places in Indiana: more than the typical Indiana town (16). Its nearest major network tower is 4.8 miles away, against a state median of 25 miles.

29% of Indiana's cities and towns get the same recommendation: an indoor antenna.