WISH, the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis, was knocked off the air last night for 31 minutes due to an area power-outage.

The outage, which began at 10:33 p.m., interrupted the season finale of “Big Brother,” which was in process on WISH. Viewers saw a frozen and distorted framegrab from the CBS primetime show (pictured, right) while the station worked to get back on the air.

The signal was restored at 11:04 p.m., prompting anchor Debby Knox to lead the evening newscast by saying, “We want to apologize for the technical problems that we’re having tonight. ‘Big Brother’ obviously did not air. Our engineers are making repairs.” Read more

Indianapolis stations have devoted large portions of their newscasts this week to the aftermath of a stage collapse at the State Fair Saturday night, which killed five people and injured 48 more.

All four major stations — WXIN, WISH, WHTR and WRTV — have been raising money for the State Fair Remembrance Fund, which has raised more than $30,000 to date. Stations have given viewers instructions, both on the air and online, on how to pledge gifts via text message. Fox affiliate WXIN has declared today a “Day of Dedication” and pledged to match gifts viewers donate today up to $20,000.

Sugarland, who was set to perform at the State Fair before the stage collapsed, resumes their tour tonight at a concert in Albuquerque. The country music duo has a tribute planned for Indianapolis victims, and both WXIN and WISH will broadcast the concert.

Amid all the positive contributions local stations are making in the aftermath of the collapse, some viewers are concerned that the dramatic video of the stage collapsing is being overused in reporting the story. In response to comments by concerned viewers, WHTR, the NBC affiliate, wrote on their Facebook page: Read more

LIN Media, which owns, operates, or services 32 stations across the country including WISH in Indianapolis and KXAN in Austin, reported today that revenue was up 5% for the second quarter, compared to the same period last year.

Net revenues for the station group was $104.1 million in the second quarter, compared to $99.5 million last year.

In announcing the financial results, LIN president and CEO Vincent Sadusky said that the boost was driven by an increase in digital revenues, which includes both internet advertising and retrans fees.

“Our growth in digital is a result of our interactive strategy and ability to secure higher retransmission fees from pay television service providers, which offset the slow economic recovery and auto supply issues,” Sadusky said.

In addition to reporting an uptick in revenue, LIN boasted that 77% of its ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC stations were ranked number one or two in their local markets for May sweeps, based on key demographics.

WJBK has one of the last interviews shot with Jack Kevorkian, who died today in a Detroit-area hospital (video above).

Reporter Brad Edwards, who is now with Indianapolis’s WISH, spoke with Kevorkian in April of last year about life, death, and the HBO movie based on his life.

While WTHR remained dominant across the board, the NBC-affiliate’s longtime supremacy was chipped away at in May, especially in the morning. Fox-affiliate WXIN saw a 26.4% household increase for the 6 a.m. hour, moving into second place in the category behind WTHR.

Here’s a roundup of household ratings for the market (note that WXIN’s new hour-long 5 p.m. newscast replaced last May’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” and WRTV added a 5:30 p.m. newscast since last year, when “Extra” aired in the time slot).

	6 a.m.	5 p.m.	10 p.m.	11 p.m.
WTHR (NBC)	4.5 (- 8.6%)	7.4 (- O.3%)	N/A	8.0 (1.1%)
WRTV (ABC)	1.9 (+ 1.2%)	2.9 (-10.9%)	N/A	4.4 (+ 31.9%)
WISH (CBS)	3.6 (- 21.9%)	3.9 (- 15.2%)	N/A	7.7 (+ 3.0%)
WXIN (FOX)	3.7 (+ 26.4%)	2.4 (+ 171.7%)	7.0 (+ 11.5%)	N/A

News director Andi Roman (right) is leaving WTOL after more than a decade with the station, and her departure comes as two other high-profile members of the CBS-affiliate’s news team are set to exit.

Morning anchor and reporter Lauren Lowrey, who joined WTOL in 2008, is leaving to join Indianapolis’s WISH, and morning meteorologist Mike Stone, a native of New Jersey, has decided to return to the east coast to be closer to his family (although it’s been reported that WTOL was asking him to take a significant pay cut).

Family is also the reason that Roman gave for her departure. The mother of two teenage sons, Roman tells the Toledo Blade that she wants to “able to spend more time with them.”

WTOL is currently searching for Roman’s replacement. Her last day is set for June 6th.

Melissa Voetsch, who anchors WTOL’s 9-10 a.m. morning show, will expand her a.m. hours and replace Lowrey on the early morning anchor desk.

WISH‘s ongoing investigation into the hypocrisy openly exercised by a local judge, who last year dismissed a handicapped woman’s efforts to overturn a parking ticket she received while parked in a handicapped spot, appears to have reached its conclusion as the Indiana Supreme Court publicly admonished traffic judge Charles W. Hunter this week.

Back in October, WISH looked into the case of a local woman who was protesting a ticket she received when her handicapped parking placard was resting on her car’s dashboard instead of being hung on the rear-view mirror. During its investigation, WISH discovered that the judge, who uses a wheelchair, was himself parked in a handicapped spot outside the courthouse without his placard visible.

When asked about the seeming hypocrisy, the judge, who had recently issued a guilty verdict in the woman’s case, said, “I didn’t get a ticket, did I?” (video above). Read more

Mike Ahern, an Indianapolis TV institution who retired from the WISH anchor desk in 2004, is returning to the air next month with his own show.

Ahern, 72, is set to host “Mike Ahern: One on One,” which debuts May 12th on WNDY, WISH’s MyNetworkTV sister station. As its title suggests, the show will feature in-depth interviews with the top newsmakers in central Indiana.

“You’ve welcomed him into your home for nearly four decades,” teases the show’s new promo. “Now get ready to welcome him back.”

“Mike Ahern: One on One” will air Thursday’s at 10:30 p.m., following WISH’s 10 p.m. newscast, and also re-run on Saturday evenings.

Indianapolis’s WRTV has chosen Kevin Finch as its new news director. Previously, Finch held the ND post at rival station WISH, where he worked for six years.

“Kevin’s knowledge of the Indianapolis market, his journalistic skills, and his leadership abilities make him the perfect choice to lead the RTV 6 news department back to a position of strength,” said Larry Blackerby, WRTV’s (channel 6) vice president and general manager.

Before joining WISH, where he worked as assistant news director before being to promoted to ND in 2007, Finch spent 13 years at NBC-affiliate WTHR. Most recently, Finch has been working for Calamari Productions, a local production house that specializes in non-fiction cable shows.

“I’m thrilled for the opportunity,” Finch said. “I look forward to working with Larry and his staff at this venerable station, as we move forward to bring central Indiana viewers the best possible coverage on TV and online.”

Hearst has named a successor to Rick Henry at Pittsburgh’s WTAE. The company announced today that Michael Hayes, who has been the president and general manager of Hearst-owned WYFF in Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, has been appointed president and GM of WTAE.

“Mike Hayes is an accomplished television executive,” said David Barrett, president and CEO of Hearst Television. “We are delighted that he is stepping into the leadership role at WTAE, one of Hearst Television’s legacy stations.  WYFF has distinguished itself in local news leadership, and sales and profit performance during Mike’s seven-year stewardship. We are confident that he’ll bring that same energy, urgency, and effective leadership to the team at WTAE.”

Henry is set to retire this month after nearly four decades with Hearst, including nine with WTAE.

Hayes began his career as a sports anchor and producer for WISH in Indianapolis. He became president and GM of WYFF in 2003 after serving as general sales manager of Cincinnati’s WLWT.