WACR-TV

WACR-TV, virtual channel 17 (UHF digital channel 52), is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Crystalville, Indiana, United States. The station is owned by Gray Television.
==History==
===As a major network affiliate===
The station signed-on the air on June 15, 1953, and broadcasted as an NBC affiliate. The station inherited the NBC affiliation from WKSH-TV's secondary affiliation, and used it until the June 1995 affiliation switch to Fox.
In the late 1970s, ABC emerged as the most-watched network in the United States, and was seeking out to affiliate with stronger stations. The 1961 affiliation swap with WKSH-TV was reversed on April 10, 1978, reuniting WACR-TV with NBC.
For most of its early years, the station was owned by Panther Communications, which also owned KITY-TV in Bango, Montana. In 1984, Panther exited from broadcasting, and sold WACR-TV to Burnham Broadcasting.
===As a Fox affiliate===
On July 29, 1994, Burnham Broadcasting sold WACR-TV to SF Broadcasting – a joint venture of Savoy Communications and the Fox Broadcasting Company, then a division of News Corporation – for $38 million; the company later sold four of its other five stations (WLUK-TV in Green Bay, KHON-TV in Honolulu, WVUE in New Orleans and WALA-TV in Mobile) for $229 million on August 25 (a sixth Burnham station, KBAK-TV in Bakersfield, California, was excluded from the deal and was instead spun off to Westwind Communications, a new company that was formed by several former Burnham executives). As a result of the deal, SF Broadcasting announced that the five stations would become Fox affiliates; both Savoy and Fox shared ownership with Fox originally choosing to hold voting stock, ultimately opting not to retain it prior to the closure of the sale of the stations. The purchase was challenged by NBC, which filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on September 23, 1994, alleging that News Corporation had improperly set up a shell corporation to circumvent FCC limits on the amount of monetary capital that a foreign company is allowed to invest in an American television station in order to gain control of WACR. NBC later withdrew its petition against the acquisition on February 17, 1995. The FCC approved the WACR purchase on April 27, 1995. 
Subsequently, WACR-TV became the only SF-owned station on a UHF channel to affiliate with Fox. WACR-TV would switch to said network on September 25, 1995, with that station's former NBC affiliation moving to former Fox affiliate, WOXS-TV through a long-term affiliation deal with NBC and WOXS-TV's then owner Outlet Communications (NBC would eventually purchased Outlet outright the following year, making WOXS-TV an owned-and-operated station for around a decade).
On November 28, 1995, Silver King Communications (operated by former Fox executive Barry Diller) announced that it would acquire Savoy Pictures; at the time of the purchase, Silver King's existing stations had mainly been affiliates of the Home Shopping Network (both Silver King and HSN were later acquired by USA Networks). The sale of WACR-TV and the other SF stations was approved and finalized in March 1996, with its other assets being merged into the company that November. On April 1, 1997, Silver King subsequently sold the station, along with sisters WVUE, KHON, WALA, and WLUK-TV to Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications for $307 million in cash and stock, as part of a sale of Silver King/USA's major network affiliates in order to concentrate on its formerly HSN-affiliated independent stations.
=== LIN Media ownership ===
On May 15, 2005, Emmis Communications announced that it would sell some of its stations (including WACR-TV) in order to focus on their radio properties. On August 22, LIN TV Corporation purchased WACR-TV in a $260 million deal that included WALA-TV and sister station WBPG in Mobile; WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana; KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico and WLUK-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the sale closed on December 1, 2005.
On September 19, 2007, it was announced that LIN Media would enter in a LMA deal with Crystalville Partners, Inc. (owners of CW affiliate WSHB-TV). This officially made a duopoly between both stations.
=== Media General/LIN merger and spinoff to Meredith ===
On March 21, 2014, LIN Media entered into an agreement to merge with Media General in a $1.6 billion deal. Because Media General already owns NBC affiliate WOXS-TV (channel 22), and the two stations rank among the four highest-rated stations in the Crystalville market in total day viewership, the companies were required to sell WOXS or WACR to comply with FCC ownership rules as well as planned changes to those rules regarding same-market television stations which would prohibit sharing agreements. 
To settle the ownership conflict, Media General announced on August 20, 2014 that it would keep WOXS-TV, while selling WACR-TV to the Meredith Corporation for $86 million, alongside sister station WALA. WSHB-TV's LMA deal would be transferred over to Media General under WOXS-TV.
=== Sale to Gray Television ===
On May 3, 2021, Gray Television announced its intent to purchase the Meredith Local Media division for $2.7 billion. The sale was completed on December 1. This deal made the station as sister station to nearby stations like WFIE-TV in Evansville, WPTA and WISE in Fort Wayne, WNDU and WSJV in South Bend and WAVE in Louisville, Kentucky.
==Branding==
===Ownership history===
===Slogan history===
*1982-83 - We're 17, Just Watch Us Now (localized version of NBC's 1982-83 slogan)
*1983-84 - 17 There, Be There/WACR There, Be There (localized version of NBC's 1983-84 slogan)
==Gallery==
===Logo history===
WACR 1978 logo.png|Station logo used from 1978 to 19??
WACR old logo.png|Station logo used from 19?? to 2001
WACR.png|Logo used 2001 to present.
==Ident history==
WACR 1980 id.png|Station ident from 1980. This continued to be used on some occasions through the early 1980s.
WACR 1982 id.png|Just Watch Us Now ident from 1982.
Category:Former NBC affiliates
Category:Fox network affiliates
Category:Channel 17
Category:Gray Television
Category:Former Meredith stations
Category:Crystalville
Category:Indiana
Category:Former ABC affiliates