Within a year, the partners sold the station to Outlet Communications, which changed the call sign to WXIN in 1985 to reduce confusion with PBS and WTBS.

After more than two years on the market and an abortive sale to locally based Emmis Communications, Chase Broadcasting purchased WXIN in 1990.

[9] While it, too, had proposed subscription programming, changes in technology and the industry led the firm to hold off on building an STV outlet[10] and ultimately find the concept unviable.

The reconfigured ownership group, known as USA Communications, changed channel 59's call letters to WPDS-TV, after Palamara, Duffy and Simon's initials.

[14][15] Originally operating as an independent station, channel 59 maintained a general entertainment programming format featuring cartoons, movies, classic sitcoms and drama series.

The station originally operated from studios located at 1440 North Meridian Street along Indianapolis's "Media Row", which had previously been occupied by WFYI.

[31] Emmis, which had twice attempted to buy WTTV, needed a waiver to own WXIN as well as local radio station WENS.

[34] During the attempted Emmis purchase, WXIN won the rights to telecast Indiana Pacers basketball road games from WTTV, which had broadcast the team since 1974.

[35] The relationship lasted five seasons, concluding in 1993 when WXIN was no longer able to air the team due to its commitment to Fox network programming.

[36] The Atlin sale process came to an end in 1989, as Outlet agreed to sell WXIN and WATL, plus two radio stations in Washington, D.C., to Chase Broadcasting of Hartford, Connecticut, for $120 million.

The purchase made Chase, which already owned WTIC-TV in Hartford and was buying KDVR in Denver, the largest single owner of Fox-affiliated stations[34] when it was concluded in March 1990.

[37] In 1991, Chase Broadcasting announced it would sell some or all of its properties in order to invest in new business ventures in Eastern Europe after the end of the Cold War, particularly successful cable television systems in Poland.

[42] Tribune acquired WTTV and its satellite station in Kokomo, WTTK (channel 29), from Sinclair on April 29, 2002;[43] this created the market's first television duopoly under current FCC regulations with WXIN when the purchase was finalized on July 24[44] With WXIN already at capacity in its existing building,[45] the company began investigating new sites for a larger facility, leaving behind Meridian Street, the "media row" home to all of the city's other major TV stations.

[47] Beginning in 2003, WXIN was the broadcast home for the state lottery game show Hoosier Millionaire, which had aired on WTTV.

[64] With a news staff of 18,[65] Fox 59 Nightcast debuted on September 23, 1991, with the anchor team of Bob Donaldson, Caroline Thau, Chris Wright, and Brian Hammons.

[67] After just two weeks, the program was trimmed to a half-hour in length to appease fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which had originally been removed to make way for the news hour, and because WTTV recommitted to its newscast from WRTV.

[68] Fox 59 Nightcast was launched days before Chase declared its intention to sell its TV stations, and Steve Hall of The Indianapolis Star felt the news department was doomed to be cut by any prospective buyer;[69] a rival general manager indicated to his employees that he believed WXIN would cancel the newscast within six weeks.

[80] In 2004, Jerry Martin took over as general manager of WXIN; under his tenure and that of successor Larry Delia, the station grew its news output considerably.