The TV station's transmitter is located on West 79th Street and Township Line Road on the city's northwest side (near Meridian Hills).

After a years-long fight to start public television, much delayed by competing tower site plans proposed by commercial stations, WFYI debuted on October 4, 1970.

[13] The application sat in limbo, but progress was reported by October, even though the channel 20 proposals had to be amended to specify a new tower site.

[14] Plans firmed up in early 1968 with the appointment of a general manager; the selection of WISH-TV's tower for the channel 20 antenna; and proposals to use studios of the Christian Theological Seminary as well as equipment donated by WISH, WLWI, and WFBM-TV.

A major effort was mounted starting on March 1, involving more than 9,000 women selling charter memberships door-to-door;[25] churches announcing the fund drive from their pulpits; and the organization of a fundraising auction.

[27] Response to the door-to-door effort was reported to be greater than anticipated,[28] but a lack of knowledge of educational TV programming and bad weather worked against it.

[34] Offices were maintained at Oldfields until WFYI moved into the former WISH-TV studios at 1440 Meridian Street in August 1971,[35] enabling it to start producing its first local programming on January 2, 1972.

[36] When Frank Meek became WFYI's general manager in 1972, the station was struggling to make payroll, and the only cameras it owned filmed in black-and-white.

[38] The relocation came with a decrease in effective radiated power but raised the height above average terrain by 600 feet (180 m), improving reception.

[46][47] Meek retired at the end of 1988;[37] he was replaced by Lloyd Wright, who began a 30-year tenure as general manager (a title changed to president and CEO).

[48] Under Wright, WFYI began its first-ever capital fundraising effort in 1995, as part of its 25th anniversary; this was undertaken to replace outdated equipment, which included the oldest UHF transmitter in use in the state of Indiana.

[49] In 1999, WFYI and Butler, which had built WTBU (channel 69) in 1991, entered into a joint operating agreement whereby the two stations would collaborate on programming and facilities.

[55] In March 2024, WFYI content staff announced their intentions to unionize with SAG-AFTRA and asked management for voluntary recognition.

[59] The station's signal is multiplexed: All three subchannels are also broadcast on WFYI-LD (channel 29), an ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) transmitter that began service in 2022.