Super Bowl Update

Recently, both WTHI-TV 10 and WTHI-Hi99 FM (99.9 FM) moved to new homes ― in different locations ― in downtown Terre Haute, and the stations' old home at 918 Ohio Street is now in the process of being torn down.

WTHI-TV has a gallery of photos of the teardown in progress, and you can see the pictures by clicking here.

The 918 Ohio Street building was built in 1906 and was originally a garment factory.  It was renovated and repurposed for WTHI's TV and radio operations in 1954.  Emmis Communications moved WTHI-FM and WWVR-FM to a newly-constructed building at 925 Wabash Avenue back in August, and WTHI-TV moved to its own brand-new building at 800 Ohio Street in late October.

When demolition is completed, it's expected that the site will become a parking lot for the new 925 Wabash Avenue building which is located immediately behind 918 Ohio.

If you're up in the northern part of the Tri-State this morning, you can tune in to WTHI HI-99 FM (99.9 FM) and hear some changes on the air.

No, the folks at Terre Haute's longtime #1 station haven't made a format change or anything like that, but the station is on the air from its new home on the top floor of a brand-new building at 925 Wabash Avenue in downtown Terre Haute, after 58 years in the old building at 918 Ohio Street.  That building is set to be torn down once HI-99, its radio sister station WWVR-FM and its former TV sister station WTHI-TV relocate to their new quarters.

And for the first time, the three stations won't be together.

The radio stations are owned by Emmis Communications, which is leasing the new office space on Wabash from Terre Haute development company Thompson Thrift.  LIN Media owns WTHI-TV, and the CBS/Fox affiliate is preparing to move within the next few weeks to a brand-new building of its own at the corner of 8th and Ohio streets, a little more than a block west of the old studios.

The station moves were announced in March of last year.

Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications is awaiting the ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker in a suit filed by the company's preferred shareholders to block a vote on eliminating their dividends.

Those dividends are worth millions of dollars, and the shareholders have accused the company's CEO, Jeff Smulyan, of trying to take Emmis private, as he tried and failed to do twice before, in 2006 and 2010.  Smulyan told the court that is simply not the case. “I’m worn out from two years ago,” the chairman and chief executive officer said. “I just don’t want to do it. I can’t foresee a situation in which that would change.”

One of the intentions of the plaintiffs was to stop a scheduled Aug. 14 shareholder meeting where, they claim, the dividend wipeout would be approved.  They've succeeded in postponing the meeting, as Smulyan has now pushed it back until after Judge Barker rules.

Emmis is trying to reposition and refashion its business, which includes a number of radio stations in Indianapolis and Terre Haute (see below), and as part of that process, the company is also trying to cut its debt load.

Judge Barker said she would rule by Aug. 31; she closed Wednesday's proceeding by suggesting the parties work together to come up with a plan that would compensate the shareholders fairly while also allowing the company to get its financial house in order.

There's no word on whether talks between the two sides have been scheduled.