The station first signed on the air on October 14, 1985, operating as an independent station; the station was originally owned by Family Group Broadcasting, which had previously owned WFTS-TV in Tampa, from which the WFTX call letters are derived. WFTX became a charter affiliate of Fox on October 9, 1986. Family Group Broadcasting sold the station to Terre Haute, Indiana-based Wabash Valley Broadcasting, controlled by the family of Tony Hulman, that December. Under Wabash Valley Broadcasting, elements of the station closely paralleled that of Wabash Valley's flagship station in Terre Haute, WTHI-TV; the two stations used the same voice-over announcer and identical logos, and one of WTHI's news anchors subsequently transferred to WFTX.