On August 2, 2017, it was reported that Fox Television Stations was in talks with Ion Media to create a joint venture that would own their respective stations. The partnership was said to include plans to shift affiliations from Sinclair stations in favor of Ion-owned stations, such as those whose affiliation agreements are soon to expire. In Indianapolis' case, this would include shifting Fox from WXIN to WIPX-TV (channel 63). In the event that WXIN loses its Fox affiliation, the station may return to independent status. The chances of WXIN keeping its Fox affiliation increased somewhat in October 2017 when Ion elected its stations to have must-carry status instead of retransmission consent, which the FCC ruled Ion must keep for three years. However, must-carry only applies to a main signal, allowing Fox to possibly affiliate with a digital subchannel on WIPX-TV and other Ion stations.