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WBKO
Channels
BrandingWBKO 13; WBKO News
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
June 3, 1962
(62 years ago) (1962-06-03)
Former call signs
WLTV (1962–1971)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 13 (VHF, 1962–2009)
  • Digital: 33 (UHF, 2001–2009)
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID4692
ERP46.5 kW
HAAT220.5 m (723 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°3′49.4″N 86°26′6.7″W / 37.063722°N 86.435194°W / 37.063722; -86.435194
Translator(s)WBGS-LD 34.2 (UHF) Bowling Green[3]
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wbko.com

WBKO (channel 13) is a television station in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox, and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Telemundo affiliate WBGS-LD (channel 34). The two stations maintain studios on Russellville Road (US 68/KY 80) near its junction with Interstate 165 on the west side of Bowling Green. The transmitter facility is located along Kentucky Route 185 (Richardsville Road) in unincorporated northern Warren County.

WBKO went on the air in 1962 as WLTV; after five years without a network affiliation, it has been aligned with ABC since 1967. In 1969, WLTV's tower was blown off its base in a dynamiting incident. The station was sold the next year and new transmission facilities built, emerging as the only source of television news and information for much of south-central Kentucky for most of its history. It has been owned by Gray since 2002.

History

As WLTV

In 1956, two groups filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build a television station on channel 13 in Bowling Green, the only allotted VHF channel for southern Kentucky.[4] The first group to file was Sarkes Tarzian, who owned television stations in Indiana.[5] A second application followed shortly thereafter, from George A. Brown Jr., the Kentucky representative for Nashville-based General Shoe Corporation.[6] It was not until February 1957 that the commission designated the applications against each other for comparative hearing,[7] and it took another 18 months for a hearing examiner to give the initial nod for the channel to Tarzian, citing his superior programming plans and broadcast experience as a factor that outweighed the local ownership represented by Brown.[8] Brown appealed the initial decision, and the FCC granted him the permit in 1959.[9]

Taking the call letters WITB (changed before launch to WLTV), Brown and his wife Nellie incorporated the Argus Broadcasting Corporation in 1960 along with Joe Walters, a former RCA engineer.[10][11] Construction of studios and a transmission facility began in early 1961 at a site 12 miles (19 km) north of Bowling Green, near Hadley, on U.S. 231.[12][13]

WLTV made its debut on June 3, 1962. It was an independent station for its first five years of operation, with productions including live wrestling, musical shows, and news,[10] befitting the slogan "Wonderfully Live Television".[13]: 251  One children's program, Sundown and Friends, used live animals raised at the station site at Hadley.[13]: 312  The station continued without network programming for nearly five years before finally obtaining ABC affiliation in January 1967. Programs were received by off-air pickup and by a private microwave link that fed ABC affiliate WSIX-TV in Nashville to new studios in the former National Guard armory in downtown Bowling Green.[14][15]

1969 tower dynamiting incident

At 2 a.m. on September 26, 1969, residents throughout Bowling Green and surrounding Warren County heard a blast. When the sun came up, the transmitter engineer saw that the WLTV tower was leaning 15 degrees, having bowed in the middle, after an estimated 48 sticks of dynamite were set off at the base of the station's 603-foot (184 m) mast. Windows shook at the transmitter building, where debris from the explosion punctured holes in the roof, and in two surrounding homes; as the engineer had already left for the night, there were no injuries.[16]

The investigation centered on one possible reason. WLTV had in recent months become known for editorials on crime in the Bowling Green area.[17] However, there was little information for an investigation to go on.[18] A grand jury was convened in October, to which WLTV's news director testified,[19] but no charges resulted; much of the evidence was destroyed by the blast itself.[20]

Meanwhile, efforts immediately began to restore service from WLTV. With the microwave link to the Armory studios severed, equipment was carted back up to the transmitter site to permit limited local broadcasts,[17] and a makeshift antenna out of chicken wire was tested.[21] The damaged mast was purposely brought down October 1,[22] permitting workers to begin erecting a temporary 150-foot (46 m) tower; an antenna was shipped by air freight from California.[23] From these facilities, WLTV returned to the air on October 6.[24][25]

WBKO

In February 1970, Argus reached a deal to sell WLTV to Professional Telecasting Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of the Lincoln International Corporation of Louisville.[26] Professional Telecasting immediately promised to complete the task of rebuilding the station to provide full-power service again and to begin color broadcasts; at the time, the only color programs seen on WLTV were rebroadcast from ABC.[27] The $1 million transaction[28] was approved by the FCC in June.[29]

Professional Telecasting opted to rebuild WLTV's transmission facility at a site to the south of Bowling Green, near Richardsville, instead of to the north. This was because many Bowling Green TV antennas were pointed south to receive Nashville stations.[30] In order to complement the technical overhaul, the owners also filed to change the call letters to WBKO.[31] In February 1971, WBKO adopted the new call sign[26] and activated the new transmission facility, which had come as part of hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital improvements.[32][33]

In 1976, Lincoln International sold WBKO to Bluegrass Media, a company led by general manager Clyde Payne and a group of local businessmen.[34] Under Bluegrass ownership, WBKO made plans to build new studio facilities in 1981 on the site of a former drive-in movie theater.[35][36] However, these never came to fruition. The Payne group sold WBKO in 1983 to Benedek Broadcasting, with Payne remaining as general manager.[37] In 1985, the station relocated to its current studio facility on Russellville Road; ABC programming began to be received via satellite soon afterwards.[13]: 312 

Payne would prove to be a long-lasting leader at WBKO and a national figure, serving on the board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters and as president of the ABC affiliates board.[38] In 1977, Arbitron classified Bowling Green as its own area of dominant influence for the first time, carving it out of Nashville; WBKO was the only commercial station in the new ADI.[39] Nielsen Media Research followed suit in 1985, constituting the Bowling Green designated market area.[13]: 313  Payne led the station through the start of the first competing local commercial outlet in Bowling Green, WQQB (channel 40, later WKNT and now WNKY), in December 1989. He also refused to air NYPD Blue when ABC debuted the show in 1993; while there were 48 affiliates that refused to air it, Payne was their most visible representative, appearing on an episode of Donahue, where he was jeered at for telling the New York audience that the show "just doesn't work in Bowling Green".[40] In 1997, with television content ratings now a reality, Payne opted to begin carrying Blue on WBKO; in the meantime, WKNT had been airing the program.[41] Later that year, Payne left his role as general manager to work directly for Benedek corporate.[42]

In 1998, as part of a group deal with Benedek,[43] WBKO and local cable providers started "WBWG" (later known as "WB12"), a local feed of The WB 100+ Station Group for the Bowling Green area, with WBKO providing sales and promotional opportunities to the venture.[44][45] It also replaced WKRN-TV on cable.[46]

Gray ownership

In the early 2000s, financial problems developed at Benedek. The early 2000s recession dented ad sales and caused the company to be unable to pay interest on a set of bonds issued in 1996, prompting a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[47] Most of Benedek's stations, including WBKO, were sold to Gray Communications Systems—today's Gray Television—of Albany, Georgia. Gray was already familiar with WBKO; in 1997, it had analyzed potentially trading for WBKO as part of a swap of other stations in small Southern markets.[48]

Under Gray, WBKO added a Fox subchannel in September 2006; WKNT (now WNKY) had previously carried Fox from 1992 to 2001 before switching to NBC, but on cable, viewers were receiving WZTV from Nashville.[49] Later in the same month, the WB cable channel affiliated with The CW and became a third subchannel of WBKO.[50]

WBKO has continued to be a market leader and one of the most-viewed small-market stations in the United States. In 2008, it was the second-highest-rated ABC affiliate in a market ranked above 100,[51] and in 2018, it accounted for 76.1 percent of all local TV advertising revenue in Bowling Green.[52]: 33  By 2020, it produced 26 hours a week of local news programming.[52]: 25 

Out-of-market coverage

WBKO's signal extends well past the six counties that constitute the Bowling Green television market proper and into dozens of communities in south central Kentucky, including Central City, Hopkinsville, Russellville, Leitchfield, and Elizabethtown, as well as some areas between Nashville and Bowling Green.[53] Even though these communities are drawn into adjacent media markets such as Evansville, Louisville, Lexington or Nashville, WBKO had a long history on cable in these areas, and some of them are part of the Bowling Green metropolitan area or participate in regional economic development efforts centered on Bowling Green. When a new ABC affiliation agreement in 2014 required that WBKO no longer grant cable providers serving some of these out-of-market areas the ability to rebroadcast the station in its entirety, they invested in expensive switching equipment to air WBKO's local programming alongside the network and syndicated offerings from the in-market ABC station.[54] Providers in some of these communities petitioned the FCC to modify WBKO's statutory television market to include them, so as to provide full-time WBKO service (though subject to syndication exclusivity) as they had prior to 2014; they cited viewership information, coverage provided by WBKO of their areas, and, for those areas drawn into the Nashville market, the provision of Kentucky information into "orphan counties" primarily served by television stations in another state. The FCC agreed with the providers and modified WBKO's market to allow full-time cable carriage in these areas.[54]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WBKO[55]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
13.1 720p 16:9 WBKO-HD Main WBKO programming / ABC
13.2 WBKO-FX Fox
13.3 480i WBKO-CW South Central Kentucky CW
13.4 Circle Circle
13.5 Oxygen Oxygen

Translator

WBKO operates Telemundo-affiliated sister station WBGS-LD (channel 34), which also functions as a digital translator for WBKO's main channel. This allows homes with issues receiving WBKO's VHF signal in the immediate Bowling Green area or only a UHF antenna to receive WBKO in some form.[3]

Analog-to-digital conversion

On December 8, 2008, at 1:15 a.m., the station turned off its analog transmitter.[56] This early shutdown was done to allow the station to prepare final replacement of its pre-transition digital facility, on UHF channel 33, with the present VHF digital transmission equipment.[57] Work was planned to be completed by Christmas, but inclement weather and a planned holiday break for the tower crew meant work was not completed until the start of 2009.[58][59]

References

  1. ^ "Sunday Prime Time". The Park City Daily News. February 19, 1995. p. 10-D. Retrieved June 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBKO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ a b "Digital TV Market Listing for WBGS-LD". July 1, 2021. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  4. ^ "2 Television Frequencies Assigned To City". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. March 23, 1951. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Firm Seeks Channel 13 For Local TV Station". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. April 15, 1956. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Second Application Filed With FCC For TV Channel 13 Here". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. May 17, 1956. p. 10. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "FCC To Hold Hearing On Applications For TV Station Here". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. February 25, 1957. p. 5. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Tarzian Gets FCC Nod In Bid For Local TV Station". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. September 9, 1958. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Brown Granted Local TV Permit By FCC". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. October 8, 1959. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "TV Station Goes On Air Next Sunday". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. May 27, 1962. p. 3. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Firm Planning TV Station Here Is Incorporated". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. June 13, 1960. p. 5. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Construction Of TV Station Due To Begin Soon". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. February 26, 1961. p. 7. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c d e Nash, Francis M. (1995). Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State (PDF). Host Communications Incorporated. ISBN 9781879688933. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  14. ^ "Live Programs In 6 Months: WLTV Announces ABC Affiliation". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. January 20, 1967. p. 1, 8. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Station Due To Carry ABC TV Programs". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. March 2, 1967. p. 9. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Rash, A. V. (September 26, 1969). "WLTV Tower Is Blasted By Dynamite". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 1, 18. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b Ryan, Ed (September 27, 1969). "Bowling Green Station's TV Tower Is Dynamited". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. B1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Little Information In Blast Probe". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. October 1, 1969. p. 3. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Grand Jury Opens WLTV Blast Probe". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. October 13, 1969. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Ryan, Ed (October 30, 1969). "Blast Probe Tough, Warren Sheriff Finds". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. C1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Rash, A. V. (September 28, 1969). "Engineers Seek To Return WLTV To Air: KBA Offers Reward In Blast". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 1, 16. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Tower Falls; Traffic Begins To Move". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. October 2, 1969. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "WLTV To Try Return To Air This Weekend". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. October 3, 1969. p. 8. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "TV Station Due To Return To Air Today". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. October 6, 1969. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Bowling Green WLTV on Air". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. October 7, 1969. p. 28. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ a b FCC History Cards for WBKO
  27. ^ Rash, A. V. (February 17, 1970). "To Louisville Firm: Contract Signed For Sale Of WLTV". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 1, 10. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Application Filed Seeking Transfer Of WLTV License". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. April 17, 1970. p. 5. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "FCC Okays TV Station Sale". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. June 18, 1970. p. 2. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Airport Zoning Board Okays 603-Foot Television Tower". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. August 19, 1970. p. 4. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "WLTV Asks Change In Call Letters". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. September 27, 1970. p. 16. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Brown, Mike (January 17, 1971). "Bowling Green station ready with new tower, programming". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. B1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "WBKO Begins Transmissions From New Tower". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. February 7, 1971. p. 6. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ "WBKO is sold". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. May 9, 1976. p. 6. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "WBKO-TV plans new facilities". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. July 11, 1980. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Allen Construction Co. to design and build new WBKO-TV office and studio facilities". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. October 13, 1980. p. 3-B. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ "WBKO sale approved". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. February 23, 1983. p. 2-A. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ "Television executive honored by academy". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. June 3, 1996. p. A-5. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ "Bowling Green, Ky" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1978. p. B-12. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  40. ^ Gay, Verne (October 5, 1993). "New Yorkers razz a Kentucky TV manager: Donahue's Audience Likes Its Boys in 'Blue'". Newsday. New York, New York. p. 80. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "With ratings system in place, WBKO to carry 'NYPD Blue'". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. January 2, 1997. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ "WBKO-TV will get new general manager Aug. 1". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. July 30, 1997. p. 8-A. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ Spring, Greg (September 16, 1996). "WeB Cable forms initial partnerships". Electronic Media. pp. 1, 30.
  44. ^ O'Steen, Kathleen (September 22, 2003). The WB's Radical Genesis (PDF). p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 16, 2015. Retrieved July 12, 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  45. ^ "Stations Index". theWB.com. the WB. October 7, 2001. Archived from the original on October 7, 2001. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  46. ^ Overstreet, Melinda J. (September 18, 1998). "BG to have only local WB station in Kentucky". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 11-A. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  47. ^ McClellan, Steve; Trigoboff, Dan (April 1, 2002). "Benedek couldn't hang on". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  48. ^ James, Mike (July 6, 1997). "WBKO-TV owners explore potential for a station trade". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 9-A. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. ^ Cetawayo, Ameerah (February 21, 2006). "WBKO FOX coming to region". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 3A. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  50. ^ "WBKO-TV to Launch Fox and CW". News-Democrat and Leader. Russellville, Kentucky. August 25, 2006. p. B-5. Archived from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  51. ^ White, Gary (February 7, 2008). "Re: Media Bureau Docket 07-18" (PDF). FCC ECFS. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  52. ^ a b Fratrik, Mark R. (September 23, 2020). "The Impact on the Amount of News Programming from Consolidation in the Local Television Station Industry" (PDF). BIA Advisory Services. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  53. ^ "Maps of Full-powered Television stations – Bowling Green, Kentucky" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 27, 2010.
  54. ^ a b "DA 17-1183 Memorandum Opinion and Order" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. December 7, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
  55. ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for WBKO". August 14, 2016. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  56. ^ "WBKO Shuts Down Analog Signal". WBKO. December 8, 2008. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  57. ^ Minor, Robyn L. (November 9, 2008). "WBKO to switch to digital next month". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 3A. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  58. ^ "Digital Transition". WBKO. December 19, 2008. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
  59. ^ Mink, Jenna (January 21, 2009). "Some scratching their heads over digital switch". The Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 3A. Archived from the original on July 13, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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