WKYT-TV

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WKYT-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station in Lexington, Kentucky, serving the east-central part of Kentucky. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 (virtual channel 27.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter east of the intersection of I-75 and U.S. 60 in Lexington. Owned by Gray Television, WKYT maintains studios on Winchester Road (near U.S. 60), within a mile from the studios of competing ABC affiliate WTVQ-DT.

The station is also received on cable throughout much of eastern, southern and northern Kentucky.[1][2] In addition, the station's newscasts (with the exception of the weekday 5-6 a.m. and 10 a.m., and weekend morning programs) are also carried on Insight Communications (now part of Time Warner Cable) digital channel 422 in portions of northern Kentucky located near the Cincinnati metropolitan area (although some newscasts, especially on weekend evenings, may be delayed or preempted due to sporting events carried by CBS, which are carried on WKRC-TV in that area).

History

WKYT signed on September 30, 1957 as WKXP-TV, owned by Community Broadcast Partners, a local group headed by Frederic Gregg, Charles Wright and Harry Feingold. It was a primary CBS affiliate, sharing ABC with WLEX-TV.

After only one year, Community Broadcast Partners merged with what eventually became Taft Broadcasting. The new owners changed the calls to the current WKYT-TV. Taft also switched the station's primary affiliation to ABC, relegating CBS to secondary status. This was a very unusual arrangement for a two-station market, especially one as small as Lexington. In most two-station markets, ABC, as the smallest and weakest network, was relegated to secondary clearances on one or both of the existing stations. However, ABC president Leonard Goldenson had been friends with the Taft family for many years, and it is likely that the Tafts wanted to get their new purchase in line with most of their other stations (including company flagship WKRC-TV in Cincinnati).

Kentucky Central Insurance Company bought the station in 1967. When WBLG-TV (channel 62, now WTVQ-TV, channel 36) signed on in 1968, WKYT opted to return to CBS full-time. In 1985, Kentucky Central bought WKYH-TV in Hazard, changed its calls to WYMT-TV and made it a semi-satellite of WKYT. While WYMT has its own studios in Hazard and airs its own newscasts, some internal operations are shared with WKYT. WKYT was the first, and at present only, Lexington station with any presence at all in the eastern portion of the market.

In 1993, after a protracted fraud investigation forced Kentucky Central into bankruptcy, WKYT and WYMT were acquired by Gray Television. At this stage WKYT became on air as 'KYT' instead of WKYT. WKYT's digital signal is transmitted on UHF channel 36. It was originally assigned to VHF channel 13, but due to reception problems, WKYT moved to the UHF signal in September 2010.

File:Wkyt27Newsfirst.jpg
Former WKYT logo, used from 2001 to 2012.

On August 21, 2007, WKYT began broadcasting its "CWKYT" second digital subchannel in high definition. This made it one of a handful of stations in the country who transmit their main channel and at least one subchannel in HD. However, although both CBS and The CW prefer their programming be broadcast at 1080i resolution, WKYT's two HD channels were transmitted over-the-air in 720p in order to minimize the loss in image quality (feeds to cable providers use the full 1080i). Since the move to digital channel 36 in September 2010, CWKYT's over-the-air transmission reverted to 4:3 SD, although the digital cable feed remained in HD and WKYT's main channel remained in 720p. As of June 18, 2013, WKYT's main signal has been upgraded to full 1080i HD and The CW Lexington signal was upgraded to 720p HD.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[3]
27.1 1080i 16:9 WKYT-HD Main WKYT-TV programming / CBS
27.2 720p CWKYT The CW
27.3 480i 4:3 RADAR "First Alert Defender" radar

Analog-to-digital conversion

WKYT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 27, on April 16, 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 13.[4][5][6][7] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 27. On August 22, 2009, WKYT-DT filed a petition of rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move to digital UHF channel 36 (once used by WTVQ with its analog operations)[8] due to reception issues.[9] The FCC issued a Report & Order approved the petition on October 22.[10] On December 12, 2009, WKYT filed a minor change application for a construction permit, reflecting the channel change.[11] On January 11, 2010, the FCC approved the permit.[12] The switchover to the UHF signal took place on September 1 at 1 pm.[13]

CW Lexington

CWKYT logo September 2006-January 2013.

"The CW Lexington" is a CW-affiliated digital subchannel, which airs on digital channel 27.2 and is available on cable on Insight channel 5; the subchannel was originally branded as "UPN Lexington" (or "UKYT") and served as Lexington's UPN affiliate until September 2006. That month, the subchannel was rebranded as "CWKYT" (a portmanteau of the subchannel's affiliated network and the station's callsign) until January 2013. Until October 2006, Louisville WB affiliate (now CW affiliate) WBKI was available on Lexington cable systems; WBKI was later dropped from Insight systems in the Lexington area, to accommodate for the new CW.[14] CW Lexington can now be seen on DirecTV channel 14, Dish Network channel 28, Insight channel 5, and on Time Warner channel 99. Baltimore CW station WNUV was the formerly designated WB/CW station for DirecTV in the Lexington market. The CW Lexington also airs Xploration Station on Sunday mornings.

Programming

As a CBS affiliate, WKYT clears the network's entire program schedule, in addition to the station's syndicated programming and local newscasts. Although most CBS-affiliated stations in the Eastern Time Zone air The Young and the Restless at 12:30 p.m., WKYT instead airs the soap opera at 1 p.m. due to its hour-long midday newscast at noon. As such, The Bold and the Beautiful also airs at 10:30 a.m. (two hours earlier than the network's recommended Eastern Time Zone slot), following the station's 10 a.m. newscast.

WKYT regularly broadcasts University of Kentucky Wildcats sporting events, due partly to its status as the television flagship of the UK Sports Network (historically the Big Blue Sports Network)[15] and also due to the Southeastern Conference's broadcast contracts with CBS Sports and the ESPN Plus-operated syndication service SEC Network (now SEC TV), which will cease operations in 2014 because of the launch of the new SEC Network, which will only be available on cable and/or satellite.[16] WKYT, along with WYMT-TV also broadcast the SEC syndication package under the Jefferson Pilot Sports, Lincoln Financial and Raycom Sports banners from the 1980s until Raycom's loss of the SEC in 2009.[17] It gained a major ratings windfall in 1981-82 when CBS won the rights to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. With UK as a longtime fixture in the tournament, NCAA Tournament games on WKYT are frequently among the most-watched programs in the market during the tournament's run.

Locally produced programs

News operation

WKYT also holds Kentucky's most powerful doppler radar, known as the "27 First Alert Defender", which outruns NBC affiliate WLEX-TV's radar. WKYT has a news share agreement with the local Fox affiliate WDKY-TV (which is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group) and produces weekday morning 7:00 a.m. and nightly 10:00 p.m. newscasts for that station. The prime-time newscast debuted in 1995 when Fox requested its affiliates to air local news. The morning newscast was added in March 2007.

On April 11, 2007, WKYT began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, beginning with the 11:00 p.m. newscast, becoming the first station in Kentucky to carry local newscasts in HD.[18] The WDKY newscasts were included in the upgrade. In late 2012 WKYT dropped the 27 Newsfirst name they have used for decades. They rebranded themselves WKYT and they have new graphics and use Gari Media Group's CBS Enforcer News Music package.

On November 10, 2012, WKYT launched a new weekend morning newscast from 6:00-8:00 a.m. on Saturdays and from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on Sundays.[19] In early February 2013, WKYT launched an hour-long 4:00 p.m. newscast, previously they had a 35-minute online-only newscast which was named "27Newsfirst Live Online" which aired at 4:00pm and then they decided to air it on TV at 4:00, but the only one for an hour-long, (as WLEX airs it's 4:00 p.m. newscasts for 30 minutes).[20]

Ratings

WKYT leads in total-day and late-night news ratings except during times when the Olympics air on NBC. That network's local affiliate WLEX-TV leads weekday mornings.[21] The two stations battle each other for the evening news lead[21] in this historically UHF-exclusive market. Most of the local stations' viewership has been via cable; even in digital, it is difficult for the over-the-air analog UHF signals to penetrate the far eastern portion of the market, which is largely rugged, mountainous terrain. WKYT relies mainly on WYMT to cover this part of the market.

Currently, WKYT has the highest-rated 11:00 p.m. newscast in the market, but runs second in late night news to the 10:00 p.m. newscast it produces for WDKY.

Notable former on-air staff

Out of market coverage

WKYT's over-the-air signal can be picked up in some of the Louisville market's easternmost counties like Nelson, Washington, Marion, Henry and Shelby counties, thereby creating some competition between WKYT and Louisville's CBS affiliate WLKY-TV because of that station's close proximity to the Lexington area. WKYT is also available over-the-air in the southernmost counties/areas of the Cincinnati market.

Duo County Telecom, based in Jamestown, carries WKYT's main subchannel on their cable system serving Adair,[24] Cumberland,[25] and Russell counties.[26] Russell County is considered to be within WKYT's local market, but Adair County is considered to be in the Louisville market, and Cumberland County is within the Nashville, Tennessee DMA. WKYT is also carried on Time Warner Cable and Armstrong Cable systems in the Ashland area, which is in the Charleston/Huntington, West Virginia media market. In addition, WLEX, along with WLEX, is available in the Jellico, Tennessee area, which is in the Knoxville media market.

At one time from the 1990s until 2010, WKYT was also available on the cable system of Glasgow, Kentucky-based South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative, which serves the eastern half of the Bowling Green media market, where CBS programming would be served by either WNKY-DT2 or Nashville, Tennessee CBS affiliate WTVF.

References

  1. ^ Time Warner Cable Channel Lineup - Metro Lexington, KY area Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Frankfort Plant Board - Preferred Cable Lineup
  3. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WKYT
  4. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  5. ^ "Stations Transitioning Before June 12" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2009-03-18.[dead link]
  6. ^ Sloan, Scott (2009-04-14). "KET, WKYT go digital on Thursday". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  7. ^ "WKYT Goes All Digital Thursday". WKYT-TV. 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  8. ^ "Noticed of Proposed Rulemaking" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  9. ^ "WKYT switches to UHF". WKYT-TV. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
  10. ^ "Report and Order" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  11. ^ Application View ... Redirecting
  12. ^ "Construction Permit" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010.[dead link]
  13. ^ "WKYT-TV to Upgrade its Digital Channel September 1". WKYT-TV. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  14. ^ An e-mail query from a Wikipedia member to WBKI Chief Operating Officer Carol LaFever led to news that, due to a condition of WBKI's affiliation agreement, that station must vacate the channel on Insight Lexington for CWKYT. WBKI can still be seen over the air in much of the Lexington DMA & on about 20 other cable systems in that market, but not on Insight in Lexington.
  15. ^ "UK IMG Sports Network Affiliates". UKAthletics.com. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  16. ^ "Affiliate List". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  17. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/19970105070602/http://www.jpsports.com/sec_sch.htm
  18. ^ WKYT 27 NEWSFIRST- First In Local HD
  19. ^ Knox, Merill (November 9, 2012). "WKYT Launches Weekend Morning Newscasts". TVSpy. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  20. ^ http://www.kentucky.com/2013/02/04/2503186/wkyt-adds-daily-4-pm-newscast.html
  21. ^ a b Sloan, Scott (18 April 2010). "Cats top Winter Olympics in TV ratings battle". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  22. ^ "Reggie Aqui joins CNN.com as ˜Now in the News' anchor". Media Life Magazine. 28 August 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  23. ^ "Emily Gimmel bio". WKYT-TV. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  24. ^ Duo County Telecom - Channel Guide for Adair County
  25. ^ Duo County Telecom - Channel Guide for Cumberland County, KY
  26. ^ Duo County Telecom - Channel Guide for Russell County

External links

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