WYMT-TV

WYMT-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Hazard, Kentucky. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter south of the city in Perry County. Owned by Gray Television, the station is sister to Lexington's CBS affiliate WKYT-TV. Although it identifies as a station in its own right, WYMT is considered a semi-satellite of WKYT. It has its own studios on Black Gold Boulevard in Hazard but some internal operations are based at WKYT's studios on Winchester Road (U.S. 60) near the Brighton section of Lexington. WYMT airs its own identifications, commercials, and syndicated programming such as The King of Queens, The Andy Griffith Show, and Family Feud. This station clears all CBS programming except CBS News Sunday Morning and Face the Nation in order to air paid religious programming and college basketball games. However, WKYT clears both shows. One noticeable difference in the stations' schedules is that The Young and the Restless airs on WYMT at the same time as most other affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone at 12:30 pm. WKYT airs it at 9 in the morning because it has an hour-long noon newscast.

WYMT primarily serves 20 counties[1] in the eastern part of Kentucky and several counties in southwest Virginia and western West Virginia. It also appears on cable television in Claiborne County, Tennessee. Although its coverage area includes the far eastern part of the Lexington market, its stated coverage area also includes portions of four different DMAs. The easternmost counties (Pike, Floyd, Martin, Johnson, and Lawrence) are in the Huntington/Charleston, West Virginia market (home territory for sister station and NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV). Letcher and Leslie Counties in Kentucky and Wise County, Virginia are in the Tri-Cities DMA. Bell, Harlan, and McCreary Counties are part of the Knoxville market (home territory for sister station and fellow CBS affiliate WVLT-TV). All other counties in WYMT's viewing area are considered part of the Lexington DMA.

Beginning February 26, 2010 the station stretched non-HD programming from 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 aspect ratio, a process called by some[who?] "Stretch-o-Vision".

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History
It began broadcasting on analog UHF channel 57 as WKYH-TV (meaning KentuckY Hazard) on October 20, 1969 as an NBC affiliate. Prior to its inception, some counties in southeastern Kentucky were among the last remaining parts of the country unable to clearly receive a commercial television signal over-the-air. Kentucky Educational Television had set up a transmitter there the year before. Although this area is considered part of the Lexington market, none of that city's television signals covered the area at the time. Lexington was an all-UHF market, and UHF stations don't get good reception in rugged terrain. This area has long been one of the poorest in the nation, and many people still couldn't afford to buy a television set. Such conditions made the Lexington stations unwilling to set up outlying semi-satellites in this area. Instead, WKYH was founded by local businessman Bill Gorman, who served as mayor of Hazard from 1978 until his death in 2010.[2]

In keeping with the region's strong musical traditions, country, bluegrass, and Southern Gospel music constituted a good part of WKYH's early local programs. These shows lasted well into the 1980s (in the case of the Goins Brothers, as late as 1994) after country-music programs had fallen out of favor even on other Southern stations.

Throughout its entire run as WKYH, the station had a very primitive look. Much of its equipment had been bought as surplus from other stations, and was usually in a poor state of repair after years of use. This was especially true of the transmitter; at times the signal was barely acceptable due to transmitter problems. It didn't even have a character generator for newscasts. The station was unable to get a network feed, forcing station engineers to rely on microwave links from WLEX-TV in Lexington and WCYB-TV in Bristol, Virginia for network programming. WCYB was used as a backup in case WLEX preempted an NBC show to show local programming. Whenever the microwave system failed, WKYH was forced to switch to and from WLEX or WCYB's signal, usually with less-than-satisfactory results. When this happened, WKYH sometimes aired WLEX or WCYB's commercials or station IDs when it was unable to cover them up in time. As such, the station never thrived, even when cable arrived in the area in the early 1980s.

In 1985, Gorman sold the station to Kentucky Central Life Insurance Company, then owner of WKYT. The new owner changed the calls to the current WYMT (meaning We're Your Mountain Television). Around the same time, Kentucky Central had its affiliation changed to CBS to match its new sister station. With wealthier ownership, WYMT was able to build a much more modern studio and a stronger transmitter. When Kentucky Central went bankrupt in 1993, WYMT and WKYT were bought by Gray Communications (now Gray Television). WYMT was assigned VHF channel 12 as its final transmission frequency as part of the Federal Communications Commission-mandated transition to digital broadcasting. One benefit to viewers in the area is that VHF signals "bend" over mountainous terrain better than UHF making reception available over a larger area than was previously available. As of February 17, 2009, WYMT broadcasts are exclusively in digital.

Currently this station, two Christian television stations–WLJC-TV in Beattyville and WAGV in Harlan (a satellite of WLFG in Grundy, Virginia)–along with KET satellites WKHA in Hazard and WKPI in Pikeville are the only full-power stations that can be received over-the-air in much of this region. In addition, WOBZ-LP (which is partially owned by former WKYH weatherman/sportscaster Joey Kesler) is a low-power station serving the London area. There are also several public access cable channels that serve the region.

Newscasts
WYMT's weeknight 11 o'clock news open.In the 1970s as WKYH, the newscasts were known as 57 NewsService. Currently during the week, WYMT produces separate morning, 4, 6, and 11 o'clock newscasts on weekdays. It simulcasts WKYT's weekday noon (though only the first half hour), 5, and 5:30 broadcasts. WYMT doesn't air any weekend newscasts, instead simulcasting WKYT's newscasts. Although that station has been airing newscasts in high definition since April 11, 2007, WYMT simulcasts them in standard definition. In addition to its main studios, it operates two news bureaus and share one with WKYT. This includes the Cumberland Valley Bureau on North 12th Street in Middlesboro and the Big Sandy Bureau on Church Road in Harold. The shared Southern Kentucky Bureau is in Somerset. There are additional WKYT reporters seen on this station.

In WYMT weather segments, it uses regional National Weather Service radar data presented on-screen in a system called "Live Pinpoint Doppler". WKYT operates its own weather radar called "Live First Alert Defender".[3] Sports Overtime is WYMT's weekly sports show that airs on Friday nights from August to April which covers high school athletics. A Saturday edition focusing on college sports was started in 2006 and ran until the station dropped weekend newscasts at the end of October 2008. To replace the loss of the Saturday show, WYMT now airs Sports Overtime Pregame on Thursday nights.

Current on-air staff
+ denotes personnel based at WKYT

Anchors[4] WYMT Sky Alert/WKYT First Alert Meteorologists Sports (all WYMT personnel are seen on Sports Overtime and Sports Overtime Pregame) Reporters
 * + Bill Bryant - weekdays at noon
 * + Barbara Bailey - weekdays at noon
 * Neil Middleton - station GM and weekdays at 4
 * Steve Hensley - news director and weekdays at 4 and 6
 * + Sam Dick - weeknights at 5 and 5:30
 * + Amber Philpott - weeknights at 5 and 5:30
 * Kassidy Stricklett - weeknights at 11
 * Will Puckett - weekday mornings 5-7
 * Connor James - weekend mornings
 * Justin Kase - weekend evenings
 * Andrew Dockery - Chief - weeknights 4, 6, 11
 * Allison Rogers - weekday mornings
 * Arden Gregory - weekends
 * Brandon Robinson - fill-in
 * + Chris Bailey - Chief - weeknights
 * + Jim Caldwell - weekday mornings and noon
 * + Chris Johnson - weekends
 * Marcus Browning - Director - weeknights at 6 and 11
 * Karli Bell - weekends
 * Jimmy Stratman - reporter and fill in
 * Alix Casper-Peak - Big Sandy Bureau
 * Caleb Noe - Cumberland Valley Bureau
 * Phil Pendleton - Southern Kentucky Bureau

Past on-air staff

 * Tony Turner (WYMT news director and anchor) - died in a 2002 car accident while returning from a news story.
 * Jay Crawford (Creator of "Sports Overtime" on WYMT) - currently the host of ESPN2's "First Take".
 * Steve Crabtree (first WYMT news anchor) - now VP News-Station Operations at co-owned WVLT-TV in Knoxville.
 * Darwin Singleton - now host of "Here's Darwin" at Mobile, AL's WPMI.[5]
 * Roger Fannin (former WYMT Big Sandy Bureau Chief), later Station Manager and News Anchor for TV-12 (local access) in Hindman, Kentucky, currently the Agency Manager for Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance in Harlan County.
 * Dave Shuffett (last WKYH news anchor) - now host of KET's "Kentucky Life". [6]
 * Joey Kesler (first full-time WKYH weatherman) - co-owner of WOBZ-LP and WJJA-FM.
 * Jim Freeman (former co-anchor/weather anchor of the WYMT Mountain News This Morning)
 * DeAnn Stephens (former Mountain News This Morning Anchor) - formerly a reporter/anchor at WKYT, now with WBUL-FM in Lexington, Kentucky[7]
 * Scott Dimmich (former morning meteorologist) - now working as a morning meteorologist at WEHT-TV in Evansville, Indiana
 * Scott Burchett (former fill-in weather anchor) - now working in the medical field
 * Susan Nicholas (former WYMT news anchor) - now Thursday through Saturday morning anchor for sister station WSAZ in Huntington, West Virginia.
 * Bill Taylor, first weekend sports anchor. Eastern Kentucky Native.
 * Wes Shirley (Wallace), former morning anchor, now anchor at KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
 * Tony Hensley, former reporter, formerly worked for WTVQ-TV in Lexington
 * Casey (Pigman) Kurtis, former reporter and anchor WYMT, WKYT, now media consultant & continuing education.
 * Hershena Hanshaw, former morning producer and weather anchor
 * MK Combs, former morning weather anchor, now with WDXC-FM in Pound, Virginia
 * Tony Brown, former chief weathercaster - now a full-time fireman and DJ
 * Susannah (Walters) Sizemore - former anchor
 * Jill (Fraley) Hammond - former anchor (currently filling in on Mountain News This Morning a position she held from 1997-2000) works with the Pikeville Independent School System
 * Lindsay Wolfgang Mast - former Big Sandy Bureau Chief - previously worked as a producer at WGCL-TV in Atlanta. Lindsay Mast now co-owns Sublime Photography and SweetSnaps Portrait Parties in Atlanta.
 * Michael Goins - former Big Sandy Bureau Chief - previously served as a spokesperson for former Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Kentucky Education Cabinet and Kentucky Office of State Budget Director. In 2009 Goins co-founded Blue Sky Communications, LLC, a full service marketing, public relations and social media firm based in Georgetown.
 * Beth (Hudson) Goins - former part-time reporter - now works as a Senior PR Specialist with the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center.
 * Melissa (Wireman) Houshell - former 6 p.m. producer - now works in the Public Relations department with the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center.
 * Keith Farmer - former sports anchor/reporter - now works as a sports reporter for WLKY-TV, Louisville.
 * John Lewis - former sports anchor/reporter - now works as a sports reporter for WDRB-TV, Louisville.
 * Julie (Stewart) Lewis - former 6 & 11 p.m. anchor - now resides in Louisville.
 * Shawn Ley - former reporter - now works as a reporter for WKRC-TV, Cincinnati.
 * Doug Korstanje - former Big Sandy Bureau Chief - now Director of Marketing and Community Relations for St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia.
 * Drew Deener - former sports anchor/reporter
 * Jennifer (Nime) Palumbo - former reporter/morning show anchor - now co-anchors 10 pm newscast for WDKY-TV, Lexington.
 * Amber Philpott - former morning anchor - now co-anchors WKYT 27 Newsfirst at 5, 5:30, 6, and 11pm
 * Brandon Hensley - former Sports Director/anchor/reporter - now working on an under-graduate degree at the University of the Cumberlands and working in the school's Sports Information Department. Also doing radio work for WSGS-FM in Hazard.
 * Cassie Safrit - former 11 p.m. anchor/reporter - now weekend anchor/reporter at News 14 Carolina.
 * Heather Haley - former anchor/reporter - now weekend anchor and reporter for WVLT-TV in Knoxville.
 * Matt Barbour - former reporter- now associate producer/morning reporter for WEHT-TV in Evansville, Indiana. Married Kimberly Burcham, former WYMT Morning Anchor.
 * Marie Luby - former 6 p.m. anchor and reporter-now a reporter at WTEN-TV Albany, NY.
 * Kimberly Burcham - former weekday mornings and reporter- now reporter for WEHT-TV in Evansville, Indiana. Married to Matt Barbour, former WYMT reporter.
 * Dara Rees - former reporter - now working in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
 * Rob Hopkins - former weekend and weekday mornings meteorologist
 * Jeff Allen - former Cumberland Valley Bureau Chief - now multimedia reporter at WLEX-18 in Lexington
 * Angela Beavin - former reporter and weeknight anchor at 6 pm - now reporting for WKYT-27 in Lexington
 * Brian Milam - former sports reporter - now covering sports at WKYT-27 in Lexington
 * Michel Mason - former morning anchor/reporter
 * Terry West - former chief weathercaster - now operations manager at 960-AM WQLA in Lafollette, Tennessee
 * Shawn Reynolds - former Producer/Reporter - now a Producer at The Weather Channel in Atlanta, GA

Newscast titles

 * 57 News Service (1970s)
 * 57 Mountain News (1980s-2001)
 * WYMT Mountain News (2001-present)

Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.
 * 57, Proud as a Peacock! (1979-1981, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * 57, Our Pride is Showing (1981-1982, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * We're 57, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * 57 There, Be There (1983-1984, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * 57, Let's All Be There (1984-1985, last localized version of NBC ad campaign)
 * We've Got the Touch on 57 (1985-1986, first localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Share the Spirit on 57 (1986-1987, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * 57 Spirit, oh yes! (1987-1988, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * You Can Feel It on 57 (1988-1989, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Get Ready for 57 (1989-1991, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Sharing the News at Home (1991-2001)
 * Eastern and Southern Kentucky's #1 Source for News (2006-present)