WLEX-TV

WLEX-TV
Lexington, Kentucky
Branding	LEX 18 (general) LEX 18 News (newscasts)
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	Digital: 39 (UHF) Virtual: 18 (PSIP)
Subchannels	18.1 NBC 18.2 Wazoo Sports Network
Affiliations	NBC Wazoo Sports Network (secondary)
Owner	Evening Post Publishing Company (WLEX Communications, LLC)
First air date	March 15, 1955
Call letters' meaning	LEXington
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 18 (1955-2009)
Former affiliations	All secondary: DuMont (1955) CBS (1955-1968) ABC (1955-1957)
Transmitter power	475 kW (digital)
Height	286 m (digital)
Facility ID	73203
Transmitter coordinates	38°2′3″N 84°23′39″W(digital)
Website	LEX18.com

WLEX-TV, channel 18, is the NBC affiliate for Lexington, Kentucky and the East-Central Kentucky region. Its transmitter is located in Southern Lexington near Hamburg Pavilion on WTVQ-DT's tower. WLEX-TV's studio is on Russell Cave Road in northern Fayette County.

History[]

Channel 18 signed on March 15, 1955 as Lexington's first television station and the third in Kentucky (following Louisville's WAVE-TV andWHAS-TV). It was co-owned with WLEX radio (1300 AM, now WLXG) and carried programming from all four networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, andDuMont). The DuMont network went out of business later that year. In 1957 ABC programming moved to WKXP-TV (channel 27, now WKYT-TV). In 1968 CBS moved to WKYT when WBLG-TV (now WTVQ-TV) signed on and took the ABC affiliation, making WLEX a full-time NBC affiliate.

In November, 2009, it was announced that WLEX has partnered with online sports site Wazoo Sports to form the Wazoo Sports Network. The new regional television network will be dedicated to carrying live coverage of Kentucky High School sporting events, as well as classic coverage of past high school & college events. The network can be seen on the Lexington-area digital cable outlet, as well as on WLEX digital subchannel 18.2.^[1]^[2]

Firsts[]

First tower over 600 feet in Kentucky (December, 1954)
First station to broadcast a test pattern in Lexington (January 19, 1955)
First station to broadcast programming in Lexington (March 15, 1955)
First Kentucky commercial station to regularly schedule an educational program (Zemanski and White Physics, 1959; Anthropology I, September, 1959)
First television broadcast of University of Kentucky basketball –DePaul University, from Chicago, February 18, 1956 (DePaul won 81-79)
First station to air regularly-scheduled church service telecast in Kentucky (Immanuel Baptist)
First station in Kentucky to broadcast in full-color and first full-color UHF in the United States (November 15, 1962)
First station in Lexington to have a female news anchor, Sue Hackett Wylie (April, 1968)
First station in Kentucky to produce a computer-generated program log (July, 1968)
First commercial station in Lexington to use broadcast-quality Electronic News Gathering, ENG, (October, 1978)
First station in Lexington to air a Saturday morning newscast (July 4, 1992)
First station in Lexington to air an hour-long weekly morning newscast (July 6, 1992)
First station in Kentucky and Lexington to announce the appointment of John Calipari as the head coach of the University of Kentucky Basketball program on March 31, 2009 at 6:45pm.^{[citation needed]}
First station in Lexington and the Ohio Valley with a "Live" Doppler, The Maxtrack Live Doppler in 2004.
In September 2007, Kristie Kubovic became the first woman in Kentucky to receive the American Meteorological Society's CBM seal. This seal is an upgrade to the AMS seal.
First station in Lexington to launch a 7:00 p.m. newscast.^[3]
On September 7, 2010, WLEX will be the first station in Lexington to have a on-the-air 4 p.m. newscast.^[4]

Digital television[]

At 7am EDT on June 12, 2009, WLEX-TV's digital signal remained on channel 39 when the analog to digital conversion was completed. The digital signal originates from the tower that also transmits the WTVQ-TV signal.^[5] ^[6]

News operation[]

In the Spring of 2007, WLEX-TV became the second station in Lexington and the entire state of Kentucky to broadcast local newscasts in high definition, and it debuted a new set in preparation for the transition. The station had used their famous "Skyline" set for 12 years until they updated it in May 2007. The station uses 615 Music's In-Sink as its news music package, which they have used for 11 years. WLEX's graphics are made by Giant Octopus and feature the NBC peacock logo.

Current Newscasts[]

Monday-Friday

LEX 18 News @ Sunrise (5:00AM – 7:00AM)
LEX 18 News @ Noon
LEX 18 News @ 12:30
LEX 18 News @ 4:00
LEX 18 News @ 5:00
LEX 18 News @ 5:30
LEX 18 News @ 6:00
LEX 18 News Evening Edition (7:00PM – 7:30PM)
LEX 18 News @ 11:00

Saturday & Sunday

LEX 18 News @ 6:00PM
LEX 18 News @ 11:00PM

Awards[]

WLEX-TV is number 1 in the Lexington-Fayette market.
It has won nine AP awards and voted best newscast in Kentucky out of all the stations in Kentucky.
WLEX also won the Best Television Website two years in a row.
LEX 18 News is voted best newscast for Morning, Noon, Evening, and Nightly news.

News/Station presentation[]

Newscast titles[]

WLEX-TV News (1960s–1969)
Dateline News (1969–1970s)
Eyewitness News (1970s)
Action News (1970s–1980s)
18 News (1980s–1994)
18 Action News (1994–2000)
LEX 18 News (2000–present)

Station slogans[]

WLEX-TV, Lexington's Color Station (1966–1970)
This is TV-18 (early 1970s)
Lexington Turns Us On (mid 1970s)
The Big One-Eight (late 1970s)
WLEX-TV 18, Your Action News Station (late 1970s)
WLEX-TV, Proud As A Peacock! (1979–1981; local version of NBC ad campaign)
Channel 18, Our Pride Is Showing (1981-1982; local version of NBC ad campaign)'
We`re LEX-TV, Just Watch Us Now (1982-1983; local version of NBC ad campaign)
LEX-TV There, Be There! (1983-1984; local version of NBC ad campaign)
The News People (1980s)
WLEX, Let's All Be There (1984–1986; local version of NBC ad campaign)
Come Home to Channel 18 (1986–1987; local version of NBC ad campaign)
Come on Home to Channel 18 (1987–1988; local version of NBC ad campaign)
Come Home To The Best, WLEX (1988–1990; local version of NBC ad campaign)
WLEX, is The Place To Be! (1990–1992; local version of NBC ad campaign)
Central Kentucky's 18 (1991–2000)
It`s A Whole New Channel 18 (1992-1993; local version of NBC ad campaign)
The Stars Are Back on LEX-TV (1993-1994; local version of NBC ad campaign)
Coverage You Can Count On (2000–2012)
Count on LEX 18 (2012–present)

Personalities[]

Anchors[]

Kevin Christopher, Weeknights @ 5, 5:30, 6, and 11
Nancy Cox-Kenny, Weeknights @ 5, 5:30, 6, Evening Edition, and 11
Dia Davidson, Weekdays @ Noon, 12:30, 4:00 & 5:30
Chris Goodman, LEX 18 News @ Sunrise, Noon, & 12:30
Nicole Pence, LEX 18 News @ Sunrise
Devon Patton, LEX 18 News @ 4:00
Lee Cruse, LEX 18 News @ Sunrise & 12:30
Kristen Pflum, Weekdays @ 4:00 & 5:30

Nikki Burdine, Weekends @ 6 & 11:00

StormTracker Weather[]

Bill Meck, (AMS & NWA) Chief Meteorologist Weeknights at 5, 6, Evening Edition & 11
Tom Ackerman, (CBM) Meteorologist @ Sunrise, Noon, & 12:30
Mat Ortiz, Meteorologist, Weekends 6 and 11
Lindsay Schwarzwaelder- Meteorologist; Weekdays at 4 & weeknights at 5:30pm

Sports[]

Alan Cutler-Weeknights at 5, 6 and 11
Mary Jo Perino-Weekends at 6 & 11
Brent Carney

Reporters[]

Jeff Allen
Adam Baker
Josh Breslow
Jackie Congedo
Lee Cruse
Courtney Fischer
Jennifer Hoff
Janice Park
Leigh Searcy
Bianca Spinosa
Chris Sutter
Jamie Weiss

Former Anchors/Reporters[]

Tom Hammond
Heather Higdon
Richard Lom
Richard Devayne
Amanda Hara
Chase Cain
Molly Grantham
Kevin Wuzzardo
Ryan Lemond
Phil Miller
Angelica St. John

Kentucky Derby Coverage[]

LEX 18 News has brought Central Kentucky live coverage of the Kentucky Derby since 2000 when LEX 18 signed a contract with NBC Sports. In 2005, LEX 18 Renewed the contract and they are still bringing All-day coverage of the Derby with their "Derby Crew". No other Lexington stations currently broadcast Derby Day coverage due to contract rights.

Out of Market Coverage[]

In Tennessee, WLEX and many other Lexington television stations are carried in Jellico. WLEX is also available in Ashland, Kentucky, which is in the Charleston/Huntington, West Virginia market.