WKYT-TV is the CBS & CW affiliated television station in Lexington, Kentucky, serving the east-central part of Kentucky. Through cable, the station also reaches much of eastern, southern & northern Kentucky. Its transmitter is located in Lexington, east of the intersection of I-75 & US 60. WKYT-TV studios are located at Winchester Road (US 60) and are less than a mile from the studios of competitor WTVQ-TV.
| Lexington, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Lexington, Kentucky |
| Branding | WKYT or 'KYT' (general)
27 Newsfirst (newscasts) CWKYT (DT2) |
| Slogan | Where Your News Comes First |
| Channels | Digital: 36 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 27.1 CBS
27.2 The CW 27.3 WX |
| Affiliations | CBS (secondary until 1968) |
| Owner | Gray Television, Inc.
(Gray Television Licensee, Inc.) |
| First air date | September 30, 1957 |
| Call letters' meaning | 'KentuckY'Television |
| Former callsigns | WKXP-TV (1957-1958) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: |
| Former affiliations | Primary: |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW |
| Height | 298.6 m |
| Facility ID | 24914 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°2′23″N84°24′10″W |
| Website | www.wkyt.com |
Its newscasts are also carried in the areas of northern Kentucky near Cincinnati on Insight Cable channel 422 weekdays at 6 am, noon, 5-6:30, 11 pm & weekends at 6 & 11 pm (although some newscasts, especially at 6 & 11 pm, may be delayed or not seen, due to sporting events carried on CBS, which are carried on WKRC-TV in that area).
WKYT regularly shows University of Kentucky Wildcats sports events which are popular in this market, as the television flagship station of the Big Blue Sports Network[1] and as part of the Southeastern Conference's contracts with CBS and the SEC Network, syndicated byESPN Regional Television.[2]
History[]
WKYT signed on September 30, 1957 as WKXP-TV, owned by Community Broadcast Partners; Frederic Gregg, Charles Wright & Harry Feingold, principals. It was a primary ABC affiliate, sharing CBS programming with WLEX-TV.
In 1958, Taft Broadcasting Corporation bought the station and changed its calls to WKYT-TV. Kentucky Central Insurance Company bought the station in 1967. It lost ABC when WBLG-TV (channel 62, now WTVQ-TV, channel 36) signed on in 1968; and became a full-time CBS affiliate instead.
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 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 am and nightly 10 pm 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.
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.
On Wednesday, April 11, 2007, WKYT aired 27 News First at 11 in HD, becoming the first news station in Kentucky to air the local news in HD.[3] The WDKY newscasts were included in the upgrade. On August 21, 2007, WKYT broadcasts from its second digital channel in HD & CWKYT started broadcasting also in HD. 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 1080i, WKYT's two HD channels were transmitted over-the-air in 720p in order to minimize the loss in image quality (their feeds to cable service 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 remains in HD and WKYT's main channel remains in 720p.
Programming[]
As a CBS affiliate, WKYT clears the entire CBS schedule in addition to its syndicated programming. While most CBS affiliates air The Young and the Restless at 12:30 pm in the Eastern Time Zone, WKYT airs it at 9 am instead. This, in part, is because the noon newscast airs for an entire hour; the 1 pm timeslot is filled in with syndicated programming. WKYT rejoins the CBS Daytime lineup at 1:30 pm with The Bold and the Beautiful.
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.[4] The two stations battle each other for the evening news lead[4] in this historically UHF-exclusive market although much of the local stations' viewership has been via cable because it is difficult for the over-the-air analog UHF signal to penetrate theeastern portion of the market, which is largely rugged, mountainous terrain.
CWKYT[]
The CWKYT which airs on Digital Channel 27.2 and on Insight channel 5, was launched in 2006 replacing UKYT, when CBS and Warner Brothers formed the CW.
The CWKYT branding is a portmanteau of CW & WKYT. Until October 2006, Louisville WB affiliate & future 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 CWKYT.[5] CWKYT can now be seen on DirecTV on channel 14. Baltimore CW station WNUV was the formerly designated WB/CW station for DirecTV in the Lexington market.
Previously, CWKYT was a UPN affiliate under the name "UPN Lexington."
Digital television[]
The station's digital channel, UHF 36, is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| Virtual channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 27.1 | WKYT / CBS in HDTV |
| 27.2 | CWKYT / CWSD |
| 27.3 | First Alert HD Weather (SD) |
On April 16, 2009,[6] WKYT-TV's digital signal remained on channel 13 when the analog to digital conversion completed.[7][8] 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)[9] due to reception issues.[10] The FCC issued a Report & Order approved the petition on October 22.[11] On December 12, 2009, WKYT filed a minor change application for a construction permit, reflecting the channel change.[12] On January 11, 2010, the FCC approved the permit.[13] The switchover to the UHF signal took place on September 1 at 1 pm.[14]
Locally produced programs[]
- Behind the Blue
- Care Central
- Heart of Gold
- Kentucky Newsmakers
- Scholastic Ball Report
- THIS is Kentucky Basketball
- The Rich Brooks Show
- Transylvania Basketball with Brian Lane
- The Matthew Mitchell Show
On-air staff[]
News anchors[]
- Barbara Bailey - weekdays mornings on WKYT This Morning (5-7am)[15][16]
- Bill Bryant - weekday mornings on' WKYT This Morning (5-7am), 10am & noon[15]
- Stacy Ellison - weekday mornings at 10am and noon[15]
- Sam Dick - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 & 11pm
- Amber Philpott - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 & 11pm
- Elizabeth Dorsett - weekends mornings and evenings at 6 & 11pm
27 First Alert Weather[]
- Chris Bailey, Chief Meteorologist - Weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 & 11
- Kari Hall, Meteorologist; weekend mornings and evenings
- Micah Harris, Meteorologist - weekday mornings on WKYT This Morning (5-7a.m.), 10am & noon
Sports team[]
- Rob Bromley - 27 Newsfirst weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 & 11pm
- Lee K. Howard - 27 Newsfirst weekends at 6 and 11
- Dave Baker- sports director; weekdays at noon
- Ryan Lemond
Reporters[]
- Elizabeth Dorsett
- Wendy Enneking
- "Officer Don" Evans (LiveDrive Traffic)
- Tamara Evans
- Cheryl Glassford
- Angela Beavin
- Kristen Kennedy’’’
- Phil Pendleton
- Victor Puente
- Gabriel Roxas
- Dave Spencer
News/station presentation[]
Newscast titles[]
- Eyewitness News (??-1975)
- NewsCenter 27 (1975–1985)
- 27 Newsfirst (1985–2012)
- WKYT News (2012–present)
Station slogans[]
- The Best is Right Here on 27/27 is Easy on the Eyes (1973-1974; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- See The Best TV-27 (1974-1975; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- Catch the Brightest Stars on 27 (1975-1976; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- 27, The Hot Ones! (1976-1977; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- There's Something in the Air on 27 (1977-1978; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- 27, Turn us On, We'll turn you on (1978-1979; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- We're Looking Good on 27 (1979-1980; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- TV-27 and You, You're Looking Good! (1980-1981; local version of 1979-80 CBS ad campaign "Looking Good Together")
- Reach for the Stars on 27 (1981-1982; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- Great Moments of TV-27 (1982-1983; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- We've Got the Touch, You and 27 (1983-1984; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- You and 27, We've Got the Touch (1984-1985; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- You're The Reason (mid 1980s)
- We've got the touch on 27 (1985-1986; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- Share the Spirit of 27 (1986-1987; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- 27 Spirit, oh yes! (1987-1988; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- You Can Feel It on 27 (1988-1989; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- Get Ready for 27 (1989–1991; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- Central Kentucky's News Leader (1991–1993)
- The Look is 27 (1991-1992; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- This is CBS, on 27 (1992-1994; local version of CBS ad campaign)
- Your 24-Hour News Source (1993–1995)
- Where Local News Comes First (1995–2001)
- In Touch With You (2001–2004)
- Where Your News Comes First. (2004–present)
- Your News. First. (2009)
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ "Big Blue Sports Network Affiliates". UKAthletics.com. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ "Affiliate List". Southeastern Conference. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ WKYT 27 NEWSFIRST- First In Local HD
- ^ a b Sloan, Scott (18 April 2010). "Cats top Winter Olympics in TV ratings battle". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Stations Transitioning Before June 12". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved 2009-03-18.[dead link]
- ^ Sloan, Scott (2009-04-14). "KET, WKYT go digital on Thursday". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ "WKYT Goes All Digital Thursday". WKYT-TV. 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
- ^ "Noticed of Proposed Rulemaking". Federal Communications Commission. 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ "WKYT switches to UHF". WKYT-TV. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2010.
- ^ "Report and Order". Federal Communications Commission. 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ Application View ... Redirecting
- ^ "Construction Permit". Federal Communications Commission. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 22 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "WKYT-TV to Upgrade its Digital Channel September 1". WKYT-TV. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
- ^ a b c Sloan, Scott (2009-08-16). "WKYT switching morning team". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Sloan, Scott (2009-11-03). "Barbara Bailey returns to work at WKYT". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2009-11-03.