A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.
78-855: WLEX-TV (channel 18) is a television station in Lexington, Kentucky , United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company . The station's studios are located on Russell Cave Road ( KY 353 ) in Lexington, and its transmitter is located six miles (10 km) east of downtown Lexington near Hamburg Pavilion . WLEX-TV began broadcasting in March 1955 as the first television station in Lexington, primarily an NBC affiliate for its entire history. Its founding ownership retained ownership for 44 years until it sold to Cordillera Communications in 1999; Scripps acquired it in 2019. It has generally been competitive in news ratings throughout its history. When
156-689: A barter in some cases. WTVQ-DT WTVQ-DT (channel 36) is a television station in Lexington, Kentucky , United States, affiliated with ABC and MyNetworkTV . Owned by Morris Multimedia , the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on the outer loop of Man o' War Boulevard (KY 1425) in the Brighton section of Fayette County , across Winchester Road from the studios of unrelated station WKYT-TV . The station began broadcasting on channel 62 as WBLG-TV in 1968 and has been an ABC affiliate for its entire history. It changed its call letters to WTVQ in 1973 and moved to channel 36 in 1980. With
234-584: A test pattern . Forty minutes later, the national anthem was broadcast, completing the move to channel 36. WTVQ's old channel 62 transmitter was sold to a group that intended on starting a new station on channel 61 in Ashland, Kentucky (the transmitter would be retuned for use on that channel). (Channel 62, which remained allocated to Lexington and was not moved to Glasgow as originally proposed, would later be re-used by short-lived independent station WLKT and subsequent low-power station WBLU-LP . ) Months after
312-537: A $ 2 million renovation starting in 1985 that doubled the existing office space and created all-new technical facilities. The expanded facilities were dedicated in April 1986. On several occasions throughout its history, the ABC network has studied the possibility of moving its affiliation away from WTVQ, even going so far as to enter into discussions with rival stations about relocating its programming there. The first attempt came in
390-540: A $ 21.6 million all-cash, all-stock deal. Shamrock was wholly owned by Roy Disney , nephew of Walt and son of Walt's brother Roy . The FCC approved the transaction on June 8, 1979, and it closed on July 18. The deal had been held up as Buckley and three other company principals were being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for defrauding and misleading investors. Buckley agreed to pay back $ 1.4 million in cash and stock to shareholders and not serve as
468-462: A contract with ABC". We have some concerns about WTVQ's performance in the market. We'll just leave it at that. George Newi, ABC senior vice president for affiliate relations The closest WTVQ came to losing its affiliation came in late 1988, when upstart Fox affiliate WDKY-TV (channel 56), on air since 1986, approached ABC about becoming the new Lexington affiliate. ABC went as far as to hear formal presentations from it and WLKT on why
546-472: A director of any publicly traded company for five years. Buckley denied any wrongdoing. "We want to demonstrate that the way things were done here in the past is not the way Shamrock operates." Bruce F. Johnson, Shamrock president and chief executive officer, February 1980, outlining the changes the new ownership planned on making to WTVQ WTVQ, now under Shamrock, began to prepare for its move to channel 36 by making station wide changes that included
624-407: A farm, the land needed to be rezoned before construction could begin. Approval for the rezoning came on November 10, 1967, despite objection from two local residents who lived near the proposed location. Central to their complaints was the proposed 990-foot (302 m) tower, which they felt was "unsightly"; they were also concerned that the tower might fall. Approval was granted on the condition that
702-456: A move the station said was needed to evenly compete with WLEX-TV (channel 18) and WKYT-TV. The station noted that channel 62 suffered from technical interference and signal quality issues due to its higher position on the dial. To make the move happen, two unused allocations would need to be moved. Channel 36 would need to be moved from Portsmouth, Ohio , into Lexington; channel 55 would be re-located from Glasgow, Kentucky , to Portsmouth to fill
780-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in
858-469: A new station, WBLG-TV , on June 2 of that year. Station ownership briefly returned to radio with the launch of WLEX-FM 98.1 in July 1969; the automated stereo rock station was sold five years later due to equipment problems and became WKQQ. Gay–Bell family ownership outlasted the original Gay and Bell (H. Guthrie Bell died in 1969 and J. Douglas Gay in 1988). It also outlasted Harry Barfield, who had started with
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#1732879880705936-569: A service branded as WZLEX. Wazoo Sports filed for bankruptcy in December 2011; WLEX pulled the service at that time, with the station's general manager stating that Wazoo was "[not] strong enough to make a second commitment to it". Wazoo Sports would be replaced by MeTV . Cordillera Communications (the Evening Post subsidiary that operated its television stations) announced on October 29, 2018, that it would sell most of its stations, including WLEX, to
1014-462: A setback occurred as new news director Edwards would resign after just ten days on the job. Station officials were concerned that he had been falsifying details about his background – specifically claiming that he had held a doctorate degree in political science. When management asked Edwards to present proof of this, he was unable. The change to channel 36 was originally scheduled to take place on June 1 but had to be postponed due to delays from RCA ,
1092-523: A taxi and found himself at the WLAP radio studios instead. After WLAP was sold along with its construction permit, new owners built channel 27 as WKXP-TV in September 1957; originally operating as an independent station , it became Lexington's CBS affiliate months later and was then sold to become WKYT-TV . The Gay and Bell families spun off WLEX radio in 1958 to Roy White (who renamed it WBLG) but retained WLEX-TV;
1170-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations
1248-635: Is multiplexed : WLEX-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, at 7 a.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 39, using virtual channel 18. The station was then repacked to channel 28 in 2020. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,
1326-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,
1404-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around
1482-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually
1560-415: The E. W. Scripps Company . The sale was completed on May 1, 2019. WLEX was the first station to generally lead the news ratings in Lexington, but WKYT-TV began to edge it out in the mid-1970s. This began a dominant run for WKYT-TV's local news offerings, while WLEX-TV was typically left in second place. The lone exception was in the 1990s, when WTVQ edged out WLEX at times for the second-place position. In
1638-515: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its freeze on television channel applications in April 1952 and opened the ultra high frequency (UHF) band for television, two channels were allocated for Lexington: 27 and 33, both in the new band. Two Lexington radio stations, WLEX (1300 AM) and WVLK , applied for channel 33, only to see the commission adjust the proposed station to channel 64. A total of four applicants sought
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#17328798807051716-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station
1794-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has
1872-434: The 1998 movie Saving Private Ryan , citing uncertainty over whether the film's obscenities would cause FCC repercussions in light of new commission policy. On October 29, 2007, Media General announced that it was exploring the sale of WTVQ and four other stations in order to help reduce debt. Media General announced on March 7, 2008, that it had reached an agreement to sell WTVQ to Morris Multimedia for $ 16.5 million; it
1950-619: The Doctor , In the Know , and Winner's Circle , as well as local and nationally syndicated sports coverage and reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies . At the time, it aired in NBC's Saturday Morning cartoon slots, replacing multiple cartoon programs that normally aired on NBC. In November 2009, WLEX added the Wazoo Sports Network , which was dedicated to Kentucky sports, on a digital subchannel as part of
2028-587: The South Carolina-based Evening Post Publishing Company (now Evening Post Industries ) emerged with the station in 1999 for an undisclosed sum, making WLEX-TV the company's only television property east of the Mississippi River and Lexington the company's largest market. Unlike most NBC stations in the 1980s, WLEX did not have a complete NBC weekend morning lineup. WLEX produced multiple locally produced shows such as Call
2106-552: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in
2184-399: The age of 55. In the 2000s and 2010s, the station fell back to a distant third place in local news ratings. Morris dropped the station's 5 p.m. newscast shortly after taking over in order to air the syndicated show Judge Judy in hopes of increasing ratings and concentrating news resources elsewhere. In 1976, WTVQ began producing Happy's Hour , a weekday afternoon children's show that
2262-399: The air by Monday, June 23, in time to broadcast that evening's ABC prime time lineup. However, the crew realized that the channel 62 antenna was heavier than they realized, which required them to remove it in sections. That, along with high winds on Tuesday, delayed the sign-on of channel 36 to Wednesday, June 25. Channel 36 beamed to life for the first time in Lexington at 2:18 p.m. with
2340-497: The air, it had already managed to capture a 30% share of the prime time audience in the market according to a station-commissioned American Research Bureau survey, putting it on par with the other two local stations. On September 7, It Takes a Thief star Malachi Throne and Ed Allen Time host Ed Allen appeared at a public open house at the station's studios to officially "Grand Open" WBLG-TV. The FCC granted WBLG-TV its permanent license on August 5, 1970. On May 7, 1973, it
2418-530: The channel 62 allocation, the FCC granted initial approval of the station's application on July 28, 1967. Meanwhile, the WBLG-TV partnership acquired land at the intersection of Winchester Pike and Bryant Road (now Man o' War Boulevard), which would serve as the new studio and transmitting facilities for the station. As the area surrounding the proposed site was primarily agricultural in nature, having previously been used as
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2496-526: The early 2000s, channel 18 rebuilt its newsroom. When WLEX passed WKYT in 2004 after a multi-year rebuild of its news department, it was front-page news; however, WKYT management asserted that the combination of WKYT and WYMT still garnered more viewers. The market has more recently been a two-station battle between WLEX and WKYT, with WLEX tending to perform better in Fayette County itself while rural areas continue to prefer channel 27. The station's signal
2574-526: The entity's new president and general manager. Reeves chairman J. Drayton Hastie served as the chairman of WBLG-TV, Inc. Reeves owned existing television stations in Huntington, West Virginia , and Charleston, South Carolina , as well as radio stations in Baltimore. The owners estimated the cost of constructing the station would be in excess of $ 1 million, and the station would be equipped to broadcast in color from
2652-410: The entrance/exit to the station be on Bryant Road only and that screening devices be provided between the station and adjacent residences. The building permit for the actual building then came on December 12, 1967, with approval being granted for a one-story structure on the site, built at a cost of $ 149,000. The station launched at 9:30 a.m. on June 2, 1968, as an ABC affiliate, broadcasting from
2730-595: The exception of most of the 1990s, the station's local newscasts have generally rated third out of the four main TV newsrooms in Lexington. On October 8, 1965, WBLG-TV, Inc. filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to build a new television station on channel 62, the last commercial frequency available in the Lexington market. WBLG-TV, Inc. was a 50-50 partnership between Lexington-area businessman Roy White and Reeves Broadcasting Corporation. White already owned local radio station WBLG (1300 AM) and would act as
2808-527: The firing of then-general manager Jeff Evans (blamed on heavy turnover in the months following Shamrock's takeover of the station), the first building expansion in the station's history with new equipment (estimated to cost between $ 1.3 to $ 2 million), a $ 300,000 investment into the news department, an expansion of the 5:30 p.m. evening news from a half-hour to a full hour, and a "major emphasis on public affairs and community involvement". Shamrock's president and CEO , Bruce F. Johnson, vowed to "demonstrate that
2886-399: The four networks of the era: NBC, ABC , and DuMont ; CBS had presented an affiliation agreement described by the station manager as "not acceptable". The station began broadcasting on March 15, 1955, as the first television station in Lexington. Its launch was not heavily noticed in town: Snooky Lanson , master of ceremonies for the dedication program, asked to be taken to the TV station in
2964-510: The highest above sea level tower in Kentucky. Lexington's then-Mayor Charles Wylie was on hand with White and daughter Barbara to throw the switch that brought the station on the air. WBLG-TV originally branded as "The ENTERTAINMENT Channel–62 WBLG-TV". WKYT, the former primary affiliate of ABC, became the market's CBS affiliate in January, ahead of WBLG-TV's sign-on. By the station's eighth week on
3042-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of
3120-583: The late 1970s, when ABC had become the top-rated television network in the United States. Due to its rising fortunes, the network began to look for stronger affiliates across the country. Lexington was no exception, and in December 1978, The Lexington Herald reported that ABC had held talks with WKYT about that station potentially returning to ABC after ten years. Nothing ever materialized from those discussions, and WKYT renewed its affiliation with CBS, with WTVQ continuing as Lexington's ABC affiliate. WTVQ had been Lexington's third-rated station since its sign-on and
3198-430: The late-evening hours right through the next morning. By 1978, WTVQ had become Lexington's first television station to implement electronic news gathering and shoot its stories on tape, whereas its competitors were still shooting with film. However, Starr began to pour the foundation for the biggest move in the station's history: literally. In January 1977, WTVQ petitioned the FCC to allow them to move to channel 36, in
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3276-524: The local NBC affiliate the previous year. Cruse and Harmon produce the show through their own company, with production services provided by WTVQ. The program is now also aired in Bowling Green on WBKO/Fox and on four additional Morris-owned stations. The station's signal is multiplexed : WTVQ-TV was the first station in Lexington to broadcast a digital signal in 2002. The station shut down its analog signal over UHF channel 36, on February 17, 2009,
3354-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at
3432-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on
3510-475: The major sports but could certainly tell us a lot about rugby. David Reed, The Lexington Herald television columnist, June 19, 1981 WTVQ's newscasts have held many identities over the years, in large part because of their traditional third-place ratings in the market. The Lexington Herald skewered the station in 1980, just before the move to channel 36, for a "seemingly weak commitment to thorough, accurate news coverage". The station's first weather map
3588-441: The manufacturer of the new $ 1 million channel 36 transmitter. Finally, on June 21, 1980, WTVQ-TV signed off channel 62 for the last time just after midnight. Riggers began removing the channel 62 antenna from the station's tower, and installed the new channel 36 antenna. Management boasted that the new signal, double the power output of the channel 62 signal, would fill-in holes in the station's coverage area. The station claimed that
3666-477: The mast. The station was out of service for more than a month, resuming with reduced power on February 24. After WKYT-TV switched to full-time ABC affiliation in 1961, WLEX-TV began carrying some CBS programs the next year. In 1964, Gay–Bell attempted to sell WLEX-TV to the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation for $ 2 million. Crosley officials cited the fact that WLEX-TV was the first UHF station in
3744-540: The move to channel 36 and improved product, tragedy struck at the station. Twenty-eight-year-old weekend anchor Tom Howell died when his car collided with a city sanitation truck that ran a stop sign. Howell had been with the station less than a year. In June 1981, due to a poor showing in the May ratings book, the station dropped Nightline and replaced it with reruns of All in the Family . General manager Bill Service noted that
3822-435: The move was necessary to raise capital to shore up the money-losing television station. On January 21, 1959, the station's 654-foot (199 m) tower collapsed in a windstorm and landed on the building, inflicting significant damage; a WLEX-TV receptionist, Suzanne Grasley, was killed, and two other people were hurt. A nearby tower used by the state highway department collapsed onto the guy wires , causing an impact that buckled
3900-607: The nation to air network and local color programming among other factors for the purchase. However, months later, a new FCC rule barred ownership of stations with overlapping signal coverage areas. As WLEX-TV had a significant overlap with Crosley flagship WLWT in Cincinnati , the deal was called off. Instead of selling, Gay–Bell turned around and bought WCOV radio and television in Montgomery, Alabama . In 1968, WKYT-TV switched back to CBS from ABC, but ABC programs in Lexington moved to
3978-435: The network should move to their station. An optimistic K. David Godbout, WDKY general manager, said "We're doing everything we can to get the affiliation. We're pulling out all the stops." For his station's part, WTVQ acting general manager Jerry Fox seemed to shrug off WDKY's ploy, saying that he did not "blame them" and adding that if his station was an independent he would "do whatever I could to survive". When asked why ABC
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#17328798807054056-470: The network's programs on its air, WTVQ pledged to improve its newscasts, preempt less of the network's programming, and increase its promotion of network shows. Additionally, ABC would no longer pay the station to air its programming, in one of the earliest cases of a network moving away from the longstanding practice of paying its local affiliates to air its programming on an annual basis. Newi added that all parties "agreed that everything that has happened in
4134-411: The new 2,150,000-watt signal was the most powerful in the commonwealth. Some areas of Lexington, such as Chevy Chase , would be able to receive a clear signal from the station for the first time ever. CEO Johnson stated that Shamrock was investing over $ 2 million for these signal improvements. New newscast opening music and on-air imaging would accompany the channel change. Management had hoped to be on
4212-443: The past is in the past". On January 30, 1992, Park Communications purchased WTVQ from Shamrock Broadcasting. The $ 11 million purchase came after the improvements under Shamrock, particularly in the area of news, had pushed the station into a position of second-place contention and improved its reputation. Countering Park's noted image for frugality, Park invested in new equipment for the station. In July 1995, Park Communications
4290-622: The present WTVQ-TV call letters were adopted on December 20, 1973. Starr would also move its corporate base of operations to Lexington shortly after the acquisition of WTVQ was completed. In December 1974, WTVQ applied to operate a translator on channel 58 in Frankfort , which at the time was a part of the Louisville market. In 1975, WTVQ became the first television station in Lexington to experiment with 24-hour operations when it aired Blockbuster Movie Madness , which delivered four feature films from
4368-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be
4446-494: The ratings needle in the first survey. However, after poaching lead male anchor John Lindgren from WKYT, an upturn finally began. It began to contend with WLEX for second place, and improvement in news ratings and perception also aided the station's bottom line, as news represented nearly 40 percent of its gross revenue. It maintained that position for much of the decade, but ratings declined as Lindgren took extended off-air absences to treat colon cancer; he died in January 2001 at
4524-491: The reruns ABC had previously been programming in the timeslot fared better locally than Nightline was. The station received over 75 phone calls and 25 letters from viewers expressing displeasure with the move. Nightline was restored to the schedule on August 17, at a new, later midnight timeslot, with the All in the Family reruns remaining in the same timeslot to "please both audiences", according to Service. The station underwent
4602-438: The show's theme song on record) and several guest appearances at community events. Due to shifting economics and program philosophies in the local television industry at the time, as well as an ownership change, Happy's Hour quietly faded away in 1979. On February 17, 2020, the station debuted the afternoon talk show The Lee and Hayley Show , featuring former WLEX-TV personalities Lee Cruse and Hayley Harmon. The duo had exited
4680-432: The start. On June 24, 1966, WBLG-TV's application was designated for hearing alongside a competing application from Kentucky Central Life Insurance Company (owners of WVLK radio). However, on January 27, 1967, Kentucky Central Life announced that it would purchase existing station WKYT-TV (channel 27) from Taft Broadcasting for $ 2.5 million, signaling its exit from the channel 62 hearing. With no other applicants for
4758-516: The station as one of its original salesmen, rising to became general manager and then chairman before dying in 1991. However, in 1998, with an impending conversion to digital television as well as a seller's market for television stations nationally, Gay–Bell opted to sell WLEX-TV. By then, channel 18 was the last locally owned station in the market, though no Gay-Bell heirs were actively involved in station operations. More than 30 parties expressed interest in purchasing WLEX-TV, including Jefferson-Pilot ;
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#17328798807054836-462: The station at the present time. For the same reason, WVLK withdrew its channel 18 application, effectively handing the license to WLEX parent Central Kentucky Broadcasting Company (later WLEX-TV, Inc.), a consortium of the Gay and Bell families. The construction permit for WLEX-TV was granted on April 13, 1954, and construction was under way by the end of the year. WLEX-TV had obtained affiliations with three of
4914-425: The two channels, and in response to a petition from WVLK, channel 18 was added to Lexington from Gallipolis, Ohio , with WLEX and WVLK each amending their applications to specify the lower channel. On February 18, 1954, two related events took place. WLAP had won the channel 27 construction permit but announced that, for economic reasons related to the failures of early UHF stations elsewhere, it would not construct
4992-399: The void, then the soon-to-be-discarded channel 62 allocation would be moved from Lexington to Glasgow. Kentucky Educational Television , the statewide PBS member, initially opposed the move, fearing that they would lose potential viewers who, in tuning to channel 62, had to dial past its station, WKLE, on channel 46 and might have sampled its programming. On May 3, 1979, the move to channel 36
5070-639: The way things were done here in the past is not the way Shamrock operates". Morale in the newsroom was high; newly hired news director Clark Edwards noticed that "people were going about their jobs with a new drive after the change". Longtime weatherman Frank Faulconer, the only on-air personality remaining after the resignations, left for WKYT to help launch the station's new morning show, where he had hoped to "finish out my career". Faulconer worked at WKYT for exactly two days in February before returning to WTVQ and resuming his usual weeknight weather duties. However,
5148-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines
5226-443: Was a hand-me-down from Miami; nobody bothered to remove the "low tide" and "high tide" markings from it despite their lack of utility in Kentucky. An attempt to bolster the newscasts by hiring former radio reporter Bill Evenson in the late 1970s was marred by sensationalism: one newscast opened with the phrase, "Kentucky, there's blood on your highways tonight." At that time, the newsroom was wracked by major turnover in personnel. This
5304-420: Was also aired for a time on the subchannel. WTVQ has long had a poor image in the community when it comes to news. When the station first came on the air as channel 62, the news was little more than a joke. It included a news anchor who walked into the newsroom and threw his hat onto a coat rack to begin the evening's newscast. Then there was the sportscaster with the handlebar mustache who knew very little about
5382-494: Was also in the process of purchasing KHVH- AM - TV in Honolulu at the same time. This came after talks to merge Reeves' holdings into Starr failed. Control was transferred on November 14, 1973. WBLG radio was not affected by this sale and was subsequently sold the following summer to North Carolina–based Village Communications. The new owners immediately sought to make their mark on their new purchase. The first such step came when
5460-440: Was also noticeable at the news director position. The station fired its news director in April 1981, only to do so again in January 1982. It offered the least early evening news of the Lexington stations, and its news staff of 22 compared unfavorably to the 35 and 40 of its competitors. In 1986, WTVQ revamped its local newscasts, expanding its early evening news to an hour and updating its presentation. The changes failed to move
5538-506: Was announced that WBLG-TV would be sold to New Orleans –based Starr Broadcasting Group, Inc. at a price exceeding $ 2 million. Starr was headed by company president Peter M. Starr, with William F. Buckley Jr. serving as Starr's chairman of the board. Starr had owned WCYB-TV in Bristol, Virginia , and radio stations in Arkansas, California, Kansas, New Jersey, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas; it
5616-495: Was considering leaving channel 36, George Newi, ABC's senior vice president for affiliate relations matter-of-factly said that "We have some concerns about WTVQ's performance in the market. We'll just leave it at that." The network was also concerned at the amount of programming WTVQ was regularly preempting . After much deliberation, in January 1989, ABC ultimately agreed to retain WTVQ as its Lexington affiliate. In exchange for keeping
5694-484: Was noted for having marginal production values around this time. In August 1982, top ABC executives visited with WKYT once again, talking with that station's general manager about ending their affiliation with CBS and rejoining ABC. With WKYT turning them down, ABC then turned its sights to WLEX-TV about the possibility of them leaving NBC to join ABC. Nothing ever came of that either, with WLEX's general manager going so far as to say that his station "hasn't been offered
5772-499: Was officially given the green light by the FCC. The FCC gave the station one year from June 4 to make the move. While objections were lodged from potential station owners in the Louisville and Florence areas, they were rejected by the FCC, believing that the public would be better served by having WTVQ on channel 36. Meanwhile, in May 1978, Starr announced that it would be acquired by Los Angeles –based Shamrock Broadcasting Inc. in
5850-673: Was sold to Gary B. Knapp and Donald R. Tomlin Jr., under the name Park Acquisitions. Knapp was a Lexington securities dealer whose bid was backed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama pension fund. Media General purchased Park Acquisitions and its properties (including WTVQ) in January 1997. On February 26, 2002, it became central Kentucky's first commercial television station to broadcast a digital television signal on UHF channel 40. In 2004, WTVQ, along with Media General ABC affiliates WJBF and WMBB , preempted an uncut Veteran's Day broadcast of
5928-674: Was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content
6006-458: Was the largest acquisition in Morris's history. By the time of this acquisition, WTVQ had fallen to fourth place in Lexington, behind WDKY, in revenue. In 2008, WTVQ launched a subchannel carrying MyNetworkTV , replacing the low-power WBLU-LP, whose poor signal hampered its reach; this became an acute issue when MyNetworkTV became the new broadcast home of WWE 's Smackdown! . A 10 p.m. newscast
6084-501: Was the last of its kind to air on Lexington television. The show's host, Happy the Clown, was portrayed by staff announcer Tim Eppenstein. He was joined by his sidekick Froggy, a frog puppet portrayed by an unidentified puppeteer. Unlike most local children's shows, Happy's Hour did not feature a studio audience with area children. The show proved to be a smash success that led to merchandise sales (including T-shirts, bumper stickers, and even
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