WDKY-TV
 | |
| Danville / Lexington, Kentucky United States | |
|---|---|
| City | Danville, KY |
| Branding |
Fox 56 (general) Fox 56 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Lexington's fox |
| Channels |
Digital: 31 (UHF) Virtual: 56 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels |
56.1 Fox 56.2 Comet 56.3 Grit |
| Affiliations | Fox (October 1986–present) |
| Owner |
Sinclair Broadcast Group (WDKY Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | February 10, 1986 |
| Call letters' meaning | Danville, KentuckY |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 56 (UHF, 1986–2009) Digital: 4 (VHF, 2003–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
DT1: Independent (February–October 1986) DT2: TheCoolTV (2010–2012) GetTV (2014–2016) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 351.9 metres (1,155 ft) |
| Facility ID | 64017 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°52′51″N 84°19′16″W / 37.88083°N 84.32111°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | FoxLexington.com |
WDKY-TV, virtual channel 56, is the Fox-affiliated television station for Lexington, Kentucky, that is licensed to nearby Danville. Its transmitter is located southeast of the city. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has offices on Euclid Avenue in Lexington's Chevy Chase neighborhood but broadcasts newscasts from WKYT's studio on Winchester Road. Syndicated programming on WDKY includes Maury, The Queen Latifah Show, and Judge Judy, among others.
The station can also be viewed in the Lexington area on Time Warner Cable channels 7 (SD) and 910 (HD) is also seen on Time Warner Cable in the Lexington area on channels 10 (SD) and 908 (HD). [1] Cable subscribers in Frankfort can also view WDKY on Frankfort Plant Board channels 7 (HD) and 507 (HD). [2]
History
WDKY began broadcasting on February 10, 1986 as an independent station. The station was founded by John D. Backe. For a few months, WDKY and then-independent station WLJC-TV (now a religious station affiliated with TBN) competed with each other for the best programming and movies and even airing the Independent Network News. On October 9, 1986, the station became a charter affiliate of Fox. The station began operating from studio facilities located at 434 Interstate Avenue in Lexington. Backe sold WDKY to the MMC Television Corporation in 1989. MMC in turn sold the station to Superior Communications in 1992. In 1996, the station relocated to its current studios on Euclaid Avenue in Lexington's Chevy Chase neighborhood. That same year, WDKY and sister station KOCB in Oklahoma City were both acquired by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
On May 15, 2012, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox agreed to a five-year extension to the network's affiliation agreement with Sinclair's 19 Fox stations, including WDKY-TV, that will run through 2017.[3]
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
| Channel | PSIP Short Name | Video | Aspect | Programming[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56.1 | WDKY-DT | 720p | 16:9 | Main WDKY-TV programming / Fox |
| 56.2 | Comet-T | 480i | Comet | |
| 56.3 | Grit-TV | Grit | ||
Analog-to-digital conversion
WDKY-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 56, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal moved from its pre-transition VHF channel 4 to UHF channel 31.[5][6] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 56, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.
Programming
Until 2014, the station cleared the entire Fox network schedule; however the entire Sinclair chain opted not to clear Xploration Station when it was launched that fall, allowing the station to continue airing Weekend Marketplace on Saturday mornings instead.
History of digital subchannels
WDKY-DT2
WDKY-DT2 was launched in 2011 to serve as an affiliate of TheCoolTV, which is a digital multi-cast network that only broadcasts music videos. The subchannel went silent in 2012 due to poor viewership ratings. In 2014, WDKY-DT2 was relaunched to serve as an affiliate of Sony Pictures Television's GetTV movie channel as part of an affiliation deal between GetTV and Sinclair Broadcasting.[7] WDKY-DT2 is also the Lexington market's home for the Conference USA and Ohio Valley Conference sports syndication packages from Sinclair's syndicated sports programming service, the American Sports Network, hence the sub-channel being transmitted in widescreen standard definition.[8]
On January 15, 2016, WDKY announced the launch of Comet on 56.2, dropping GetTV.[9] WDKY also commented that ASN programming will be shared with 56.3.[10]
WDKY-DT3
In 2015, WDKY-DT3 was launched to serve as an affiliation with another upstart movie network, Grit. WDKY-DT3 also shares ASN programming with WDKY-DT2.
Newscasts
In 1995, CBS affiliate WKYT-TV began producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast. On March 12, 2007, WDKY began airing an hour of news on weekday mornings at 7 a.m., that is also produced by WKYT. Weeknights at 10:45, there is a 15-minute sports replay show called the Fox 56 Sports Extra. All news programs originate from WKYT's studios on Winchester Road in the Brighton section of Lexington. On April 11, 2008, WKYT began broadcasting WDKY's newscasts in high definition becoming the first station in Kentucky to make the transition. The WDKY newscasts were included in the upgrade making it the first Sinclair station to be airing news in high definition.
References
- ↑ Time Warner Cable - Channel Lineup for Lexington, Kentucky
- ↑ Frankfort Plant Board - Preferred Cable Lineup
- ↑ Sinclair Reups With Fox, Gets WUTB Option, TVNewsCheck, May 15, 2012.
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WDKY
- ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- ↑ Sloan, Scott (February 10, 2009)."All but one station delay TV switch". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
- ↑ "GetTV Signs Big Affiliation Deal with Sinclair". TV NewsCheck. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
- ↑ Murray State @ Southeastern Missouri (October 3, 2015) - American Sports Network Clearance Report. From OVCSports.com (Ohio Valley Conference).
- ↑ https://twitter.com/FoxLexington/status/688105648383377409
- ↑ https://twitter.com/FoxLexington/status/688142418495995904