WTVQ-DT

WTVQ-DT

Lexington, Kentucky United States
Branding	ABC 36 (general) ABC 36 News (news) MyKentuckyTV (on DT2)
Slogan	Your Neighbors. Your News.
Channels	Digital: 40 (UHF) Virtual: 36 (PSIP)
Subchannels	36.1 ABC 36.2 MyNetworkTV 36.3 Justice Network 36.4 Laff 36.5 Escape 36.6 Antenna TV
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Morris Multimedia (WTVQ-TV, LLC)
First air date	September 7, 1968 (1968-09-07)
Call letters' meaning	We Tell Viewers Quicker or TeleVision
Former callsigns	WBLG-TV (1968–1974) WTVQ-TV (1974–2009)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 62 (UHF, 1968–1980) 36 (UHF, 1980–2009)
Transmitter power	635 kW
Height	286 metres (938 ft)
Facility ID	51597
Transmitter coordinates	38°2′2.8″N 84°23′37.6″W / 38.034111°N 84.393778°W / 38.034111; -84.393778
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Profile CDBS
Website	WTVQ.com MyTVQ2 WTVQ Antenna TV

WTVQ-DT is the ABC-affiliated television station for Lexington, Kentucky. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter located at the station's studios on the outer loop of Man o' War Boulevard (a.k.a. KY 1425) in the Brighton section of Fayette County. By coincidence, competitor WKYT-TV's studios are just across Winchester Road from the Channel 36 facilities. WTVQ-DT is owned by Morris Multimedia. Syndicated programming on the station includes Judge Judy, Entertainment Tonight, and Extra.

WTVQ-DT is also seen on Time Warner Cable in the Lexington area on channels 10 (SD) and 908 (HD).^[1]

History

The station launched as WBLG-TV on September 7, 1968^[2] and was located on channel 62. At the time, this was one of the highest full-power television channels assigned in the country. It was founded by Lexington area businessman Roy White and Reeves Broadcasting along with WBLG radio (AM 1300, now WLXG), and was the third commercial television station to begin broadcasting in the Lexington market.

From the first day of operation, and because of its radio sister's affiliation with ABC, WBLG was the ABC affiliate for central Kentucky. WKYT, the former primary affiliate with ABC, became the CBS affiliate. Reeves Broadcasting went into bankruptcy and eventually White ended up as the sole owner of WTVQ-TV. In 1974, the station changed its call letters to the current WTVQ-TV after White sold the TV station to Starr Broadcasting company, while White retained ownership of WBLG radio. Eventually, Starr Broadcasting also went into bankruptcy. In 1979, Shamrock Broadcasting purchased the station from Starr Broadcasting. Shamrock was wholly owned by Roy Disney, nephew of Walt and son of Walt's brother Roy. In 1980, Shamrock installed a new 1.5 million watt transmitter and moved WTVQ from channel 62 to channel 36 in June of that year (channel 62 later carried the now-defunct WBLU-LP). The station underwent a major renovation in 1985 that doubled the existing office space and created all new technical facilities. On January 30, 1992, Park Broadcasting purchased WTVQ from Shamrock Broadcasting.

In July 1995, Park Communications was sold to Gary B. Knapp and Donald R. Tomlin, Jr. under the name Park Acquisitions. 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. Soon afterward, it became the area's first commercial digital television channel to broadcast programming in high definition. On October 29, 2007, Media General announced that it was exploring the sale of WTVQ.^[3] On January 22, 2008, the Lexington Herald-Leader mentioned the sale of the station.^[4] That headline was confirmed on March 7 when Media General announced it reached an agreement to sell WTVQ to Morris Multimedia for an undisclosed sales price.^[5] That price will likely be disclosed with either the FCC or SEC though a media consulting analyst ^[6] in the $30–35 million range. The sale became final on May 13. In June 2008, Morris Network named Chris Aldridge as General Manager of WTVQ. Aldridge previously served as the station's General Manager from 1992 until 1999.

It was announced on October 31, 2008 that WTVQ-DT2 would become the Lexington market affiliate for MyNetworkTV, replacing WBLU-LP in the wake of WWE's Smackdown! moving to MyNetworkTV; WBLU's low-power status and weak schedule meant that it had little possibility of cable carriage, and the network had to find quickly an affiliate in the market with full-market coverage.^[7] On January 1, 2009, WTVQ-DT2 officially became a full-time MyNetworkTV affiliate under the branding "MyTVQ2" after two months of only carrying Smackdown! on Friday nights, with a repeat after the Saturday late news on WTVQ's main channel. It also simulcasted the 24-hour weather channel during overnights until April 2009. The station shutdown its analog signal at 11:59 P.M. on February 17, 4 months before the day that all television stations in the U.S. transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate on June 12, 2009.^[8] WTVQ-TV's official calls became WTVQ-DT on June 17, 2009.

On December 7, 2011, WTVQ replaced 24-hour weather on WTVQ-DT3 with Antenna TV.^[9]

On June 1, 2015, WTVQ re-branded WTVQ-DT2 from "MyTVQ2" to "MyKentuckyTV".

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

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, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 40.^[11] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 36.

News operation

On December 1, 2005, WTVQ launched a 24-hour local weather channel on its second digital subchannel and Insight digital cable channel 436. It moved to a new third digital subchannel on January 1, 2009 when "MyTVQ2" launched. This coincided with a new nightly 10 o'clock newscast called ABC 36 News at 10 that competes with Fox affiliate WDKY-TV whose 10 P.M. news is the highest-rated late local news in the Lexington market. In addition to the new 10 o'clock newscast on WTVQ-DT2, there are repeats of weekday newscasts that aired on the main channel. This includes the Noon news (at 1:00), the 6:00 broadcast (at 6:30) and the 11 o'clock news (at Midnight).^[12] WTVQ was the last major network station in Lexington to broadcast their local news in high definition. The 10 p.m. news was soon discontinued. On June 1, 2015, however, the 10 p.m. newscast returned to WTVQ-DT2 as it was rebranded "MyKentuckyTV".

References

External links

• WTVQ-DT "ABC 36"
• WTVQ-DT2 "MyKentuckyTV"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTVQ-DT
• Guide to the WBLG Audio Tape Collection, 1954-1977 housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center