WKYT-TV

WKYT-TV
Channels
Branding
  • WKYT
  • The CW Lexington (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WYMT-TV
History
First air date
September 30, 1957
(66 years ago) (1957-09-30)
Former call signs
  • WKXP-TV (1957–1958)
  • WKYT (1958–1961)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 27 (UHF, 1957–2009)
  • Digital: 13 (VHF, 2002–2010), 36 (UHF, 2010–2019)
  • Independent (1957–1958)
  • CBS (primary 1958–1961, secondary 1961−1968)
  • ABC (1961–1968)
  • UPN (DT2, 2004–2006)
Call sign meaning
Kentucky Television
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID24914
ERP900 kW
HAAT296.2 m (972 ft)
Transmitter coordinates38°2′23″N 84°24′10″W / 38.03972°N 84.40278°W / 38.03972; -84.40278
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wkyt.com

WKYT-TV (channel 27) is a television station in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Winchester Road (US 60) near I-75 on the east side of Lexington. In addition to WKYT-TV, Gray owns WYMT-TV (channel 57) in Hazard, Kentucky, a separate CBS affiliate serving eastern Kentucky with its own syndicated programming inventory and local newscasts.

While the authorization to build channel 27 in Lexington was given in 1953, the original owner, radio station WLAP, opted to hold off on construction for economic reasons. When WLAP was sold in 1956, the construction permit was sold with it, and the new owners signed the station on as WKXP-TV in 1957. Originally an independent station dependent on films for much of its programming, the station affiliated with CBS in 1958 before being sold to what became Taft Broadcasting and becoming WKYT. Taft switched all of its stations to ABC affiliation in 1961, but after Taft shed WKYT-TV to Kentucky Central Life Insurance Company in 1967 and the station returned to CBS, the station eventually became a dominant force in Lexington television. In 1985, WYMT-TV was built as a complement to WKYT-TV.

Financial troubles at Kentucky Central led to its takeover by the state of Kentucky in 1993, and Kentucky Central's highly performing broadcasting properties were placed on the market. Out of nine bidders, Gray Communications Systems—today's Gray Television—narrowly won the bidding for the WKYT–WYMT pair. The station has faced renewed competition for news viewership in the market since the 2000s.

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WKYT-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.