WLEX-TV

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WLEX-TV
Image:WLEX 06 Logo.png
Lexington, Kentucky
Branding LEX 18 (general)
LEX 18 News HD (newscasts)
Slogan Coverage You Can Count On, in HD
Channels Analog: 18 (UHF)

Digital: 39 (UHF)
Affiliations NBC
Owner Evening Post Publishing Company
(WLEX Communications, LLC)
First air date March 15, 1955
Call letters’ meaning LEXington
Former affiliations All secondary:
DuMont (1955)
CBS (1955-1957)
ABC (1955-1968)
Transmitter Power 1100 kW (analog)
475 kW (digital)
Height 195 m (analog)
286 m (digital)
Facility ID 73203
Transmitter Coordinates 38°3′56.8″N, 84°29′13.4″W (analog)
38°2′2.8″N, 84°23′37.6″W (digital)
Website www.lex18.com
For the experimental television station in Boston that used the branding "WLEX", see W1XAY.

WLEX-TV Channel 18 is the NBC affiliate for Lexington, Kentucky and the East-Central Kentucky region. Its transmitter is located in Lexington.

Contents

[edit] History

WLEX first went on the air as a radio station in 1946. Channel 18 signed on March 15, 1955 as Lexington's first television station, with programming from all four networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, and DuMont). The DuMont network went out of business later that year. In 1957 CBS programming moved to WKYT-TV. In 1968 ABC programming moved to WBLG-TV (now WTVQ-TV), making WLEX a full-time NBC affiliate.

[edit] Firsts

  • First station to broadcast a test pattern in Lexington (January 19, 1955)
  • First station to broadcast programming in Lexington (March 15, 1955)
  • First tower over 600 feet in Kentucky (December, 1954)
  • First Kentucky commercial station to regularly schedule an educational program (Zemanski and White Physics, 1959; Anthropology I, September, 1959)
  • First television broadcast of University of Kentucky basketball – DePaul University, from Chicago, February 18, 1956 (DePaul won 81-79)
  • First station to air regularly-scheduled church service telecast in Kentucky (Immanuel Baptist)
  • First station in Kentucky to broadcast in full-color and first full-color UHF in the United States (November 15, 1962)
  • First station in Lexington to have a female news anchor, Sue Hackett Wylie (April, 1968)
  • First station in Kentucky to produce a computer-generated program log (July, 1968)
  • First commercial station in Lexington to use broadcast-quality Electronic News Gathering, ENG, (October, 1978)
  • First station in Lexington to air a Saturday morning newscast (July 4, 1992)
  • First station in Lexington to air an hour-long weekly morning newscast (July 6, 1992)
  • First station in Lexington to have a station website (March, 1995)
  • First station in Kentucky and Lexington to go on air on August 27, 2006 to report the crash of "Flight 5191" at Bluegrass Airport
  • First station in Lexington to announce the departure of Orlando "Tubby" Smith. (March 22, 2007)
  • In September 2007, Kristie Kubovic became the first woman in Kentucky to receive the American Meteorological Society's CBM seal. This seal is an upgrade to the AMS seal.

[edit] High Definition

In Spring 2007, WLEX-TV became the 2nd station in Lexington and Kentucky as a whole to broadcast newscasts in High Definition.

[edit] Digital Television

The station's digital channel:

Digital channels

Virtual
Channel		 Physical
RF Channel		 Video Aspect Programming
18.1 39.1 1080i 16:9 Main WLEX programming

[edit] Personalities

News Anchors

  • Kevin Christopher - Lex 18 News at 5, 5:30, 6, and 11
  • Nancy Cox - Lex 18 News at 5, 5:30, 6, and 11
  • Dia Davidson - Lex 18 News at Sunrise, Noon, and 12:30
  • Richard Lom - Weekends 6 and 11
  • Kristen Pflum - Weekends 6 and 11

News Reporters

  • Leigh Searcy
  • Chris Lupien
  • Richard Lom
  • Lee Cruse
  • Kristen Pflum
  • Sarah Lane
  • Amanda Hara
  • Chase Cain
  • Travis Thompson
  • Jessica Moore
  • Jaimie Weiss
  • John McGary

Weather

  • Bill Meck (AMS)- Chief Meteorologist- 5, 5:30, 6, and 11
  • Tom Ackerman (CBM-NWA)- Meteorologist Sunrise, Noon, and 12:30
  • Kristie Kubovic (CBM-NWA)- (fill-in) & Weekends 6 and 11

Sports

  • Alan Cutler
  • Mary Jo Perino-Mitchell
  • Justin White

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Broadcast television in the Lexington market  (Nielsen DMA #64)

WLJC-DT 7 (TBN) - WLEX 18 (NBC) - WKYT 27 (CBS) (The CW on DT2) - WTVQ 36 (ABC) - WKLE 46 (PBS/KET) - WDKY 56 (Fox) - WBLU-LP 62 (RTN/MNTV) - WUPX 67 (ION)
Outlying Areas:
WOBZ-LP 9 (A1/JTV) - W10BM 10 (WSTV) - WKSO 29 / WKHA 35 / WKMR 38 / WKON 52 (PBS/KET) - WYMT 57 (CBS)
Significantly Viewed Out-of-Market Broadcast Stations
Reception may vary by geographical location
WBKI 34 (The CW, Louisville)
v • d • e
NBC Network Affiliates in the state of Kentucky
See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, PBS and Other Stations in Kentucky