WNKY
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| WNKY | |
|---|---|
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| Bowling Green, Kentucky | |
| Branding | WNKY |
| Slogan | Your Local Link |
| Channels | Analog: 40 (UHF) Digital: 16 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | NBC CBS (on DT2) |
| Owner | Max Media (MMK License, LLC) |
| First air date | December 17, 1989 |
| Call letters’ meaning | NBC KentuckY |
| Former callsigns | WQQB-TV (1989-1992) WKNT-TV (1992-2001) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1989-1992) Fox (1992-2001) |
| Transmitter Power | 1,640 kW (analog) 1,000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 193 m (analog) 176 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 61217 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | wnky.net |
WNKY, channel 40, is the NBC-affiliated television station for South Central Kentucky, licensed to Bowling Green. Its transmitter is located west of Hays. Owned by Max Media, the station has studios on Emmett Avenue in Bowling Green. WNKY operates the area's CBS affiliate on its second digital subchannel. It is also offered on Insight cable channel 10.
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[edit] History
Although granted a construction permit in 1983, the station began broadcasting on December 17, 1989. At that time, the station operated as an independent station under the call sign WQQB. It had a general entertainment format with a mixture of sitcoms, old movies, and cartoons. In its early days, the picture and sound quality of the station were very poor which resulted in a low-budget feel. Programs would often broadcast mistracked, sticking, and skipping. Sometimes, the picture would appear clear but the sound would consist of complete static. The station had little presence in the market at that time. Many people in the area did not know the station existed.
It would later become a Fox affiliate for the Southern Kentucky region and change its calls to WKNT. Ultimately, the station became a NBC affiliate in 2001, changed its calls to the current WNKY, and boosted its power from 776,000 watts to 1,640,000 directional with a null to the east. Before changing to NBC, the network's Nashville, Tennessee affiliate WSMV was the default station in the market. Even after WNKY flipped to NBC, WSMV could still be received in the Bowling Green market in parts that WNKY could not. In March of 2003, Max Media bought WNKY. On December 12, 2003, WNKY signed on its digital signal on UHF channel 16 from its broadcasting tower in Hays. WNKY-DT was then added to digital cable systems including Insight in Bowling Green and Electric Power Board in Glasgow.
On August 7, 2004, WNKY-DT began airing NBC in full 1080i high definition. This upgrade was made in time to broadcast special NBC HD coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics from Athens, Greece. WNKY also installed a Dolby model 569 AC-3 surround sound encoder to relay the 5.1 full surround audio from the network. As of November 2006, ABC affiliate WBKO has not yet installed any AC-3 audio encoding equipment according to that network's website. On October 12, 2006, WNKY signed a long term affiliation deal with CBS to air the network on its second digital subchannel. The CBS station launched on February 1, 2007. Until that point, Bowling Green did not have its own CBS affiliate. As a result, Nashville's WTVF or Louisville, Kentucky's WLKY-TV were the default CBS stations in the market.
At some point in time, WNKY has plans to add a third digital subchannel to broadcast Fox's sister network, MyNetworkTV. There is currently no over-the-air MyNetworkTV affiliate in the Bowling Green market or one offered on cable. However, WUXP from Nashville can be picked up over-the-air in some South Central Kentucky locations. Cable systems in Bowling Green removed WUXP in late-2006 due to the UPN / WB merger. If WNKY does go through with its MyNetworkTV plans, Bowling Green would then be said to constitute a complete television market of its own. With the main WNKY signal carrying NBC and WBKO continuing its ABC affiliation, in addition to Fox and The CW on two digital subchannels, there would be no further dependence upon Nashville or Louisville.
[edit] Local programming
WNKY, as a Fox affiliate, competed with WBKO's news in the mid-1990s. Their news operation was short-lived and they are now slowly re-entering with a weather-only approach. In October of 2005, WNKY discontinued its agreement with WeatherVision of Jackson, Mississippi and decided to produce its own weather forecasts at its Bowling Green studios. At that time, the station partnered with AccuWeather of State College, Pennsylvania. WNKY began airing NBC 40 First Look AccuWeather forecasts on weeknights at 4:55, 5:55, and 10. In December of 2005, weekend weather forecasts were added to the schedule at 10 P.M. In January of 2006, local weather updates began airing during NBC's Today Show from 7 to 10 A.M during the week.
WNKY's weather team currently consists of three people. They cover severe weather in addition to the regular weather broadcasts. Also, there is a fourth non-human member of the weather team, Radar the Weather Dog. Radar, a Border Collie adopted from the Bowling Green / Warren Couty Humane Society, has served as the station's mascot since the new weather broadcasts began in October of 2005. Viewers can often catch Radar interacting with one of the three weather anchors as they begin their broadcasts. The weather dog idea may have been inspired by Houston, Texas-based KPRC who also has a "Radar, The Weather Dog". WNKY's sister station in Tyler, Texas, KYTX, took a similar approach with "Stormy, The Weather Dog".
KYTX, like WNKY, is a recent startup station but KYTX has built a fully equipped local news department that began in late-2004 / early-2005. It is rumored that Max Media will eventually fund a news department for WNKY. For now, WNKY has local weather forecasts that only partially compete with WBKO. WNKY's current website slogan "Your Local News Link" is ironic considering the lack of a full news department on the station. When WNKY launched the CBS affiliate on its second digital subchannel, weather updates on weekday morning, weeknights at 4:55 and 10 as wellas at 10 P.M. on weekends began to be seen on the station. Former Chief Meteorologist Chris Sowers is now at WHP-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
[edit] Station personnel
WNKY First Look Accuweather Team
- Jim Lawrence (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief seen on weeknights
- Kristi Fox - weekday mornings
- Jay Brandon - weekends
[edit] External links
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