| Paducah, Kentucky Harrisburg, Illinois Cape Girardeau, Missouri |
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|---|---|
| City of license | Paducah |
| Branding | Local 6 (general) Local 6 News |
| Slogan | Your Breaking News & Weather Authority |
| Channels | Digital: 32 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 6.1 NBC 6.2 RTV 6.3 local weather |
| Translators | 10 (VHF) W10AH Carbondale, IL |
| Owner | Paxton Media Group (WPSD-TV, LLC) |
| First air date | May 28, 1957 |
| Call letters' meaning | Paducah Sun-Democrat |
| Former callsigns | WPSD (1957-1979) |
| Former channel number(s) | 6 (VHF analog, 1957-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 906 kW |
| Height | 492 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 51991 |
| Website | wpsdlocal6.com |
WPSD-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase, Southern Illinois, and the Missouri Bootheel. Licensed to Paducah, Kentucky, the station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 (or virtual channel 6.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Monkeys Eyebrow, Kentucky. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 5, Mediacom channel 6, and Charter channel 10. There is a high definition feed provided on Comcast digital channel 432, Mediacom digital channel 706, and Charter digital channel 785.
Owned by the Paxton Media Group, WPSD has studios on Television Lane in Paducah. Syndicated programming on the station includes Wheel of Fortune, Inside Edition, Jeopardy!, and Dr. Phil among others. It operates a low-powered repeater, W10AH channel 10, in Carbondale, Illinois from a transmitter (sharing the WSIU-TV-FM tower) on the Southern Illinois University campus.
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On WPSD-DT2, Mediacom digital channel 109, Charter digital channel 158, and Comcast digital channel 233 is the Retro Television Network (RTV). On WPSD-DT3, Mediacom digital channel 110, Charter digital channel 127, and Comcast digital channel 232 is a 24-hour local weather channel.
| Channels | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | WPSD-HD | 1080i | 16:9 | Main WPSD programming / NBC |
| 6.2 | WPSD-DT2 | 480i | 4:3 | "RTV 6.2" |
| 6.3 | WPSD-DT3 | 480i | 4:3 | "The Weather Authority 24/7 Weather Channel" |
The station signed-on as WPSD on May 28, 1957 with an analog signal on VHF channel 6. It has been an NBC affiliate and owned by the Paxton family for its entire existence alongside Western Kentucky's major newspaper, The Paducah Sun. The station would add the -TV suffix to its call sign on April 23, 1979. The "PSD" letters in the calls stands for Paducah Sun-Democrat which was the paper's name at the time the station launched in 1957.
WPSD serves more than fifty counties in its large four state territory including all of Southeastern Missouri, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and north Western Tennessee. Among the area's big three outlets, the station has traditionally focused more on the Western Kentucky side since it is based in Paducah. In addition to its main studios, WPSD operates a bureau on South Illinois Avenue in Downtown Carbondale.
With headquarters in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, CBS affiliate KFVS-TV primarily features coverage of Southeastern Missouri although it also maintains a bureau in Southern Illinois. Meanwhile, the market's ABC affiliate WSIL-TV focuses almost exclusively on Illinois from studios in Carterville. This is despite the presence of full-time satellite KPOB in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. In fact, WSIL does not even mention the region's other two main cities (Paducah and Cape Girardeau) in its on-air identifications.
For several years, WPSD produced a nightly prime time newscast on Fox affiliate KBSI (owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group) through a news share agreement. The thirty minute show was known as Local 6 News at 9 on Fox 23 and featured a regional summary of headlines because KBSI is based in Cape Girardeau. For awhile, the broadcast competed with KFVS' own nightly prime time news at 9 seen on the area's low-powered CW affiliates WQTV-LP/WQWQ-LP.
That newscast, however, was produced specifically for Southeastern Missouri viewers. It would eventually be cancelled on July 29, 2007. WPSD's outsourcing arrangement with KBSI expired on September 30, 2010. The next day, the latter entered into a new partnership with KFVS presumably to refocus the prime time production to the Missouri Bootheel area and expand it to sixty minutes every night. With that addition, KFVS now offers more than thirty hours of local news each week and continues to retain its market dominance as the most watched outlet. On October 3, 2010, WPSD brought back its own newscast at 9 to its RTV and 24-hour local weather subchannels. Known as The Nine and seen every night for a half-hour, this is simulcasted on those two services.
On October 6, 2010, WSIL became the first station in the region to offer local news in high definition. KFVS has made plans to complete an upgrade to HD at some point in the near future. Broadcasts on WPSD remain in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition and it is unknown when the station intends to upgrade to either 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen or full high definition level. Like all RTV affiliates in the Central Time Zone, WPSD-DT2 airs the nationally syndicated show Daytime weekday mornings at 8 for an hour. Sam Champion, who is the current weekday weather anchor on ABC's Good Morning America, got his start at the station.
Anchors
Weather Authority Meteorologists
Sports (all seen on Gridiron Glory)
Reporters
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