WKYI-CD
 | |
| Louisville, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| Slogan | Bringing Kentuckiana Together |
| Channels | Digital: 24 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Independent station |
| Owner | Fusion Communications |
| Founded | first airdate 1 March 1996 |
| Call letters' meaning | W-KentuckY & Indiana |
| Former callsigns |
W24BW (June 22, 1994-May 20, 2010) WYCS (false call letters, 2007-2010) |
| Former affiliations |
MuchUSA (to 2003) America One (2000s) Independent (to 2009) |
| Website | http://www.wycstv.com/home |
WKYI-CD, is an independent station in Louisville, Kentucky which broadcasts on and uses as their PSIP channel slot Channel 24, and which also airs Jewelry Television programming. Owned by Greater Louisville Communications and operated by Cascade Broadcasting, its transmitter is located near Floyds Knobs, Indiana.
The station is a Class-A operation, even though the station's official calls, until 2010, were still translator-style calls. The station also carries cable coverage via Time Warner Cable throughout the Louisville market on Channel 138, although either a digital cable converter or QAM-compatible television are compulsory to view the station on that system, and is also carried over U-Verse Channel 24.
As W24BW, they were formerly an America One affiliate, and aired community and regional programming and sporting events. Music video programming from the Canadian music video network MuchMusic was also a staple on the station until 2003, when MuchMusic's U.S. counterpart, MuchUSA, became Fuse TV. The first programming airdate under the original ownership of W24BW (Jerome Hutchinson,Sr. and Jerome Hutchinson, Jr.et al, dba Greater Louisville Communications,Inc.) was March 1, 1996. Their then-chief engineer, Virgil Baldon, Jr,, had the foresight to install a forward-compatible Acrodyne analog-to-digital convertible solid-state transmitter at the start of W24BW's broadcasts,10 years ahead of the digital TV conversion.
In 2007, Cascade Broadcasting began to operate W24BW out of the studios of WBKI. They also had an option to buy the station. Cascade tried to rebrand the channel as the Louisville Network, or LouNET, and aired locally produced shows, geared primarily towards the African American and Hispanic community.[1] The station also adopted the false call letters WYCS (standing for Your Community Station) as their branding to avert confusion with other local translator stations which just transmitted completely automated content straight from their network's satellite.
As of March 18, 2009, W24BW had dropped this programming and switched to Jewelry Television, along with lower tier and low-cost programming such as Cold Case Files repeats, Jury Duty and Eye for an Eye, which have all been rejected by the market's full-power stations. The station also airs a sports program hosted by Bob Valvano, local high school sports and athletic events from Western Kentucky University, along with other locally-produced programming aired under time purchasing agreements.
In fall 2010 the station began to air newscasts weeknights from WWJS-CA (Channel 9) in Jeffersonville, Indiana, along with a national newscast produced by Independent News Network.
Cascade has had recent financial issues, so severe that Journal Broadcast Group was able to buy KWBA with a failing station waiver. It has since sold WBKI to Fusion Communications; it is unknown if the station will otherwise be affected.
On May 20, 2010, W24BW acquired a letter call sign as WKYI-CD, denoting a class A digital television station.
References
- ↑ Dorsey, Tom (2007-07-07). "Resurrected WYCS aims to be both local and diverse". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
External links
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