W14DG-D

W14DG-D is a low-powered digital television station that is licensed to Bowling Green, Kentucky. The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 14. The station is owned by DTV America Corporation of Sunrise, Florida,^[1] a suburb of Miami. The station is part of a duopoly with its in-market sister station WCZU-LD, the area's Antenna TV and MyNetworkTV dual affiliate.

The station transmits its digital signal from a former AT&T Long Lines microwave tower located near the intersection of Grassland Road and State Highway 70 just northwest of Brownsville, in Edmonson County.^[2][3] That tower also previously served as WCZU-LD's transmitting site for its first few months on the air.

Digital channels

The station seems to have not activated their PSIP system, as the .3 allocation on a digital channel is the default for a channel which has no PSIP assignment.

History

The construction permit for the station was issued by the FCC on December 8, 2009, under the ownership of Madison Avenue Ventures. In 2015, DTV America Corporation purchased the station and its license.^[4]

The station would be silent for six years until 2016, when W14DG-D became affiliated with the Katz Broadcasting-owned comedy-oriented Laff network. With Laff now available, W14DG-D is the second station in the Bowling Green market to be signed on by DTV America, and is also the second station to sign on with programming from a digital multi-cast specialty network. W14DG is also the second digital low-powered station located within the Bowling Green, Kentucky market upon signing on nearly two years after sister station WCZU-LD took to the air in 2014. W14DG-D also has the distinction to be the Laff network's second affiliate to be based in the state of Kentucky, the first being the DT2 subchannel of Louisville's WKYI-CD.

Two Laffs in Bowling Green

In addition to W14DG-D, Laff is also offered on the third digital subchannel of Nashville, Tennessee-based CBS affiliate WTVF, which has historically served the Bowling Green area in addition to that station's home market, for WTVF's over-the-air signal is strong enough to be picked up in much of the Bowling Green market, with a few exceptions. WTVF's feed of Laff is currently still shown on cable in Bowling Green on the area's Time Warner Cable system,^[5] as well as the two Glasgow, Kentucky-based cable systems, the South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative,^[6] and the Glasgow Electric Plant Board.^[7] It is unknown if the feed from W14DG-D will replace WTVF's feed of Laff in the near future, nor that plans to drop any of WTVF's subchannels are made. Portions of the Laff programming schedule is also available on Dish Network via BlueHighways TV. Currently, WTVF's main channel, along with the area's own local CBS affiliate WNKY-DT2 (a second subchannel of NBC affiliate WNKY), remains on cable in most of the Bowling Green market on cable systems like Time Warner Cable,^[5] Mediacom,^[8] Glasgow Electric Plant Board,^[9] and the South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative.^[6]

Near-future

W14DG-D could provide two or three additional specialty television networks since DTV America also has rights to launch affiliates of other networks such as Sony Pictures Television's GetTV network, Sonlife Broadcasting Network, or any of the Spanish-language networks (e.g. Telemundo, MundoMax, Estrella TV).^[10] DTV America also has yet to sign on two other silent television stations, WCTZ-LD and WKUT-LD, the latter of which previously exclusively served the Glasgow, Kentucky area as an owned-and-operated translator of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Either one of those or W14DG-D could also return the Doctor Television Channel (DrTV) to the Bowling Green media market. The second subchannel of WCZU previously carried DrTV from its 2014 inception until December 2015, when it was replaced by FremantleMedia's Buzzr network.

Coverage area

Currently, W14DG-D can only be picked up in the central portions of the market, because the signal is oriented to the southwest from the transmitting site near Windyville. Locations within range of the signal include much of Warren County, including Bowling Green, as well as much of central and southern Edmonson County, including communities like Chalybeate, Asphalt, Wingfield, and Windyville. Coverage is limited in areas north of the transmitter, like in Lindseyville and Sweeden.^[11]

References

External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for W14DG
• DTV America
• Laff network website