WLEX-TV
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2008) |
File:WLEX-TV logo.png | |
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City | Lexington, Kentucky |
Channels | |
Branding | LEX 18 |
Programming | |
Affiliations | |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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WCPO-TV | |
History | |
First air date | March 15, 1955 |
Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Lexington |
Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 73203 |
ERP | 379 kW 1,000 kW (CP) |
HAAT | 286 m (938 ft) 302.4 m (992 ft) (CP) |
Transmitter coordinates | 38°2′3″N 84°23′39″W / 38.03417°N 84.39417°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WLEX-TV (channel 18) is a television station in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Russell Cave Road (KY 353) in Lexington, and its transmitter is located six miles (10 km) east of downtown Lexington near Hamburg Pavilion.
History
WLEX first went on the air on March 15, 1955, as the first television station in Lexington and the third in Kentucky (following Louisville's WAVE-TV and WHAS-TV). The station began transmitting its signal in color in 1962. At the time, the station carried programming from all three networks (NBC, ABC, and CBS); In 1968, the CBS affiliation moved to WKYT-TV when WBLG-TV (now WTVQ-TV) signed on and took the ABC affiliation, making WLEX a full-time NBC affiliate.
For many years, the station was owned by the Gay & Bell families until they sold WLEX to the Evening Post Publishing Company (now Evening Post Industries) in 1999. Of the 13 stations owned by Evening Post Industries, WLEX was the only one east of the Mississippi River, and thus the only station in the group whose call letters begin with a W.
In November 2009, WLEX added the Wazoo Sports Network, which was dedicated to Kentucky sports, on a digital subchannel as part of a service branded as WZLEX.[1] Wazoo Sports filed for bankruptcy in December 2011; WLEX pulled the network at that time, with the station's general manager stating that Wazoo was "[not] strong enough to make a second commitment to it." Wazoo Sports would be replaced by MeTV.[2][3]
Cordillera Communications (the Evening Post subsidiary that operated its television stations) announced on October 29, 2018 that it would sell most of its stations, including WLEX, to the E. W. Scripps Company.[4] The sale was completed on May 1, 2019.[5]
News operation
![]() | This section needs expansion with: further information on the history of WLEX's news operation. You can help by adding to it. (October 2011) |
WLEX-TV broadcasts 38 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6½ hours each weekday, 2½ hours on Saturdays and three hours on Sundays). In the spring of 2007, WLEX-TV became the second station in Lexington and the entire state of Kentucky to broadcast local newscasts in high definition, and it debuted a new set in preparation for the transition. In September 2010, WLEX became the first station in Lexington to have an on-the-air 4:00 p.m. newscast.[6]
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Channel | Video | Aspect | Short name | Programming[7] |
---|---|---|---|---|
18.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WLEX-TV | Main WLEX-TV programming / NBC |
18.2 | 720p | Grit | Grit | |
18.3 | 480i | Bounce | Bounce TV | |
18.4 | CourtTV | Court TV | ||
18.5 | QVC2 | QVC2 |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WLEX-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, at 7 a.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 39.[8] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 18. The digital signal originates from the tower that also transmits the WTVQ-TV signal.[9][10]
TV spectrum repack
WLEX moved its channel allocation from digital channel 39 to digital channel 28 and remains on virtual channel 18.[11]
Out-of-market coverage
In Tennessee, Lexington television stations WLEX and WKYT are carried in Jellico. In addition, some providers in the easternmost portions of the Louisville market carry WLEX.[12]
References
- ^ "WLEX, Wazoo Sports Debut Channel". TVNewsCheck. November 25, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- ^ Sloan, Scott (January 9, 2012). "Kentucky broadcaster Wazoo Sports files for bankruptcy". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ "Media Notebook: WTVQ, WLEX add subchannels of retro TV". Kentucky Herald-Leader. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- ^ "The E.W. Scripps Company buys more television stations, bringing total to 51". WCPO-TV. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Mark K. (May 1, 2019). "Scripps Closes On Cordillera Stations Purchase". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- ^ "WLEX to add 4 p.m. newscast". Lexington Herald-Leader. August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2010.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WLEX
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "LEX 18 To Turn Off Analog Broadcast Signal On Friday". WLEX-TV. June 11, 2009. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
- ^ "Cannot GET story". www.kentucky.com. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Digital TV Market Listings". www.rabbitears.info. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "LEX 18 Coverage Map". WLEX-TV. Archived from the original on September 29, 2003 via Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
External links
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- NBC network affiliates
- 1955 establishments in Kentucky
- Bounce TV affiliates
- Court TV affiliates
- E. W. Scripps Company television stations
- Grit (TV network) affiliates
- Television channels and stations established in 1955
- Television stations in Lexington, Kentucky