WYMT-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WYMT-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Your Mountain Television
station_branding = 57 Mountain News
analog = 57 (UHF)
digital = 12 (VHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = CBS
network =
founded =
airdate = October 20, 1969
location = Hazard, Kentucky
callsign_meaning = We're
Your
Mountain
Television
former_callsigns = WKYH-TV (1969-1985)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Gray Television, Inc.
licensee = Gray Television Licensee, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = NBC (1969-1985)
effective_radiated_power = 2630 kW (analog)
50 kW (digital)
HAAT = 475 m (analog)
397.6 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 24915
coordinates = coord|37|11|36.4|N|83|10|52.8|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wymtnews.com/ www.wymtnews.com]
(shared with WKYT-TV)

WYMT-TV channel 57 is the CBS television affiliate in Hazard, Kentucky, serving primarily the far eastern part of the Lexington market, but also portions of neighboring Virginia and West Virginia. It also appears on the local cable television service in Claiborne County, Tennessee. The station is owned by Gray Television and is a sister station to Lexington's CBS affiliate, WKYT-TV.

It began broadcasting as WKYH-TV (meaning W KentuckY Hazard) on October 20, 1969 as an NBC affiliate. Prior to its inception, some counties in southeastern Kentucky were among the last remaining parts of the country unable to receive a commercial television signal over the air; Kentucky Educational Television had begun the year before. Although this area is considered part of the Lexington market, none of that city's television signals cover the area. Lexington is an all-UHF market, and UHF stations do not get decent reception in rugged terrain. Setting up translators in the area was not deemed realistic by the Lexington stations due to the area's extreme poverty, which did not allow many families the luxury of owning sets. Such conditions also made the region also very undesirable for potential outside corporate broadcasters to start a station. Instead, WKYH was founded by local businessman Bill Gorman, who has served eight terms as mayor of Hazard.

Not surprisingly, given the region's strong musical traditions, country, bluegrass, and Southern Gospel music constituted a good part of WKYH's early local programs. These shows lasted well into the 1980s, after country-music programs had fallen out of favor even on other Southern stations.

In 1985, Gorman sold the station to Kentucky Central Life Insurance Company, then owner of WKYT. The new owner changed the calls to WYMT, meaning "We're Your Mountain Television". Around the same time, Kentucky Central had its affiliation changed to CBS to match its new sister station. When Kentucky Central went bankrupt in 1993, WYMT and WKYT were bought by Gray Communications, now Gray Television.

Although it identifies as a station in its own right, WYMT is considered a semi-satellite of WKYT. It clears some of WKYT's syndicated programming, and the two stations share a Web site. The two stations occasionally co-brand as "Kentucky Television."

WYMT clears all CBS programming except for shows like "CBS News Sunday Morning," "Face The Nation," and other programming for paid religious programming and college basketball games. Its sister, WKYT, however, clears all those programs.

Currently, WYMT, Christian television stations WLJC-TV in Beattyville (owned by Hour of Harvest, Inc.) and WAGV-TV in Harlan (a satellite of WLFG-TV in Grundy, Virginia), and Kentucky Educational Television satellites WKHA in Hazard and WKPI in Pikeville are the only full-power stations that can be received over-the-air in much of this region. In addition, WOBZ-LP is a low-power station seving the London, Kentucky area. There are also several public access cable channels that serve the region.

Digital Programming

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

ports Overtime

"Sports Overtime" is a twice-weekly sports broadcast originally airing on Friday nights and covering high school athletics. The program began airing on Saturdays in the fall of 2006. The Saturday show focuses on local and state college athletics as well as the fan favorite package "The High School Fast Break," a recap of high-profile high school games from the previous Friday night.

The current shows are anchored by Jeff Archer and Brian Milam.

News Staff

Mountain News Anchors

* Neil Middleton (News Director and anchor, First @ Four) ^{[http://wkyt.mis.net/wymtweatherblog/?p=516]}
* Steve Hensley (6pm and 11pm)
* Marie Luby (6pm)
* Kimberly Burcham (Mornings)
* Jeff Allen (Weekend anchor, also the Cumberland Valley Bureau chief)

ky Alert Weather

* Jim Caldwell (Chief Meteorologist)
* Scott Dimmich (Morning Meteorologist)
* Rob Hopkins (Weekend Meteorologist)

Mountain Sports Anchors

* Jeff Archer (Sports Director, Sports O.T.)
* Brian Milam (Weekends, Sports O.T.)
* Derek Forrest (Sports, Sports O.T.)

Reporters

News

* Angela Sparkman (Big Sandy Bureau chief)
* Marie Luby
* Peter O'Connor
* Dara Rees
* Kimberly Burcham
* Amanda Price
* Matt Barbour
* Michel Mason

ports

* Jeff Archer
* Brian Milam
* Derek Forrest

Past Personalities

* Tony Turner (WYMT news anchor) - Died in 2002 in a tragic car accident.
* Jay Crawford (Creator of "Sports Overtime" on WYMT) - Currently the host of ESPN2's "First Take".
* Steve Crabtree (first WYMT news anchor) - Now VP News-Station Operations at co-owned WVLT-TV in Knoxville.
* Darwin Singleton - Now host of "Here's Darwin" at Mobile, AL's WPMI. ^{[http://www.nbc15online.com/content/heresdarwin/default.aspx]}
* Dave Shuffett (Last WKYH News Anchor) - Now host of KET's "Kentucky Life". ^{[http://www.ket.org/kentuckylife]}
* Joey Kesler (First Full-Time WKYH Weatherman) - Co-Owner of WOBZ-LP and WJJA-FM.
* Jim Freeman (recent co-host of the WYMT morning show) - Now News anchor for sister station WVLT-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee.
* DeAnn Stephens (Past Mountain News This Morning Anchor) - Formerly a Reporter/Anchor at WKYT, now with WBUL-FM in Lexington, Kentucky
* Scott Burchett (Former Fill-In Weather Anchor) - Now working in the medical field
* Susan Nicholas (former WYMT News Anchor) - Now a weekend anchor for sister station WSAZ in Huntington, West Virginia.
* Bill Taylor, First weekend sports anchor. Eastern Kentucky Native.
* Wes Shirley (Wallace), Former Morning Anchor, now anchor at KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
* Casey Pigman(Kurtis) , Former WYMT Reporter/Anchor
* Tony Hensley, Former Reporter, Now working for WTVQ-TV in Lexington
* Hershena Hanshaw, Former Morning Producer and Weather Anchor
* MK Combs, Former Morning Weather Anchor, now with WDXC-FM in Pound, Virginia
* Tony Brown, Former Chief Weathercaster - Now a full-time fireman and DJ
* Susannah (Walters) Sizemore - Former Anchor
* Jill (Fraley) Hammond - Former Anchor
* Michael Goins - Former Big Sandy Bureau Chief - previously served as a spokesperson for former Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Kentucky Education Cabinet and Kentucky Office of State Budget Director. Goins now serves as Director of Public Relations for Forcht Group of Kentucky, a holding and management company based in Lexington and Corbin.
* Beth (Hudson) Goins - Former part-time reporter - now works as a Senior PR Specialist with the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center.
* Melissa (Wireman) Houshell - Former 6 p.m. producer - now works in the Public Relations department with the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center.
* Keith Farmer - Former sports anchor/reporter - now works as a sports reporter for WLKY-TV, Louisville.
* John Lewis - Former sports anchor/reporter - now works as a sports reporter for WDRB-TV, Louisville.
* Julie (Stewart) Lewis - Former 6 & 11 p.m. anchor - now resides in Louisville.
* Shawn Ley - Former reporter - now works as a reporter for WKRC-TV, Cincinnati.
* Doug Korstanje - Former Big Sandy Bureau Chief - now Director of Marketing and Community Relations for St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia.
* Drew Deener - Former sports anchor/reporter
* Jennifer (Nime) Palumbo - Former reporter/morning show anchor - now co-anchors morning newscast for WDKY-TV, Lexington.
* Brandon Hensley - Former Sports Director/anchor/reporter - now working on an under-graduate degree at the University of the Cumberlands and working in the school's Sports Information Department. Also doing radio work for WSGS-FM in Hazard.
* Cassie Safrit - former 11 p.m. anchor/reporter - now weekend anchor/reporter at News 14 Carolina.
* Heather Haley - Former anchor/reporter - now a reporter for WVLT-TV in Knoxville.

Past Newscast Titles

"57 NewsService" (1970s when the station's call sign was WKYH)

External links

* [http://www.wymtnews.com/ WYMTnews.com]
*TVQ|WYMT
*BIA|WYMT|TV|TV
* [http://www.wobz9.com/REMEMBERWKYH.html Remembering WKYH-TV] (Small website by London's WOBZ-LP)