WLKY-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WLKY-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Live. Local. Late Breaking.
station_branding = Newschannel 32
analog = 32 (UHF)
digital = 26 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = CBS
network =
founded =
airdate = September 1961 [The "Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook" says September 18, while the "Television and Cable Factbook" says September 16.]
location = Louisville, Kentucky
callsign_meaning = Louisville, KentuckY
former_callsigns = WLKY-TV (1961-1994)
WLKY (1994-1997)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.
licensee = nowrap|WLKY Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = ABC (1961-1990)
effective_radiated_power = 4270 kW (analog)
600 kW (digital)
HAAT = 384 m (analog)
392 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 53939
coordinates = coord|38|22|10.3|N|85|50|1.5|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (analog)
coord|38|22|8.4|N|85|49|47.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (digital)
homepage = [http://www.wlky.com/ www.wlky.com]

WLKY-TV, "WLKY 32" is the CBS affiliate for Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is owned by Hearst-Argyle Television. Its transmitter is located in Floyds Knobs, Indiana.

History

The station signed on in September 1961 as a full-time ABC affiliate. Previously, the ABC affiliation in Louisville was shared between NBC affiliate WAVE-TV and then-CBS affiliate WHAS-TV. Combined Communications became the owners of WLKY by the 1970s. In 1979, Combined Communications merged with Gannett.

In 1983, Gannett sold WLKY, along with WPTA in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Pulitzer after it purchased WLVI-TV in Boston (currently owned by Sunbeam Television) from Field Communications. Pulitzer kept WLKY but sold WPTA to Granite Broadcasting in 1989.

In 1990, WLKY and WHAS (by then owned by the Providence Journal Company, now owned by Belo) swapped network affiliations, with WLKY taking the CBS affiliation and WHAS becoming the ABC affiliate - much to that station's chagrin. WLKY, which had usually been a distant third in the Louisville television viewership ratings prior to the network affiliation switch, has become much more competitive with WAVE and WHAS since becoming the CBS affiliate.

Hearst-Argyle Television bought all of Pulitzer's stations, including WLKY, in 1999.

From 1977 until 1986, WLKY was known as "32 Alive." At the time, Combined Communications was using the "Alive" moniker on four of its stations; in addition to WLKY, there were KOCO "5 Alive" in Oklahoma City, WXIA "11 Alive" in Atlanta, and WPTA "21 Alive" in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Gannett-owned WXIA still uses the "Alive" moniker, as does WPTA, although that station is no longer owned by Gannett.

WLKY is one of the few CBS affiliates that show "The Young and the Restless" 4-5 PM, leading into the 5 PM local news. In 1993, after losing "Oprah" to WHAS, they tried "The Bertice Berry Show" (which was cancelled nationally after one season) in the timeslot which was a disaster and eventually moved "The Young and the Restless" to 4pm where it remains today. Other CBS affiliates WAFB in Baton Rouge, LA; WRAL in Raleigh, NC; and KMOV in St. Louis also run "The Young and the Restless" in the 4pm timeslot. The game show duo of "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" have also aired on channel 32 in national syndication for many years.

In the February 2007 sweeps period, WLKY won the morning, noon and 11 pm newscast timeslots (with the 11 pm newscast leading both WAVE and WHAS by a wide margin), and came in a close second at 5 pm and a close third at 6 pm. For a station affiliated with one of the big three networks on the UHF dial (rivaling stations on the VHF dial), this is rare.Fact|date=January 2008

In 2008, WLKY changed their Identification. They went from WLKY NewsChannel 32 to WLKY News. NewsChopper 32 was also renamed WLKY NewsChopper. They also debuted a new graphics package. The only thing that remains the same are the lower thirds, OTS, and Weather graphics.

Notable WLKY alumni

*Diane Sawyer, co-host of ABC's "Good Morning America", who got her start at this station, working there from 1967 to 1970.
*Tom Mintier, reporter (moved to CNN)

External links

* [http://www.wlky.com/ WLKY-TV website]
*TVQ|WLKY
*BIA|WLKY|TV|TV

References