WKMJ-TV
WKMJ-TV, virtual channel 68 (UHF digital channel 34), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is the flagship station for KET2, the second television service of Kentucky Educational Television (KET), which is owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television.
| Louisville, Kentucky United States | |
|---|---|
| Channels | Digital: 34 (UHF) Virtual: 68 (PSIP) |
| Branding | KET2 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Kentucky Authority for Educational Television |
| Sister stations | KET |
| History | |
| First air date | August 31, 1970 |
| Former channel number(s) |
|
| Former affiliations | |
| Call sign meaning | W Kentucky Media and Journalism |
| Technical information | |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 34195 |
| ERP |
|
| HAAT |
|
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°22′1″N 85°49′54″W |
| Translator(s) | WKPC-DT 15.2 (17.2 UHF) Louisville |
| Links | |
| Public license information | Profile LMS |
| Website | www |
| Type | Non-commercial educational television network |
|---|---|
| Branding | KET2 (on-air ident) |
| Country | |
First air date | August 1, 1997 |
| Availability |
|
| Headquarters | Lexington, Kentucky |
| Owner | Kentucky Authority for Educational Television |
| Parent | Commonwealth of Kentucky |
| Affiliation(s) | PBS |
Official website | www |
The station's master control and internal operations are located at KET's main studios at the O. Leonard Press Telecommunications Center in Lexington. WKMJ's transmitter, like those of several other Louisville stations including main KET transmitter WKPC-TV, is located at the Kentuckiana Tower Farm at Floyds Knobs, in Floyd County, Indiana. WKMJ and WKPC are the only KET-owned stations whose transmitters are outside Kentucky's borders.
History
Public television in Louisville, Kentucky, dates to 1958 when WFPK-TV (now WKPC-TV) began broadcasting for the Louisville Free Public Library. It was a member of National Educational Television until 1970, when it joined the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Meanwhile, Kentucky Educational Television (KET) began broadcasting in September 1968 as a network which included all public television stations in Kentucky except for PBS-members WKPC-TV and WKYU-TV, the latter of which began broadcasting for Western Kentucky University in 1989.
WKMJ-TV began broadcasting on August 31, 1970, as the fourteenth satellite station for the KET network.[1] It was launched later than the other stations, and took over service of Louisville from WKZT-TV in nearby Elizabethtown. WKMJ followed the statewide KET schedule until June 30, 1997,[2] when KET acquired WKPC. On July 1, WKPC took over KET service to the Louisville area while WKMJ-TV suspended operations for a transmitter upgrade. On August 1, WKMJ-TV resumed broadcasting as KET2, the network's second television service for the Louisville area.[3][4][5]
In 2009, WKMJ-DT2 began broadcasting the Kentucky Channel, simulcasting the DT3 subchannel of all other KET stations. Also in 2009, KET ED became available on WKMJ-DT3, on a 24-hour-a-day basis until September 2009, when WKMJ-DT3 went silent for four years. In 2013, WKMJ-DT3 began broadcasting the World network by American Public Television (APT). As the only KET station broadcasting that service, Louisville was the only major market in Kentucky to receive that channel.
Programming
As the second service of KET, WKMJ-TV broadcasts the national PBS schedule from the PBS Satellite Service along with additional syndicated programs from APT. This includes how-to programs, documentaries, public affairs programs, and some children's programming. Local programming focuses on the Louisville area.[6]
Availability
The KET2 service became available over-the-air statewide via the digital television signals of all KET stations broadcasting the statewide feed in the early 2000s, through a second digital subchannel. The 15 principal KET satellites and 3 accompanying digital low-powered translators provide KET2 on their respective DT2 subchannels.[7]
KET2's cable carriage covers roughly 62% of all subscribers in the state. This includes most Charter Spectrum systems, including all of the state's major cities and several rural areas. It is also available on DirecTV and Dish Network satellite television in the Louisville market.[8] KET2 is also available on cable in Louisville's southern Indiana suburbs.
Digital television
WKMJ-DT
WKMJ-TV began broadcasting its digital television companion signal, WKMJ-DT, in 2003, making it the last KET-affiliated television station to do so.[9]
Analog-to-digital conversion
On April 16, 2009, WKMJ-TV shut down its analog signal on UHF channel 68 in compliance with the federally-mandated digital television transition. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 38. Digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as 68, its former UHF analog channel.[10][11][12]
Spectrum incentive auction results
As of July 2017, WKMJ-TV currently holds a construction permit to move its digital signal to UHF channel 34 as part of the network's participation in the 2016–17 FCC Spectrum incentive auction. WKMJ's digital signal is scheduled to be reallocated to its new position in late 2019.[13][14]
WKMJ digital channels
WKMJ is the only KET-network station whose subchannels are not configured the same way as the other satellites. The station's signal is multiplexed in this manner:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[15] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68.1 | 480i | 4:3 | KET2 | Main WKMJ-TV programming / KET2 / PBS |
| 68.2 | KETKY | Kentucky Channel (via WKPC-DT3) | ||
| 68.3 | 16:9 | KETWRLD | World |
See also
References
- "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada". Broadcasting Yearbook 1974. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1974. p. A-24.
- "68-wkmj.jpg". Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
- KET Milestones (1997–1998) Archived from the original May 6, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- Press Release (May 30, 1997). "KET Acquires WKPC/Channel 15 License". KET. Archived from the original July 22, 1997. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
- "KET History < KET". Ket.org. 2015-02-11. Archived from the original on 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
- "KET Channels : KET3". Kentucky Educational Television. Archived from the original on September 28, 2006. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- "query on Kentucky Authority for Educational Television". Rabbitears.info. 2011-08-26. Archived from the original on 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
- "KET Cable and Satellite Company Channel Listings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
- "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada". Broadcasting Yearbook 2003-2004. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 2004. p. B-38.
- "Calls come after KET, WKYT digital TV transition". Lexington Herald-Leader. April 17, 2009. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- "The Digital Transition: The Malcolm (Mac) Wall Years". KET. Kentucky Educational Television. Archived from the original on 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
- "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). 2012-03-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
- "RabbitEars.Info". RabbitEars.Info. 2011-08-26. Archived from the original on 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
- FCC. "Post Incentive Auction Television Data Files". Data.fcc.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
- "Digital TV Market Listing for WKMJ-TV". Rabbitears.info. Archived from the original on 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
External links
- Kentucky Educational Television
- WKMJ in the FCC's TV station database
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WKMJ-TV