WLEX-TV explained

Callsign:WLEX-TV
Branding:LEX 18
Digital:28 (UHF)
Virtual:18
Country:United States
Location:Lexington, Kentucky
Callsign Meaning:Lexington
Owner:E. W. Scripps Company
Licensee:Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC
Facility Id:73203
Coordinates:38.0342°N -84.3942°W
Licensing Authority:FCC

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 60NaN0 east of downtown Lexington near Hamburg Pavilion.

WLEX-TV began broadcasting in March 1955 as the first television station in Lexington, primarily an NBC affiliate for its entire history. Its founding ownership retained ownership for 44 years until it sold to Cordillera Communications in 1999; Scripps acquired it in 2019. It has generally been competitive in news ratings throughout its history.

History

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its freeze on television channel applications in April 1952 and opened the ultra high frequency (UHF) band for television, two channels were allocated for Lexington: 27 and 33, both in the new band. Two Lexington radio stations, WLEX (1300 AM) and WVLK, applied for channel 33, only to see the commission adjust the proposed station to channel 64.[1] A total of four applicants sought the two channels, and in response to a petition from WVLK, channel 18 was added to Lexington from Gallipolis, Ohio, with WLEX and WVLK each amending their applications to specify the lower channel.[2]

On February 18, 1954, two related events took place. WLAP had won the channel 27 construction permit but announced that, for economic reasons related to the failures of early UHF stations elsewhere, it would not construct the station at the present time. For the same reason, WVLK withdrew its channel 18 application, effectively handing the license to WLEX parent Central Kentucky Broadcasting Company (later WLEX-TV, Inc.), a consortium of the Gay and Bell families.[3] The construction permit for WLEX-TV was granted on April 13, 1954,[4] and construction was under way by the end of the year.[5] WLEX-TV had obtained affiliations with three of the four networks of the era: NBC, ABC, and DuMont; CBS had presented an affiliation agreement described by the station manager as "not acceptable".[6] The station began broadcasting on March 15, 1955, as the first television station in Lexington.[7] Its launch was not heavily noticed in town: Snooky Lanson, master of ceremonies for the dedication program, asked to be taken to the TV station in a taxi and found himself at the WLAP radio studios instead.[8] After WLAP was sold along with its construction permit, new owners built channel 27 as WKXP-TV in September 1957;[9] originally operating as an independent station, it became Lexington's CBS affiliate months later and was then sold to become WKYT-TV.[10] [11]

The Gay and Bell families spun off WLEX radio in 1958 to Roy White (who renamed it WBLG) but retained WLEX-TV;[12] the move was necessary to raise capital to shore up the money-losing television station. On January 21, 1959, the station's 654feet tower collapsed in a windstorm and landed on the building, inflicting significant damage; a WLEX-TV receptionist, Suzanne Grasley, was killed, and two other people were hurt. A nearby tower used by the state highway department collapsed onto the guy wires, causing an impact that buckled the mast.[13] The station was out of service for more than a month, resuming with reduced power on February 24.[14] After WKYT-TV switched to full-time ABC affiliation in 1961, WLEX-TV began carrying some CBS programs the next year.[15] [16]

In 1964, Gay–Bell attempted to sell WLEX-TV to the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation for $2 million. Crosley officials cited the fact that WLEX-TV was the first UHF station in the nation to air network and local color programming among other factors for the purchase.[17] However, months later, a new FCC rule barred ownership of stations with overlapping signal coverage areas. As WLEX-TV had a significant overlap with Crosley flagship WLWT in Cincinnati, the deal was called off.[18] Instead of selling, Gay–Bell turned around and bought WCOV radio and television in Montgomery, Alabama.[19] In 1968, WKYT-TV switched back to CBS from ABC,[20] but ABC programs in Lexington moved to a new station, WBLG-TV, on June 2 of that year.[21] Station ownership briefly returned to radio with the launch of WLEX-FM 98.1 in July 1969;[22] the automated stereo rock station was sold five years later due to equipment problems and became WKQQ.

Gay–Bell family ownership outlasted the original Gay and Bell (H. Guthrie Bell died in 1969 and J. Douglas Gay in 1988). It also outlasted Harry Barfield, who had started with the station as one of its original salesmen, rising to became general manager and then chairman before dying in 1991. However, in 1998, with an impending conversion to digital television as well as a seller's market for television stations nationally, Gay–Bell opted to sell WLEX-TV. By then, channel 18 was the last locally owned station in the market, though no Gay-Bell heirs were actively involved in station operations.[23] More than 30 parties expressed interest in purchasing WLEX-TV, including Jefferson-Pilot; the South Carolina-based Evening Post Publishing Company (now Evening Post Industries) emerged with the station in 1999 for an undisclosed sum, making WLEX-TV the company's only television property east of the Mississippi River and Lexington the company's largest market.[24] [25]

Unlike most NBC stations in the 1980s, WLEX did not have a complete NBC weekend morning lineup. WLEX produced multiple locally produced shows such as Call the Doctor, In the Know, and Winner's Circle, as well as local and nationally syndicated sports coverage and reruns of The Beverly Hillbillies. At the time, it aired in NBC's Saturday Morning cartoon slots, replacing multiple cartoon programs that normally aired on NBC.[26]

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.[27] Wazoo Sports filed for bankruptcy in December 2011; WLEX pulled the service 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.[28] [29]

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.[30] The sale was completed on May 1, 2019.[31]

News operation

WLEX was the first station to generally lead the news ratings in Lexington, but WKYT-TV began to edge it out in the mid-1970s.[32] This began a dominant run for WKYT-TV's local news offerings, while WLEX-TV was typically left in second place. The lone exception was in the 1990s, when WTVQ edged out WLEX at times for the second-place position.[33] [34]

In the early 2000s, channel 18 rebuilt its newsroom. When WLEX passed WKYT in 2004 after a multi-year rebuild of its news department, it was front-page news; however, WKYT management asserted that the combination of WKYT and WYMT still garnered more viewers.[35] The market has more recently been a two-station battle between WLEX and WKYT, with WLEX tending to perform better in Fayette County itself while rural areas continue to prefer channel 27.[36] [37]

Notable on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Channel! scope="col"
Res.AspectShort nameProgramming
18.1 WLEX-TV Main WLEX-TV programming / NBC
18.2 Grit Grit
18.3 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 on 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, using virtual channel 18.[40] [41] The station was then repacked to channel 28 in 2020.

Notes and References

  1. News: Changing Of Local Channels May Delay TV In Lexington. July 25, 1952. 5. The Lexington Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. November 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221120230245/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113384694/changing-of-local-channels-may-delay-tv/. live.
  2. News: Two More TV Channels Set For Lexington. November 6, 1953. 24. The Lexington Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012435/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113385232/two-more-tv-channels-set-for-lexington/. live.
  3. News: WVLK Gives Up On UHF Idea: Station Withdraws Federal Permit Bid. February 19, 1954. 1, 16. The Lexington Herald. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012437/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113386415/wvlk-gives-up-on-uhf-idea-station/. live.
  4. News: Channel 18 Okayed For Station WLEX. April 14, 1954. 18. Associated Press. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012436/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114532528/channel-18-okayed-for-station-wlex/. live.
  5. News: Lexington TV Station To Go on Air Soon. December 2, 1954. 15. Associated Press. The Courier-Journal. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012436/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114532633/lexington-tv-station-to-go-on-air-soon/. live.
  6. News: Program Tests Planned Soon By WLEX-TV. January 20, 1955. 22. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114532706/program-tests-planned-soon-by-wlex-tv/. live.
  7. News: City, County Officials On Hand For Local TV Station's Opening. March 16, 1955. 26. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. January 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230110071904/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114532843/city-county-officials-on-hand-for/. live.
  8. News: WLEX-TV Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary. March 13, 1980. B-1, B-6. David. Reed. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012436/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114534730/wlex-tv-celebrates-its-25th-anniversary/. live.
  9. News: WKXP-TV Goes On Air On Monday. September 22, 1957. 2. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. November 20, 2022. November 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221120230244/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113386967/wkxp-tv-goes-on-air-on-monday/. live.
  10. News: Local TV Station To Join CBS. March 21, 1958. 24. The Lexington Leader. Newspapers.com. November 20, 2022. November 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221120230241/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113388197/local-tv-station-to-join-cbs/. live.
  11. News: WKXP, WLAP Sale Is Approved. June 3, 1958. 11. The Lexington Leader. Newspapers.com. November 20, 2022. November 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221120230243/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113388859/wkxp-wlap-sale-is-approved/. live.
  12. News: Transfer Of Station WLEX Is Completed. March 2, 1958. 7. The Lexington Leader. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012433/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114532956/transfer-of-station-wlex-is-completed/. live.
  13. News: 1 Killed, 2 Hurt As 654-Foot TV Tower Crashes: Mrs. Suzanne Grasley Is Crushed By Debris. January 22, 1959. 1, 2. Jim. Barrickman. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. January 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230110071904/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114533242/1-killed-2-hurt-as-654-foot-tv-tower/. live.
  14. News: Lexington Station Resumes Telecasts. February 25, 1959. 10. Associated Press. The Courier-Journal. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012437/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114533579/lexington-station-resumes-telecasts/. live.
  15. News: Plans For Third Lexington TV Station Are Announced. August 29, 1962. 1. The Lexington Leader. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. January 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230110071905/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114533727/plans-for-third-lexington-tv-station/. live.
  16. Book: Nash, Francis M.. 1995. Towers Over Kentucky: A History of Radio and TV in the Bluegrass State. World Radio History. 9781879688933. December 13, 2022. April 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220427222252/https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/Towers-Over-Kentucky-Nash-1995.pdf. live.
  17. News: $2 Million Buy: Crosley Broadcasting To Purchase WLEX-TV. February 5, 1964. 1. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012432/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114533134/2-million-buy-crosley-broadcasting-to/. live.
  18. News: Crosley Firm Drops Plans To Buy WLEX-TV. June 20, 1964. 17. The Indianapolis Star. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012433/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114533113/crosley-firm-drops-plans-to-buy-wlex-tv/. live.
  19. News: WCOV-TV And Radio Sold To Lexington, Ky. Company. July 4, 1964. 1. The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. January 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230110071904/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74985790/wcov-tv-and-radio-sold-to-lexington/. live.
  20. News: Board Will Permit Powerful TV Tower. March 23, 1968. 12. The Lexington Herald. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. November 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221120230243/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113389964/board-will-permit-powerful-tv-tower/. live.
  21. News: Ceremony Marks Telecast Beginning. September 5, 1968. 2-WB. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. August 28, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210828091330/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84221489/ceremony-marks-telecast-beginning/. live.
  22. Web site: WLEX(FM). B-81. Broadcasting Yearbook. 1973. World Radio History. December 13, 2022. February 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220220191908/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1973/1973-BC-YB.pdf#page=263. live.
  23. News: Owners: Time to put WLEX-TV on the market. September 16, 1998. A1, A11. Jamie. Butters. Lexington Herald-Leader. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. January 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230110071919/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114535035/owners-time-to-put-wlex-tv-on-the/. live.
  24. News: S. Carolina media firm acquiring WLEX-TV: Purchase price goes undisclosed. January 19, 1999. A1, A2. Frank. Lockwood. Amy. Baldwin. Valarie. Honeycutt. Lexington Herald-Leader. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. January 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230110071905/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114535377/s-carolina-media-firm-acquiring/. live.
  25. News: WLEX hires new chief from Rochester. September 2, 1999. C1, C2. Amy. Baldwin. Lexington Herald-Leader. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213012435/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114535605/wlex-hires-new-chief-from-rochester/. live.
  26. News: The unique Saturday Morning lineup from WLEX, spot the difference. PulaskiLibrary. June 27, 1986. December 23, 2022. en-US.
  27. Web site: WLEX, Wazoo Sports Debut Channel. TVNewsCheck. November 25, 2009. March 2, 2016. January 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190119230614/https://tvnewscheck.com/article/37587/wlex-wazoo-sports-debut-channel/. live.
  28. News: Sloan. Scott. Kentucky broadcaster Wazoo Sports files for bankruptcy. January 9, 2012. Lexington Herald-Leader. January 9, 2012. January 12, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120112065839/http://www.kentucky.com/2012/01/09/2022119/kentucky-broadcaster-wazoo-sports.html. live.
  29. News: Media Notebook: WTVQ, WLEX add subchannels of retro TV. March 2, 2016. Kentucky Herald-Leader. March 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305113938/http://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article44150316.html. live.
  30. News: The E.W. Scripps Company buys more television stations, bringing total to 51. October 29, 2018. WCPO-TV. October 29, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181029152049/https://www.wcpo.com/homepage-showcase/the-ew-scripps-company-buys-more-television-stations-bringing-total-to-51. live.
  31. Web site: Scripps Closes On Cordillera Stations Purchase. Mark K.. Miller. TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. May 1, 2019. May 1, 2019. May 1, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190501145300/https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/234541/scripps-closes-on-cordillera-stations-purchase/. live.
  32. News: Riggins' Resignation Result Of Ratings Race?. April 6, 1975. TV Spotlight 8. David. Reed. The Lexington Herald. Newspapers.com. November 21, 2022. January 10, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230110071905/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84340423/riggins-resignation-result-of-ratings/. live.
  33. News: Channel 27 way ahead of ratings competition. April 2, 1991. D1, D3. Susan. White. Lexington Herald-Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. April 25, 2022.
  34. News: Sweeps ratings put WKYT-TV in top news spot again. February 1, 2000. B5. Heather. Svokos. Lexington Herald-Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. April 25, 2022.
  35. News: WLEX passes WKYT in ratings: Channel 27 had No. 1 newscast for 28 years. January 29, 2005. A1, A9. Rich. Copley. Lexington Herald-Leader. Newspapers.com. November 21, 2022. November 21, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221121014705/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113398872/wlex-passes-wkyt-in-ratings-channel-27/. live.
  36. News: WLEX wins May news ratings; WKYT disputes survey. July 9, 2012. C1. Lexington Herald-Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. April 25, 2022.
  37. News: Market Eye: A Two-Horse Race in Kentucky. Broadcasting & Cable. September 22, 2014. Michael. Malone. December 13, 2022. November 21, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221121042309/https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-two-horse-race-kentucky-134204. live.
  38. News: Sports, business keep Hammond on the run. December 24, 1984. D3, D4. Virginia. Anderson. Lexington Herald-Leader. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213050601/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114544686/sports-business-keep-hammond-on-the-run/. live.
  39. News: The Heather Channel. May 31, 2002. Weekender 2. Heather. Svokos. Lexington Herald-Leader. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213050605/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114544857/the-heather-channel/. live.
  40. Web site: May 23, 2006 . DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf . August 29, 2013 . August 29, 2021 . Federal Communications Commission.
  41. News: All but one station delay TV switch: WTVQ will pull analog on Feb. 17 as planned. February 10, 2009. A1, A7. Scott. Sloan. Lexington Herald-Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. Newspapers.com. December 13, 2022. December 13, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221213050603/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114545559/all-but-one-station-delay-tv-switch/. live.

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