branding abc 36 general abc 36 news news mykentuckytv on dt2 slogan your neighbors . your news . channels digital 40 uhf virtual 36 psip subchannels 36.1 abc 36.2 mynetworktv 36.3 justice network 36.4 laff 36.5 escape 36.6 antenna tv affiliations abc owner morris multimedia wtvq tv llc first air date september 7 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 07 call letters meaning we tell viewers quicker or television former callsigns wblg tv 1968 1974 wtvq tv 1974 2009 former channel number s analog 62 uhf 1968 1980 36 uhf 1980 2009 transmitter power 635 kw height 286 metres 938 ft facility id 51597 transmitter coordinates 38 2 2.8 n 84 23 37.6 w 38.034111 n 84.393778 w 38.034111 ; 84.393778 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wtvq.com mytvq2 wtvq antenna tv wtvq dt is the abc affiliated television station for lexington kentucky . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 40 from a transmitter located at the station s studios on the outer loop of man o war boulevard a.k.a. ky 1425 in the brighton section of fayette county . by coincidence competitor wkyt tv s studios are just across winchester road from the channel 36 facilities . wtvq dt is owned by morris multimedia . syndicated programming on the station includes judge judy entertainment tonight and extra . wtvq dt is also seen on time warner cable in the lexington area on channels 10 sd and 908 hd . 1 contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 news operation 4 references 5 external links history edit the station launched as wblg tv on september 7 1968 2 and was located on channel 62 . at the time this was one of the highest full power television channels assigned in the country . it was founded by lexington area businessman roy white and reeves broadcasting along with wblg radio am 1300 now wlxg and was the third commercial television station to begin broadcasting in the lexington market . from the first day of operation and because of its radio sister s affiliation with abc wblg was the abc affiliate for central kentucky . wkyt the former primary affiliate with abc became the cbs affiliate . reeves broadcasting went into bankruptcy and eventually white ended up as the sole owner of wtvq tv . in 1974 the station changed its call letters to the current wtvq tv after white sold the tv station to starr broadcasting company while white retained ownership of wblg radio . eventually starr broadcasting also went into bankruptcy . in 1979 shamrock broadcasting purchased the station from starr broadcasting . shamrock was wholly owned by roy disney nephew of walt and son of walt s brother roy . in 1980 shamrock installed a new 1.5 million watt transmitter and moved wtvq from channel 62 to channel 36 in june of that year channel 62 later carried the now defunct wblu lp . the station underwent a major renovation in 1985 that doubled the existing office space and created all new technical facilities . on january 30 1992 park broadcasting purchased wtvq from shamrock broadcasting . in july 1995 park communications was sold to gary b. knapp and donald r. tomlin jr. under the name park acquisitions . media general purchased park acquisitions and its properties including wtvq in january 1997 . on february 26 2002 it became central kentucky s first commercial television station to broadcast a digital television signal on uhf channel 40 . soon afterward it became the area s first commercial digital television channel to broadcast programming in high definition . on october 29 2007 media general announced that it was exploring the sale of wtvq . 3 on january 22 2008 the lexington herald leader mentioned the sale of the station . 4 that headline was confirmed on march 7 when media general announced it reached an agreement to sell wtvq to morris multimedia for an undisclosed sales price . 5 that price will likely be disclosed with either the fcc or sec though a media consulting analyst 6 in the 30 35 million range . the sale became final on may 13 . in june 2008 morris network named chris aldridge as general manager of wtvq . aldridge previously served as the station s general manager from 1992 until 1999 . it was announced on october 31 2008 that wtvq dt2 would become the lexington market affiliate for mynetworktv replacing wblu lp in the wake of wwe s smackdown moving to mynetworktv ; wblu s low power status and weak schedule meant that it had little possibility of cable carriage and the network had to find quickly an affiliate in the market with full market coverage . 7 on january 1 2009 wtvq dt2 officially became a full time mynetworktv affiliate under the branding mytvq2 after two months of only carrying smackdown on friday nights with a repeat after the saturday late news on wtvq s main channel . it also simulcasted the 24 hour weather channel during overnights until april 2009 . the station shutdown its analog signal at 11 59 p.m. on february 17 . 8 wtvq tv s official calls became wtvq dt on june 17 2009 . on december 7 2011 wtvq replaced 24 hour weather on wtvq dt3 with antenna tv . 9 on june 1 2015 wtvq re branded wtvq dt2 from mytvq2 to mykentuckytv . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 10 36.1 720p 16 9 wtvq 1 main wtvq dt programming abc 36.2 wtvq 2 wtvq dt2 mynetworktv 36.3 480i 4 3 wtvq 3 justice network 36.4 wtvq 4 laff 36.5 wtvq 5 escape 36.6 wtvq 6 antenna tv analog to digital conversion edit wtvq tv was the first station in lexington to broadcast a digital signal in 2002 . the station shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 36 on february 17 2009 the original target date in which full power television stations in the united states were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate which was later pushed back to june 12 2009 . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 40 . 11 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 36 . news operation edit on december 1 2005 wtvq launched a 24 hour local weather channel on its second digital subchannel and insight digital cable channel 436 . it moved to a new third digital subchannel on january 1 2009 when mytvq2 launched . this coincided with a new nightly 10 o clock newscast called abc 36 news at 10 that competes with fox affiliate wdky tv whose 10 p.m. news is the highest rated late local news in the lexington market . in addition to the new 10 o clock newscast on wtvq dt2 there are repeats of weekday newscasts that aired on the main channel . this includes the noon news at 1 00 the 6 00 broadcast at 6 30 and the 11 o clock news at midnight . 12 wtvq was the last major network station in lexington to broadcast their local news in high definition . the 10 p.m. news was soon discontinued . on june 1 2015 however the 10 p.m. newscast returned to wtvq dt2 as it was rebranded mykentuckytv . references edit time warner cable channel lineup for lexington kentucky tv guide september 7 13 1968 kentucky edition . media general exploring sale of five television stations press release . media general . 2007 10 29 . retrieved 2007 10 30 . http www.kentucky.com 179 story 293577.html media general announces sale of wtvq tv in lexington ky. to morris network inc. press release . media general . 2008 03 07 . retrieved 2008 03 07 . http www.kentucky.com 454 story 340715.html interviewed by the herald leader now a second chance to watch smackdown . lexington herald leader . retrieved on october 31 2008 . http www.kentucky.com 211 story 689551.html antenna tv affiliation wtvq . retrieved 3 december 2011 . rabbitears tv query for wtvq dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . http www.bizlex.com articles c 2009 02 19 85162.113117 aldridge looks to bring competitiveness back to wtvq.html external links edit wtvq dt abc 36 wtvq dt2 mykentuckytv query the fcc s tv station database for wtvq dt guide to the wblg audio tape collection 1954 1977 housed at the university of kentucky libraries special collections research center preceded by none channel 62 lexington occupant 1968 1980 succeeded by wlkt tv v t e broadcast television in central kentucky including lexington and frankfort reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wlex tv 18.1 nbc 18.2 metv 18.3 bounce tv wkyt tv 27.1 cbs 27.2 the cw 27.3 wx radar wtvq dt 36.1 abc 36.2 mynetworktv 36.3 justice 36.4 laff 36.5 escape 36.6 antenna tv wkle 46.1 pbs ket 46.2 pbs encore ket2 46.3 ky channel wdky tv 56.1 fox 56.2 comet 56.3 grit wljc tv 65.1 tbn wupx tv 67.1 ion 67.2 qubo 67.3 ion life 67.4 ion shop 67.5 qvc 67.6 hsn outlying areas southeastern kentucky wobz ld 9.1 rtv jtv 9.2 fgo 9.3 tuff tv east bernstadt london ky wkso tv 29 somerset wkha 35 hazard xx .1 pbs ket xx .2 pbs encore ket2 xx .3 ky channel wvtn lp 48.1 religions independent corbin wymt tv 57.1 cbs 57.2 this tv hazard morehead w10bm 10 amgtv wht morehead wkmr tv 38.1 pbs ket 38.2 pbs encore ket2 38.3 ky channel owenton frankfort wkon tv 52.1 pbs ket 52.2 pbs encore ket2 52.3 ky channel cable only lexington cn 2 gtv3 uktv winchester richmond krcc tv other areas fpb tv frankfort adjacent locals louisville wave tv 3.1 nbc 3.2 bounce 3.3 grit whas tv 11.1 abc 11.2 justice 11.3 radar wkyi cd 24.1 this tv 24.2 laff 24.3 escape 24.4 latv 24.5 ind. 24.6 infomercials wlky 32.1 cbs 32.2 metv wbki tv 34.1 cw 34.2 movies wdrb 41.1 fox 41.2 antenna tv defunct stations w06bc 6 a1 via w10bm mt. sterling owingsville w20as familynet corbin wblu lp 62 upn wb ind. mntv rtv wlkt 62 ind. 1988 89 kentucky broadcast television areas by city bowling green charleston wv cincinnati oh evansville in knoxville tn lexington louisville paducah v t e abc network affiliates in the commonwealth of kentucky stations wbko 13 bowling green wtvq 36 lexington whas tv 11 louisville defunct wklo tv 21 louisville see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in kentucky v t e morris multimedia morris newspaper corporation the covington news the times gainesville grant county herald independent great bend tribune manteca bulletin southern standard statesboro herald turlock journal morris network abc affiliates wtvq wway cbs affiliates wdef wcbi fox affiliates wxxv mynetworktv affiliates wmgt dt2 wtvq dt2 wcbi dt2 wxxv secondary nbc affiliates wmgt wxxv dt2 cw affiliates wway dt2 wcbi dt3 wxxv dt3 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wtvq dt & oldid 740381305 categories abc network affiliatestelevision stations in kentuckylaff affiliatesescape affiliatesantenna tv affiliatesjustice network affiliatestelevision channels and stations established in 1968 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 20 september 2016 at 18 29 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree