for other uses see ket disambiguation . kentucky educational television statewide kentucky united states branding ket general ket the kentucky network secondary slogan explore kentucky . explore the world . channels digital see table below subchannels xx .1 pbs xx .2 pbs encore ket2 xx .3 kentucky channel ket ed affiliations pbs owner kentucky authority for educational television first air date september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 call letters meaning see table below former affiliations net 1968 1970 transmitter power see table below height see table below facility id see table below transmitter coordinates see table below licensing authority fcc public license information educational television profile educational television cdbs website www.ket.org kentucky educational television also known as ket the kentucky network or simply ket is a state network of pbs member television stations serving the u.s. commonwealth of kentucky . it is owned and operated by the kentucky authority for educational television which holds the licenses for almost all of the pbs member stations licensed in the state with the exception of wkyu tv channel 24 in bowling green . ket is the largest pbs state network in the united states ; 1 the broadcast signals of its sixteen stations cover almost all of the state as well as parts of illinois indiana missouri ohio tennessee virginia and west virginia . the network s offices and studio facilities are located in lexington on cooper drive adjacent to the campus of the university of kentucky . it should be noted that ket has no other direct affiliation with the university . ket carries national programming from pbs and american public television along with a wide range of local programming basic skills and workplace education . 1 contents 1 history 2 programming 2.1 current programming 2.2 former programming 3 stations 3.1 ket 3.1.1 coverage areas 3.2 translators 3.2.1 former translators 3.3 ket2 3.4 ket ky 3.5 ket world 3.6 discontinued services 3.6.1 ket ed 3.6.2 ket5 and ket6 4 transmitter map 5 digital television 5.1 digital channels 6 analog to digital conversion 7 distance learning 8 ket slogans 9 bibliography 9.1 books 10 references 11 external links history edit overhead view of transmitter tower in ashland belonging to ket satellite wkas . ket was founded by o. leonard press a member of the university of kentucky faculty who was a pioneer in educational broadcasting . before coming to the university press had developed the weekly broadcast from the national press club which has aired for over half a century . in the mid 1950s he taped a popular anthropology course and the response to the telecourses was positive enough for press and two of his colleagues to consider founding an educational television station at the university of kentucky . this was a natural choice given uk s history in educational broadcasting . uk had been involved in broadcasting in one form or another since 1921 and operated wbky now wuky the nation s oldest educational radio station on the fm dial . this drive failed but press and his colleagues decided to set their sights higher and make a bid for a statewide educational television network along the lines of alabama educational television now alabama public television . at the time the only educational station in kentucky was wfpk tv channel 15 now ket outlet wkpc tv in louisville which signed on the air on september 8 1958 . before ket signed on the only areas of kentucky that received a clear signal from an educational television station were northern kentucky from wcet in cincinnati the jackson purchase from wsiu tv in carbondale illinois and certain areas of south central kentucky near the tennessee state line from wdcn now wnpt in nashville tennessee . the idea gained little momentum until 1959 when press addressed the local rotary club in the state capital of frankfort and a story about it appeared in the courier journal newspaper . after landing support from uk officials what was supposed to be a short meeting with governor bert t. combs turned into a proposal to start the state network . the kentucky authority for educational television was created in 1962 with press serving as its executive director . 2 the project made little progress until 1965 when ashland oil founder paul g. blazer personally acquired the first thirteen transmitter sites and then gifted the sites to the authority . ownership of the sites led to ket s expanded inclusion in the state budget and eligibility for united states department of health education and welfare and appalachian regional commission grants . 3 ket finally took to the air on september 23 1968 with programming relayed on 10 stations . ket was a member of national educational television for its first two years of operation before joining pbs in 1970 . the first instructional television itv program produced by ket was kentucky is my land which premiered in late 1968 . 4 originally operating only during school hours within a year it had acquired enough support to begin broadcasting its programming during the evening as well . 2 by 1975 it was showing programming seven days a week . 5 the ket fund for excellence one of the network s sources of funding is established in 1981 . one year later in 1982 ket enterprises is created as a syndication arm of ket to develop acquire and distribute educational programs nationally to and from other pbs affiliated networks . 6 from 1989 through the 1990s and early 2000s ket s star channels satellite network brought hundreds of hours worth of instructional programming and professional development seminars to schools all over kentucky . ket star channels 703 and 704 were also available on c band free to air satellite television users . 7 in 1998 ket merged with wkpc allowing it to start a second service on the louisville station it already owned wkmj tv channel 68 . wkpc tv s digital signal wkpc dt was the first ket affiliate to broadcast in digital and kentucky s first digital television station . on august 19 1999 that station s digital signal was turned on by then kentucky governor paul e. patton as part of the opening day festivities of the kentucky state fair . 8 9 programming edit current programming edit comment on kentucky ket s longest running public affairs program . 10 it has been in existence since 1974 . series creator and original host al smith retired from the series in november 2007 . it has since been hosted by ferrell wellman and bill bryant . kentucky afield is a magazine radio show and television program and is the official publication of the kentucky department of fish and wildlife resources . the magazine is a quarterly periodical while the television and radio programs are a 30 minute broadcast all of which is devoted to the fish and wildlife resources of kentucky and covers a broad range of outdoor topics including angling hunting conservation and land management . kentucky collectibles a series where participants have their possessions assessed by an appraiser with hosts dave shuffett and amy hess discuss with the guests about the valuables . 11 kentucky life features profiles of people places an ideas of kentucky . it is the most popular show on ket . 12 louisville life features events people and culture of louisville . 13 former programming edit prior to 2002 ket went off the air every night at midnight e.t. 11 p.m. ct . the network used to sign off with the playing of my old kentucky home which is the official state song of kentucky . the film featured scenes from all areas of kentucky including fort boonesborough the jefferson davis monument the lincoln birthplace kentucky horse park and more . 14 stations edit ket edit ket available to all cable subscribers in kentucky 15 broadcasts locally produced cultural and public information programs about the state programs produced by independent kentucky filmmakers prime time programming from pbs pbs kids series and ged how to and adult education programs . 16 as it is one of a few pbs member state networks 1 encompassing two time zones ket s programming operates on an eastern time zone schedule ; in promos online guides on the network s website and print advertisements airtimes within the central time zone which covers the western part of the state are identified secondarily in the manner of the eastern central scheduling references used by many national broadcast and cable networks . most of the ket stations have callsigns beginning with wk with the exception of covington licensed wcvn tv . stations station city of license channels tv rf first air date call letters meaning erp haat facility id transmitter coordinates wkas ashland charleston huntington west virginia 25 psip 26 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky ashland 61.3 kw 137 m 34171 38 27 43.7 n 82 37 11.8 w 38.462139 n 82.619944 w 38.462139 ; 82.619944 wkas wkgb tv bowling green glasgow 53 psip 48 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky green bowling 54.8 kw 234 m 34177 37 5 22.7 n 86 38 5 w 37.089639 n 86.63472 w 37.089639 ; 86.63472 wkgb tv wcvn tv covington cincinnati ohio 54 psip 24 uhf september 8 1969 ; 47 years ago 1969 09 08 covington 53.5 kw 117 m 34204 39 1 50.6 n 84 30 23 w 39.030722 n 84.50639 w 39.030722 ; 84.50639 wcvn tv wkzt tv elizabethtown fort knox 23 psip 43 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky elizabethtown 61 kw 178 m 34181 37 40 55.2 n 85 50 31.2 w 37.682000 n 85.842000 w 37.682000 ; 85.842000 wkzt tv wkha hazard 35 psip 16 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky hazard 53.2 kw 369 m 34196 37 11 34.2 n 83 11 17.4 w 37.192833 n 83.188167 w 37.192833 ; 83.188167 wkha wkle lexington frankfort 46 psip 42 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky lexington 45.8 kw 257.6 m 34207 37 52 45 n 84 19 32.8 w 37.87917 n 84.325778 w 37.87917 ; 84.325778 wkle wkpc tv1 louisville new albany jeffersonville indiana 15 psip 17 uhf september 8 1958 ; 58 years ago 1958 09 08 kentucky park central for central park or kentucky public communications 60.3 kw 237 m 21432 38 22 1.6 n 85 49 53.8 w 38.367111 n 85.831611 w 38.367111 ; 85.831611 wkpc tv wkma tv madisonville 35 psip 42 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky madisonville 55.1 kw 298 m 34212 37 11 21.3 n 87 30 49 w 37.189250 n 87.51361 w 37.189250 ; 87.51361 wkma tv wkmr morehead 38 psip 15 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky morehead 51.4 kw 289 m 34202 38 10 38.3 n 83 24 17.2 w 38.177306 n 83.404778 w 38.177306 ; 83.404778 wkmr wkmu murray mayfield 21 psip 36 uhf october 9 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 10 09 kentucky murray 56.9 kw 187 m 34174 36 41 34.2 n 88 32 10.6 w 36.692833 n 88.536278 w 36.692833 ; 88.536278 wkmu wkoh owensboro henderson evansville indiana 31 psip 30 uhf december 31 1979 ; 36 years ago 1979 12 31 kentucky ohio valley or kentucky owensboro henderson 63.3 kw 124 m 34205 37 51 7 n 87 19 44 w 37.85194 n 87.32889 w 37.85194 ; 87.32889 wkoh wkon owenton 52 psip 44 uhf september 23 1968 ; 48 years ago 1968 09 23 kentucky owenton 49.7 kw 214 m 34211 38 31 31.5 n 84 48 39.4 w 38.525417 n 84.810944 w 38.525417 ; 84.810944 wkon wkpd2 paducah 29 psip 41 uhf may 31 1971 ; 45 years ago 1971 05 31 kentucky paducah 55.7 kw 143 m 65758 37 5