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WBKI (TV)

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(Redirected from WMYO)
"WBKI-TV" redirects here. For the defunct station in Campbellsville, Kentucky, which used this call sign, see WBKI-TV (1983–2017). "WMYO" redirects here. For the current Louisville low-power station with this call sign, see WMYO-CD.

WBKI
ATSC 3.0 station
CitySalem, Indiana
Channels
Branding
  • WBKI
  • MyTV 58 (58.3)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WDRB
History
First air date
March 15, 1994 (31 years ago) (1994-03-15)
Former call signs
  • WFTE (1994–2006)
  • WMYO (2006–2018)
  • WBKI-TV (February 12–19, 2018)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 58 (UHF, 1994–2009)
  • Digital: 51 (UHF, 2002–2019)
  • Independent (1994–1995)
  • UPN (1995–2006)
  • MyNetworkTV (2006–2018; now on 58.3)
Call sign meaning
"Warner Bros. in Kentucky and Indiana", from the original WBKI-TV on channel 34[2]
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34167
ERP860 kW
HAAT390.4 m (1,281 ft)
Transmitter coordinates38°21′1″N 85°50′57″W / 38.35028°N 85.84917°W / 38.35028; -85.84917
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wdrb.com/wbki/

WBKI (channel 58) is a television station licensed to Salem, Indiana, United States, serving the Louisville, Kentucky, area as an affiliate of The CW and MyNetworkTV. WBKI is owned by Block Communications alongside Fox affiliate WDRB (channel 41). Both stations share studios on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard in downtown Louisville, while WBKI's transmitter is located northeast of Floyds Knobs innortheastern Floyd County, Indiana.

Channel 58 began broadcasting as WFTE on March 15, 1994. It was owned by Salem farmer Tom Ledford and put on the air under a local marketing agreement with WDRB owner Block Communications, which provided programming and facilities. It was an independent station for its first year but affiliated with UPN when that network began in 1995. Block was allowed to purchase the station outright in 2001. UPN and The WB merged in 2006 to form The CW, but that network opted to affiliate with WBKI-TV (channel 34), and WFTE instead became a MyNetworkTV affiliate under a new call sign of WMYO. In 2012, WBKI-TV was sold, and the new owner entered into an agreement with Block to provide services. That station sold its spectrum in 2017, and its CW affiliation and call sign moved to channel 58 in stages between 2017 and 2018. WBKI is the broadcast home of Louisville City FC soccer.

History

[edit]
The original logo for channel 58 under its original WFTE calls is visible on the sign at the entrance of its shared transmitter with WDRB north of Louisville atop Floyds Knobs, Indiana; it was only used for one year before it took on UPN's affiliate design language upon that network's launch.

In 1987, Tom Ledford, a farmer from Salem, Indiana, read in his local newspaper that a television station allocation was available in his area. He applied and received a construction permit in September 1990.[4] By late 1993, Ledford and consultant Bob Gordon had made progress in putting the station on the air.[5] For programming, Ledford and Gordon entered into a local marketing agreement with WDRB (channel 41), Louisville's Fox affiliate, to program WFTE and use WDRB's tower at Floyds Knobs, Indiana.[6] WDRB held the rights to telecast Cincinnati Reds baseball and Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball, as well as other programs, but had not been able to show them due to Fox network programming commitments. In addition, WFTE became the Louisville-market home of NYPD Blue, an ABC series that local affiliate WHAS-TV refused to carry.[7]

WFTE began broadcasting on March 15, 1994.[8] Shortly after broadcasting, channel 58 committed to UPN, which launched in January 1995.[9] WDRB owner Block Communications acquired WFTE outright in 2001, creating the first television station duopoly in the Louisville market; this was allowed by the FCC even though there were fewer than eight unique commercial station owners because WFTE had only been put on the air as a result of the original local marketing agreement.[10]

In 2006, UPN and The WB merged to form The CW.[11] The WB affiliate in the market, WBKI-TV (channel 34), one of the highest-rated WB stations in the nation, was selected in early March as the CW affiliate.[12] Later that month, WFTE signed a deal to affiliate with MyNetworkTV, a new network set up by Fox Television Stations to serve stations not chosen for The CW.[13][14] On July 7, WFTE changed its call sign to WMYO in view of its new affiliation.[15]

The WDRB–WBKI studios on Muhammad Ali Blvd. in downtown Louisville. Channel 58 has been commonly operated with WDRB since it began broadcasting.

Block Communications entered into an operating partnership with WBKI-TV in 2012,[16] after that station was purchased by Lynn Martin.[17] In 2017, WBKI sold its broadcast spectrum in the broadcast incentive auction,[18] and its programming moved to a subchannel of WMYO, which continued to use the WBKI name and major channel 34. On February 12, 2018, WMYO became WBKI and The CW moved to channel 58.1. This restored CW programming to DirecTV.[19]

Gray Media announced it would purchase Block's television stations, including WDRB and WBKI, on August 1, 2025. The $80 million transaction would put the stations under common operation with NBC affiliate WAVE (channel 3).[20]

Local programming

[edit]

As WMYO, the station began airing Louisville City FC soccer matches in 2017 as part of a three-station pact that also saw games air on WDRB and WBNA.[21] The station continues to air Lou City matches, either on WBKI–CW or WBKI–MyTV 58, when matches are not selected for broadcast on WDRB or exclusively on a national TV partner.[22] WBKI is on the Indianapolis Colts preseason television network[23] and airs the weekly Cincinnati Bengals program Bengals Weekly (WDRB is on that team's preseason network).[24] WBKI also provides overflow capacity for WDRB local newscasts; in 2019, WBKI aired WDRB news 103 times on 70 separate days.[25]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

WBKI is Louisville's ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) host station. Its subchannels in ATSC 1.0 format are broadcast on subchannels of other participating stations, while it broadcasts itself and five other local stations in 3.0 format:

Subchannels provided by WBKI (ATSC 1.0)[26][27][28]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming ATSC 1.0 host
58.1 720p 16:9 WBKI-CW The CW WAVE
58.2 480i COZI Cozi TV
58.3 720p My TV MyNetworkTV WDRB
58.4 480i Movies! Movies! WLKY
58.5 Mystery Ion Mystery WDRB
58.6 Ion + Ion Plus

Analog-to-digital conversion

[edit]

Channel 58, as WFTE, began operating a digital signal on channel 51 on October 1, 2002.[29] It ended regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 58, on June 12, 2009, the official digital television transition date.[30] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 51, using virtual channel 58.[31] WBKI relocated its signal to channel 16 on October 18, 2019, as a result of the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction.[32][33]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Miller, Mark K. (August 1, 2025). "Gray Media Buying Block Stations For $80M". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  2. ^ Dorsey, Tom (September 13, 2000). "Lightning interrupts Dr. Laura's TV debut". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. F2. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBKI". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ^ Dorsey, Tom (October 8, 1990). "Farmer plants seeds for new TV station". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. C2. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Shafer, Sheldon (November 23, 1993). "New television station may be on air soon in Louisville area". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. B1. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Cooper, Ron (December 13, 1993). "WDRB will manage WFTE, newest TV station in area". Business First. p. 12. ProQuest 235141679.
  7. ^ Dorsey, Tom (February 2, 1994). "New TV station is coming, bringing 'NYPD Blue' with it". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. C2. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Dorsey, Tom (March 14, 1994). "New TV station to hit airwaves tomorrow—it hopes". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. C5. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (March 24, 1994). "Par brings two stations aboard fifth network". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 8. ProQuest 2362092494.
  10. ^ Green, Ed (April 9, 2001). "WDRB parent buys WFTE, plans new image campaign". Louisville Business First. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  11. ^ Carter, Bill (January 24, 2006). "UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  12. ^ Dorsey, Tom (March 2, 2006). "WBKI will become CW in September". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. E6. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "News Corp. Unveils MyNetworkTV". Broadcasting & Cable. February 22, 2006. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  14. ^ Romano, Allison (March 15, 2006). "My Network TV Signs 13 More Affils". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2013.
  15. ^ Dorsey, Tom (June 20, 2006). "'Frontline' examines Cheney's battle with CIA after 9/11". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. E6. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "WDRB, WMYO form a partnership with WBKI". WDRB. June 22, 2012. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  17. ^ "Lynn Martin Buying WBKI Louisville". TVNewsCheck. June 14, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  18. ^ "FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction Auction 1001 Winning Bids" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. April 13, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 14, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  19. ^ "We're Back: WBKI returns to DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse!". WDRB. February 12, 2018. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  20. ^ "Gray Media, Inc. acquires WDRB, Block Communications broadcast division for $80 million". WDRB. August 1, 2025. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  21. ^ "LouCity announces full-season TV deal with WDRB, WBNA". Louisville City FC. March 9, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
  22. ^ "2025 Broadcast Schedule". Louisville City FC. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  23. ^ "506 Sports - NFL Maps: Week p1, 2025". 506sports.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  24. ^ "Cincinnati Bengals Coverage". Bengals.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2025. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  25. ^ "Failing Station Waiver Request". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  26. ^ "TV Query for WAVE". RabbitEars.
  27. ^ "TV Query for WDRB". RabbitEars.
  28. ^ "TV Query for WLKY". RabbitEars.
  29. ^ "WFTE-DT". Television & Cable Factbook. Vol. 74. 2006. p. 851.
  30. ^ Neuhauser, Ken (February 15, 2009). "Stations delay digital switch: Analog TV viewers gain time to act". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. pp. B1, B3. Retrieved August 1, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  32. ^ "FCC TV Spectrum Phase Assignment Table" (CSV). Federal Communications Commission. April 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  33. ^ "PROGRAMMING NOTE: Antenna viewers must Plan to Rescan on Oct. 18". WDRB. October 18, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
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