WKSO-TV

WKSO-TV, virtual channel 29 (UHF digital channel 17), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Somerset, Kentucky, United States. Owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, the station is operated as part of the statewide Kentucky Educational Television (KET) network. WKSO-TV's transmitter is located at Dye Knob, along the Pulaski–Casey county line on KY 837 near Mintonville.

WKSO-TV
Satellite of WKLE, Lexington, Kentucky
CitySomerset, Kentucky
ChannelsDigital: 17 (UHF)
Virtual: 29 (PSIP)
Branding
  • KET (general)
  • KET: The Kentucky Network (secondary)
SloganWhere Learning Comes to Life
Programming
Affiliations29.1: KET/PBS
29.2: KET2
29.3: KY Channel
29.4: KET PBS Kids
Ownership
OwnerKentucky Authority for Educational Television
History
First air date
September 23, 1968 (1968-09-23)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 29 (UHF, 1968–2009)
  • Digital:
  • 17 (UHF, 2002-2019)
  • Translator:
  • W55AL 55 (UHF) Tompkinsville (199?–2006)
NET (1968–1970)
Call sign meaning
W Kentucky Somerset
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34222
ERP
HAAT
  • 429 m (1,407 ft)
  • 446.9 m (1,466 ft) (CP)
Transmitter coordinates37°10′3″N 84°49′30″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.ket.org

History

WKSO signed on the air on September 23, 1968, as one of the ten charter stations of the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) network.[1][2] The station is the first and only full-power television station locally based in Somerset, Kentucky. Although Knoxville, Tennessee, is the closest major city to much of this area, Somerset is included as part of the Lexington television market. Over-the-air reception of TV stations from both cities is possible in the lower Daniel Boone National Forest area, and cable systems in this area carry stations from their home market along with Knoxville stations. Two low-powered stations also serve the Somerset–London area.

Former translators

In Tompkinsville, WKSO-TV's signal was repeated via W55AL on analog UHF channel 55 from the 1990s until 2006. This translator mostly served Monroe County in south-central Kentucky, along with portions of neighboring Clay County, Tennessee. Those areas are included in the television market of Nashville, Tennessee.[3]

Digital television

The station's digital television companion signal, WKSO-DT, along with the digital companions of thirteen other KET stations, signed on the air in May 2002.[1]

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming
29.1720p16:9KETMain KET programming / PBS
29.2480i4:3KET2KET2
29.3KET KYKentucky Channel
29.4KETKIDSPBS Kids

[4]

Analog-to-digital conversion

On April 16, 2009, WKSO-TV shut down its analog signal on UHF channel 29 as part of the mandatory analog-to-digital television transition of 2009. All KET stations completed the transition on April 16.[5] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 14. Digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 29.

Spectrum auction results

WKSO-TV held a construction permit to move its digital signal to UHF channel 17 as part of the network's participation in the 2016–17 FCC Spectrum incentive auction. The station reallocated its digital signal to the new frequency on October 18, 2019; the station's virtual channel number remained the same.[6][7]

Availability

Over-the-air

WKSO's signal mainly reaches the southern tier of counties in the Lexington media market (Pulaski, Laurel, Rockcastle, Lincoln, Casey, Russell and Wayne Counties), along with northern portions of the Knoxville market (Scott, Fentress, Morgan, and Campbell Counties in Tennessee, plus McCreary County, Kentucky), as well as the far northeastern fringes of the Nashville market (Pickett County, Tennessee and Clinton and Cumberland Counties in Kentucky). Some southeastern counties of the Louisville market, as well as Metcalfe County, Kentucky, in the small Bowling Green market, are also within range of the signal coverage area. The signal can be picked up near Center to just west of Barbourville, and from Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to Byrdstown and Oneida, Tennessee. Other populated cities within range of WKSO include Campbellsville, Danville, London, and Mount Vernon, Kentucky, as well as Oneida and Jellico, Tennessee.[8]

The station's broadcast coverage overlaps with other KET stations: network flagship station WKLE Lexington, WKZT-TV Elizabethtown, and WKHA Hazard. The network's satellites were strategically located to maximize signal coverage in the state of Kentucky. Portions of the WKSO signal coverage area can also pickup the signals of standalone PBS station WCTE from Cookeville, Tennessee, and WKOP-TV in Knoxville, which is part of the two-station East Tennessee PBS network.

Cable availability

KET's statewide cable coverage includes the local Mediacom systems in Casey and Lincoln Counties, along with Charter Spectrum systems in Somerset, London, Corbin, and Williamsburg, Duo County Cable in Russell County, and Community Telecom Services in Monticello.[9][10] WKLE is the only KET station uplinked on satellite television in the Lexington market. The network is not available on satellite in Clinton, Cumberland, Monroe or McCreary Counties as those areas are within the out-of-state media market areas.

See also

References
  1. ”Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada”. Broadcasting Yearbook 2003-2004. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 2003-04.pp. B37-B39.
  2. “Historical marker unveiled for KET’s 50th anniversary” Archived 2018-10-17 at the Wayback Machine. WKYT-TV. September 18, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  3. Kentucky Educational Television Station ID (Blue) (2002) Archived 2016-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. 1 August 2017 – via YouTube.
  4. "Digital TV Market Listing for WKSO". Archived from the original on 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  5. "Calls come after KET, WKYT digital TV transition". Lexington Herald-Leader. April 17, 2009. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2018-10-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Post Incentive Auction Television Data Files". Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  8. Maps of the coverage areas of all Full-power stations in the Lexington, KY marker Archived 2010-05-28 at the Wayback Machine. Federal Communications Commission (2009).
  9. "Community Telecom Services". Archived from the original on 2008-07-04. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  10. "KET Cable and Satellite Company Channel Listings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
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