WKON

WKON, virtual channel 52 (UHF digital channel 24), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Owenton, 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. WKON's transmitter is located outside Owenton's eastern city limits, in Owen County.[1]

WKON
(satellite of WKLE Lexington)
CityOwenton, Kentucky
Branding
  • KET (general)
  • KET: The Kentucky Network (secondary)
SloganWhere Learning Comes to Life
ChannelsDigital: 24 (UHF)
Virtual: 52 (PSIP)
TranslatorsW23DM-D 23 (UHF) Falmouth
Affiliations52.1: KET/PBS
52.2: KET2
52.3: KY Channel
52.4: KET PBS Kids
OwnerKentucky Authority for Educational Television
First air dateSeptember 23, 1968 (1968-09-23)
Call sign meaningW Kentucky Owenton
Former channel number(s)Analog:
52 (UHF, 1968–2009)
Former affiliationsNET (1968–1970)
Transmitter power49.7 kW
28.7 kW (CP)
Height214 m (702 ft)
224.5 m (737 ft) (CP)
Facility ID34211
Transmitter coordinates38°31′32″N 84°48′39″W
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license information
(satellite of WKLE Lexington) Profile

(satellite of WKLE Lexington) CDBS
Websitewww.ket.org

History

WKON began broadcasting on September 23, 1968, as one of the ten charter stations in the Kentucky Educational Television (KET) network.[2][3] Although WCET in Cincinnati, Ohio, already provided educational programming to northern Kentucky, WKON served as the default KET-network station for that part of the state until September 1969, when the network signed on WCVN-TV in Covington.

Digital television

The station's digital television companion signal, WKON-DT, began broadcasting in May 2002,[3] as with most of the KET network stations.

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming
52.1720p16:9KETMain KET programming / PBS
52.2480i4:3KET2KET2
52.3KET KYKentucky Channel
52.4KETKIDSPBS Kids

[4]

Analog-to-digital conversion

On April 16, 2009, WKON shut down its analog signal over UHF channel 52 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 44. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as 52, WKON's former UHF analog channel, which was among the high-band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use.

Spectrum incentive auction results

WKON received a construction permit to reallocate its digital signal onto UHF channel 24, as part of KET's participation in the FCC's Spectrum incentive auction of 2016–17. The digital signal was scheduled to migrate to UHF channel 24 on October 18, 2019.[6][7] UHF channel 44, is scheduled to be removed from broadcasting and reallocated for cellular and mobile data uses along with UHF band channels 38–51.

Availability

Transmitters

The KET network's satellite stations were strategically placed to ensure maximum coverage of the state. WKON's transmitter is located along KY 22 near its junction with KY 227 in Owen County just outside Owenton's eastern city limits.[8] The station extends its coverage through the operation of a low-powered digital translator, W23DM-D. Licensed to Falmouth, it transmits from a tower north of Falmouth at Grimes Road, off KY 159.[9] It serves as a replacement for WKON's former analog translator, W56AM, which was shut down in 2009 during the digital TV transition (although it had been exempt from shut down until 2015 as a low-power station).

Over-the-air coverage

WKON primarily serves the southwestern portions of the Cincinnati media market in northern Kentucky, the northeastern portion of the Louisville market, and the northwestern areas of the Lexington market. Its signal can be received in an area from Lexington to Erlanger and Aurora, Indiana, and from the northeastern Louisville suburbs to Falmouth and Cynthiana.[10]

WKON's coverage area partially overlaps with that of other KET stations. This includes network flagship station WKLE Lexington, WKPC-TV Louisville, and WCVN-TV Covington. WKON's coverage area includes most rural areas between these three stations. The station provides a good signal to Kentucky's capital city of Frankfort and provides a grade-B signal to northern portions of the Lexington metro area and into Madison, Indiana.[10][11][12]

Cable carriage

KET is offered on all cable systems in the state of Kentucky. The statewide cable coverage includes Charter Spectrum systems, Mediacom systems, and several locally owned cable television systems in the state.[13]

See also

References
  1. "RabbitEars.Info".
  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. ”Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada”. Broadcasting Yearbook 2003-2004. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 2003-04.pp. B37-B39.
  4. "Digital TV Market Listing for WKON". Archived from the original on 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-07-14. Retrieved 2018-10-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "RabbitEars Signal Contour Map for W23DM-D". Archived from the original on 2018-10-17. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  10. Signal coverage maps of all full-power stations -- Cincinnati, Ohio Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine. (Federal Communications Commission, 2009)
  11. Signal coverage maps of all full-power stations -- Louisville, Kentucky Archived 2010-05-27 at the Wayback Machine. (Federal Communications Commission, 2009)
  12. Signal coverage maps of all full-power stations -- Lexington, Kentucky Archived 2010-05-28 at the Wayback Machine. (Federal Communications Commission, 2009)
  13. "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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