WBKI-TV (1983–2017)

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

• Template:Infobox broadcasting network
• Template:Infobox television channel
• Template:Infobox television station

WBKI is The CW station licensed to Campbellsville, Kentucky, USA on channel 34. It primarily serves the Louisville market. Owned by Cascade Broadcasting Group, LLC, the station's transmitter is located near Raywick, Kentucky. WBKI also broadcasts on a low-powered repeater, WBKI-CA ch.28, in Louisville.

In 2005, WBKI was The WB's strongest station, beating WGN-TV, KTLA-TV, and KWGN-TV; and the third-highest rated station in Louisville. On January 3, 2005 WBKI launched a newscast produced by WHAS-TV. The show is one of two 10pm newscasts in the Louisville market. The other one is on WDRB, Fox 41.

On March 1, 2006, Cascade announced that WBKI would affiliate with The CW, which debuted in September 2006. [1] Current UPN affiliate WMYO will carry the Monday-Saturday My Network TV programming block from Fox.

History

When the station first signed on July 27, 1983, WBKI was WGRB, a much smaller independent station serving the Campbellsville, Kentucky area, 85 miles south-southeast of Louisville; it would later become a Fox affiliate for that region when the network started in 1986 and became of that in 1990. In April 2000, the station shifted its focus towards Louisville by relocating to a taller transmission tower closer to the city and upgrading its signal to five million watts. Shortly before the move, WGRB became Louisville's WB affiliate under new calls, taking over from religious WBNA-TV. Along with the new affiliation came new calls, WWWB. In September 2000, the calls changed again, this time to the current WBKI-TV.

Coverage

The transmitter is located 60 miles from downtown Louisville. This was partly done out of necessity to stay close enough to its city of license, Campbellsville, so as to provide it city grade coverage. FCC regulations require a station's transmitter to be no further than 15 miles from its city of license. Thus, the station's signal is a "rimshot" into Louisville, providing only a grade B signal to most of the market. A low-powered transmitter on channel 28 was established in Louisville to improve reception. Also, the station has filed a request to move its city of license to Bardstown, Kentucky.

Despite the signal's shortcomings in the Louisville area, WBKI's transmitter location, power, and height afford it the advantage of one of the largest coverage areas of any station in Kentucky. WBKI provides at least secondary coverage (Grade B signal or better) from the Tennessee border to southern Indiana. This area includes the Bowling Green and Lexington areas. Consequently, WBKI maintains solid coverage on most cable systems in these areas.

WBKI is available in Louisville on cable channel 7. However, cable coverage of WBKI is not provided in Bowling Green since the cable system offers a local cable-only WB/CW affiliate, WBWG, which is produced by WBKO. Also, WBKI has been dropped from the cable lineup of Insight Communications in Lexington (where it was on cable 17), since The CW's programming will be carried on a subcarrier of Lexington CBS affiliate WKYT-TV, which Insight already offers, since that channel picked up the UPN affiliation.

Logos

• 
  Past logo for WBKI as "Louisville's WB"
• The current logo for WBKI, "The CW Louisville"
  The current logo for WBKI, "The CW Louisville"

External links

• WBKI-TV (The CW LOUISVILLE 34) Website
• Template:TVQ