WKZT-TV

WKZT-TV, virtual and UHF digital channel 23, is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Elizabethtown, 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. WKZT-TV's transmitter is located on Steel Drive off of US 31W/KY 61 (South Dixie Highway) in Elizabethtown.[1]

WKZT-TV
Satellite of WKLE, Lexington, Kentucky
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
United States
ChannelsDigital: 23 (UHF)
Virtual: 23 (PSIP)
BrandingKET (general)
KET: The Kentucky Network (secondary)
SloganWhere Learning Comes to Life
Programming
Affiliations23.1: KET/PBS
23.2: KET2
23.3: KY Channel
23.4: KET PBS Kids
Ownership
OwnerKentucky Authority for Educational Television
History
First air date
September 23, 1968 (1968-09-23)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
23 (UHF, 1968–2009)
Digital:
43 (UHF, 2009-2019)
NET (1968–1970)
Call sign meaning
W Kentucky EliZabeThtown
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID34181
ERP61 kW
33.7 kW (CP)
HAAT178 m (584 ft)
192.8 m (633 ft) (CP)
Transmitter coordinates37°40′55″N 85°50′31″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.ket.org

History

The station signed on the air at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time (2:00 p.m. Central Time) on September 23, 1968, as one of the ten charter stations of the KET network.[2] All of the network's satellites were strategically located to serve as much of the state as possible.

WKZT-TV was the default KET satellite serving the Louisville metropolitan area until the creation of WKMJ-TV in September 1970, nearly two years later. WKMJ-TV aired KET's statewide schedule until 1997, when the network acquired WKPC-TV and used WKMJ to start its second programming service, KET2.

Digital television

The station's digital television companion signal, WKZT-DT, along with the digital companions of thirteen other KET stations (except WKPC and WKMJ) signed on the air in May 2002.[2]

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming
23.1720p16:9KETMain KET programming / PBS
23.2480i4:3KET2KET2
23.3KET KYKentucky Channel
23.4KETKIDSPBS Kids

[3]

Analog-to-digital conversion

On April 16, 2009, WKZT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 23 as part of the mandatory analog-to-digital television transition of 2009. The deadline was moved from February 17 to June 12 of that year as part of the DTV Delay Act, but all KET stations completed the transition on April 16.[4] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 43. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 23.

Spectrum auction results

WKZT-TV held a construction permit to reallocate its digital signal to its former analog allocation of UHF channel 23. This was part of the network's participation in the 2016–17 FCC Spectrum incentive auction. The station's original digital frequency, on UHF channel 43, was one of the upper-mid UHF band channels (38–51) to be removed from broadcasting use for use by wireless services. The station was licensed to operate on digital channel 23 on November 13, 2019.

Availability

Over-the-air coverage

WKZT-TV mainly serves the south-central portion of the Louisville market, from Louisville's southern suburbs to Campbellsville, as well as Hart and northeastern Edmonson counties in the northern portion of the small Bowling Green market. WKZT's signal can also reach central and southern portions of Harrison County, Indiana.[5]

As with most other KET stations, its over-the-air signal covers some of the same areas as those of some of KET's other stations. In the case of WKZT, the signal is overlapped with the network's two Louisville stations (WKPC and WKMJ), along with WKGB-TV/Bowling Green, and WKSO-TV/Somerset. WKZT can easily penetrate the Campbellsville and Lebanon, Kentucky area where WKSO can also reach, while WKGB can be picked up in Leitchfield and the Nolin Lake vicinity along with WKZT.[6][7]

Cable carriage

KET is offered on all cable systems in the state of Kentucky. The statewide cable coverage for the WKZT signal specifically includes Charter Spectrum systems, the Comcast Xfinity system in Elizabethtown, Mediacom systems in Grayson and Hart counties, and several locally owned cable television systems in this portion of the state. The network is available on satellite television, with WKPC and WKMJ uplinked to the DirecTV and Dish Network feeds in the Louisville market.[8]

See also

References
  1. https://www.rabbitears.info/contour.php?appid=591302
  2. ”Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada”. Broadcasting Yearbook 2003-2004. Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 2003-04.pp. B37-B39.
  3. Digital TV Market Listing for WKZT
  4. "Calls come after KET, WKYT digital TV transition". Lexington Herald-Leader. April 17, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  5. Signal coverage maps of all full-power stations -- Louisville, Kentucky. (Federal Communications Commission, 2009)
  6. Signal coverage maps of all full-power stations -- Lexington, Kentucky. (Federal Communications Commission, 2009)
  7. Signal coverage maps of all full-power stations -- Bowling Green, Kentucky. (Federal Communications Commission, 2009)
  8. KET Cable and Satellite Company Channel Listings
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