WLKY

WLKY, virtual channel 32 (UHF digital channel 26), is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The station is owned by the Hearst Television subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation. WLKY maintains studio facilities located on Mellwood Avenue (near I-71) on Louisville's east side, and its transmitter is located in rural northeastern Floyd County, Indiana (northeast of Floyds Knobs). On cable, WLKY is available on Time Warner Cable channel 5 and in high definition on digital channel 912.

History

The station first signed on the air on September 16, 1961, originally operating as an ABC affiliate. It originally operated from studio facilities located on Park Drive in the suburb of Shively. The ABC affiliation in Louisville was previously shared between NBC affiliate WAVE-TV (channel 3) and then-CBS affiliate WHAS-TV (channel 11). Although Louisville had been large enough since the early 1950s to support three network affiliates, the market had a fairly long wait to gain full-time network service. The Louisville market is a fairly large market geographically, and also includes some rugged terrain. The nearest VHF allocations, channels 7 and 13, had been respectively allocated to Evansville and Bowling Green. These factors caused the first attempt at a full-time ABC affiliate in the area, WKLO-TV, UHF channel 21, to shut down after only six months on the air. With this in mind, prospective owners were skittish about setting up shop on one of the available UHF allocations in the area. But, a growing Louisville market and a stronger ABC-TV, with new programming like American Football League games and more popular prime-time shows (e.g. Desilu's "The Untouchables"), convinced aluminum company mogul Archibald Cochran and others to create WLKY.