WNKY-LD

{{Short description|Television station in Bowling Green, Kentucky}}

{{about|the Ion Television affiliate in Bowling Green, Kentucky|that city's dual NBC/CBS affiliate|WNKY}}

{{Infobox television station

| name = WNKY-LD

| city =

| digital = 35 (UHF)

| virtual = 35

| affiliations = {{ubl|35.1: Ion Television|for others, see {{Section link||Subchannels}}}}

| airdate = {{start date and age|2023|07|11}}

| location = Bowling Green, Kentucky

| country = United States

| callsign_meaning =

| former_callsigns = W16EI-D (2020–2022)

| owner = Marquee Broadcasting

| licensee = Marquee Broadcasting Kentucky, Inc.

| sister_stations = WNKY, WDNZ-LD

| former_affiliations = {{ubl|As a WNKY translator:|NBC (primary, 2023)|CBS (DT2, 2023)|MeTV (DT3, 2023)|As a standalone station:|Defy TV (DT2, 2023–2024)|Laff (DT3, 2023–2025)}}

| erp = 15 kW

| haat = {{convert|192.4|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}

| facility_id = 182667

| class = LD

| coordinates = {{coord|37|2|5.6|N|86|10|41|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}

| licensing_authority = FCC

| website =

}}

WNKY-LD (channel 35) is a low-power television station in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with Ion Television. It is owned by Marquee Broadcasting alongside dual NBC/CBS affiliate WNKY (channel 40) and Glasgow-licensed low-power Country Network affiliate WDNZ-LD (channel 11). The three stations share studios on Chestnut Street in downtown Bowling Green; WNKY-LD also shares tower space with WNKY at its transmitter site located on Pilot Knob near Smiths Grove, Kentucky.

==History==

=Construction permit=

King Forward, Incorporated was granted a construction permit for W16EI-D on June 15, 2020. This was King Forward's second construction permit for a television station in the Bowling Green market after WCZU-LD (channel 39) was successfully built and taken to the air in cooperation with DTV America Corporation in 2014. The initial broadcast plans for the station was to transmit the signal on UHF channel 16 from WCZU's original transmitter site, which is a former AT&T Long Lines microwave relay tower in Edmonson County just northwest of Brownsville on Grassland Road off Kentucky Route 70.

=Sale to Marquee Broadcasting=

On March 14, 2022, W16EI-D was sold to Marquee Broadcasting, owner of full-power station WNKY, after having purchased W09DM-D (now WNSH-LD) in Nashville, Tennessee, which was also a silent station.{{cite web|url=http://www.nashvilledtvnews.info/post/WNTU_and_Bowling_Green_KY_News|title=WNTU and Bowling Green KY News|publisher=Nashville DTV News & More|date=March 14, 2022|access-date=March 28, 2022}} In May 2022, the station's call letters changed to the current WNKY-LD.

=As a WNKY translator=

In early 2023, the station applied for and successfully changed its allocation to UHF channel 35, and to move to the full-power WNKY's transmission facility near Smiths Grove.[https://enterprisingfiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff387de8c4a0188025fab110e26 "WNKY-LD Engineering Statement"]. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 5, 2023.[https://enterprisingfiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076ff388b6fc0d0188bbd5914d043a "WNKY-LD TV Study Results"]. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved November 5, 2023. On July 11, 2023, the station was granted its license[https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-395087A1.pdf "Public Notice"]. Federal Communications Commission. July 13, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023. and began test broadcasting as a full-time translator of WNKY, simulcasting all three of its subchannels.

=As an Ion Television affiliate=

In September 2023, the station began airing programming from Ion Television on its primary channel, with the second and third subchannels airing the full schedules of Defy TV and Laff. Ion was the last major programming service that was not available from a local outlet in Bowling Green; the Nashville-based Ion O&O station WNPX-TV (licensed to Franklin, Tennessee) had been the default Ion outlet for the area since that network's 1998 debut as Pax TV. The conversion into an Ion affiliate also marked Defy TV's in-market debut in Bowling Green, and the return of the Laff network to the area as W14DG-D (channel 14, now Telemundo affiliate WBGS-LD channel 34) was briefly affiliated with that network during that station's first incarnation in 2016.

Two subchannel content changes occurred in 2024: the launch of the DT4 channel to carry MeTV Toons on June 25,{{cite news|url=https://www.wnky.com/wnky-news-40-launches-metv-toons/|title=WNKY News 40 Launches MeTV Toons|date=July 2, 2024|work=WNKY|access-date=July 2, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703024433/https://www.wnky.com/wnky-news-40-launches-metv-toons/|archive-date=July 3, 2024}} and Defy TV being replaced by Ion Plus on July 1.{{Cite web|url=https://thedesk.net/news/scripps-ion-plus-broadcast-tv/|title=Scripps replacing Defy TV with Ion Plus on broadcast TV|first=Matthew|last=Keys|website=TheDesk.net|date=June 28, 2024|accessdate=June 28, 2024}}

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

class="wikitable" \|+Subchannels of WNKY-LD{{Cite web\|url=https://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WNKY-LD\|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WNKY-LD\|website=rabbitears.info}} ! Channel ! Res. ! Aspect ! Short name ! Programming{{cite web\|title=Bowling Green: WCZU Power Temporarily Lowered\|url=https://nashvilledtvnews.info/post/Bowling_Green:_WCZU_Power_Temporarily_Lowered\|access-date=December 2, 2023}} Editor's note: Information cited is in the comments section of the page.
scope = "row" \| 35.1 \| 1080i \| rowspan=4\| 16:9 \| ION \| Ion Television{{Cite web\|title=Find us\|url=https://iontelevision.com/find-us\|website=Ion Television\|access-date=October 15, 2023}} Editor's note: Information retrieved by entering Bowling Green ZIP code 42101.
scope = "row" \| 35.2 \| rowspan=3\| 480i \| IONPlus \| Ion Plus{{r\|ionplus}}
scope = "row" \| 35.3 \| Start \| Start TV
scope = "row" \| 35.4 \| MeTOONS \| MeTV Toons{{r\|toons}}

class="wikitable"

|+Subchannels of WNKY-LD{{Cite web|url=https://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WNKY-LD|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WNKY-LD|website=rabbitears.info}}

! Channel

! Res.

! Aspect

! Short name

! Programming{{cite web|title=Bowling Green: WCZU Power Temporarily Lowered|url=https://nashvilledtvnews.info/post/Bowling_Green:_WCZU_Power_Temporarily_Lowered|access-date=December 2, 2023}} Editor's note: Information cited is in the comments section of the page.

scope = "row" | 35.1

| 1080i

| rowspan=4| 16:9

| ION

| Ion Television{{Cite web|title=Find us|url=https://iontelevision.com/find-us|website=Ion Television|access-date=October 15, 2023}} Editor's note: Information retrieved by entering Bowling Green ZIP code 42101.

scope = "row" | 35.2

| rowspan=3| 480i

| IONPlus

| Ion Plus{{r|ionplus}}

scope = "row" | 35.3

| Start

| Start TV

scope = "row" | 35.4

| MeTOONS

| MeTV Toons{{r|toons}}

==References==