WKPC-TV


WKPC-TV, virtual channel 15, is a Public Broadcasting Service member television station licensed to Louisville, Kentucky, United States. Owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, the station is operated as part of the statewide Kentucky Educational Television network. WKPC-TV's transmitter is located at the Kentuckiana Tower Farm at Floyds Knobs, in Floyd County, Indiana. WKPC and WKMJ are the only KET-owned stations whose transmitters are outside Kentucky's borders.

History

WKPC-TV first went on the air on September 8, 1958. It formerly operated as a standalone station owned by the city of Louisville. It used the call sign WFPK-TV from 1958 to 1969 and served as a member of National Educational Television from 1958 to 1970.
In 1997, the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television acquired the license for WKPC-TV from locally based Fifteen Telecommunications, Inc. August 1997 saw the launch of KET's second service, KET2, which was intentionally tailored for the Louisville metropolitan area.

Digital television

WKPC-TV's digital signal, WKPC-DT, was the first KET affiliate to broadcast in digital, making it Kentucky's first digital television station. On August 19, 1999, the station's digital signal was turned on by then-Kentucky governor Paul E. Patton during the opening ceremonies of the Kentucky State Fair.

Analog-to-digital conversion

On April 16, 2009, WKPC-TV turned off its analog signal over UHF channel 15 as part of the mandatory analog-to-digital television transition of 2009. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 17. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 15.

Spectrum auction results

WKPC currently holds a construction permit to reallocate its digital signal onto UHF channel 30. This is part of the network's participation in the 2016–17 FCC Spectrum incentive auction.