WKMR


WKMR, virtual channel 38, is a Public Broadcasting Service member television station licensed to Morehead, Kentucky, United States. Owned by the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television, the station is operated as part of the statewide Kentucky Educational Television network. WKMR's transmitter is located east of Morehead in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

History

The station began broadcasting on September 23, 1968, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, as one of KET's ten charter stations. All of KET's transmitters are strategically located to serve as much of the state as possible, having been originally constructed in order to reach every Kentucky public school.

Digital television

In May 2002, WKMR was one of fourteen KET stations to come on air with digital companion signals. The station's digital television companion signal was designated as WKMR-DT. The WKPC and WKMJ stations were an exception.

Analog-to-digital conversion

On April 16, 2009, WKMR shut down its analog signal over UHF channel 38 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. All KET stations completed the transition by April 16. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 15 until 2019. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 38.

Spectrum auction results

WKMR currently holds a construction permit to relocate its digital signal to UHF channel 30. This is part of the network's participation in the 2016–17 FCC spectrum incentive auction. The station moved to its new channel on June 21, 2019.

Coverage area

Over-the-air coverage

WKMR's signal covers the northeastern portion of the Lexington DMA and the far western fringes of the Charleston–Huntington market. The WKMR signal can be picked up from Winchester to just short of the city of Ashland, from Jackson to Maysville, and into southern Adams County, Ohio.
As with most other KET stations, the over-the-air signal overlaps some areas covered by other KET stations. Network flagship station WKLE in Lexington and WKAS in Ashland cover some of the same areas as those of WKMR. WKHA in Hazard also covers some of the southern areas of WKMR's signal area. This overlap is subject to change due to the results of the 2016 FCC spectrum auction.

Cable coverage

KET is offered on all cable systems in the state of Kentucky. The statewide cable coverage includes Charter Spectrum systems, Mediacom systems, and several locally owned cable television systems. The network is also available on both Dish Network and DirecTV in both the Lexington and Huntington–Charleston markets. WKMR is also carried on the basic tier of cable systems in the Portsmouth, Ohio area, where West Virginia Public Broadcasting television flagship WVPB-TV is available.