WTVQ-DT, virtual channel 36 (UHFdigital channel 27), is a dual ABC/MyNetworkTV–affiliatedtelevision stationlicensed to Lexington, Kentucky, United States. The station is owned by Morris Multimedia. WTVQ-DT’s studios and transmitter are located on the outer loop of Man o’ War Boulevard (KY 1425) in the Brighton section of Fayette County, across Winchester Road from the studios of unrelated station WKYT-TV.
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On October 8, 1965, WBLG-TV, Inc. filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to build a new television station on channel 62, the last commercial frequency available in the Lexington market. WBLG-TV, Inc. was a 50-50 partnership between Lexington-area businessman Roy White and Reeves Broadcasting Corporation. White already owned local radio station WBLG (AM 1300), and would act as the entity’s new president and general manager. Reeves chairman J. Drayton Hastie served as the chairman of WBLG-TV, Inc. Reeves owned existing television stations in Huntington, West Virginia and Charleston, South Carolina, as well as radio stations in Baltimore. The owners estimated the cost of constructing the station would be in excess of $1 million, and the station would be equipped to broadcast in color from the start.[1]
On June 24, 1966, WBLG-TV’s application was designated for hearing alongside a competing application from Kentucky Central Life Insurance Company (owners of WVLK radio).[2] However, on Friday, January 27, 1967, Kentucky Central Life announced that it would purchase existing station WKYT-TV (channel 27) from Taft Broadcasting for $2.5 million, all but guaranteeing that the channel 62 allocation would be granted to WBLG-TV, as FCC regulations of the day barred one entity from owning more than one television station in a market.[3] With no other applicants for the channel 62 allocation, the FCC granted initial approval of the station’s application on July 28, 1967.[4]
Meanwhile, the WBLG-TV partnership acquired land at the intersection of Winchester Pike and Bryant Road (now Man o’ War Boulevard), which would serve as the new studio and transmitting facilities for the station.[5] As the area surrounding the proposed site was primarily agricultural in nature, and the site was previously used as a farm, the land needed to be rezoned before construction could begin.[6] Approval for the rezoning came on November 10, 1967, despite objection from two local residents who lived near the proposed location. Central to their complaints was the proposed 990-foot (302 m) tower, which they felt was “unsightly”; they were also concerned that the tower might fall. Approval was granted on the condition that the entrance/exit to the station be on Bryant Road only, and that screening devices be provided between the station and adjacent residences.[7] The building permit for the actual building then came on December 12, 1967, with approval being granted for a one-story structure on the site, built by Eubank and Steele Lumber Company at a cost of $149,000.[8] This site is still being used by the station today, albeit with a few expansions over the years.
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