WKPT-TV

WKPT-TV is a full-power television station licensed to Kingsport, Tennessee, and serving the Tri-Cities region of northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. Broadcasting on virtual channel 19, the station is affiliated with Cozi TV and is owned by Glenwood Communications Corporation. Its facilities are shared with sister station WAPK-CD, a MeTV affiliate, and several radio outlets, including WKPT radio. The group’s Kingsport operations are located on Commerce Street in the city’s downtown area, while WKPT-TV’s transmitter is situated on Holston Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest. The station began broadcasting on August 20, 1969, as the market’s first dedicated ABC affiliate. Before its launch, ABC programming in the Tri-Cities was divided between WCYB-TV and WJHL-TV, while viewers could also receive WLOS from Asheville, North Carolina. WKPT’s arrival gave the market a single local outlet for the complete ABC schedule and established the station as an important independent voice in a region historically dominated by larger network affiliates. During its early years, WKPT used an unusual privately operated microwave relay system to deliver ABC programming. Rather than paying for a conventional network feed, the station captured the ABC signal in the Knoxville area and relayed it through a series of microwave sites to its transmitter and studios. This arrangement reduced network-delivery costs but was vulnerable to heavy snow, fallen trees, and other weather-related disruptions. When the relay failed, station engineers sometimes had to use signals from nearby stations, occasionally allowing outside station identifications or commercials to appear on WKPT. WKPT also became an early user of the Federal Communications Commission’s network non-duplication rules. Because WLOS was widely available throughout the area, cable systems were required to black out the distant station when it carried programming also being shown by WKPT, while locally originated WLOS programming remained available. This helped protect WKPT’s position as the market’s ABC outlet. The station retained the ABC affiliation for more than four decades and was locally owned for much of that period. Its news operation developed gradually. Early television personalities included broadcasters who had previously been associated with WKPT radio. The station produced local news in-house until 2002, later entered a news-sharing arrangement with WJHL, and rebuilt a smaller local news operation beginning in 2009. Full-length evening newscasts returned in 2013, but the department was closed in January 2016 after the station lost ABC programming. WKPT’s largest strategic change came in 2016. ABC announced that its programming would move to an ABC-branded digital subchannel of WJHL-TV. WKPT switched to MyNetworkTV on February 1, 2016, while sister station WAPK-CD adopted MeTV. The MyNetworkTV arrangement lasted less than a year. At midnight on January 29, 2017, WKPT replaced the service and its syndicated programming with Cozi TV, moving Cozi TV from a digital subchannel to the station’s primary channel and placing Laff on a WKPT digital subchannel. The change reflected the owner’s decision to emphasize nostalgia-oriented programming across WKPT and WAPK. WKPT-TV completed the federally mandated transition from analog to digital broadcasting on June 12, 2009. Its digital signal operates on UHF channel 27 while retaining virtual channel 19. The station’s coverage is supplemented by translators and related low-power facilities serving portions of the market. In its current form, WKPT-TV functions primarily as a local broadcast outlet carrying Cozi TV programming rather than as a full-service network news station.

WKPT-TV began broadcasting from Kingsport, Tennessee, on August 20, 1969. It was created to provide the Tri-Cities market with a dedicated ABC affiliate. Before the station signed on, ABC programs were divided between WCYB-TV and WJHL-TV, while WLOS in Asheville was sufficiently strong to reach many viewers by antenna and cable. WKPT’s launch consolidated ABC’s schedule on a local station and gave the market an additional full-power television service. The station’s early technical operation was distinctive. Its owners could not justify the cost of a conventional ABC network feed, so WKPT developed a private microwave relay route. The signal was obtained near Knoxville and transported through relay points in eastern Tennessee before reaching the Holston Mountain transmitter and the Kingsport studios. The system was economical but technically fragile. Snow, fallen trees, and other interruptions occasionally forced engineers to substitute programming from WTVK or WLOS, sometimes leaving those stations’ commercials and identifications briefly visible. WKPT was also an early beneficiary of FCC network non-duplication rules. Because WLOS was widely available in the Tri-Cities, cable systems were required to suppress WLOS’s duplicate ABC programming when WKPT was carrying the same material. The rule reduced competition from the distant signal and strengthened the local station’s role in the market. For many years WKPT was the only full-power television station in the Tri-Cities that remained locally owned and operated. It also developed a local news identity, initially drawing talent from sister radio station WKPT. Among its early television personalities were Martin Karant, Bill Freehoff, and Bill Trailer. The station produced news in-house until February 2002. From 2002 to 2006, its evening newscasts originated at WJHL under a news-sharing arrangement. Later, WKPT aired delayed or abbreviated WJHL news material and experimented with short local news and weather updates. A smaller in-house news effort began in 2009, using radio resources for taped briefs. The operation was expanded in 2010 and again in 2012, when the station introduced more structured weekday updates and added reporter contributions. Full-length weeknight newscasts returned on March 4, 2013. That service was short-lived, however. In January 2016, WKPT announced that it would close the news department when its ABC affiliation ended, arguing that the economics of local news would be difficult without a major network relationship. The final local news programming aired at the end of January. The station’s most consequential programming change occurred in 2016. ABC moved its Tri-Cities programming to a new digital subchannel of WJHL-TV, ending WKPT’s approximately 46-year run as the local ABC affiliate. WKPT became a MyNetworkTV affiliate on February 1, 2016, while WAPK-CD changed its principal affiliation to MeTV. WKPT retained some syndicated and educational programming during the transition. At midnight on January 29, 2017, WKPT dropped MyNetworkTV and its syndicated schedule. Cozi TV, which had been carried on WKPT’s third digital subchannel, moved to the primary channel, while Laff moved onto a WKPT digital subchannel. The owner described the change as a refocusing of WKPT and WAPK around nostalgia-oriented programming. The station’s current identity is therefore centered on Cozi TV rather than local news or a traditional major broadcast network. WKPT-TV shut down its analog UHF channel 19 signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the nationwide digital transition. Its digital transmission continued on UHF channel 27 using virtual channel 19. The station’s service is supported by associated translators and low-power facilities in the surrounding market.

• 2017

  Cozi TV moves to the main channel

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  WKPT replaced MyNetworkTV with Cozi TV on January 29 and reorganized its digital subchannels around nostalgia-oriented programming.

• 2016

  ABC affiliation ends

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  ABC programming moved to a WJHL-TV digital subchannel, ending WKPT’s long-running ABC affiliation.

• 2016

  WKPT becomes a MyNetworkTV affiliate

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The station adopted MyNetworkTV on February 1 after leaving ABC.

• 2013

  Full-length evening newscasts return

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  WKPT resumed traditional weeknight newscasts on March 4.

• 2010

  Local news operation begins rebuilding

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The station introduced short weeknight news and weather updates using a small local news staff and resources from its sister radio stations.

• 2009

  Analog television service ends

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  WKPT-TV ended analog broadcasting on June 12 and continued digitally on UHF channel 27 with virtual channel 19.

• 2002

  In-house news production ends

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  WKPT ceased producing its own full local news operation and began using a news-sharing arrangement with WJHL.

• 1969

  WKPT-TV begins broadcasting

  [1]WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The station signed on August 20 as the Tri-Cities market’s dedicated ABC affiliate.

A locally operated Tri-Cities television station focused on free broadcast access and nostalgia-oriented Cozi TV programming, with a long history as the market’s former ABC affiliate.

• Broadcast television station · 1969

  WKPT-TV broadcast service

  WKPT-TV is a full-power digital television service licensed to Kingsport and serving the wider Tri-Cities region. Its terrestrial signal uses virtual channel 19 and is transmitted digitally on UHF channel 27. The station’s coverage is supplemented by related translators and low-power facilities in the market.

• Television network affiliation · 2017

  Cozi TV

  Cozi TV is WKPT-TV’s current primary programming service. The network is associated with classic television series, films, and other nostalgia-oriented programming. It moved from a WKPT digital subchannel to the main channel in January 2017 after the station discontinued MyNetworkTV.

• Local news programming · 1969

  WKPT local news

  WKPT produced local news at various points in its history, including an original news department, a WJHL news-sharing arrangement, short local news and weather cut-ins, and full-length evening newscasts restored in 2013. The operation was closed in January 2016 after the station lost its ABC affiliation.

• 2017

  Refocusing on nostalgia-based programmingStrategy

  Background

  After the short MyNetworkTV affiliation, the owner sought to organize WKPT and WAPK around programming built around established and nostalgic television brands.

  Action taken

  WKPT dropped MyNetworkTV and syndicated programming, placed Cozi TV on its primary channel, and moved Laff to a digital subchannel.

  Aftermath

  WKPT became a Cozi TV affiliate and its programming became available through satellite providers that carried the station’s main channel.

  Source

• 2016

  Responding to the loss of the ABC affiliationStrategy

  Background

  ABC elected to move its Tri-Cities programming to a digital subchannel of WJHL-TV after WKPT had served as the market’s ABC affiliate for roughly four decades.

  Action taken

  WKPT adopted MyNetworkTV beginning February 1, 2016, while its sister station WAPK-CD moved to MeTV. The station also announced the closure of its local news department.

  Aftermath

  The station’s MyNetworkTV period lasted less than a year, and the local news operation ended in January 2016.

  Source

• 2008

  Retransmission-consent negotiations with Inter Mountain CableOther

  Background

  Inter Mountain Cable announced that it might remove WKPT from systems serving parts of Eastern Kentucky unless the cable operator and station reached a retransmission-consent agreement.

  Action taken

  The parties engaged in carriage negotiations while local officials questioned whether removal would conflict with the cable franchise agreement in Fleming-Neon.

  Aftermath

  The available reference material does not establish the final outcome of the dispute.

  Source

1. 1WKPT-TVen.wikipedia.org
2. 2WKPT-TV official websitewkpttv.com