City Hopkinsville, Kentucky Affiliations Defunct | Channels Analog: 43 (UHF) | |
Branding NewsWatch 43 (newscasts)
WKAG-3 (2004-2010)
Source16 (2010-2011) Slogan Western Kentucky Television Owner NewWave Communications
(Owen Broadcasting, Inc.) | ||
WKAG-CA was a Class A low power television station in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, broadcasting locally on air as channel 43. WKAG was also on cable on NewWave Communications in Christian and Muhlenburg counties in Kentucky and on CDE Lightband in Montgomery County (Clarksville), Tennessee. The station was owned by NewWave Communications.
Contents
History
Founded December 9, 1983, the station went on the air in July 1984 as W43AG under the ownership of the publisher of the Kentucky New Era newspaper. It was the first standalone low-power television station to ever sign on in Kentucky. The call letters were changed to WKAG-LP in 1994 (after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allowed low-power stations to use traditional call signs with an "-LP" suffix, instead of a translator-style call sign), and to WKAG-CA in 2002 (reflecting its Class A status).
The New Era sold the station to Owen Broadcasting, controlled by station manager Eddie Owen, in mid-2004; in 2010, NewWave purchased the station from Owen and rebranded the station as "Source16", after the station's new cable slot (before the acquisition, WKAG was instead seen on cable channel 3).
On Friday, August 5, 2011, at 3 pm, Source16 employees were informed that the station would be shut down. No warning was given to employees prior to the shutdown. On September 14, 2012, due to the station having been off the air for more than twelve months, the FCC cancelled the station's license and deleted the WKAG-CA call sign from its database.
Past programming
The station was an affiliate of America One, but the station also broadcast some syndicated programming. The station also provided local coverage of worship services by the First, Second, and St. John's Baptist Church of Hopkinsville, as well as some coverage of baseball games involving the MLB's St. Louis Cardinals.
During the mid and late 1990s and the early and mid-2000s, WKAG-CA has also broadcast select Southeastern Conference (SEC) football and basketball games produced and syndicated by Jefferson Pilot Sports (later Lincoln Financial Sports, now Raycom Sports), as well as some locally produced coverage of Austin Peay Governors football and basketball. In addition, WKAG also aired programming related to the Kentucky Wildcats from the television unit of UK IMG Sports Network, syndicated through WKYT.
For most of its history, WKAG produced local newscasts; these were discontinued on August 5, 2011, amid uncertainty about its future (the station is not included in the sale of NewWave's area cable systems to Time Warner Cable). It still rebroadcast news programming from Lexington's WKYT-TV.
News operation
During the 1990s, WKAG's news department produced three newscasts (at 6:00, 9:00, and 10:00pm CT) on weekdays with a encore of the 10pm newscast at 12 midnight. Newscasts on Saturdays and Sundays were broadcast at 5:00 and 10:00pm. Each newscast was 30 minutes long, so WKAG produced 9 1/2 hours worth of newscasts.
During the 2000s, the 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. newscasts focused on the Pennyrile region of Western Kentucky, the 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. newscasts focused on the "Queen City", which is the Clarksville area, and the 10pm newscasts.
A locally produced program called 43 Magazine showcases local businesses and organizations, and their upcoming events and/or promotions. They came in morning and afternoon editions every weekday.
By the mid-2000s, WKAG moved the replay of the 10pm newscasts to 1:00 a.m. Newscast names were changed to NewsWatch Hopkinsville (6, 9, and 10 p.m.), and NewsWatch Clarksville (6:30, 9:30, and 10:30 p.m.), thus expanding the total newscasts to a maximum of 19 hours per week. All national news video clips were provided by CNN.