W14DG-D

W14DG-D is a low-powered digital television station that is licensed to Bowling Green, Kentucky. The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 14. The station is owned by DTV America Corporation of Sunrise, Florida,^[1] a suburb of Miami. The station is part of a duopoly with its in-market sister station WCZU-LD, the area's Antenna TV and MyNetworkTV dual affiliate.

The station transmits its digital signal from a former AT&T Long Lines microwave tower located near the intersection of Grassland Road and State Highway 70 just northwest of Brownsville, in Edmonson County.^[2][3] That tower also previously served as WCZU-LD's transmitting site for its first few months on the air.

History

The construction permit for the station was issued by the FCC on December 8, 2009, under the ownership of Madison Avenue Ventures. In 2015, DTV America Corporation purchased the station and its license.^[4]

The station would be silent for six years until 2016, when W14DG-D became affiliated with the Katz Broadcasting-owned comedy-oriented Laff network. With Laff now available, W14DG-D is the second station in the Bowling Green market to be signed on by DTV America, and is also the second station to sign on with programming from a digital multi-cast specialty network. W14DG is also the second digital low-powered station located within the Bowling Green, Kentucky market upon signing on nearly two years after sister station WCZU-LD took to the air in 2014. W14DG-D also has the distinction to be the Laff network's second affiliate to be based in the state of Kentucky, the first being the DT2 subchannel of Louisville's WKYI-CD. W14DG-D went silent again after failed attempts to activate the PSIP system.

DTV America Corporation agreed to sell W14DG-D, along with seven additional stations in other markets, to Gray Television for $720,000 on July 28, 2016. The sale was approved in October 2016. ^[5] The deal made W14DG-D a sister station to ABC affiliate WBKO.

Two Laffs in Bowling Green

In addition to W14DG-D, Laff is also offered on the third digital subchannel of Nashville, Tennessee-based CBS affiliate WTVF, which has historically served the Bowling Green area in addition to that station's home market, for WTVF's over-the-air signal is strong enough to be picked up in much of the Bowling Green market, with a few exceptions. WTVF's feed of Laff is currently still shown on cable in Bowling Green on the area's Time Warner Cable system,^[6] as well as the two Glasgow, Kentucky-based cable systems, the South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative,^[7] and the Glasgow Electric Plant Board.^[8]

Currently, WTVF's main channel, along with the area's own local CBS affiliate WNKY-DT2 (a second subchannel of NBC affiliate WNKY), remains on cable in most of the Bowling Green market on cable systems like Time Warner Cable,^[6] Mediacom,^[9] Glasgow Electric Plant Board,^[10] and the South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative.^[7]

Coverage area

Currently, W14DG-D could only be picked up in the central portions of the market upon inception, because the signal is oriented to the southwest from the transmitting site near Windyville. Locations within range of the signal include much of Warren County, including Bowling Green, as well as much of central and southern Edmonson County, including communities like Chalybeate, Asphalt, Wingfield, and Windyville. Coverage is limited in areas north of the transmitter, like in Lindseyville and Sweeden.^[11]

References

External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for W14DG
• Laff network website