WDKY-TV
WDKY-TV is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Danville, Kentucky, serving the Lexington area.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
WDKY-TV is a full-power television station licensed to Danville, Kentucky, and serving the Lexington, Kentucky, designated market area. The station broadcasts on virtual channel 56 and operates as a Fox network affiliate under the consumer-facing FOX 56 identity. Its facilities include studios in Lexington’s Chevy Chase neighborhood and a transmitter southeast of Lexington near Interstate 75. The station originated with a construction permit granted by the Federal Communications Commission in December 1982 to Robert Bertram, an attorney. Development was delayed by disputes and regulatory concerns over the proposed transmitter location, including objections related to nearby aviation facilities. Bertram ultimately sold the permit to Backe Communications in 1985. Backe constructed the station’s transmission and studio facilities, and WDKY-TV began broadcasting on February 10, 1986, as the Lexington market’s first independent television station. Later in 1986, it became a charter affiliate of the newly launched Fox network, a relationship that has continued. WDKY changed ownership several times during its first decade. A proposed 1989 sale to MMC Television Corporation, associated with the Pruett family, collapsed in 1990 after the buyers were unable to secure financing. Backe subsequently engaged Act III Broadcasting as a management consultant with an option to acquire a minority interest. In 1992, Backe sold the station to Superior Communications, a company owned by Perry Sook. The purchase was Sook’s first television-station acquisition. Superior relocated WDKY’s Lexington operations to the Chevy Chase Plaza area in 1995. Sook later sold WDKY and Oklahoma City station KOCB to Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1996. Sinclair announced the sale of WDKY to Nexstar Media Group in January 2020. The transaction was part of the resolution of issues surrounding Sinclair’s unsuccessful proposed acquisition of Tribune Media, whose television assets were ultimately acquired by Nexstar. The transaction closed on September 17, 2020, bringing WDKY into Nexstar’s portfolio and giving Nexstar its first television station in Kentucky. The deal also reunited Nexstar founder Perry Sook with the first television station he had acquired. For much of its local-news history, WDKY relied on a production arrangement with CBS affiliate WKYT-TV. WKYT began producing a nightly 10 p.m. newscast for WDKY in January 1995 and added a weekday morning program in 2007. Beginning in 2022, under Nexstar ownership, WDKY ended the WKYT production arrangement and built its own news department. The station launched internally produced 10 p.m. newscasts on January 1, 2022, followed by an expanded weekday morning program and a 6:30 p.m. newscast. It later added a 7 p.m. newscast, additional morning programming, and the locally produced program Live from Chevy Chase. Since 2023, WLJC has simulcast WDKY’s 6:30 p.m. newscast under an agreement. In 2024, WDKY added the Sunday political program Red, White and Bluegrass. The station’s news expansion reflects the broader Nexstar strategy of increasing locally produced programming at affiliated stations. WDKY completed the federally mandated transition from analog to digital broadcasting on June 12, 2009. Its digital signal initially operated on UHF channel 31 while retaining virtual channel 56. During the television spectrum repack, the station moved its physical digital allocation from channel 31 to channel 19 on May 7, 2019, while continuing to identify over the air as channel 56.
History
WDKY-TV’s origins date to December 29, 1982, when the Federal Communications Commission granted Robert Bertram a construction permit for a new channel 56 station in Danville, Kentucky. Construction did not proceed immediately. The proposed transmitter site raised concerns from the Kentucky Airport Zoning Commission and aviation interests because of its proximity to several aviation facilities. Although the zoning authority rejected the objections, the FCC did not approve the initial site. Bertram, who was practicing law and had limited time to continue developing the station, secured an alternative tower site in Garrard County but then sold the construction permit to Backe Communications in 1985. Backe began building the transmitter and studios in October of that year. WDKY-TV signed on February 10, 1986, employing approximately 40 people. It entered the Lexington market as its first independent television station. Later that year, when the Fox network began operations, WDKY became one of its charter affiliates. The Fox affiliation established the station’s long-term network identity and shaped its programming strategy. Backe’s ownership was followed by a period of attempted transactions and management changes. Several venture-capital investors in Backe Communications decided to leave the television business, prompting owner John Backe to place WDKY and other stations on the market. In 1989, Backe reached an agreement to sell WDKY to the Pruett family of Little Rock, Arkansas, through MMC Television Corporation. The prospective buyers pointed to the station’s profitability and the disappearance of its short-lived independent competitor, WLKT. The transaction failed in March 1990 when the Pruetts could not arrange the required financing. Backe then retained Act III Broadcasting as a management consultant and gave the company an option to purchase a minority stake. In 1992, Backe sold WDKY to Superior Communications, a company owned by Perry Sook. The acquisition was Sook’s first television-station purchase and required an extended period of financing and station-search work. In 1995, Superior moved WDKY’s Lexington operations from the station’s original Interstate Avenue location to Chevy Chase Plaza after signing a lease there. The station later became part of Sinclair Broadcast Group when Sook sold WDKY and KOCB in Oklahoma City to Sinclair in 1996. WDKY’s local-news operation initially depended on a partnership with WKYT-TV, the Lexington CBS affiliate. On January 2, 1995, WKYT began producing a nightly 10 p.m. newscast for WDKY. WKYT supplied nearly all of the personnel, while WDKY employed co-anchor Marvin Bartlett. The program became profitable within two years. On March 12, 2007, WKYT also began producing a one-hour weekday morning newscast for WDKY. A major ownership transition occurred in 2020. On January 27, Sinclair announced that it would sell WDKY and the non-license assets of KGBT-TV in Texas to Nexstar Media Group. The sale formed part of a settlement connected to Sinclair’s failed acquisition of Tribune Media, which Nexstar ultimately acquired. The WDKY transaction closed on September 17, 2020. It gave Nexstar its first station in Kentucky and reunited Perry Sook, by then Nexstar’s founder, with the station he had purchased nearly three decades earlier. Under Nexstar, WDKY replaced the WKYT-produced news model with an internally staffed operation. Its own 10 p.m. newscast began on January 1, 2022. On January 3, the station introduced an expanded weekday morning program running from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and added a 6:30 p.m. newscast. A 7 p.m. newscast followed on June 6, 2022. WDKY continued expanding its local schedule with Live from Chevy Chase and additional morning news beginning March 27, 2023. WLJC began simulcasting the 6:30 p.m. program in 2023. On May 12, 2024, WDKY launched the weekly Sunday political program Red, White and Bluegrass. The station’s listed schedule further expanded in September 2025, when weekday morning news was reported as extending from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m.; Live from Chevy Chase was also reported as moving to 11 a.m. and expanding to an hour. Technically, WDKY ended analog broadcasting on June 12, 2009, as part of the nationwide full-power television digital transition. Its post-transition digital signal used UHF channel 31 while retaining virtual channel 56. During the nationwide spectrum repack, the physical digital channel changed from 31 to 19 on May 7, 2019. The station continues to use virtual channel 56 and the FOX 56 brand.
- 2025
Reported expansion of weekday morning news
[1]The station’s weekday morning news schedule was reported as expanding to five hours, with Live from Chevy Chase moving to an 11 a.m. hour-long slot.
- 2024
Red, White and Bluegrass debuts
[1]WDKY began airing a weekly Sunday political program.
- 2023
Further local-programming expansion
[1]WDKY introduced Live from Chevy Chase and additional morning news, while WLJC began simulcasting the station’s 6:30 p.m. newscast.
- 2022
Station launches internally produced news
[1]WDKY ended its WKYT-produced news arrangement and began producing its own 10 p.m., morning, and early-evening local newscasts.
- 2020
Nexstar ownership begins
[1]Nexstar completed its acquisition of WDKY from Sinclair on September 17.
- 2019
Digital channel changes during spectrum repack
[1]The station moved its physical digital allocation from UHF channel 31 to channel 19 while retaining virtual channel 56.
- 2009
Analog broadcasting ends
[1]WDKY shut down its analog signal on June 12 as part of the United States digital television transition.
- 1996
Sinclair Broadcast Group acquires WDKY
[1]Superior Communications sold WDKY and KOCB to Sinclair Broadcast Group.
- 1995
Operations move to Chevy Chase Plaza
[1]The station relocated its Lexington operations to the Chevy Chase Plaza area.
- 1992
Superior Communications acquires WDKY
[1]Perry Sook’s Superior Communications purchased the station, marking Sook’s first television-station acquisition.
Products and positioning
A locally focused Fox affiliate serving the Lexington and Central Kentucky television market, combining national Fox programming with locally produced news, weather, public-affairs, and community-oriented content.
Broadcast television station · 1986
FOX 56
WDKY-TV’s primary on-air identity and Fox network service. The brand presents national Fox programming alongside locally sourced news, weather, public-affairs, and community content for viewers in the Lexington and Central Kentucky market.
Local television news · 2022
WDKY local news
WDKY’s internally produced local-news operation, launched in its current form in 2022 after the station ended a 27-year news-production relationship with WKYT-TV. The operation includes morning, evening, and late-night newscasts and is designed to provide local reporting, weather, traffic, and regional public-affairs coverage.
Local morning program · 2023
Live from Chevy Chase
A locally produced WDKY program introduced in March 2023 as part of the station’s expanded morning schedule. It was initially scheduled at 9 a.m.; later scheduling information reported the program moving to 11 a.m. and expanding to a full hour.
Political public-affairs program · 2024
Red, White and Bluegrass
A weekly 30-minute Sunday-morning political program focused on Kentucky issues and public affairs. The program expanded WDKY’s locally produced content beyond conventional news and weather coverage.
Brand decisions
2022
Creation of an internally staffed news departmentStrategyBackground
For 27 years, WKYT-TV had produced WDKY’s principal local newscasts under a programming arrangement.
Action taken
WDKY ended the WKYT production relationship and began originating its own 10 p.m. newscast on January 1, followed by expanded morning and early-evening news programming.
Aftermath
The station substantially increased its locally produced schedule, later adding a 7 p.m. newscast, further morning hours, a public-affairs program, and a simulcast arrangement with WLJC.
2020
Sale from Sinclair Broadcast Group to Nexstar Media GroupM&ABackground
Sinclair agreed to divest WDKY as part of a settlement connected with its unsuccessful proposed acquisition of Tribune Media. Nexstar ultimately acquired Tribune’s television assets and purchased WDKY in the related transaction.
Action taken
Nexstar acquired WDKY, with the transaction closing on September 17, 2020.
Aftermath
WDKY became Nexstar’s first television station in Kentucky and returned to the corporate orbit of Perry Sook, who had previously acquired the station through Superior Communications.
2019
Digital channel reassignmentOtherBackground
The United States television spectrum repack required many full-power stations to change their physical digital channels.
Action taken
WDKY moved its physical digital signal from channel 31 to channel 19 on May 7 while keeping virtual channel 56.
Aftermath
The station continued using its established channel 56 identity for viewers.
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