WYKE-CD (channel 47) is a
low-power,
Class A television station licensed to both
Inglis and
Yankeetown, Florida, United States, two cities in
Levy County—part of the
Gainesville market—but serving
Citrus County, part of the
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...
market. It is a
translator
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...
of
Clearwater-based
WCLF (channel 22), the
flagship station
In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...
of the
Christian Television Network
Christian Television Network, Inc. (CTN) is an American non-profit broadcast television network of small owned-and-operated stations (O&O) that broadcasts religious programming. It is based in Largo, Florida (with a mailing address of Clearwa ...
(CTN).
History
The station was founded in 1982 as W49AI (channel 49). It was owned by the Citrus County Association for Retarded Citizens, a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
that assists handicapped and disabled people in Citrus County. The station repeated the TV signal of
Orlando's
WOFL, with some shows replaced with local programming. However, it did not carry WOFL's late-night programming, as it left the air around midnight. W49AI became a
Fox affiliate when WOFL did in 1986.
W49AI dropped Fox and WOFL around 1991 when Ocala's
WOGX affiliated with the Fox network. At that point, it offered more local programming, plus shows from other satellite networks, like
Channel America,
America One
America One was an American television network established in 1995 by USFR Media Group through its America One Television subsidiary. (later Youtoo America, now YTA TV), and
My Family TV. WYKE has also aired
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
programming from
Faith TV and Orlando
independent station
An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast television network, network. As such, it only broadcasts broadcast syndication, syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered pr ...
WACX.
In May 1995, W49AI became WYKE-LP, named after the Key Training Center in
Lecanto, where Citrus County's handicapped learn basic occupational skills for employment.
On February 9, 2005, WYKE relocated to channel 47 and became a Class A station (though they kept the "-LP" suffix). Soon after, on March 21, the station completed a
flash-cut to digital, becoming one of the first licensed digital Class A stations in the United States. However, the station would not adopt a "-CD" suffix until 2009.
On December 10, 2021, it was announced that CTN would purchase WYKE-CD for $1 million;
the sale was completed on March 15, 2022.
News operation
WYKE aired a half-hour
morning show
Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...
called ''Citrus Today'', hosted by Dennis Miller. Originally called ''Citrus Sunrise'', the show aired weekdays at 9:30 a.m. and featured
local news
In journalism, local news refers to coverage of events, by the news, in a local context that would not be of interest to another locality, or otherwise be of national or international scope. Local news, in contrast to national or international new ...
and
public affairs segments.
In the past, the station has aired simulcasts of
Gainesville ABC affiliate
WCJB's morning, evening, and late newscasts.
Subchannels
The station's signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...
:
References
External links
*
The Key Training Center
YKE-CD
Television channels and stations established in 1982
1982 establishments in Florida
Christian Television Network stations
Citrus County, Florida
{{Florida-tv-station-stub