WDKA

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Not to be confused with KDKA-TV.
WDKA
CityPaducah, Kentucky
Channels
BrandingMy 49 WDKA
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
OperatorSinclair Broadcast Group via SSA
KBSI
History
FoundedOctober 2, 1989
First air date
June 5, 1997 (1997-06-05)
Former channel numbers
  • Analog: 49 (UHF, 1997–2009)
  • Digital: 50 (UHF, 2000–2010), 49 (UHF, 2010–2019)
Call sign meaning
Paducah (soundalike "K" substituting for "C")
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID39561
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT327 m (1,073 ft)
Transmitter coordinatesLua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found.
Translator(s)KBSI 23.2 Cape Girardeau, MO
Links
Public license information
Websitekbsi23.com

WDKA (channel 49) is a television station licensed to Paducah, Kentucky, United States, serving as the MyNetworkTV affiliate for Western Kentucky's Purchase region, Southern Illinois and Southeastern Missouri, and Northwest Tennessee. It is owned by the Community News Media subsidiary of Standard Media alongside Cape Girardeau, Missouri–licensed Fox affiliate KBSI (channel 23); Sinclair Broadcast Group operates the two stations under a shared services agreement (SSA). WDKA and KBSI share studios on Enterprise Street in Cape Girardeau; WDKA's transmitter is located in Vienna, Illinois.

In addition to its own digital signal, WDKA is simulcast in standard definition on KBSI's second digital subchannel (23.2) from a transmitter north of Cape Girardeau in unincorporated Cape Girardeau County.

History

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WDKA began broadcasting on June 5, 1997. It was a UPN affiliate broadcasting an analog signal on UHF channel 49.[4] In 2000, WDKA switched affiliations with low-powered station WQTV-LP (licensed to Murray, Kentucky) and repeater WQWQ-LP to become an affiliate of The WB. In September 2006, The WB and UPN merged to become The CW, and WQTV-LP was announced to become The CW affiliate for Paducah in advance of the merger. As a result, WDKA became affiliated with MyNetworkTV when it launched on September 5.

On August 30, 2014, WDKA became a charter affiliate of Sinclair's ad-hoc syndicated television network, the American Sports Network. ASN provided Ohio Valley Conference basketball and Conference USA football and basketball games to the station's viewers.[5][6] The ASN's programming content replaced Southeastern Conference football and basketball broadcasts from ESPN Plus-oriented SEC TV, which was run from 2009 until 2014, which was discontinued because of the launch of the pay TV-exclusive SEC Network.

On March 3, 2016, WDKA Acquisition Corporation (owned by Paul T. Lucci[7]) filed to sell WDKA to Sinclair's subsidiary WDKA Licensee, LLC.[8] Sinclair bought the station for $1.9 million.[9] The sale was completed on September 1, 2017.[10] Sinclair would continue to own WDKA and KBSI until both were sold to Community News Media for $28 million in a transaction that closed in 2021.[1][11]

On July 22, 2025, Sinclair announced that it had re-purchased the non-license assets of WDKA and KBSI, with an option to re-acquire the stations' broadcast licenses.[12]

On September 22, 2025, it was announced that Rincon Broadcasting Group would be buying WDKA and KBSI along with the other stations owned by Standard Media for $50 million, pending FCC approval.[2]

Technical information

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Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WDKA[13]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
49.1 720p 16:9 MyTV MyNetworkTV
49.2 480i Charge! Charge!
49.3 Roar Roar
49.4 TheNest The Nest
49.5 Dabl Dabl
49.6 CourtTV Court TV
49.7 CHSN Chicago Sports Network

Analog-to-digital conversion

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WDKA shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 49, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 50, using virtual channel 49.[14]

Spectrum reallocation

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In October 2019, WDKA reallocated its digital signal onto UHF channel 25 as a result of the station's participation in the FCC's spectrum incentive auction.

References

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  1. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ "Sinclair Broadcasting Launches the American Sports Network". Baltimore Business Journal.
  6. ^ "Sinclair Launches Sports Network". TVTechnology. July 17, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  7. ^ Ownership Report for Commercial Broadcast Stations - Federal Communications Commission
  8. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ Asset Purchase Agreement - Federal Communications Commission
  10. ^ Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  13. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  14. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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