WYKE-CD

WYKE-CD channel 47 is a digital low-powered station serving Citrus County, Florida with a mixture of general and religious programming. It is owned by the Citrus County Association for Retarded Citizens, a not-for-profit organization that assists handicapped and disabled people in Citrus County.

The station was founded in 1982 as W49AI channel 49 -- 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 America One (later becoming Youtoo America) and Faith TV.

In May 1995, W49AI became "WYKE-LP", named after the Key Training Center in Inverness, 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, 2005, the station completed a flash-cut to digital, becoming one of the first licensed digital Class-A stations in the United States. The station would not adopt a "-CD" suffix until 2009, however.

The station is licensed to "Inglis-Yankeetown", two cities in Levy County -- part of the Gainesville market. However, its transmitter (in Lecanto) and coverage area is located in Citrus County -- part of the Tampa Bay market.

The current Station Manager is Dennis Miller.

External links

• Official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WYKE
• The Key Training Center