Broadcast Coverage Maps

FM Stations - Detail         FM Stations - Printable

AM Stations - Detail         AM Stations - Printable

FM Stations
WKYU		88.9	Bowling Green		WOCS	N	88.3	Booneville
WKUE	N	90.9	Elizabethtown		W202BH	N	88.3	Inez
WKPB	N	89.5	Henderson		WKMS		91.3	Murray
WDCL		89.7	Somerset		W221BB	N	92.1	Paducah
W277AA	N	103.3	Somerset		WEKU		88.9	Richmond
WNKU		89.7	Highland Hts		WEKF	N	88.5	Corbin
WUKY		91.3	Lexington		WEKH		90.9	Hazard
WFPK		91.9	Louisville		WMMT		88.7	Whitesburg
			(New Albany, IN)		W218AI	N	91.5	Barbourville
WFPL		89.3	Louisville		W217AB	N	91.3	Harlan
			(New Albany, IN)		W207AO	N	89.3	Paintsville
WUOL		90.5	Louisville		W206AC	N	89.1	Pikeville
			(New Albany, IN)		W206AB	N	89.1	Prestonburg
WMKY		90.3	Morehead

AM Stations  

None

General Comments

Public radio service in Kentucky is provided by stations licensed to universities and non‑profit community organizations.  The licensee of WKYU also operates a public television station.  Several Kentucky public broadcasters provide regional services.  Public radio listeners in Louisville are served by three stations, WFPK, WFPL, and WUOL, all owned and operated by Kentucky Public Radio, which was formed when two licensees agreed to merge into a single entity.    

FM Service  

The 1989 PTFP study reported that Kentucky residents were served by twelve stations. Three stations -- WKUE Elizabethtown, WKPB Henderson and WOCS Booneville -- have been activated to extend service into areas identified as uncovered in the 1989 study.  A fourth station, WEKF Corbin, was operating under program test authority as this study went to print and is included on the accompanying map.  It provides service to residents of Pulaski, McCreary, Whitley, and Laurel counties.  Kentucky public broadcasters also constructed nine translators to bring public radio to mountain communities.  Five of the new translators were built by WMMT Whitesburg. 

The percentage of Kentucky residents receiving public radio service increased from 82% in 1989 to 91.4%.  The number of people not receiving a public radio signal decreased from 657,000 in 1989 to 346,337 currently.

During the 1990's, WRVG Georgetown was an NPR member providing coverage just north of Lexington (site of WUKY).  This station did not meet the criteria for inclusion in the 1989 study.  The station was recently sold and is not included in this study.     

AM Service

While there are no public AM stations in Kentucky, a small portion of the state receives AM service from WPNL Nashville, Tennessee.

Service from Adjacent States

The transmitters for the three stations of Kentucky Public Radio in Louisville are actually located near New Albany, Indiana.  Kentucky residents who live along the Ohio River on the Ohio‑Kentucky border receive public radio service from stations WOUL, WOSP, WVXW, WVXU and WGUC.  WNIN Evansville, which is on the Ohio River on the Indiana‑Kentucky border, also provides public radio service to Kentucky residents.  WKNQ in Tennessee provides service to Fulton County and WPLN(AM) Nashville serves a small portion of southern Kentucky.

Unserved Areas

Kentucky public broadcasters have extended public radio coverage to most state residents but, because of rugged terrain, portions of the state identified as uncovered in 1989 remain either uncovered or with spotty coverage.  

Region A

In northern Kentucky, 17,630 residents of Gallatin, Grant, Bracken, Robertson, and Harrison counties have no public radio service.  

Region B

In the middle of Kentucky's western border with Indiana, 11,777 residents of Breckinridge and Meade counties have no public radio service.  

Region C 

In the eastern counties of Lawrence, Martin, Johnson, Floyd, and Pike on Kentucky's border with Virginia and West Virginia, 74,511 residents are without public radio service.  WEKU Richmond has applied for a permit to construct a translator to provide additional service to Pikeville (Pike County).

Region D  

In Union, Webster, and Hopkins counties in southwest Kentucky, 25,382 residents are without public radio service.

Region E  

In Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton and Hickman counties on the far western end of Kentucky, 14,470 residents are without public radio service.

Region F  

In the south-central Kentucky counties of Wayne, Clinton, Monroe, Cumberland, Allen and Barren, 32,287 residents lack public radio service.  

Region G  

In Bell, Clay, Harlan, Knox and Whitley counties in southeast Kentucky on the border with Virginia and Tennessee, 83,752 residents are without public radio service. WEKU Richmond has applied for permits to construct a translator to provide first service in Middlesboro (Bell County) and translators in Barbourville (Knox County) and Harlan (Harlan County) to provide additional service to those communities.