WKYU gets grant

Western has been awarded a $760,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to expand WKYU-PBS.

Grant money will finance the upgrade of the station to a “full-power digital TV station,” a Western press release said.

The new WKYU-DT/18 will broadcast in an 11-county region of southcentral Kentucky. Western received the money under the Rural Public Television Digital Transition Grant.

The goal of the project is to “provide and enhance the educational opportunities” of rural communities, the press release said.

WKYU-PBS has programming that includes international and national news, local current events and children’s shows. The new digital channel will feature an “adult learning channel” to provide information for higher education.

The grant money will go toward purchasing equipment that includes a 61 kW DTV transmitter, high definition encoder, automation system, multichannel master control switcher, three-channel video server and DVD-RAM conversion stations.

– Beth Wilberding