Lexington is getting newsier: FOX expansion means more anchors, shows and live weather
Central Kentucky’s local FOX affiliate is about to undergo a major expansion, and it’s severing ties with another local station where its newscasts have been produced for more than 25 years.
Beginning Jan. 1, WDKY FOX 56 will launch two new live newscasts. The four-hour morning newscast that will air from 5 to 9 a.m., and the early evening newscast will air from 6:30 to 7 p.m. The station will also continue to offer its 10 p.m. newscast.
The station’s decision to cut ties with WKYT has a ripple effect that will lead to more news shows on The CW.
“This is more than a rebuild, it’s a complete rebrand,” Monte Costes, vice president and general manager of WDKY, said in a news release. “Our news will have a new look, a new brand and new content offerings that reflect the community we serve and the type of product our viewers have told us they want. That local perspective affects every decision we make, including the people we hire.”
Since the mid-1990s, CBS affiliate WKYT has produced the newscasts that air on FOX 56 in Lexington.
“WKYT’s been just a great partner to WDKY for all these years,” said Mark Glover, who joined WDKY as news director this summer. “Now, I guess they’ll just become a worthy competitor.”
After WKYT’s agreement with FOX 56 ends at the end of this year, WKYT plans to keep producing newscasts for the same time slots it had been filling for WDKY, only now those newscasts will air on The CW Lexington, said Robert Thomas, of WKYT.
Thomas said both the 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. news shows WKYT previously produced for WDKY will move to The CW. The 7 a.m. show will be expanded to continue through the 8 a.m. hour, he said in a statement.
“This allows us to continue to further develop The CW Lexington into a source of original local programming, and many of the same faces in front of and behind the scenes will be part of those newscasts,” Thomas said.
To support the development of its own full-scale news operation, FOX 56 is completely renovating its offices in Chevy Chase Plaza to include a new studio and newsroom.
“Everything will be brand new,” Glover said.
The station, which previously had fewer than 20 people on staff, is hiring 50 new employees, from people who work behind the scenes to anchors, reporters and meteorologists, he said.
Glover said the station has hired “a great mix” of experienced journalists from around the country with “a lot of Kentucky and Lexington and Bluegrass region sensibilities.”
“The television news community knows we’re building something special in Lexington, and they want to be a part of it,” Glover said in the news release. “We’re hiring some of the best and brightest in television, and many, like me, see this as an opportunity to come home.”
Glover is originally from Henderson and said he still has family in Kentucky. Before coming to WDKY in June, he worked at WBRC, the FOX affiliate in Birmingham, Ala.
He said Marvin Bartlett and Kristen Pflum will continue to anchor the “FOX 56 Ten O’Clock News.” Bartlett has co-anchored the 10 p.m. news on WDKY since it began airing in 1995. Now, he is also taking on the added responsibility of managing editor.
“We’re excited about the changes that are coming and know our viewers will be, too,” Bartlett said in the news release. “They’ve always depended on us to give them the information they want at times that fit their schedule. That’s not going to change, but now we’ll be offering more original content, stories you won’t see anywhere else.”
Pflum has co-anchored the 10 p.m. newscast at WDKY since 2019, when she returned to Lexington after a three-year stint at FOX 32 in Chicago. Prior to that, she spent about 11 years at LEX 18.
Former WKYT investigative reporter and anchor Miranda Combs, who most recently worked as communications director for the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office, has also joined the FOX 56 staff as assistant news director.
As for on-air talent, Glover isn’t ready to give too much away, but, he said, “there will be some names that people who have watched Lexington local TV news will recognize.”
While the FOX News Channel’s national opinion-based programming tends to appeal to a more politically conservative audience, Glover said data shows that viewers are not interested in opinions when it comes to local news.
He said WDKY’s reporting will aim to “uncover the facts and let viewers make their own decisions based on those facts.”
“We’re going to be sticking to facts,” he said.
Glover said the 10 p.m. newscast is already highly popular in the Lexington market, and he thinks having a morning news program will be “a great opportunity for us.”
“We’re excited about ... giving viewers more opportunities to learn what’s going on in their communities in times that better suit their lives,” he said.
The change comes a year after Nexstar Media Group took ownership of the station as part of a settlement with the station’s previous owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Herald-Leader staff writer Janet Patton contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
