WKYT Wins Five Kentucky Broadcaster Awards

The Lexington station took home five honors at the annual Kentucky Broadcasters Association Excellence in Broadcasting ceremony.

Updated on Oct. 26, 2026 in Basketball

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Lexington television station WKYT earned five honors at the 2026 Kentucky Broadcasters Association Excellence in Broadcasting Awards, recognizing individual and program-wide achievements. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Lexington television station WKYT secured five wins at the 2026 Kentucky Broadcasters Association Excellence in Broadcasting Awards. The station received recognition across multiple reporting and production categories after being selected from 12 total nominations.

Why it matters

These awards reflect professional recognition from peers within the state media industry for high-quality news and production standards. The win highlights the station's performance among regional broadcast competitors in Kentucky.

WKYT earned five awards from a total of 12 nominations submitted for the competition. Winners were selected by independent panels of broadcasters based on the highest average scoring across all evaluated entries.

The players

WKYT

This Lexington-based television station provides news, sports, and weather coverage to the central Kentucky region.

Lee K. Howard

He is an experienced broadcast professional serving as a sportscaster for WKYT.

Chris Bailey

He is a meteorologist and weather anchor frequently seen delivering climate updates for WKYT.

Phil Pendleton

He is a news reporter based at WKYT responsible for covering local and regional events.

Amber Kennoy

She is an account executive at WKYT recognized for her professional contributions to the station.

The details

The ceremony, held in Louisville, honored staff members including Lee K. Howard, who was named Best Sportscaster, and Chris Bailey, who received the award for Best Weather Anchor. Additional individual honors went to Phil Pendleton for Best News Reporter and Amber Kennoy for Account Executive of the Year, while Samantha Valentino and Barton Bill won for Best Special Program or Feature.

Timeline

  1. October 25, 2026: The Kentucky Broadcasters Association announced the award winners during the ceremony.

Season Trajectory

These accolades reflect WKYT's standing within the competitive landscape of regional television broadcasting. Achieving these honors maintains the station's track record of high-level performance within the Kentucky media ecosystem.

For viewers in the Lexington area, these wins confirm the current editorial and production staffing leading the station's sports and news segments. The awards serve as a marker of the quality viewers can expect when tuning into Lee K. Howard for sports or Chris Bailey for weather reports.

The takeaway

Recognized excellence in broadcasting serves as a benchmark for viewers to gauge the quality of local news providers. Residents can look for high standards in reporting and production when choosing their primary local news source.

Further reading

For more on local sports coverage, visit Lexington Basketball.

Source note: This article includes information reported by Wkyt.