So committed is WAVE Louisville to local content that the station has no syndicated programming, a rarity among TV outlets. WAVE has long been devoted to its tireless local approach, and stepped it up when COVID became a major story earlier this year. Civil unrest, a giant story in Louisville due to Breonna Taylor living there before her death, followed. 

WAVE, part of Gray Television, is local from 4:30 a.m. until primetime on weekdays, except for Today, Days of Our Lives and NBC Nightly News. That includes business program Listens Live! 12 p.m-1 p.m., public affairs show WAVE Country with Dawne Gee 2-3 p.m. and local news 4 to 5 p.m., added in April and replacing Family Feud. A live hour of news at 7 p.m. has been in place for around a decade. 

“We are all in, because it’s working,” said Ken Selvaggi, VP/general manager. “People are watching.” 

WAVE does not subscribe to Nielsen. For Comscore ratings in September, it had a 4.5 in sign on/sign off, ahead of WLKY’s 4.4, WDRB’s 4.1 and WHAS’s 2.8. 

Saturday news starts at 5 a.m. Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. newscasts were added Oct. 3, leading out of Inside the Cards, a look at Louisville Cardinals sports. 

The station also runs a variety of spontaneous local programming, such as church services during Holy Week in April, a 10-part reading series on behalf of Louisville’s libraries, and specials related to Juneteenth. “We just got into the mindset of doing local content for organizations who couldn’t have their events,” said Selvaggi. (The Louisville TV market is profiled in the new issue of B+C. Selvaggi spoke after that story’s deadline.)

WAVE airs Secrets of Bluegrass Chefs 7 p.m. Saturdays, and various local programming, including high school sports show GameOn, with sports director Kent Taylor and former NFL star Deion Branch among the hosts, at 7:30. That hour used to have Family Feud. On Sundays, it runs Gray Television’s Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren.

The station added five people to the newsroom this year. Selvaggi said WAVE is the oldest TV station in Kentucky. “This is an extension of who we are, and what we do,” said Selvaggi. “This is in our DNA.”

Private equity firm TPG said it has completed the purchase of Houston-area broadband and video service provider EnTouch. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TPG said EnTouch will join its other pay TV and broadband services -- RCN, Grande Communications and Wave, collectively known as Astound --  which combined have more than 1 million customers. 

The deal was first announced in February.  

“With the acquisition of EnTouch, the company will be joining the Grande Communications eco-system, which also includes RCN and Wave Broadband, allowing customers to take advantage of Grande’s higher internet speeds and streaming services,” said RCN, Grande and Wave CEO Jim Holanda in a press release. “The addition of EnTouch creates further opportunities for sustained growth in our Texas service area and continues the expansion of our reliable, robust fiber-rich network on a national scale for both residential and business customers.”

According to TPG, the addition of EnTouch expands its existing Texas presence to servicing both residential and business customers in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Waco, Temple, San Marcos and Midland/Odessa.

“As part of Grande Communications’ service network, we will continue to focus on providing customers with high-quality technology and customer service,” said Sam Luxton, President and CEO of EnTouch. “Together, we will offer new and improved products and services and continue to grow and innovate.”

The news comes as TPG is reportedly seeking out a buyer for its pay TV properties, valuing them at about $8 billion. 

The National Association of Broadcasters has called for a "swift investigation" into a police officer who fired pepper balls at a local TV reporter covering a protest in Louisville, Ky., Friday night (May 29).  SAG-AFTRA also condemned the police action,

WAVE TV reported that Kaitlin Rust appeared to have been hit by the pepper balls--originally they were thought to be rubber bullets--as she was doing a live report.  

In addition, a WAVE news vehicle was vandalized during the unrest.

The officer appeared to be aiming directly at Rust, who said on-air she was was fine and that her crew had been behind the police line when the officer appeared to aim directly at them. 

“NAB condemns the actions of the Louisville police officer who fired pepper balls at a local TV crew legally covering downtown protests on Friday night," said NAB President Gordon Smith. "No police officer has the right to fire any type of ammunition at journalists who are simply doing their jobs and appropriately positioned to cover the news. NAB calls for a swift investigation of this incident to ensure that journalists have the necessary protections to report the news.” 

]"SAG-AFTRA condemns the reprehensible actions of this police officer who, without provocation or justification, fired upon journalists who were doing their jobs," said the union, which represents broadcasters among others. "The assault also had a traumatizing effect on viewers at home who watched the officer aim and fire repeatedly during the live broadcast.

 "This was a brazen attack on two unarmed citizens. It is also an attack on our democracy and the people’s right to know how those on whom we confer power are using that power. 

 "Whether perpetrated by the public or by the state, acts of violence on journalists bringing news to the communities they serve are a betrayal of our nation’s founding principle that a free press is necessary for the maintenance of a free government."