KFTA-TV
Encyclopedia
KFTA-TV, virtual channel
24, is the Fox
-affiliated television station
for the Arkansas River
Valley and Northwest Arkansas that is licensed to Fort Smith
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter south of Artist Point. Owned by Mission Broadcasting
, the station is operated by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
through a local marketing agreement
(LMA). This makes it a sister to NBC
affiliate KNWA-TV
and the two share studios in the historic Campbell-Bell building on South Block Avenue in Downtown Fayetteville
. Syndicated
programming on KFTA includes: My Name Is Earl
, The Office, Two and a Half Men
, and Friends
.
KFTA and KNWA each carry the others signal in standard definition as subcarriers of their digital stations alongside their main signals in high definition. This is necessary because KNWA's analog signal only aired at 182,000 watt
s. That station has a transmitter southeast of Garfield
.
affiliation from KFPW-TV/KTVP (now KHBS/KHOG
). In 1980, it swapped affiliations with KFSM-TV
and became the area's NBC
affiliate. Two years later, the station changed its calls to KPOM-TV (for People On the Move).
Channel 24 struggled during its early years. Besides being the area's newest station, it was hampered by the fact it was a UHF station in a market
that is very mountainous. Despite its 2.5 million watt
Effective radiated power
, it only provided a Grade B signal to Fayetteville and could not be seen at all in Rogers
and points north. For most of this station's first ten years on the air, viewers in the northern part of the area had to rely on cable to watch the station. Much of the far northern part of the market got a better signal from KSNF
in Joplin, Missouri
(which, incidentally, switched from CBS to NBC in the same year as channel 24).
In 1986, the station was sold to Oklahoma City
-based Griffin Television
(owners of longtime CBS
affiliate KWTV
in Oklahoma City), who immediately set about solving the reception problem. It signed-on full-time satellite KFAA-TV in 1989 to provide a better signal in Fayetteville and the northern part of the market. In 2004, Griffin Television sold KPOM/KFAA to Nexstar, the stations changed their calls to "KFTA-TV" and KNWA-TV, respectively and the latter became the main station. In 2006, Nexstar announced that KFTA would become the Fox affiliate for the area while KNWA will become the area's sole NBC affiliate. However, KFTA would continue to show NBC daytime programming until 2008. At the same time, KFTA was sold to Mission Broadcasting although it continues to be operated by Nexstar under a local marketing agreement with KNWA. The network change took place on August 28 even though Equity Broadcasting
, the owner of former Class A
Fox affiliate KPBI-CA
, challenged the sale of KFTA with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). As of November 21, 2011, Nexstar remains the official owner of KFTA, according to FCC records, due to Nexstar's supplemental application of a clarification of waiver (which the FCC has not yet acted on).
With some programming exceptions, the two stations simulcasted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. until KFTA's sale was approved. The two now air separate programming schedules. This station's broadcasts have been digital-only since a November 2008 analog transmitter failure. They have made various applications to increase digital power including one request for a megawatt of effective radiated power, equivalent to five million watts for an analog transmitter.
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
24, is the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
Valley and Northwest Arkansas that is licensed to Fort Smith
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter south of Artist Point. Owned by Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 15 television stations operated by Nexstar Broadcasting. The group's president is David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1998. In most areas where Mission owns a station, its arrangements allow Nexstar to control two of the top...
, the station is operated by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
through a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
(LMA). This makes it a sister to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate KNWA-TV
KNWA-TV
KNWA-TV, virtual channel 51, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter southeast of Garfield...
and the two share studios in the historic Campbell-Bell building on South Block Avenue in Downtown Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on KFTA includes: My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
, The Office, Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, and Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
.
Digital programming
This stations' digital signal is multiplexed:| Channel | Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| 24.1 | KFTA-DT | main KFTA programming / Fox HD |
| 24.2 | KNWA-DT | simulcast of KNWA |
KFTA and KNWA each carry the others signal in standard definition as subcarriers of their digital stations alongside their main signals in high definition. This is necessary because KNWA's analog signal only aired at 182,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s. That station has a transmitter southeast of Garfield
Garfield, Arkansas
Garfield is a town in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 490 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
.
History
The station debuted on November 12, 1978 as KLMN-TV, the area's third television station. It took the CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliation from KFPW-TV/KTVP (now KHBS/KHOG
KHBS
KHBS, virtual channel 40 in Fort Smith and KHOG, virtual channel 29 in Fayetteville are the ABC-affiliated television stations for the Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Arkansas television market. The KHBS transmitter is located northwest of Poteau, Oklahoma. The KHOG transmitter is located southeast of...
). In 1980, it swapped affiliations with KFSM-TV
KFSM-TV
KFSM-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Arkansas River Valley and Northwest Arkansas that is licensed to Fort Smith. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter northwest of Winslow. Owned by Local TV, the station has studios on North 13th...
and became the area's NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate. Two years later, the station changed its calls to KPOM-TV (for People On the Move).
Channel 24 struggled during its early years. Besides being the area's newest station, it was hampered by the fact it was a UHF station in a market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
that is very mountainous. Despite its 2.5 million watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
Effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
, it only provided a Grade B signal to Fayetteville and could not be seen at all in Rogers
Rogers, Arkansas
Rogers is a suburban city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city has a population of 55,964. The city is located in the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Area, in the northwest corner of the state.-History:...
and points north. For most of this station's first ten years on the air, viewers in the northern part of the area had to rely on cable to watch the station. Much of the far northern part of the market got a better signal from KSNF
KSNF
KSNF, virtual channel 16, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Joplin, Missouri-Pittsburg, Kansas television market, the 145th DMA. KSNF broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 46...
in Joplin, Missouri
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...
(which, incidentally, switched from CBS to NBC in the same year as channel 24).
In 1986, the station was sold to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
-based Griffin Television
Griffin Communications
Griffin Communications is a media company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, founded in 1953 by John T. Griffin; the company operates television and radio broadcast stations and internet properties....
(owners of longtime CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate KWTV
KWTV
KWTV-DT, virtual channel 9 , is the CBS-affiliated television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; it is owned by Griffin Communications of Oklahoma City...
in Oklahoma City), who immediately set about solving the reception problem. It signed-on full-time satellite KFAA-TV in 1989 to provide a better signal in Fayetteville and the northern part of the market. In 2004, Griffin Television sold KPOM/KFAA to Nexstar, the stations changed their calls to "KFTA-TV" and KNWA-TV, respectively and the latter became the main station. In 2006, Nexstar announced that KFTA would become the Fox affiliate for the area while KNWA will become the area's sole NBC affiliate. However, KFTA would continue to show NBC daytime programming until 2008. At the same time, KFTA was sold to Mission Broadcasting although it continues to be operated by Nexstar under a local marketing agreement with KNWA. The network change took place on August 28 even though Equity Broadcasting
Equity Broadcasting
Equity Media Holdings was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, which is now used for its broadcast station subisdary...
, the owner of former Class A
Class A television service
The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" or "-CD" , although very many analog -CA stations have a digital companion channel that was assigned the -LD...
Fox affiliate KPBI-CA
KPBI-CA
KPBI-CA was a Class A low-power television station Fort Smith, Arkansas, broadcasting on channel 46. It is presently silent. The station is owned by Equity Media Holdings and, like many of Equity's stations, KPBI-CA was controlled remotely via satellite from Equity's headquarters in Little Rock,...
, challenged the sale of KFTA with the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC). As of November 21, 2011, Nexstar remains the official owner of KFTA, according to FCC records, due to Nexstar's supplemental application of a clarification of waiver (which the FCC has not yet acted on).
With some programming exceptions, the two stations simulcasted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. until KFTA's sale was approved. The two now air separate programming schedules. This station's broadcasts have been digital-only since a November 2008 analog transmitter failure. They have made various applications to increase digital power including one request for a megawatt of effective radiated power, equivalent to five million watts for an analog transmitter.
Newscasts
KPOM and KFAA relaunched a local newscast in 1999. An earlier local broadcast had aired under various titles until 1992. Currently, KFTA maintains a bureau at its original studios on Kelley Highway in Fort Smith. The only news program that airs on this station is a weeknight prime time show at 9. They re-air it early the next morning.Newscast titles
- KLMN 24 News (1978–early 1980s)
- 24 Express News (mid–late 1980s)
- Newsline 24 / 51 (1989–early 1990s)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(early 1990s) - Arkansas' NBC News (1999–2005)
- Northwest Arkansas News (2005–2007)
- Fox 24 News at 9 (2007–2009)
- Fox 24 News Edge (2009–present)
Station slogans
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (2000–2005)
- "Your Northwest Arkansas News Team. Always." (2005–2007)
- "It's About Time!" / "The Area's Only 9 P.M. Newscast" (2007–present)
External links
- KFTA FOX 24
- KNWA NBC 51
- Fox Switch Planned Monday (article dated August 26, 2006)
- KFTA info from Nexstar