KNWA-TV
FCC | |
Facility ID | 29557 |
---|---|
ERP | 820 kW |
HAAT | 258.7 m (849 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 36°24′48″N 93°57′17.4″W / 36.41333°N 93.954833°W |
Translator(s) | KFTA-DT 24.2 (27.2 UHF) Fort Smith |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
KNWA-TV (channel 51) is a
KFTA-TV broadcasts KNWA-TV's NBC programming from its transmitter in unincorporated northeastern Crawford County (south of Artist Point) as one of its subchannels and vice versa.
History
The station began on October 1, 1989, as KFAA, a
In April 2006, Nexstar announced that it would sell KFTA to
This did not pose as much of a problem as it may have seemed, given the high penetration of cable and satellite service in this area. During the analog era, KFSM and Arkansas PBS satellite KAFT were the only stations that decently covered the market with a single transmitter. Cable and satellite are all but essential for acceptable television in Northwest Arkansas due to its rugged terrain. For example, Dish Network and DirecTV carried KPBI-CA while it was the Fox affiliate even though those carriers usually do not offer low-power stations. After the split, KPBI-CA was dropped in favor of KFTA. On the other hand, the split improved Fox's coverage and enables high definition Fox programming in this market as KPBI-CA is low-power and does not have a digital transmitter, unlike KNWA and KFTA. According to their FCC filings, both stations have digital transmitters licensed for one million watts each, equivalent to five million watts for an analog UHF transmitter. Thus, their digital coverage areas well exceed the analog coverage areas of both KFTA (2.5 million watts) and especially KNWA.
On December 3, 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire
The sale was approved by the FCC on September 16 and was completed on September 19, 2019.News operation
As of September 2017[update], KNWA-TV presently broadcasts 19+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 3+1⁄2 hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). Unlike most NBC-affiliated stations in the Central Time Zone, it does not produce a midday newscast of its own; instead KNWA airs the statewide news program Arkansas Today (which is simulcast on other Nexstar-owned or -managed stations serving Arkansas and border markets including portions of northern Louisiana).
In addition, KNWA produces 13+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week for Fox-affiliated sister station KFTA (with 3+1⁄2 hours each weekday and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). KNWA may also simulcast long-form severe weather coverage on KFTA-TV in the event that a tornado warning is issued for any county in its viewing area within northwest Arkansas and east-central Oklahoma.
News department history
KPOM and KFAA relaunched a local newscast in 1999. An earlier local broadcast had aired under various titles until 1992. In 2003 after
On April 2, 2012, KNWA debuted a half-hour weekday noon newscast titled Arkansas Today, produced by Little Rock sister station KARK-TV (anchor Mallory Hardin and meteorologist/co-host Greg Dee also appear on KARK's weekday morning newscast); the statewide newscast features news stories filed by reporters from all four Nexstar-owned NBC stations serving Arkansas as well as a KNWA-produced sports segment focusing on
Technical information
Subchannels
KNWA-TV and KFTA-TV broadcast two shared channels (NBC on 51.1 and 24.2 and Fox on 51.2 and 24.1) and two unique diginets each.
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
51.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
KNWA-DT | NBC |
51.2 | 720p | KFTA-DT | Fox (KFTA-TV) | |
51.3 | 480p | Laff | Laff | |
51.4 | Grit | Grit |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KNWA-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KNWA-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Contact Us". May 30, 2019.
- ^ AP: NBC Affiliates in Arkansas Re-Launch Local News with AP's ENPS Archived August 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- Arkansas Business (via HighBeam Research), September 8, 2003.
- ^ Channel 51 Off Air Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (August 14, 2006)
- ^ "Nexstar Media Group Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Tribune Media Company for $6.4 Billion in Accretive Transaction Creating the Nation's Largest Local Television Broadcaster and Local Media Company". Nexstar Media Group. December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ "Nexstar Media Group Enters Into Definitive Agreement To Acquire Tribune Media Company". Tribune Media. December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ "Acquisition of Tribune Media Company" (PDF). Nexstar Media Group. December 3, 2018.
- ^ Mark K. Miller (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Buying Tribune Media For $6.4 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
- ^ Peter White; Dade Hayes (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Confirms $4.1B Tribune Media Acquisition To Become Leading Local TV Station Owner". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
- ^ Gerry Smith; Nabila Ahmed; Eric Newcomer (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar to buy WGN owner Tribune Media for $4.1 billion". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Bloomberg News.
- ^ Arjun Panchadar; Sonam Rai (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar to buy Tribune Media for $4.1 billion". Reuters.
- ^ Jon Lafayette (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Announces Deal to Buy Tribune for $6.4B". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
- ^ Adam Jacobson (December 3, 2018). "It's Official: Nexstar Takes Tribune In Billion-Dollar Stock Deal". Radio-Television Business Report. Streamline-RBR, Inc.
- ^ Harry A. Jessell; Mark K. Miller (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar To Spin Off $1B In Stations". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
- ^ "Nexstar Selling 19 TVs In 15 Markets For $1.32B". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- Bloomberg, L.P.
- ^ Nexstar Launches Statewide Ark. Newscast, TVNewsCheck, April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Error". Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for KNWA". RabbitEars. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ L. Lamor Williams (February 7, 2009). "Northwest Arkansas' News Source". NWAnews.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
Further reading
- Deal could mean new Fox affiliate in NWA Archived May 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine (April 21, 2006)
- Fort Smith TV Station Plans Begin To Take Shape Archived July 16, 2006, at the Wayback Machine (July 11, 2006)
- KPBI, KFTA Fight For Fox Network (July 31, 2006)
- Fox Network Likely To Switch In Fort Smith (August 7, 2006)
- Fox Switch Planned Monday (August 26, 2006)