KFTA-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| KFTA-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Arkansas | |
| Branding | Fox 24 |
| Slogan | It's About Time! The Area's Only 9pm Newscast |
| Channels | |
| Subchannels | 24.1 Fox TV 24.2 KNWA/NBC |
| Affiliations | Fox |
| Owner | Mission Broadcasting, Inc. (operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.) |
| First air date | November 12, 1978 |
| Call letters’ meaning | ForT Smith, Arkansas |
| Sister station(s) | KNWA-TV |
| Former callsigns | KLMN-TV (1978-1982) KPOM-TV (1982-2004) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 24 (1978-2009) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1978-1980) NBC (1980-2008, secondary from 2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 200 kW |
| Height | 305 m |
| Facility ID | 29560 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 35°42′36.4″N 94°8′15.3″W / 35.710111°N 94.137583°W |
| Website | Fox 24 |
KFTA-TV ("Fox 24") is the Fox affiliate for the Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Arkansas television market. The station is licensed to Fort Smith and is a sister station to the area's NBC affiliate, KNWA-TV. The two stations share a studio on Fayetteville's historic downtown square. The station also maintains an additional office and newsroom in north Fort Smith off of the Kelly Highway.
The station debuted on November 12, 1978 as KLMN-TV, the area's third television station. It took the CBS 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, it 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 ERP, it only provided a grade B signal to Fayetteville and couldn't be seen at all in Rogers and points north. Many viewers in the northern part of the market had to rely on cable to watch channel 24.
To solve this problem, in 1989 it signed on a full-time satellite, KFAA-TV, to provide a better signal in Fayetteville and the northern part of the market. In 2005, the stations changed their calls to KFTA-TV and KNWA-TV, respectively, and KNWA became the main station.
In 2006, the stations' owner, Nexstar Broadcasting, announced that KFTA would become the Fox affiliate for the area, while KNWA will become the area's sole NBC affiliate, although KFTA would continue to show NBC daytime programming until 2008. KFTA was sold to Mission Broadcasting, though it will continue 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 Fox affiliate KPBI-CA, challenged the sale of KFTA-TV with the FCC.[1]
With some programming exceptions, the two stations simulcasted from 7 AM to 5 PM until KFTA's sale was approved. KFTA and KNWA now air separate programming schedules.
KFTA and KNWA each carry the other's signal in standard definition as digital subchannels, alongside their main signals in high definition. KFTA's broadcasts have been digital-only since a November 2008 analog transmitter failure.[2] The station has made various applications to increase digital power, including one request for a megawatt of effective radiated power.
[edit] Newscast titles
- 24 Express News (1980s)
- Newsline 24/51 (Late 1980s-1990s)
- Eyewitness News (early 1990s)
[edit] References
- ^ Business, Arkansas. "Fox Network Likely To Switch In Fort Smith". ArkansasBusiness.com. http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=95170.54928.107293&view=all&link=perm. Retrieved on 2009-06-21.
- ^ "Northwest Arkansas' News Source". NWAnews.com. 2009-02-14. http://nwanews.com/bcdr/News/70688/. Retrieved on 2009-06-21.
[edit] External links
- KFTA Fox 24
- Fox Switch Planned Monday (article dated August 26, 2006)
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KFTA
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KFTA-TV
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