KTAL-TV

KTAL-TV

Texarkana, Texas/Shreveport, Louisiana
Branding	NBC 6 (general) NBC 6 News (news)
Slogan	Keeping It Local (news) Your Weather Authority (weather)
Channels	Digital: 15 (UHF) Virtual: 6 (PSIP)
Subchannels	6.1 NBC-HD 6.2 NBC-SD
Owner	Nexstar Broadcasting Group (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date	August 16, 1953
Call letters' meaning	K Texas Arkansas Louisiana
Former callsigns	KCMC-TV (1953-1960)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 6 (VHF, 1953-2009)
Former affiliations	CBS (1953-1960) DuMont (secondary, 1953-1956) NBC (secondary,1953-1960) ABC (secondary, 1953-1960)
Transmitter power	1000 kW
Height	454.3 m
Facility ID	35648
Transmitter coordinates	32°54′11″N 94°0′20″W
Website	www.arklatexhomepage.com

KTAL-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station serving Shreveport and the Ark-La-Tex region that is licensed to Texarkana, Texas. It is the only major network affiliate serving the Shreveport-Texarkana market that is licensed to a city located outside of Louisiana. It broadcasts a high-definition digital signal on UHF channel 15 (or virtual channel 6.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter located in Vivian, Louisiana.

Owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, KTAL maintains studios located on North Market Street and Deer Park Road, northwest of Downtown Shreveport.

Digital channel

Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
6.1	1080i	16:9	Main KTAL-TV programming / NBC

History

KTAL was launched on August 16, 1953, as KCMC-TV by Clyde E. Palmer (1876–1957), owner of the Texarkana Gazette and several other newspapers and radio stations across Arkansas and Texas. It took its call letters from KCMC radio (AM 740 and FM 98.1, now KTAL-FM). The station originally carried programming from CBS with some selections also from ABC and the defunct Dumont network. In May 1954, the station's power output was expanded from 25,000 to 100,000 watts.

KTAL studios in north Shreveport.

However in 1960, CBS announced that it was dropping its affiliation with KCMC-TV because the signal of KSLA-TV in Shreveport decently covered Texarkana. This would have forced KCMC-TV to fall back on its secondary affiliation with the then-weak ABC or go independent—neither of which was a viable option for such a small market. By this time, the Palmer properties had been taken over by Palmer's son-in-law, Walter E. Hussman, Sr. He persuaded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collapse Texarkana and Shreveport into a single television market. Hussman then built a new tower in Vivian—the second-tallest in the South at the time.

Logo used from 2009 to 2012.

In late 1960, the call letters changed to the current "KTAL-TV" and it became the NBC affiliate for the enlarged Shreveport/Texarkana market. Shreveport's original NBC affiliate, KTBS-TV, switched to ABC. The call letters not only stood for Channel 6's three-state service area, but also referred to the tower, which brought its signal into parts of four states. For many years, the station was known as "K-Tal." In 1961, KTAL moved most of its operations to a new studio in Shreveport. KTAL is the only station in the market with a newsroom bureau and studios in Texarkana as well.

Palmer Newspapers was renamed WEHCO Media, Inc. in 1973. The company is now run by Hussman's son, Walter E. Hussman, Jr.. In 1975, the FCC ruled that WEHCO couldn't own both KTAL-TV and the Texarkana Gazette, but it won an appellate court decision in 1979 that said the FCC had misinterpreted its own rules. In July 2000, WEHCO sold the station to Nexstar.

On April 24, 2013, Communications Corporation of America announced the sale of its entire group to Nexstar. Since KTAL and KMSS are both within the top-four highest rated stations in the Shreveport market, Nexstar cannot legally buy KMSS. KMSS will be sold to Mission Broadcasting, while KSHV will be sold to a female-controlled company called Rocky Creek Communications. Nexstar will operate KMSS and KSHV under shared services agreement, forming a triopoly with KTAL. The sales are pending Federal Communications Commission approval.

News operation

The station rebranded from NewsChannel 6 to KTAL: The News Station in 2006, dropping its channel number, as have several of Nexstar's stations. In 2009, the station once again rebranded from KTAL: The News Station to the current NBC 6 News; thus, reincorporating its original analog (now virtual) channel number into its branding after a three-year hiatus.

KTAL began broadcasting its local newscasts in partial widescreen standard definition on October 27, 2010. The news cameras still shoot in 4:3 SD, with the resulting video being enlarged and cropped in the control room to match the aspect ratio of high-definition television screens.

On April 2, 2012, KTAL 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 sports segment produced by Fayetteville sister station KNWA-TV, focusing on University of Arkansas athletics, called Razorback Nation. KTAL also provides a weather insert for southwest Arkansas during the broadcast. In addition to airing on KARK, KNWA and KTAL, the program is also simulcast on KTVE/Monroe-El Dorado (the coverage areas of KTVE and KTAL include several counties in southern Arkansas (ten in KTAL's viewing area, fourteen in KTVE's), though both stations primarily serve parts of northern Louisiana and KTAL also serves parts of northeast Texas).

KTAL began broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 high definition on June 27, 2012, becoming the fourth and last station in the market to make the transition after KMSS, KTBS and KSLA, respectively.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• The News of the Night (1953–1958)
• The Tri-State Report (1958–1960)
• The Television 6 Report (1960–1964)
• The TV-6 News (1964–1974)
• Newscope (early 1970s–1974)
• NewsCenter 6 (1974–2001)
• NewsChannel 6 (2001–2006)
• KTAL News (2006–2009)
• NBC 6 News (2009–present)

Station slogans

• "NBC for the Ark-La-Tex" (1996–2002)
• "The News Station" (2002–2009)
• "Making A Difference" (2008–2009)
• "Your Weather Authority" (2009–present)

Newscast music

• WTLV 1972 News Theme by unknkown composer (1972-1974)
• NBC TV-Radio Newspulse by Fred Weinberg Productions, Inc. (1974-1978)
• KTAL 1978 News Theme by unknown composer (1978-19??)
• Red Rain by Peter Gabriel (19??-19??)
• KTAL 1988 News Theme by unknown composer (19??-19??)
• The Mission from NBC Nightly News by John Williams (19??-19??)
• NBC: The Place To Be by unknown composer (1991-1996)
• Image News by Gari Communications, Inc. (2001-2006)
• The NBC Collection by Gari Communications, Inc. (2006-2010)
• The Rock by Stephen Arnold Music (2010-present)

News team

Current on-air staff

+ denotes personnel from KARK-TV in Little Rock
Anchors

• Nick LaFave - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Jacque Jovic - Weeknights at 10:00 p.m.
• Leslie Draffin - weekday mornings on NBC 6 News Today (5:00-7:00 a.m.); also reporter
• Dan Jovic - weekday mornings on NBC 6 News Today (5:00-7:00 a.m.); also reporter
• Marquel Sennet - Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:00 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• + Mallory Hardin - weekdays at noon (Arkansas Today)

NBC 6 Weather Authority

• Todd Warren (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Patrick Dennis - meteorologist; weekday mornings on NBC 6 News Today (5:00-7:00 a.m.) and weekdays at noon (Arkansas Today)
• Josh Marcisz - meteorologist; Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:00 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.; also reporter
• + Greg Dee - meteorologist/host; weekdays at noon (Arkansas Today)

Sports team

• Brandon Dunn - sports director; weeknights at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m.
• Lance Snow - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 5:00 and weekends at 10:00 p.m.
• Aaron Peters - Razorback Nation sports anchor; weekdays at noon (Arkansas Today); based out of KNWA in Fort Smith

Reporters

• Morgan Thomas - morning reporter
• Alese Underwood - general assignment reporter
• Stephanie Claytor - general assignment reporter
• Kimberly Rusley - general assignment reporter
• Jade Cunningham - Texarkana bureau reporter

Former on-air staff

• Sammy Anthony Fulco (ca. 1927-2010) - announcer; later helped to establish KDOG-TV in Houston
• George Dobson, Newsman, started when it was KCMC-TV. Native of Lewisville, Arkansas
• Vern Stierman, weatherman for over three decades
• Michelle White-Lafitte, Anchor
• Kerry Charles, Reporter
• Terry Snead, Reporter/Anchor
• Karin Adams, Reporter
• Ron Young, Meteorolosist
• Darrell Rebouche, Sports
• Tim Fletcher, Sports
• Al Pierce, Anchor/Reporter
• Alex Cerda, Reporter
• Gavin Moberg, Sports
• ShaVonne Herndon, Reporter

Cable carriage

KTAL is seen on cable in Shreveport via Comcast. The station is also carried on 85+ other cable systems in the Ark-La-Tex region. In 2005, Texarkana's Cable One and Bossier City's Cox Communications pulled KTAL's signal over compensation disputes. In accordance with FCC regulation, KTAL and its owner Nexstar tried to make an agreement with both cable systems to continue carrying KTAL's programming. The disagreement began with KTAL/Nexstar requesting 10 cents per subscriber for KTAL to be carried on CableOne and Cox. The basic argument was that satellite providers pay for the right to rebroadcast local affiliates' signals, and that cable operators should, as well. Due to the dispute, Cox and CableOne eventually dropped KTAL-TV from their systems. However, viewers in areas served by CableOne and Cox could still watch the station over-the-air or by Satellite from Dish Network and on DirecTV.

KTAL has since returned to CableOne and Cox, after reaching confidential agreements with both companies. Cox in Bossier City has since been replaced by Suddenlink Communications.

References

• "Arkansas paper owner welcomes FCC changes but swears off TV," Associated Press, June 2, 2003...

KTAL TV-6

External links

• ArkLaTexHomepage.com - Official Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KTAL
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KTAL-TV