Kark Tv Little Rock Ar

KARK is the NBC network affiliate station serving the Little Rock television market and central Arkansas, owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group. KARK's transmitter and antenna are located atop Shinall Mountain just west of Little Rock, on the same tower as KTHV. KARK's studio is located at 1401 W. Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock, one block east of the Arkansas State Capitol. KARK is available on Comcast channel 5 and digital cable channel 232 in Little Rock.

The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 32, using its former analog channel assignment of 4 as its virtual channel via PSIP. KARK's broadcasts are digital-only, as of February 17, 2009.

History

KARK is Little Rock's second oldest television station, having started on April 15, 1954 (KATV was the first, beating KARK to the airwaves by almost five months).

In 1966, KARK's original owners sold the station to Mullins Broadcasting, the owner of KBTV (now KUSA-TV, channel 9) in Denver. When John C. Mullins, the owner of the company, died in 1970, the Mullins estate sold both stations in 1972 to Combined Communications, which merged with the Gannett Company (which, ironically, currently owns rival station KTHV (channel 11)) seven years later. In 1983, Gannett sold KARK to SouthwestMedia, a subsidiary of United Broadcasting, a one-time owner of WMUR-TV (channel 9) in Manchester, New Hampshire which also owned KDBC-TV (channel 4) in El Paso, Texas and WTOK-TV (channel 11) in Meridian, Mississippi.

In 1988, United Broadcasting sold off all of its stations, with KARK going to Morris Multimedia. In 2003, Morris Multimedia sold KARK and WDHN (channel 18) in Dothan, Alabama to Nexstar, who eventually consolidated most sports operations from KARK with those of its station in northwest Arkansas, KNWA-TV (channel 51).

The two NBC affiliates additionally share certain news resources, with some reports filed by KNWA reporters occasionally used during KARK broadcasts. Since 2007, the two stations have also co-produced a daily newscast at noon Monday through Friday, Arkansas at Noon , with news anchors in Little Rock and Fayetteville.

In October 2008, Nexstar announced that it would purchase MyNetworkTV affiliate KWBF (channel 42) from Equity Media Holdings for $4 million. This purchase was granted FCC approval on December 23 of that year. However, although the purchase was to have been completed at the end of January 2009, its consummation was ultimately delayed nearly a month and a half until March 12; in the interim, Nexstar took over the operations of Channel 42 through a time brokerage agreement. As of February 1, KWBF changed its calls to KARZ-TV and began airing a 7 pm newscast produced by KARK, with MyNetworkTV programming airing one hour later (from 8 to 10 pm) than most other Central Time Zone affiliates. KARZ may also take on the responsibility as an alternate NBC affiliate by airing that network's programs when KARK cannot do so such as during a breaking news emergency.

Controversy

KARK made national news in early 2006 by declining to air the NBC TV program The Book of Daniel . The station's General Manager Rick Rogala at the time issued two statements regarding the issue. The first, issued January 4, 2006, stated "Our relationship with NBC always provided for the right to reject programming. I am reaffirming that right to let them know I will not allow them to make unilateral decisions affecting our viewers." The statement continued, "If my action causes people in our community to pay more attention to what they watch on television, I have accomplished my mission."

Two days later a second statement was released citing concerns about FCC rules regarding obscenity, "My first obligation to my station is to protect the license granted by the FCC. Current regulations could subject this station to severe punishment, up to and including revocation of our license if even a single person's objection to the FCC found material broadcast by our station to be indecent or obscene. Subsequent viewing of the material within The Book of Daniel leaves me no choice but to do my job and uphold the standards of our community." Due to the actions of KARK and several other NBC affiliates, the network cancelled the show after only three episodes.

The local WB affiliate, KWBF (now myNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV, which is now also a sister station to KARK), aired the program instead.

Digital television

The station digital channel:

Digital channels

Programming

KARK broadcasts all of NBC's schedule, however KARK does not show the Sunday edition of NBC Nightly News during football season, and similarly pre-empts the Sunday edition of The Today Show to show local programming alongside other Nexstar stations in Arkansas. Current syndicated programming includes The Insider , The Doctors , Judge Joe Brown , Judge Judy , and Entertainment Tonight , with weekend rebroadcasts of Entertainment Tonight , Judge Joe Brown and Judge Judy .

Talkin' Outdoors at the Corner Café , which airs immediately after Today on Saturday mornings, is produced by KARK, and is a special interest program showcasing outdoor recreation in cooperation with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. Sunday programming includes newscasts at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., along with the weekly sports program Razorback Nation Pig Trail (produced in conjunction with KNWA).

News Operation

KARK broadcasts a total of 26 hours of local news and sports programming per week. Monday through Friday of each week, a two-hour weekday morning news program, KARK 4 Today broadcasts from 5 a.m. until 7 a.m., with additional half-hour news broadcasts at 11 a.m., 12 noon ( Arkansas At Noon , co-produced with KNWA), 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. On Saturdays, the station airs newscasts at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., in addition to weather updates during the Saturday edition of NBC's Today . The station also produces a primetime newscast on its sister station KARZ-TV (channel 42), which airs at 7PM weeknights.

For many years, KARK was the top-rated station for news in Little Rock. However, its newscast ratings plummeted in the mid 1990s, as the ABC affiliate KATV took the lead in the market. Even with the decrease, KARK remained in second place through most of the latter half of the 1990s, then fell to third for a brief period in the early 2000s. KARK has since regained many of its viewers and is a very competitive television station today. A significant aspect of its broadcasts today is emphasis of Arkansas-oriented content over national stories.

Notable Personalities

Current On-Air Talent

(as of December 8, 2008)
Current Anchors

• Bob Clausen - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM
• Courtney Collins - Sundays at 5, Saturdays at 6, and weekends at 10PM (also weekday reporter)
• Matt Mosler - weekday mornings "KARK 4 News Today" and 11AM
• Jancey Sheats - weeknights at 5 and 6PM
• Melissa Simas - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM (also reporter)
• Sonseeahray Tonsall - weekday mornings "KARK 4 News Today" and "Arkansas at Noon"

Reporters

• Tracy Douglass - morning reporter (also fill-in weather forecaster)
• Mallory Hardin - general assignment reporter
• Lauren Lea - general assignment reporter
• Cecillea Pond-Mayo - general assignment reporter
• Pete Thompson - general assignment reporter
• Lauren Trager - general assignment reporter

KARK4 Storm Team / Your Weather Authority

• Mike Francis (AMS/NWA Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weekday mornings "KARK 4 News Today", 11AM and "Arkansas at Noon"
• Brett Cummins (AMS/NWA Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM
• Greg Dee (AMS/NWA Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; Sundays at 5, Saturdays at 6, and weekends at 10PM (also fill-in meteorologist)

"Razorback Nation" Sports

• Aaron Peters - KNWA/KARK Sports Director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM (based at KNWA)
• Aaron Nolan - Sports Anchor; Sundays at 5, Saturdays at 6, and weekends at 10PM (also sports reporter)
• Adam Alter - sports reporter (based at KNWA)
• Pat Doney - sports reporter (based at KNWA)
• Courtney Timmons - sports reporter (based at KNWA)

Former On-Air Talent

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

• The Night Report (1950s)
• Report to Arkansas (early 1960s)
• The Sixth Hour Report/The Eleventh Hour Report (mid 1960s-1970s)
• (Channel) 4 Eyewitness News (1970s-1993; during the mid-1980s, the station was branded as "NewsCenter 4", but kept Eyewitness News as its newscast title)
• News 4 (1993-2001)
• News 4 Arkansas (2001-2004)
• KARK 4 News (2004-present)

Station Slogans

Logos

References

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