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| Channels | |
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KJTB-LD,KJBW-LD | |
| History | |
First air date | July 15, 1963 (62 years ago) (1963-07-15) |
Former call signs | KAIT-TV (1963–2003) |
Former channel numbers |
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| Independent (1963–1965) | |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 13988 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 527.4 m (1,730 ft)[2] |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°53′22″N90°56′8″W / 35.88944°N 90.93556°W /35.88944; -90.93556 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KAIT (channel 8) is atelevision station inJonesboro, Arkansas, United States, affiliated withABC,NBC, andThe CW Plus. It is owned byGray Media alongsideTelemundo affiliate KJTB-LD (channel 36) and KJBW-LD (channel 35). The three stations share studios on New Haven Church Road (County Road 766) north of Jonesboro; KAIT's transmitter is located north ofEgypt, Arkansas.
KAIT began broadcasting in 1963 as anindependent station before becoming an ABC affiliate in 1965. It was built by George Hernreich, aFort Smith businessman. Hernreich paid bribes to an ABC representative in 1969, resulting in a years-long legal challenge that almost saw KAIT lose itsbroadcast license. After theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) reversed an earlier decision to revoke the KAIT license, the station was sold to Channel Communications in 1984, Cosmos Broadcasting in 1986, andRaycom Media in 2005. Under Raycom, KAIT added subchannels affiliated with NBC and The CW. Raycom merged withGray Television in 2019. The station has traditionally dominated the Jonesboromedia market in revenue and ratings, though its coverage area and viewership extends beyond the defined media market.
Though channel 8 was assigned toJonesboro in 1952, it went unused for a decade. Jonesboro radio stationKBTM applied for channel 8 in 1954[3] and was granted aconstruction permit for KBTM-TV in 1955,[4] only to seek to transfer it the next year to the owner ofKATV inPine Bluff.[5] KATV intended to use KBTM-TV to broadcast itsABC programming and shows aired by the Pine Bluff station as well as local shows, which would be produced by KBTM radio staff.[6] Construction never started, and the permit was surrendered in late October 1957.[7] The surrender followed theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) issuing a letter to the station asking why it should not have its permit stripped.[8]
Radio stationKXJK inForrest City, Arkansas, asked the FCC in May 1958 to move channel 8 there. The proposal was rebutted by George Hernreich, aFort Smith businessman, who declared his intention to apply for channel 8 at Jonesboro.[9] The FCC denied the KXJK move request in February 1959[10] and granted Hernreich's application for channel 8 on April 8, 1960,[11] after KBTM (by this time under new ownership) withdrew a competing application.[12]
Construction of KAIT-TV began in early 1963 at a site 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Jonesboro.[13] During erection of the 300-foot (91 m) tower, the large antenna crashed to the ground.[14] After weeks of test patterns and sporadic other broadcasts,[15] KAIT-TV began regular programming on July 15, 1963. It was anindependent station, airing local features including news and a children's show as well as movies.[16]
The station joined ABC on October 1, 1965, enabling it to present color network programming and lengthen its broadcast day.[17] Network affiliation provided resources that KAIT had instead been obtaining without permission. The station had previously rebroadcast programs from other stations without authorization, including coverage of theWatts riots and twoProject Gemini launches, as well as excerpts fromNBC'sHuntley-Brinkley Report. In 1966, the FCC fined Hernreich $1,000 for this and other violations.[18] KAIT renewed its ABC affiliation in 1967, and Hernreich sought increases in the network compensation rate ABC paid it to air network programming. Hernreich was successful in seeking these increases after he made two bribes to Thomas G. Sullivan, a regional station relations manager for the network.[19]
In March 1970, the FCC began a private investigation into allegations of station owners bribing ABC for network affiliation after ABC accused Sullivan of accepting a bribe fromWKTR-TV servingDayton, Ohio.[20] After Sullivan was fired, ABC rescinded the compensation increases it had previously granted to KAIT-TV.[19] The inquiry implicated Hernreich and indicated that he may have paid an ABC representative. As a result, in July 1971, the FCC designated KAIT-TV'sbroadcast license renewal for hearing. It allowed Hernreich to start broadcastingKFPW-TV at Fort Smith but conditioned a final license on the outcome of the hearing.[20] In April 1973, FCCadministrative law judge Forest L. McClenning ruled that Hernreich should lose the licenses for both stations. He found that Hernreich lacked the qualifications to be a broadcast licensee, putting his other holdings—two AM radio stations and an FM outlet in other Arkansas cities—in peril. McClenning rejected allegations from Hernreich that the payments were made on threat of losing the ABC affiliation for KAIT-TV.[19] On appeal to the FCC in 1974, Hernreich won a license for KFPW-TV in Fort Smith and was found to be generally qualified, but the commission on a 3-2 vote denied a license renewal for KAIT-TV.[21]
Hernreich petitioned the FCC to reconsider its split action on his television licenses, arguing that such a decision on his actions did not hold water and claiming that the profits from the Jonesboro station were necessary to run KFPW-TV in Fort Smith.[22] His attorneys claimed that the decision was inconsistent and failed to account for ABC's role in the bribery scandal.[23] The FCC ultimately agreed with Hernreich and reversed its 1974 decision in 1979, allowing KAIT-TV to remain on the air.[24]
After KAIT-TV's license was renewed, George Hernreich stepped down as chairman of Hernreich Broadcasting Stations in 1980.[25] In 1981, the station installed a new transmitter, increasing its coverage area. Three years later, his son Bob—citing the distance between Jonesboro and Fort Smith and an interest to pursue other business ventures—sold KAIT for $22 million to Channel Communications, Inc. ofNashville, Tennessee. Channel was a subsidiary of NASCO, Inc., a maker of licensed goods for theNational Football League diversifying into the broadcasting business.[26] KAIT was the second of three stations Channel purchased between August 1983 and May 1984, afterKPLC inLake Charles, Louisiana, but beforeWCLQ-TV inCleveland.[27]
After two years, Channel Communications exited broadcasting. It agreed to sell KAIT and KPLC to Cosmos Broadcasting Inc., the broadcasting arm ofSouth Carolina–based insurerLiberty Corporation, for a combined $68 million.[28] Cosmos included KAIT and two other stations in an attempted sale to Broad Street Companies ofNew Haven, Connecticut, in 1992;[29] the deal never closed, as Broad Street failed to finance the transaction.[30]
In January 2003, KAIT began broadcasting a digital signal.[31] KAITshut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009,[32] and relocated its digital signal from its pre-transitionVHF channel 9 to channel 8 for post-transition operations.[33]
Liberty exited the insurance business in 2000 and merged withRaycom Media in 2006.[34][35] Under Raycom, KAIT added twodigital subchannels offering additional national networks. On January 26, 2015, it launched an NBC affiliate on its 8.2 subchannel,[36] previously used to broadcast weather and occasional local sports coverage.[37] KAIT, which had garnered nearly 97 percent of all television advertising revenue in Jonesboro in 2013,[36] received competition later in 2015 whenWaypoint Media launched in-marketFox andCBS affiliateKJNB-LD.[38][39] In 2018, KAIT addedThe CW on subchannel 8.3.[40][41]
Raycom merged withGray Television in a deal announced in 2018 and finalized in 2019.[42][43] In 2021, the station moved its transmissions from the VHF to theUHF band.[44][2][45]
As of 2025[update], KAIT broadcasts24+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week, including a2+1⁄2-hour morning newscast on weekdays,Good Morning Region 8; weekday newscasts at 11 a.m. and 5, 6, and 10 p.m.; and two weekend newscasts daily.[46]
KAIT has historically served a larger coverage area than its media market. This is because there are counties where KAIT was the most-viewed station but the stations inLittle Rock orMemphis, Tennessee, collectively had higher audience share, causing them to be drawn into that market.[31] Within that market, however, KAIT has traditionally dominated the Memphis stations as the only local news source.[47]
KAIT is broadcast from a tower north ofEgypt, Arkansas.[1] Its signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KAITAB | ABC |
| 8.2 | KAITNB | NBC | ||
| 8.3 | KAITCW | The CW Plus |
Media related toKAIT at Wikimedia Commons
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofArkansas | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Arkansas | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
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| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
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| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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