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| |
|---|---|
| City | Rogers, Arkansas |
| Channels | |
| Branding | KNWA |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KFTA-TV,KXNW | |
| History | |
First air date | August 23, 1989; 36 years ago (1989-08-23) |
Former call signs | KFAA (1989–2004) |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | Northwest Arkansas |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 29557 |
| ERP | 820 kW |
| HAAT | 258.7 m (849 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 36°24′48″N93°57′17.4″W / 36.41333°N 93.954833°W /36.41333; -93.954833 |
| Translator(s) | KFTA-TV 24.2 Fort Smith |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
KNWA-TV (channel 51) is atelevision station licensed toRogers, Arkansas, United States, serving as theNBC affiliate forNorthwest Arkansas and theArkansas River Valley. It is owned byNexstar Media Group alongsideFort Smith–licensedFox affiliateKFTA-TV (channel 24) andEureka Springs–licensedMyNetworkTV affiliateKXNW (channel 34). The stations share studios onDickson Street in downtownFayetteville. KNWA-TV's transmitter is located southeast ofGarfield, Arkansas; KNWA-TV's programming is also broadcast from KFTA-TV's transmitter south ofArtist Point as one of its subchannels andvice versa.
Channel 51 began broadcasting as KFAA on August 23, 1989. It served as asatellite station of channel 24, then KPOM-TV, owned byGriffin TV. The addition of channel 51 resolved a coverage shortfall for KPOM-TV in fast-growing, affluent Northwest Arkansas that had hindered its competitive position. The two stations carried the same NBC programming and local news, though they had separate advertisements and promotions; KFAA had its own studios in Rogers and eventually originated Northwest Arkansas news inserts for the shared newscasts. The expanded coverage did not improve channel 24/51's news ratings, which had long been in third place, and Griffin discontinued the news department in 1992. Northwest Arkansas's growth in the 1990s made it possible for Griffin to restore a newscast in 2000. As part of the effort, Griffin built new studios in the Campbell-Bell building in downtown Fayetteville.
When Nexstar assumed control of KPOM–KFAA in 2004, it reoriented the news department to primarily serve Northwest Arkansas, changing the stations'call signs to KFTA-TV and KNWA-TV, respectively; moving station operations from Fort Smith to Fayetteville; and reallocating news resources to focus on the Fayetteville area. In 2006, Nexstar split the signals of the two stations, with Fox programming on KFTA, NBC on KNWA, and both services broadcast market-wide asdigital subchannels. Even though the stations have separate programming, they are considered one program service by theFederal Communications Commission as a legacy of their prior configuration, enabling Nexstar to own KXNW.
Channel 51 was allocated toRogers, Arkansas, in 1984. The only application for the channel came from MCC Communications, a company owned by John McCutcheon, which was granted the permit in 1985.[2] McCutcheon struggled to find financing to construct the station as a standalone operation,[3] and in February 1986,Griffin TV agreed to acquire the permit to serve as asemi-satellite ofKPOM-TV (channel 24), theNBC affiliate inFort Smith, forNorthwest Arkansas.[4] KPOM-TV's penetration of the area—rapidly growing and affluent—was poor.[5]
Over an objection fromKSNF-TV inJoplin, Missouri, which claimed the combination would have excessive overlap and signal loss issues, the FCC approved the transfer in December 1988.[2] KFAA began broadcasting on August 23, 1989, and the station's newscasts were retitledNewsline 24/51.[6] The 12-person Fayetteville bureau was replaced with a partially separate, 25- to 30-person operation in Rogers, and the station began presenting its newscasts in a dual-city format with an anchor in both cities, an approach already used by channels 40/29. Except for Mike Nail, the Fayetteville-based sports director who doubled as the voice ofArkansas Razorbacks athletics, most of the on-air news staff turned over.[5]
One thing that did not change was that KPOM–KFAA rated third in the full market, often by distant margins compared to KFSM and KHBS/KHOG. However, its ratings status was higher inBenton County, the county containing Rogers, which was reassigned to the Fort Smith–Fayetteville market fromJoplin, Missouri, in 1989.[5][3] In 1991, Griffin agreed to sell KPOM–KFAA to Newark Broadcasting; it had been attempting to sell the pair since late 1989.[7] In anticipation of the move, the station relaunched its newscasts asEyewitness News in September. The new format included a split segment of news for Northwest Arkansas viewers, though most of the program still originated from Fort Smith.[8] Citing a lack of demand for their news product, Griffin shuttered the KPOM–KFAA news operation effective June 12, 1992,[9] resulting in the dismissal of 22 employees in Fort Smith and Rogers.[10]
A proposed transfer of KPOM and KFAA to Northwest Arkansas Broadcasting was filed with the FCC in September 1992. The buyer's owners were beneficiaries of the Robert Hernreich family trust; Robert was the son of George Hernreich, primary owner of KHBS/KHOG. The New York Times Company objected, believing this created an ownership complication that gave the Hernreichs a then-illegalduopoly and control over both stations.[11] The application was never acted on by the FCC and was withdrawn in March 1993.[12]
After the Northwest Arkansas Broadcasting sale fell through, Griffin opted to retain KPOM and KFAA.[12] In December 1999, Griffin announced that it had agreed to lease space in the former Campbell-Bell department store in downtown Fayetteville, which was being renovated, and intended to restart local news production from the site.[13] Griffin saw the potential for higher revenue in the market than had been possible when the news department was dissolved in 1992.[14] Nail, who had worked at KHBS/KHOG after KPOM–KFAA ceased producing news, returned as sportscaster,[15] while two other KHBS/KHOG personalities—weatherman Steve Gibbs and reporter Rhonda Justice—moved over to the new news department,[16] which began offering newscasts on August 3, 2000.[17] In its return, the station again placed third in local news ratings.[18]
After the FCC relaxed limits on TV station ownership, Griffin received more inquiries from potential buyers of KPOM and KFAA.[19] In September 2003, it announced it was negotiating withNexstar Broadcasting Group.[20] The next month, the companies entered into a letter of intent, and Nexstar assumed management duties under atime brokerage agreement.[21]
Nexstar immediately moved to shift station operations from Fort Smith to Fayetteville, as Northwest Arkansas now represented the majority of the media market's population. In February 2004, the Fayetteville facility became the main studio, and two public affairs programs produced in Fort Smith—one of which had been on the air on channel 24 since 1978—were canceled.[21] In August, the reporter and photographer assigned to cover news in Fort Smith were moved to Fayetteville, though the station promised to cover news in Fort Smith on an as-needed basis.[22] On August 13, 2004, both stations changed call signs, KPOM-TV to KFTA-TV and KFAA to KNWA-TV.[18] The result of the changes was to make viewers in theArkansas River Valley feel like the station had left them behind, even though it had introduced Fort Smith–specific weather forecasts shortly after making the change.[18] The mayor of Fort Smith, Ray Baker, called the move "a mistake" that would lead to less coverage of what was then the second-largest city in Arkansas.[23] Some business operations were consolidated atLittle Rock, where Nexstar ownsKARK-TV.[24]
On April 19, 2006, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced it would sell KFTA-TV toBrecksville, Ohio–basedMission Broadcasting, a group which maintained joint sales and shared services agreements with Nexstar-operated outlets in other cities, for $5.6 million. Under the terms of the agreement, KFTA would continue to be operated by Nexstar under agreement but would split from KNWA to broadcastFox on a full-power signal as well as a prime time local newscast.[25] Mission leased the Kelley Highway offices and renovated them to house its operation.[26] The area's existing Fox affiliate was a low-power station,KPBI-CA (channel 46). KPBI-CA's affiliation agreement let Fox move its programming to a full-power station, such as KFTA-TV, on 90 days' notice.[27] Its owner,Equity Broadcasting, challenged the sale of KFTA with the FCC, claiming the move would result in an unauthorized duopoly. Even while the challenge was pending, KFTA became a Fox affiliate on August 28. Until the license challenge was to be settled, KFTA continued to simulcast KNWA from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. KFTA was only available in Fayetteville and KNWA in Fort Smith usingdigital subchannels.[28] Coinciding with the switch to Fox, KFTA began airing a 9 p.m. newscast on weeknights concentrating on Fort Smith–area news.[29] Even though the FCC approved the transaction in 2008 (admonishing Nexstar for making false claims and barring them from simulcasting each other's digital signals),[30] Mission never acquired KFTA, and in 2019, Nexstar acquired another Northwest Arkansas–market station,KXNW (channel 34). It was able to do so because the FCC recognizes KNWA-TV as operating as a satellite of KFTA-TV under a waiver.[31]
KFTA shut its Fort Smith office in 2011 and moved all operations to Fayetteville.[32] In October 2012, KNWA–KFTA relocated its operations into its current facility at The Dickson condominium complex on West Dickson Street, occupying approximately 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of studio space on the third floor of the building.[33] This enabled an expanded news presence on KFTA.[34] That year, KNWA joined the other Nexstar-owned NBC affiliates serving Arkansas (KARK,KTAL-TV, andKTVE) in airing a statewide midday newscast,Arkansas Today, which featured sports segments from Fayetteville.[35]
KNWA-TV's transmitter is southeast ofGarfield;[1] KFTA-TV's transmitter is located on Cartwright Mountain nearArtist Point.[36] KNWA-TV[37] and KFTA-TV[38] broadcast two shared channels (NBC on 51.1 and 24.2 and Fox on 51.2 and 24.1) and two uniquediginets 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 |
KNWA-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 51, on June 12, 2009, the officialdigital television transition date.[39] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 50, usingvirtual channel 51.[40] It remained on channel 50 until relocating to channel 33 on April 12, 2019, as a result of the2016 United States wireless spectrum auction.[41][42]
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** Owned by third parties but operated by Nexstar through various agreements. | ||
