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Chronology data should be put on the appropriate chronology page ("Chronology of call letters KARK") .
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Other material must be reorganized into appropriate categories of articles.
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KARK, virtual channel 4, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Arkansas that is licensed to Little Rock. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV (channel 42) and the two share studios on West Capitol Avenue in Downtown Little Rock one block east of the Arkansas State Capitol.
| [1] | |
| Little Rock, Arkansas | |
|---|---|
| Branding | KARK 4 HD (general)
KARK 4 News HD (news) |
| Slogan | Still the One (general)
Updated, Local, Relevant (news) Your Weather Authority (weather) |
| Channels | Digital: 32 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 4.1 NBC |
| Owner | Nexstar Broadcasting Group
(Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | April 15, 1954 |
| Call letters' meaning | ARKansas |
| Sister station(s) | KARZ-TV, KNWA-TV, |
| Former channel number(s) | 4 (VHF analog, 1954-2009) |
| Former affiliations | DuMont (secondary, 1954-1955) |
| Transmitter power | 989 kW |
| Height | 474 m |
| Facility ID | 33440 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 34°47′56.9″N 92°30′0″W / 34.799139°N 92.5°W / 34.799139; -92.5 |
| Website | arkansasmatters.com |
It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32, using its former analog channel assignment of 4 as its virtual channel via PSIP, from a transmitter on Shinall Mountain near the Chenal Valley section of the city. On cable, the station is available on Comcast channel 5 in standard definition and digital channel 232 in high definition.
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[edit] History[]
This station is Little Rock's second oldest having started on April 15, 1954. KATV was the first beating KARK to the airwaves by almost five months. In 1966, its original owners sold the station to Mullins Broadcasting, the owner of KBTV (now KUSA-TV) in Denver. When John C. Mullins (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) seven years later. In 1983, Gannett sold KARK to Southwest Media, a subsidiary of United Broadcasting, a one-time owner of WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire which also owned KDBC-TV in El Paso, Texas and WTOK-TV 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 in Dothan, Alabama to Nexstar who eventually consolidated most sports operations from KARK with those of its sister stations in Northwest Arkansas: NBC affiliate KNWA-TV and Fox affiliate KFTA-TV. The two NBC affiliates additionally share certain news resources with some reports filed by KNWA personnel 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 from Equity Media Holdings for $4 million. This purchase was granted Federal Communications Commission (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 KWBF through a time brokerage agreement.
As of February 1, KWBF changed its calls to KARZ-TV and began airing an hour-long prime time newscast at 7 p.m. that is produced by KARK. MyNetworkTV programming airs one hour later (from 8 to 10 p.m.) 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. Their broadcasts became digital-only as of February 17, 2009. [1] The station's current "4" logo is similar to that of fellow NBC affiliate WSMV in Nashville, Tennessee.
[edit] Programming[]
KARK broadcasts all of NBC's schedule except for 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. Syndicated programming on KARK includes: Entertainment Tonight, Judge Joe Brown, The Doctors, and Rachael Ray.
Outside of local newscasts, the station produces 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.
[edit] Programming controversies[]
KARK made national news in early 2006 by declining to air the NBC 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." [2]
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." In part because of KARK's pre-emption of the series, along with other affiliates, combined with low ratings in general for the series, the program was cancelled after three episodes and finished its run streaming on NBC.com. KWBF (the future KARZ) instead aired the series after The WB's Friday night schedule.
[edit] News operation[]
[2][3]Their weeknight 6 o'clock news open.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 known as KARK 4 News HD Today broadcasts from 5 until 7 a.m. The Midday show had originally aired at 11 a.m. but moved to Noon. It then became known as Arkansas at Noon and was co-produced with KNWA. Eventually, KARK began airing its own broadcast at that time. On Saturdays, the station airs newscasts at 6 and 10 P.M. in addition to weather updates during the Saturday edition of NBC's Today. Sunday programming includes newscasts at 5 and 10 p.m. along with the weekly sports program Razorback Nation Pig Trail (produced in conjunction with KNWA).
For many years, KARK was the top-rated station for news in Little Rock. However, its newscast ratings plummeted in the mid-1990s as 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. This station 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.
[edit] News/station presentation[]
[edit] 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)[3][4][5]
- News 4 (1993-2001)
- News 4 Arkansas (2001-2004)
- KARK 4 News (2004-2010)
- KARK 4 News HD (2010-present)
[edit] Station slogans[]
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[edit] News team[]
[edit] Current on-air staff[]
Anchors
- Bob Clausen - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Tracy Douglass - weekdays at noon and 7 p.m. (on KARZ); also Tracy & Company host
- Mallory Hardin - weekday mornings and noon
- Matt Mosler - weekday mornings
- Jancey Sheats - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
- Melissa Simas - weeknights at 10 p.m.; also 5 and 6 p.m. reporter
- Sonseeahray Tonsall - weeknights at 7 p.m. (on KARZ); also reporter
The weekend anchor position —Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10 p.m. — is vacant as of July 8, 2010.
4WARN Weather Team/Your Weather Authority KARK is one of the few television stations in the U.S. in which the chief meteorologist is not seen on the weeknight newscasts.
- Mike Francis (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weekday mornings, weekday mornings (on KARZ), and noon
- Brett Cummins (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, 7 (on KARZ) and 10 p.m.
- Greg Dee (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10 p.m.
Sports Team (based at KARK)
- Kerri O'Hara - Sports Director; weeknights at 6, 7 (on KARZ) and 10 p.m.
The weekend sports anchor position — Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5 and weekends at 10 p.m. — is vacant as of July 8, 2010.
Reporters
- Lauren Trager
Razorback Nation (based at KNWA/KFTA)
- Pat Doney - Razorback Nation co-host and KNWA/KFTA sports director
- Aaron Peters - Razorback Nation co-host and KNWA/KFTA weekend sports anchor
- Adam Alter - sports reporter
[edit] Former on-air staff[]
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[edit] References[]
- ^ http://arkansasmatters.com/content/news/fulltext/?cid=189861
- ^ http://www.wtwo.com/bookofdaniel.asp
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gnLu6tbAa8
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O851EsH5gQ
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWbfQrH29yY
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTzVfZZFmYo
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hRVDsQfsmA