KFSM-TV
Encyclopedia
KFSM-TV is the CBS
-affiliated television station
for the Arkansas River
Valley and Northwest Arkansas that is licensed to Fort Smith
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter northwest of Winslow
. Owned by Local TV
, the station has studios on North 13th Street in Downtown Fort Smith. It also operates facilities on North Shiloh Drive in Fayetteville
along U.S. 71 Bus
. Syndicated
programming on KFSM includes: Wheel Of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, Inside Edition
, and Dr. Phil
. KFSM operates a low-power analog translator, K62DQ channel 62, licensed to Fayetteville with a transmitter in Johnson
along I-540
/U.S. 62
/U.S. 71
. It has a construction permit to air on channel 44.
It operates the area's MyNetworkTV
affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as My 5.2, this can also be seen on Cox
digital channel 661. Syndicated programming on KFSM-DT2 includes: Family Guy
, King of the Hill
, Extra
, and Seinfeld
. Overnight, it re-airs the main channel's 10 p.m. broadcast in a repeating cycle.
who also owned Fort Smith's two major newspapers, the Southwest American and Times Record (later merged as the Southwest Times Record
) and KFSA
-AM 950. KFSA radio personality Pat Porta hosted the first broadcast. The station's studios and transmitter were located in the Times Record/Southwest American building at 920 Rogers Avenue in downtown Fort Smith. It carried programming from all four networks of the time--NBC
, CBS, ABC
and DuMont
--but was a primary NBC affiliate.
Intitally, KFSA-TV relied on kinescope
s of network programming and various live performers in the Fort Smith area. Local talent included Clint Fisher, Freddie Rose and programs from Camp Chaffee (later Fort Chaffee). Most commercials were live since video tape was not yet available.
At the time, the network live signal reached only as far as Memphis, Tennessee
. However in 1957, the networks extended the AT&T coaxial cable to Little Rock in order to provide live coverage of the Little Rock Crisis
. Reynolds then built a microwave transreceiver on Mount Magazine
to relay live programming from the Little Rock stations. Although the system was less than dependable, it was far better than kinescopes which aired as many as three weeks after the original air date. Many old timers remember the station's microwave problems which disrupted several games of the 1954 World Series.
In 1956 KNAC-TV signed on channel 5 and became a CBS affiliate, from studios in Van Buren
. CBS was the top network at the time with such hits as Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason and the Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" and later, "Your Show of Shows." The network was number one in viewers and KNAC-TV quickly became a favorite because of its VHF signal and CBS affiliation. Meanwhile, channel 22's UHF signal didn't reach much farther than 30 miles from downtown Fort Smith, leaving many homes without clear television reception. The Fort Smith market is a fairly large market geographically, spilling across a large swath of Arkansas and Oklahoma
. Much of this area is mountainous. UHF stations do not get good reception over large areas or in rugged terrain. It didn't help that viewers in Fort Smith could receive television stations from Tulsa and Little Rock by using large masts and rotary antennas.
During the late 50s, both KFSA-TV and KNAC struggled for advertising and viewers. By 1958 it became apparent the Fort Smith market (which soon merged with Fayetteville
) could not support two television stations. Talks between Reynolds and KNAC's owner, businessman Hiram Nakdeiman, resulted in an agreement to merge the two stations. The merged station would operate under the KFSA license, but use the stronger channel 5 facility. However, under the terms of an agreement with the FCC, it would operate under the KNAC-TV call letters until the sale formally closed.
KFSA-TV, Channel 22, signed off permanently on August 16, 1958. The two stations' operations were merged at a converted furniture warehouse in downtown Fort Smith at North 5th and B Streets that had originally been renovated for KNAC. After the license transfer was finalized in January of 1959, the KFSA-TV calls were assigned to channel 5.
Many of the personnel at channel 22 (Pat Porta, Harry Freeman, John Candler, wrestling promoter Jimmy Lott) made the transition to channel 5. KNAC's weathermen LeRoy Stollard and Cy Spicer were also staff members of the new operation. All became icons in Fort Smith broadcasting history. Many had started their broadcasting careers at KFSA radio just after the war.
Until 1964, the station operated without a news department, instead relying on reports from its sister newspapers. However, that would change with the addition of Cliff Walker who became the outlet's first news director. Walker had worked for KFSA radio and had earlier worked for Nakdieman at KWHN
.
In 1969, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) barred common ownership of newspapers and broadcasting outlets. Donrey owned one other newspaper/broadcasting cluster, the Las Vegas Review-Journal
and KORK-TV (now KSNV-DT). While Reynolds was able to get grandfathered protection for his Las Vegas cluster, he was unable to get it for his flagship cluster in Fort Smith. As a result, KFSA was sold to Buford Television in 1973 and renamed KFSM-TV (after the airport designation for Fort Smith Regional Airport
). The station was purchased by the New York Times Company in 1979.
Aside from KNAC's brief time on-the-air, KFSA/KFSM was the only station in Fort Smith for 18 years. However, the Fayetteville area was served by KGTO(TV)in the late-1960s and 1970s. The station lost its CBS affiliation when KFPW-TV (now KHBS
) signed on in 1971. It lost ABC in 1978 when KFPW-TV surrendered its CBS affiliation to new sign-on KLMN-TV (now KFTA-TV
). KFSM swapped affiliations with KLMN in 1980 and became a CBS affiliate, which it remains today. At some point in March/April 2010, KFSM added MyNetworkTV to its second digital subchannel. Previously, the subchannel had served as a local news repeat channel. Eventually, new newscasts and sports call-in shows will be added. The area's original affiliate, KPBI-CA
which was repeated on KPBI, went silent after its owner Equity Media Holdings went bankrupt. Full-power KPBI is currently a standalone RTV
affiliate; however, Local TV is in the process of purchasing that station via an FCC "failing station" waiver. It is possible that once Local TV closes on its purchase of KPBI, the MyNetworkTV and syndicated programming that's currently on KFSM-DT2 could move to KPBI (the future KXNW) to allow Antenna TV
to be launched on KFSM-DT2.
The New York Times Company sold its entire broadcasting division, including KFSM, to Local TV in 2007. During the analog television era, KFSM was the only big three
affiliate that did not need a second full-power station to reach the entire market.
On September 1, 2010, the FCC granted KFSM a construction permit for a fill-in translator in Van Buren on channel 24.
and Fort Smith. This has since moved to digital channel 661. The station launched a mobile application in 2005.
Over the years, KFSM has been the ratings leader in the area. It was the only full-powered commercial station on VHF in the market due to a quirk in the FCC's original television allocation plan. Most markets received two commercial VHF licenses plus a noncommercial VHF license. However, Fort Smith and Fayetteville are sandwiched between Little Rock to the east, Shreveport and Texarkana to the south, Springfield
and Pittsburg
/Joplin
to the north, and Tulsa to the west. This created a large "doughnut" in Northwestern Arkansas where there could be only one commercial VHF license plus a noncommercial license (eventually occupied by AETN
's KAFT).
KFSM-DT2 simulcasts the weekday morning show and then re-airs it in a rotating cycle. It also simulcasts the weekday noon and nightly broadcasts.
Max 5 Weather
Sports team
Reporters
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
Valley and Northwest Arkansas that is licensed to Fort Smith
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter northwest of Winslow
Winslow, Arkansas
Winslow is a city in Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 399 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Area.-History:...
. Owned by Local TV
Local TV
Local TV LLC is a limited liability corporation, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners , which operates 18 local network-affiliated television stations in the United States.-History:...
, the station has studios on North 13th Street in Downtown Fort Smith. It also operates facilities on North Shiloh Drive in Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
along U.S. 71 Bus
Bannered routes of U.S. Route 71
U.S. 71 Business runs approximately between Alma, Arkansas and Fort Smith, Arkansas Its northern terminus is at Interstate 40 and U.S. Highway 71 at Alma and its southern terminus is at Interstate 540 and U.S. 71 in south Fort Smith. Highway 71 Business passes through the towns of Alma, Van Buren...
. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on KFSM includes: Wheel Of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, and Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
. KFSM operates a low-power analog translator, K62DQ channel 62, licensed to Fayetteville with a transmitter in Johnson
Johnson, Arkansas
Johnson is a city in Washington County, Arkansas, United States. The city was incorporated in 1961. The population was 3,354 at the 2010 census...
along I-540
Interstate 540 (Arkansas)
Interstate 540 in Arkansas is a spur of Interstate 40 between Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas; the Northwest Arkansas segment is proposed to become part of an expanded Interstate 49. I-540 provides an Interstate Highway path between Fayetteville and Little Rock via Interstate 40. This links the...
/U.S. 62
U.S. Route 62
U.S. Route 62 runs from the US-Mexico border at El Paso, Texas to Niagara Falls, New York, near the United States-Canada border. It is the only east-west US Route that connects Mexico and Canada.Parts of U.S...
/U.S. 71
U.S. Route 71
U.S. Route 71 is a north–south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways. Currently, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of the Fort...
. It has a construction permit to air on channel 44.
It operates the area's MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as My 5.2, this can also be seen on Cox
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
digital channel 661. Syndicated programming on KFSM-DT2 includes: Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
, Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
, and Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. Overnight, it re-airs the main channel's 10 p.m. broadcast in a repeating cycle.
History
KFSM is one of the oldest television stations in Arkansas. It signed on for the first time on July 9, 1953 as KFSA-TV on channel 22. It was owned by Donald W. ReynoldsDonald W. Reynolds
Donald W. Reynolds was an American businessman and philanthropist. During his lifetime, he was best known for his involvement in the Donrey Media Group.-Biography:...
who also owned Fort Smith's two major newspapers, the Southwest American and Times Record (later merged as the Southwest Times Record
Southwest Times Record
The Southwest Times Record is a daily newspaper in Fort Smith, Arkansas and covers much of western Arkansas, southeastern Oklahoma, and a portion of northeastern Oklahoma...
) and KFSA
KFSA
KFSA is a radio station broadcasting a Religious radio format. Licensed to Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA, it serves the Fort Smith area. The station is currently owned by Fred H. Baker, Sr....
-AM 950. KFSA radio personality Pat Porta hosted the first broadcast. The station's studios and transmitter were located in the Times Record/Southwest American building at 920 Rogers Avenue in downtown Fort Smith. It carried programming from all four networks of the time--NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, CBS, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
--but was a primary NBC affiliate.
Intitally, KFSA-TV relied on kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
s of network programming and various live performers in the Fort Smith area. Local talent included Clint Fisher, Freddie Rose and programs from Camp Chaffee (later Fort Chaffee). Most commercials were live since video tape was not yet available.
At the time, the network live signal reached only as far as Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. However in 1957, the networks extended the AT&T coaxial cable to Little Rock in order to provide live coverage of the Little Rock Crisis
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then...
. Reynolds then built a microwave transreceiver on Mount Magazine
Mount Magazine
Mount Magazine is the name commonly used for the tallest mountain in the state of Arkansas and is the site of Arkansas's newest state park. The mountain is a flat-topped plateau with a sandstone cap rimmed by precipitous rock cliffs...
to relay live programming from the Little Rock stations. Although the system was less than dependable, it was far better than kinescopes which aired as many as three weeks after the original air date. Many old timers remember the station's microwave problems which disrupted several games of the 1954 World Series.
In 1956 KNAC-TV signed on channel 5 and became a CBS affiliate, from studios in Van Buren
Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren is the second largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interstate 40 - Interstate 540 junction...
. CBS was the top network at the time with such hits as Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason and the Ed Sullivan's "Toast of the Town" and later, "Your Show of Shows." The network was number one in viewers and KNAC-TV quickly became a favorite because of its VHF signal and CBS affiliation. Meanwhile, channel 22's UHF signal didn't reach much farther than 30 miles from downtown Fort Smith, leaving many homes without clear television reception. The Fort Smith market is a fairly large market geographically, spilling across a large swath of Arkansas and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. Much of this area is mountainous. UHF stations do not get good reception over large areas or in rugged terrain. It didn't help that viewers in Fort Smith could receive television stations from Tulsa and Little Rock by using large masts and rotary antennas.
During the late 50s, both KFSA-TV and KNAC struggled for advertising and viewers. By 1958 it became apparent the Fort Smith market (which soon merged with Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
) could not support two television stations. Talks between Reynolds and KNAC's owner, businessman Hiram Nakdeiman, resulted in an agreement to merge the two stations. The merged station would operate under the KFSA license, but use the stronger channel 5 facility. However, under the terms of an agreement with the FCC, it would operate under the KNAC-TV call letters until the sale formally closed.
KFSA-TV, Channel 22, signed off permanently on August 16, 1958. The two stations' operations were merged at a converted furniture warehouse in downtown Fort Smith at North 5th and B Streets that had originally been renovated for KNAC. After the license transfer was finalized in January of 1959, the KFSA-TV calls were assigned to channel 5.
Many of the personnel at channel 22 (Pat Porta, Harry Freeman, John Candler, wrestling promoter Jimmy Lott) made the transition to channel 5. KNAC's weathermen LeRoy Stollard and Cy Spicer were also staff members of the new operation. All became icons in Fort Smith broadcasting history. Many had started their broadcasting careers at KFSA radio just after the war.
Until 1964, the station operated without a news department, instead relying on reports from its sister newspapers. However, that would change with the addition of Cliff Walker who became the outlet's first news director. Walker had worked for KFSA radio and had earlier worked for Nakdieman at KWHN
KWHN
KWHN and KYHN are a pair of radio stations broadcasting a News Talk Information format to the Ft. Smith, Arkansas, USA area. The stations are licensed to Capstar TX Limited Partnership and owned by Clear Channel Communications....
.
In 1969, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) barred common ownership of newspapers and broadcasting outlets. Donrey owned one other newspaper/broadcasting cluster, the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in Las Vegas . It is the flagship publication of Stephens Media LLC...
and KORK-TV (now KSNV-DT). While Reynolds was able to get grandfathered protection for his Las Vegas cluster, he was unable to get it for his flagship cluster in Fort Smith. As a result, KFSA was sold to Buford Television in 1973 and renamed KFSM-TV (after the airport designation for Fort Smith Regional Airport
Fort Smith Regional Airport
Fort Smith Regional Airport is a joint civil-military public commercial service airport located three miles southeast of the central business district of Fort Smith, a city in Sebastian County, Arkansas, USA. FSM is governed by the Fort Smith Airport Commission as established by the City of...
). The station was purchased by the New York Times Company in 1979.
Aside from KNAC's brief time on-the-air, KFSA/KFSM was the only station in Fort Smith for 18 years. However, the Fayetteville area was served by KGTO(TV)in the late-1960s and 1970s. The station lost its CBS affiliation when KFPW-TV (now KHBS
KHBS
KHBS, virtual channel 40 in Fort Smith and KHOG, virtual channel 29 in Fayetteville are the ABC-affiliated television stations for the Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Arkansas television market. The KHBS transmitter is located northwest of Poteau, Oklahoma. The KHOG transmitter is located southeast of...
) signed on in 1971. It lost ABC in 1978 when KFPW-TV surrendered its CBS affiliation to new sign-on KLMN-TV (now KFTA-TV
KFTA-TV
KFTA-TV, virtual channel 24, is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Arkansas River Valley and Northwest Arkansas that is licensed to Fort Smith. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter south of Artist Point...
). KFSM swapped affiliations with KLMN in 1980 and became a CBS affiliate, which it remains today. At some point in March/April 2010, KFSM added MyNetworkTV to its second digital subchannel. Previously, the subchannel had served as a local news repeat channel. Eventually, new newscasts and sports call-in shows will be added. The area's original affiliate, KPBI-CA
KPBI-CA
KPBI-CA was a Class A low-power television station Fort Smith, Arkansas, broadcasting on channel 46. It is presently silent. The station is owned by Equity Media Holdings and, like many of Equity's stations, KPBI-CA was controlled remotely via satellite from Equity's headquarters in Little Rock,...
which was repeated on KPBI, went silent after its owner Equity Media Holdings went bankrupt. Full-power KPBI is currently a standalone RTV
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
affiliate; however, Local TV is in the process of purchasing that station via an FCC "failing station" waiver. It is possible that once Local TV closes on its purchase of KPBI, the MyNetworkTV and syndicated programming that's currently on KFSM-DT2 could move to KPBI (the future KXNW) to allow Antenna TV
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
to be launched on KFSM-DT2.
The New York Times Company sold its entire broadcasting division, including KFSM, to Local TV in 2007. During the analog television era, KFSM was the only big three
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
affiliate that did not need a second full-power station to reach the entire market.
On September 1, 2010, the FCC granted KFSM a construction permit for a fill-in translator in Van Buren on channel 24.
News operation
KFSM currently provides five newscasts dureach weekday, and three broadcasts on Saturdays and Sundays, a considerable amount for a station in the 100th market. It also provides a 24-hour local newscast seven days a week on Cox channel 55 in SpringdaleSpringdale, Arkansas
As of the census of 2010, there were 69,797 people, 22,805 households, and 16,640 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.7% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 1.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 22% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more...
and Fort Smith. This has since moved to digital channel 661. The station launched a mobile application in 2005.
Over the years, KFSM has been the ratings leader in the area. It was the only full-powered commercial station on VHF in the market due to a quirk in the FCC's original television allocation plan. Most markets received two commercial VHF licenses plus a noncommercial VHF license. However, Fort Smith and Fayetteville are sandwiched between Little Rock to the east, Shreveport and Texarkana to the south, Springfield
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
and Pittsburg
Pittsburg, Kansas
Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, in southeastern Kansas, United States. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and in southeastern Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,233.-History:...
/Joplin
Joplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...
to the north, and Tulsa to the west. This created a large "doughnut" in Northwestern Arkansas where there could be only one commercial VHF license plus a noncommercial license (eventually occupied by AETN
Arkansas Educational Television Network
Arkansas Educational Television Network is a state network of simulcast non-commercial educational public television station covering the state of Arkansas...
's KAFT).
KFSM-DT2 simulcasts the weekday morning show and then re-airs it in a rotating cycle. It also simulcasts the weekday noon and nightly broadcasts.
Current on-air staff
Anchors- Ashley Beck – weekday mornings and noon
- Daren Bobb – weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Ashley Ketz – weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Mitch Roberts – weekday mornings
- Allison Woods – Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
Max 5 Weather
- Garrett Lewis (NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
and AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seals of Approval) – chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. - Jason Adams – meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon
- Joe Pennington – meteorologist; weekend mornings, Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m.
Sports team
- John Engleman – sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Jonathan Huskey – sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10 p.m., also sports reporter
- Mike Irwin – Arkansas RazorbacksArkansas RazorbacksThe Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the names of college sports teams at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The term Arkansas Razorbacks properly applies to any of the sports teams at the university. The Razorbacks take their name from the feral pig of the same name...
reporter
Reporters
- Kumasi Aaron – general assignment reporter
- Robert Boyd – general assignment reporter
- Jared Broyles – weekday reporter
- Mallory Cooke – general assignment reporter