KLRT-TV
Encyclopedia
KLRT-TV, virtual channel
16 (digital channel 30), branded as "FOX16", is the Fox-affiliated television station
for Central Arkansas that is licensed to Little Rock
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 30, which maps to its former UHF analog channel assignment of 16 via PSIP, from a transmitter on Shinall Mountain
near the Chenal Valley
section of Little Rock.
Owned by Newport Television
, the station is sister to CW affiliate KASN
(channel 38), and the two share studios on Colonel Glenn Road in the city near I-430
.
KLRT broadcasts TheCoolTV on its second digital subchannel, which is currently not offered to Comcast
digital cable subscribers in Central Arkansas.
KLRT-TV requested to transmit in digital only, effective February 17, 2009. After it shut down its analog signal on that date, the original scheduled completion date of the nationwide analog television shutdown
, which Congress had moved the previous month to June 12, 2009, KLRT-DT remained on its pre-transition digital channel number, 30, using PSIP to display its virtual channel as 16.
' first independent station
as well as the first new commercial station to sign-on in Little Rock in almost thirty years, it was originally locally owned by Little Rock Communications Associates and operated by Scollard Communications.
During KLRT's early independent years, it slogan was "Prime All The Time". The original offices and studios were on West Markham Street at the southeast corner of Bowman Road in Western Little Rock. It was the first of Little Rock's television stations to maintain a studio outside the downtown area and remains so today.
In 1988, then-Fox affiliate KASN negotiated a merger with eventual sister station KLRT that would have moved KASN's Fox network affiliation and syndicated programming to KLRT, with KASN becoming a Home Shopping Network
affiliate. KLRT then abruptly pulled out of the merger deal with KASN, notifying the station by fax of its nullification of the deal on its part. However in April 1990, Fox chose to have its affiliation moved to the higher-rated KLRT, despite the fact that the deal made it so that KASN would continue as a Fox station if the merger fell through. KASN owner MMC Television filed a lawsuit against KLRT owners LRCA/Scollard due to the failed merger, alleging civil conspiracy, misappropriation of trade secrets, interfering with business relationships, breach of contract
and fraud.
In 1996, KLRT was sold to Clear Channel Communications
through the company's acquisition of the station's then-owners US Radio. Over the years, KLRT and KASN became properties of Clear Channel Communications, along with various radio stations serving the market
. KLRT vacated its original studios and moved southeast into the Clear Channel Metroplex (a converted former Sam's Club
) on Colonel Glenn Road east of Interstate 430 in West Little Rock where all of Clear Channel's Central Arkansas properties were consolidated. The original KLRT building was razed shortly after KLRT's departure. Today a local branch of National Bank of Arkansas, an office of its mortgage division, and a San Francisco Bread Company restaurant now occupy the former studio site.
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners
. KLRT's broadcast tower remains atop Shinall Mountain in Western Little Rock. Following the sale of KLRT and KASN to Providence Equity Partners, both stations remain in the same complex with the radio stations still owned by Clear Channel. The special events portion of the site is now referred to as the Metroplex Events Center.
, First Business
, Extra
, Live with Regis and Kelly
, The Nate Berkus Show
, The Wendy Williams Show
, The Jeremy Kyle Show
, The Big Bang Theory
, Two and a Half Men
, How I Met Your Mother
, My Name Is Earl
, That '70s Show
, Seinfeld
, Cops
, and Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
KLRT broadcasts the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon every year, and has done so since the early 1990s, prior to the 2004 formation of the station's news department; since then, local segments of the telethon have been hosted by KLRT's 5 and 9 p.m. anchor team.
network affiliates in the area. This is because the station has yet to offer weekday morning and midday newscasts as Tulsa sister station KOKI, which offers newscasts in the same evening time-slots as KLRT, currently does. Prior to its full-scale broadcasts, this station provided some brief news updates and public affairs programming during its earliest years on the air.
Early weather information was once presented by former KKYK
-FM and KURB
-FM morning disc jockey and current KTHV
news anchor Craig O'Neill. He included a vocal rendition of his radio character "Sherman Bonner, the World's Only Human Themometer" to voiceover some of the weather introduction. News information was presented by Bill Powell (formerly of KTHV) and Linda Gilliam on an individual basis in the early years. Ron Breeding, who then primarily worked with radio station KARN-FM (currently working with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
via KUAR
-FM) provided news and later weather information for the station in the late-1980s.
On September 4, 2000, the station began airing "Fox First Weather", a five-minute weathercast that ran until shortly before KLRT's newscasts debuted. The station began airing a nightly hour-long prime time newscast at 9 p.m. on March 28, 2004. In 2007, it began airing two half-hour newscasts on weeknights at 5 and 5:30 p.m. On January 18, 2010, KLRT debuted a 10 p.m. newscast on weeknights airing immediately following the 9 p.m. newscast which competes head-to-head against the big three stations; this addition increased KLRT's weekdaily news output to 2½ hours. Fellow Fox affiliate and Tulsa sister station KOKI also launched a 10 p.m. newscast on that date. In the future, it is likely that the station will add weekday morning and midday newscasts.
On April 5, 2011, KLRT became the second television station in the Little Rock market to broadcast their local newscasts in high definition. It was the second news operation to do so preceded by KTHV. With the switch to HD, they introduced new graphics, music, and logos. The music and logo currently used is the typical style found on Fox owned-and-operated stations and some affiliates nationwide (although the Fox searchlights are noticeably absent from the station logo unlike other stations that use the Fox O&O graphics). The new FOX O&O graphics are the same as those used on KSWB
, KOKI
, WMPT and WAWS.
Fox 16 Pinpoint Weather
Sports team
Reporters
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
16 (digital channel 30), branded as "FOX16", is the Fox-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 Central Arkansas that is licensed to Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. 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 30, which maps to its former UHF analog channel assignment of 16 via PSIP, from a transmitter on Shinall Mountain
Shinall Mountain
Shinall Mountain, elevation , is located near the Chenal Valley neighborhood of Little Rock, Arkansas, in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains...
near the Chenal Valley
Chenal Valley, Little Rock, Arkansas
A sizable and more recently developed section of the city, Chenal Valley is in the west-central section of Little Rock, Arkansas, known as West Little Rock...
section of Little Rock.
Owned by Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
, the station is sister to CW affiliate KASN
KASN
KASN, virtual channel 38, branded as "The CW Arkansas", is an affiliate of The CW Television Network in Little Rock, Arkansas. The station is owned by Newport Television, in a duopoly with Fox affiliate KLRT . The station shares studios with KLRT that are located east of I-430 on Colonel Glenn Rd...
(channel 38), and the two share studios on Colonel Glenn Road in the city near I-430
Interstate 430
Interstate 430 is a long Interstate highway in Pulaski County, Arkansas that bypasses the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock. I-430 begins at an interchange southwest of Downtown Little Rock with I-30, U.S. Route 67 and U.S. 70 and travels north to cross the Arkansas River and...
.
Digital television
KLRT's digital channel is multiplexed.| Channel | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Video | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16.1 | 16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
Main KLRT programming / FOX |
| 16.2 | 4:3 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
TheCoolTV TheCoolTV THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the... |
KLRT broadcasts TheCoolTV on its second digital subchannel, which is currently not offered to Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
digital cable subscribers in Central Arkansas.
KLRT-TV requested to transmit in digital only, effective February 17, 2009. After it shut down its analog signal on that date, the original scheduled completion date of the nationwide analog television shutdown
Digital television transition
The digital television transition is the process in which analog television broadcasting is converted to and replaced by digital television. This primarily involves both TV stations and over-the-air viewers; however it also involves content providers like TV networks, and cable television...
, which Congress had moved the previous month to June 12, 2009, KLRT-DT remained on its pre-transition digital channel number, 30, using PSIP to display its virtual channel as 16.
History
KLRT signed on-the-air on June 26, 1983. It was ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
' first independent station
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
as well as the first new commercial station to sign-on in Little Rock in almost thirty years, it was originally locally owned by Little Rock Communications Associates and operated by Scollard Communications.
During KLRT's early independent years, it slogan was "Prime All The Time". The original offices and studios were on West Markham Street at the southeast corner of Bowman Road in Western Little Rock. It was the first of Little Rock's television stations to maintain a studio outside the downtown area and remains so today.
In 1988, then-Fox affiliate KASN negotiated a merger with eventual sister station KLRT that would have moved KASN's Fox network affiliation and syndicated programming to KLRT, with KASN becoming a Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
affiliate. KLRT then abruptly pulled out of the merger deal with KASN, notifying the station by fax of its nullification of the deal on its part. However in April 1990, Fox chose to have its affiliation moved to the higher-rated KLRT, despite the fact that the deal made it so that KASN would continue as a Fox station if the merger fell through. KASN owner MMC Television filed a lawsuit against KLRT owners LRCA/Scollard due to the failed merger, alleging civil conspiracy, misappropriation of trade secrets, interfering with business relationships, breach of contract
Breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance....
and fraud.
In 1996, KLRT was sold to Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
through the company's acquisition of the station's then-owners US Radio. Over the years, KLRT and KASN became properties of Clear Channel Communications, along with various radio stations serving the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
. KLRT vacated its original studios and moved southeast into the Clear Channel Metroplex (a converted former Sam's Club
Sam's Club
Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. , the Sam's Club chain serves more than 47 million U.S. members...
) on Colonel Glenn Road east of Interstate 430 in West Little Rock where all of Clear Channel's Central Arkansas properties were consolidated. The original KLRT building was razed shortly after KLRT's departure. Today a local branch of National Bank of Arkansas, an office of its mortgage division, and a San Francisco Bread Company restaurant now occupy the former studio site.
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
. KLRT's broadcast tower remains atop Shinall Mountain in Western Little Rock. Following the sale of KLRT and KASN to Providence Equity Partners, both stations remain in the same complex with the radio stations still owned by Clear Channel. The special events portion of the site is now referred to as the Metroplex Events Center.
Programming
Syndicated programming on KLRT includes but are not limited to: AgDayAgDay
AgDay is a syndicated daily half-hour television program presented in magazine format focusing on agriculture news, agribusiness, and country living. It generally airs in early morning timeslots on stations throughout the country and also airs weekday mornings on the digital cable and satellite...
, First Business
First Business
First Business is a nationally syndicated financial news and analysis television program, produced by First Business Network LLC, a subsidiary of Weigel Broadcasting, in Chicago...
, Extra
Extra
Extra, extras or xtra may refer to:* Extra , a performer who appears in a nonspeaking capacity* Extra , a term in the sport of cricket* Extra , a brand of chewing gum...
, Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
, The Nate Berkus Show
The Nate Berkus Show
The Nate Berkus Show, commonly referred to as The Nate Show, is a syndicated talk show hosted by interior designer Nate Berkus, which premiered on September 13, 2010....
, The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show is a syndicated talk show hosted by Wendy Williams that premiered on July 14, 2008, as six-week sneak peek, in Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. The test run was picked up for a full season that began its run on July 13, 2009 in over 70% of the country in...
, The Jeremy Kyle Show
The Jeremy Kyle Show
The Jeremy Kyle Show is an award-winning British daytime television tabloid talk show presented by Jeremy Kyle that has been broadcast on ITV since 4 July 2005. The show is recorded and produced by Granada Television at the Granada Studios on Quay Street in Manchester city centre and broadcast each...
, The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States...
, That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
, 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...
, Cops
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...
, and Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
KLRT broadcasts the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon every year, and has done so since the early 1990s, prior to the 2004 formation of the station's news department; since then, local segments of the telethon have been hosted by KLRT's 5 and 9 p.m. anchor team.
News operation
KLRT broadcasts a total of 14½ hours of local news per week (with 2½ hours on weekdays and one hour each on weekends) which is well behind the weekly output of the big threeBig Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
network affiliates in the area. This is because the station has yet to offer weekday morning and midday newscasts as Tulsa sister station KOKI, which offers newscasts in the same evening time-slots as KLRT, currently does. Prior to its full-scale broadcasts, this station provided some brief news updates and public affairs programming during its earliest years on the air.
Early weather information was once presented by former KKYK
KOLL
KOLL is a radio station licensed in Lonoke, Arkansas, broadcasting to the Little Rock, Arkansas, area. KOLL airs an Adult Contemporary music format.-External links:*...
-FM and KURB
KURB
KURB is an Adult Contemporary radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is owned by Cumulus Media. KURB is the area's continual top performer for women listenership...
-FM morning disc jockey and current KTHV
KTHV
KTHV , is the CBS network affiliate television station serving the Little Rock/Pine Bluff television market and central Arkansas. The station is owned by Gannett Company, which purchased the station in 1994...
news anchor Craig O'Neill. He included a vocal rendition of his radio character "Sherman Bonner, the World's Only Human Themometer" to voiceover some of the weather introduction. News information was presented by Bill Powell (formerly of KTHV) and Linda Gilliam on an individual basis in the early years. Ron Breeding, who then primarily worked with radio station KARN-FM (currently working with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....
via KUAR
KUAR
KUAR is a National Public Radio affiliate in Little Rock, Arkansas. It broadcasts at 89.1 FM and is licensed to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During the day, KUAR airs NPR news and information with a strong emphasis on Arkansas news and culture...
-FM) provided news and later weather information for the station in the late-1980s.
On September 4, 2000, the station began airing "Fox First Weather", a five-minute weathercast that ran until shortly before KLRT's newscasts debuted. The station began airing a nightly hour-long prime time newscast at 9 p.m. on March 28, 2004. In 2007, it began airing two half-hour newscasts on weeknights at 5 and 5:30 p.m. On January 18, 2010, KLRT debuted a 10 p.m. newscast on weeknights airing immediately following the 9 p.m. newscast which competes head-to-head against the big three stations; this addition increased KLRT's weekdaily news output to 2½ hours. Fellow Fox affiliate and Tulsa sister station KOKI also launched a 10 p.m. newscast on that date. In the future, it is likely that the station will add weekday morning and midday newscasts.
On April 5, 2011, KLRT became the second television station in the Little Rock market to broadcast their local newscasts in high definition. It was the second news operation to do so preceded by KTHV. With the switch to HD, they introduced new graphics, music, and logos. The music and logo currently used is the typical style found on Fox owned-and-operated stations and some affiliates nationwide (although the Fox searchlights are noticeably absent from the station logo unlike other stations that use the Fox O&O graphics). The new FOX O&O graphics are the same as those used on KSWB
KSWB-TV
KSWB-TV, virtual channel 69, is a Fox-affiliated television station in San Diego, California. It broadcasts a 720p high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter southeast of Spring Valley...
, KOKI
KOKI-TV
KOKI-TV, virtual channel 23 , is the Fox-affiliated television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is owned by Newport Television, a subsidiary of private equity firm Providence Equity Partners...
, WMPT and WAWS.
Newscast titles
- Newscap 16 (1983–mid 1980s)
- Fox First Weather (10 p.m. weather program; 2000–2004)
- Fox 16 News (2004–present)
Station slogans
- "Prime All The Time" (1983–late 1980s)
- "First. Complete. Local." (2004–2006; also used by sister station KOKI-TV in Tulsa)
- "Right Here. Right Now" (2006–2008)
- "Arkansas' New Choice for News" (2008–2011)
- "The Most Powerful Name in Arkansas Local News" (2011–present)
- "So Fox 16" (2011–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
News music packages
- Extreme by Stephen Arnold MusicStephen Arnold MusicFounded in 1993 by Stephen Arnold, Stephen Arnold Music is a Dallas-based music production company, specializing in Television news music. With additional offices in San Diego, California and a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the company services television networks, cable channels, TV stations,...
(2004–2009) - Fox Affiliate News Theme by OSI Music (2009–present)
Current on-air staff (as of July 20, 2011)
Anchors- Kelly Dudzik - weekends at 9 p.m.
- Kevin Kelly - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 9 and 10 p.m.; also "Neighborhood Crime Tracker" segment producer and Friday Night Tailgate "Big Hit" specialist
- Hubert Tate - weekends at 9 p.m.
- Donna Terrell - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 9 and 10 p.m.
Fox 16 Pinpoint Weather
- Jeff Baskin (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...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 5:30, 9 and 10 p.m. - Chad Garneau (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 9 p.m.
Sports team
- David Raath - sports director; weeknights at 5:30, 9 and 10 p.m.
- Tim Kelchner - sports anchor; weekends at 9 p.m.
Reporters
- Dustin Barnes - general assignment reporter
- Roby Brock - business and financial analyst; also Talk Business host
- David Goins - general assignment reporter
- Katherine Johnson - general assignment reporter
- Cheesa Parham - general assignments reporter
- Josh Rosenthal - general assignment reporter
- Kent Smith - chief photographer
- Karoline Wightman - general assignment reporter