KLRT-TV (channel 16) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
in
Little Rock, Arkansas
(The Little Rock, The "Little Rock")
, government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager
, leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_ ...
, United States, affiliated with the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
network. It is owned by
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 20 television stations in 17 markets in the United States. The group's Chair is Nancie Smith, the widow of David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1996 and died in 2011. All but ...
alongside
Pine Bluff–licensed ''de facto''
CW owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
KASN
KASN (channel 38) is a television station licensed to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States, serving the Little Rock area as a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station of The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting alongside Fox affiliate KLRT-T ...
(channel 38); Mission maintains a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA) with
Nexstar Media Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
, owner of
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliate
KARK-TV
KARK-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV (channel 42); Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox aff ...
(channel 4) and
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliate
KARZ-TV (channel 42), for the provision of certain services. The stations share studios at the Victory Building on West Capitol Avenue and South Victory Street (near the
Arkansas State Capitol
The Arkansas State Capitol, often called the Capitol Building, is the home of the Arkansas General Assembly, and the seat of the Arkansas state government that sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the Capitol Mall in Little Rock, Arkan ...
) in downtown Little Rock, while KLRT-TV's transmitter is located at the
Shinall Mountain
Shinall Mountain is a peak in Pulaski County, Arkansas, located in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains on the western edge of Little Rock, the capital and most populous city of Arkansas. At an elevation of above mean sea level, it is the hig ...
antenna farm, near the city's
Chenal Valley
Chenal Valley () is a sizable and more recently developed section of Little Rock, Arkansas, located in the west-central part of the city and serves as a major economic and residential hub in west Little Rock. Its name is derived from the area's Sh ...
neighborhood.
History
As an independent station
KLRT-TV (standing for "Little Rock Television") first signed on the air on June 26, 1983; it was the first
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
in Arkansas, and the first commercial television station to sign on in the Little Rock–Pine Bluff market since
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliate
KTHV
KTHV (channel 11) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with CBS. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on South Izard Street in downtown Little Rock and a transmitter atop Shinall Moun ...
(channel 11) debuted 28 years earlier on November 27, 1955. (On paper, the Little Rock–Pine Bluff market had a large enough population to support an independent station since the mid-1970s.) The station was originally owned by Little Rock Communications Associates (LRCA) and operated by Scollard Communications; both companies were majority owned by
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
-based media executive Garrett Scollard (who also served as the station's vice president and general manager from 1990 to 1991), who—through his advertising firm, MMT Sales Inc.—filed a
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
application with the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) to operate
UHF channel 16 on July 2, 1980, which was later consolidated with those from five of the seven competing applicants—
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
-based
Grant Broadcasting
Grant Broadcasting System II (also referred to as Grant Communications and Grant Company) was an owner of various television stations in the United States, Based in Roanoke, Virginia.
Grant Broadcasting was founded in 1990 by Milton Grant (May 1 ...
,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
-based Teleco Inc.,
Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah is a city in Page and Fremont counties in Iowa, United States. The population was 4,925 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Once referred to as the "seed and nursery center of the world," Shenandoah is the home to Earl May Seed Compa ...
-based May Broadcasting, and locally based firms Little Rock TV 16 Inc. (principally owned by journalist
Deborah Mathis, then an
assistant news director at
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliate
KARK-TV
KARK-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV (channel 42); Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox aff ...
hannel 4 and Central Arkansas Television Inc. (principally owned by former
U.S. House Representative and eventual
Arkansas Governor
The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arkansas government and is charged with enforcing state laws. They have the power to either approve or v ...
Jim Guy Tucker
James Guy Tucker Jr. (born June 13, 1943) is an American politician and attorney from Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 43rd governor of Arkansas, the 15th lieutenant governor, state attorney general, and U.S. repres ...
)—to be granted to the partnership on July 28, 1982. (Two other applicants—Christian Center Inc., owned by
North Little Rock
North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...
First Assembly of God pastor Gene Mullenax, and Gemini Broadcasting, owned by Atlanta media executive Anthony Kupris—earlier had their applications dismissed.) The station's original office and studio facilities were located on Markham Street and Bowman Road in southwestern Little Rock; it was the market's first television station not to be based out of downtown Little Rock; since sign-on, its transmitter has been located on a tower located at
Shinall Mountain
Shinall Mountain is a peak in Pulaski County, Arkansas, located in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains on the western edge of Little Rock, the capital and most populous city of Arkansas. At an elevation of above mean sea level, it is the hig ...
.
Channel 16 offered a general entertainment programming format that featured a mix of classic
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
s,
drama series
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-ge ...
and
westerns
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
,
cartoons
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
and live-action children's programs, selected collegiate and major league sporting events, and
religious programs, along with an emphasis on
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s (usually showcasing one to two movie presentations each weeknight, and three or four films per day on Saturdays and Sundays). In its early years as an independent, the station marketed itself as "Prime All The Time" to emphasize its schedule of movies and popular syndicated programs, and regularly featured a mascot named Primetime, an
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
TV set (prominently displaying the station's original logo on its screen) who spoke in a robotic voice.
Two more independents would launch in
Central Arkansas
Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state of ...
to compete with KLRT during 1986: Bell Equities, Inc. signed on
KRZB-TV (channel 26, allocation now occupied by
Victory Television Network satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
KVTH-DT) in
Hot Springs
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
on February 7,
and
TVX Broadcast Group
The TVX Broadcast Group was an Television in the United States, American media company that owned a group of ultra high frequency, UHF television stations during the 1980s. Originally known as the Television Corp. of Virginia, the company was hea ...
signed on
Pine Bluff-licensed KJTM-TV (channel 38, now
CW affiliate
KASN
KASN (channel 38) is a television station licensed to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States, serving the Little Rock area as a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station of The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting alongside Fox affiliate KLRT-T ...
) on June 17, subsequently becoming the market's original
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
affiliate on October 6 of that year. (While licensed to the market, KZRB was hampered in its ability to directly compete with KLRT and KJTM by its low-power signal, which reached as close to Little Rock proper as suburban areas of
Saline and
Grant
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
counties.) During the late 1980s, KLRT also maintained an innovative partnership with
Storer Cable's Little Rock system (later integrated into Storer part-owner
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
in 1994), in which the station occasionally leased airtime to Storer to offer
free preview
A free preview (also called a free preview weekend and sometimes referred to under the portmanteau "freeview") is a Stunting (broadcasting), stunt programming concept in which a pay television service or channel tier is exhibited without Broadcast ...
s of programming from basic and premium cable networks carried by the system, in addition to co-sponsoring various community service projects.
As a Fox affiliate
In July 1988, LRCA negotiated a deal with MMC Television, which acquired channel 38 months prior, to acquire the non-license assets of KJTM. Under the deal, KLRT would acquire KJTM's rights to the Fox affiliation and selected syndicated programs, while KJTM would become a full-time
Home Shopping Network affiliate; Scollard Communications (through its creditors) would have also allegedly handled KJTM's financial liabilities with programming distributors. Fox's programming first changed hands between the two stations on September 9, 1988, when the network shifted to the higher-rated KLRT. By October, however, KLRT management decided to pull out of the deal; Scollard reportedly notified KJTM/MMC that the asset sale would not be moving forward in a letter faxed to station management.
Fox shifted back to the re-called KASN after 42 days under a separate contract that MMC and Fox struck during the asset negotiations, which reverted the affiliation rights to KASN if the proposed asset merger was not completed by October 21, 1988. Fox changed hands again on April 1, 1990, when the network moved its programming to KLRT full-time. After learning that KASN would end its Fox affiliation for good, MMC Television filed a lawsuit against LRCA/Scollard with the
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois over the failed merger, alleging civil conspiracy, misappropriation of trade secrets, interfering with business relationships,
breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, 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 ...
and fraud. MMC Television claimed the asset merger was a deliberate effort by KLRT management to "dismantle" KASN, while LRCA/Scollard asserted that MMC misrepresented its actions and concealed KASN's financial difficulties in the suit.
After rejoining Fox, KLRT continued to be programmed as a ''de facto'' independent station, with its programming remaining relatively unchanged; as the network began expanding beyond its initial weekend-only prime time lineup (starting with the addition of programs on Thursdays and Fridays in September 1990), KLRT continued to air a movie at 7:00 p.m. on nights without Fox prime time programs until the network implemented a seven-night-per-week schedule in January 1993. Channel 16's syndicated children's programming would also be supplemented by the
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
block.
On March 6, 1991,
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
–based Clear Channel Communications (now
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
) purchased KLRT from the LRCA/Scollard partnership for $6.6 million. The sale received FCC approval on June 19, and was finalized on August 16. Under Clear Channel, KLRT—which rebranded as "Fox 16"—significantly upgraded its programming, acquiring the rights to more recent sitcoms, higher-quality movies and some first-run
talk show
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
s for its schedule. After Fox launched the block in September 1990,
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
began accounting for most of the station's children's program offerings; although, some syndicated children's shows continued to air on weekday and Sunday mornings. Movie presentations were also relegated to weekend afternoons (except at times when Fox offered
sports programming starting in August 1994) and late nights following Fox's permanent adoption of a nightly prime time lineup (with the network's expansion to Tuesday and Wednesday evenings) in January 1993. KLRT—as one of the relatively few Fox stations to carry the syndication service—became a charter affiliate of the
Prime Time Entertainment Network
The Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN) was an American television network that was operated by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between the Warner Bros. Domestic Television subsidiary of Time Warner and Chris-Craft Industries. Fi ...
(PTEN) on January 24, 1993; due to its Fox commitments, PTEN's Wednesday night lineup was relegated to Sunday late nights until the service shut down in September 1997.
Following the settlement of their lawsuit, in September 1992, Clear Channel entered into a
joint sales agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or time ...
with Mercury Broadcasting to handle advertising and promotional services for KASN. KLRT began providing programming and other administrative services for KASN under an amended local marketing agreement on January 1, 1995, with channel 38's operations moving from its prior facility along
I-30 i30, I30, i-30 or I-30 may refer to:
*Interstate 30, an Interstate Highway in the southern United States
*, an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine during World War II
* (1940-1968), a Royal Australian Navy ''Tribal''-class destroyer
*I30, a 9000 serv ...
(between West 65th Street and South Baseline Road) into KLRT's Markham Street offices. (Following the elimination of radio-television cross-ownership restrictions under the
1996 Telecommunications Act, KLRT would gain additional sister stations on radio through Clear Channel's purchases of KDDK (100.3 FM, now
KDJE
KDJE (100.3 FM, "100.3 The Edge") is an active rock radio station located in Little Rock, Arkansas (licensed to suburban Jacksonville). The station's studios are located in West Little Rock, and the transmitter tower is located on Shinall Mo ...
) and
KMJX
KMJX (105.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas. It has been on the air since 1967, making it one of the oldest stations to broadcast in Little Rock. The station's studios are located in West Little Rock, and the tr ...
(105.1 FM) via its March 1996 acquisition of US Radio, and of KOLL (94.9 FM, now
KHKN
KHKN (94.9 FM) is a radio station in the Little Rock, Arkansas area. The station's studios are located in West Little Rock, and the transmitter tower is located in Redfield, Arkansas.
KHKN broadcasts in HD. KHKN is licensed by the FCC to bro ...
),
KSSN
:''This is an article about a radio station. For a pre-WWI Polish political organization, see Komisja Tymczasowa Skonfederowanych Stronnictw Niepodległościowych. For the airport in Romulus, New York assigned the ICAO code KSSN, see Seneca Army ...
(95.7 FM) and KMVK (106.7 FM, now
KBZU
KBZU (106.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas (licensed to suburban Benton, Arkansas in the Little Rock radio market). The station airs a sports radio format and calls itself "106.7 The Buz2" KBZU is owned by Signa ...
) from Triathlon Broadcasting in April 1997.) During the latter half of the 1990s, KLRT's syndication inventory gradually shifted from classic sitcoms and syndicated children's programs towards talk,
reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
and
court show
A court show (also known as a judge show, legal/courtroom program, courtroom series, or judicial show) is a broadcast programming subgenre of either legal dramas or reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of lega ...
s in daytime and more recent sitcoms in early evening and late night slots. After the Fox Kids afternoon block was discontinued in December 2001 (relegating Fox's children's programming to Saturday mornings until the network's later time-lease agreement with
4Kids Entertainment
4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...
ended in December 2008), additional talk shows and
game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
s were added in the block's former weekday mid-afternoon slots.
On December 15, 1999, four months after the FCC began permitting
ownership of two television stations in markets with at least eight full-power commercial stations, Clear Channel purchased KASN outright from Mercury Broadcasting in a four-station deal worth $11.663 million. The sale was approved by the FCC on March 9, 2000, and was finalized on May 2; as a result, KLRT and KASN became the first legal television duopoly in the Little Rock market. In March 2001, Clear Channel consolidated the operations of its Central Arkansas television and radio properties, including KLRT and KASN, into the new Clear Channel Metroplex studio complex—a converted former retail development and
Sam's Club
Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...
store—on Colonel Glenn Road (east of
I-430) in West Little Rock. (The National Bank of Arkansas purchased the former Markham Street facility in 2003, and demolished it to build a new commercial and retail complex; the former studio site is now occupied by an NBA branch and mortgage division office, and a David's Burgers restaurant.)
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its 35 television stations (including KLRT and KASN) to
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC was 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.
History
In September 2007, Newport ag ...
, a
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
owned by
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a specialist private equity firm, private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education, technology investments across North America and Europe. The firm specializes in growth-oriented pri ...
, for $1.2 billion, in order to refocus the company around its radio, outdoor advertising and live event units.
The sale received FCC approval on December 1, 2007; following the settlement of a lawsuit filed against Providence by new Clear Channel owners Thomas H. Lee Partners and
Bain Capital
Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...
to force its completion, the sale was finalized on March 14, 2008. Although the Providence/Newport purchase separated the duopoly from Clear Channel (since renamed iHeartMedia)'s Little Rock radio cluster, KLRT/KASN continued to operate from the Colonel Glenn Road complex alongside its former sister radio stations. (The special events portion of the site has since been renamed the Metroplex Events Center.)
On July 19, 2012,
Irving, Texas
Irving is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Dallas County, it is also an inner ring suburb of Dallas. The city of Irving is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to a 2019 estimate from the United States Census Bureau, ...
-based
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
—owner of KARK-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate
KARZ-TV (channel 42)—purchased 12 of Newport's stations, including KLRT and KASN, for $285.5 million. Because of FCC regulations prohibiting companies from owning two of the four highest-rated stations and more than two stations overall in the same market, the licenses of KLRT and KASN were transferred to
Westlake, Ohio
Westlake is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Cleveland located 12 miles west of downtown Cleveland. The population was 34,228 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Westlake is located at (41.454439, −81.928657).
Acco ...
–based
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 20 television stations in 17 markets in the United States. The group's Chair is Nancie Smith, the widow of David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1996 and died in 2011. All but ...
(which owns stations managed by Nexstar in markets where the latter cannot legally own multiple television properties) for $59.7 million. (Nexstar/Mission's acquisition of Fox-affiliated KLRT and
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...
sister station
WJKT
WJKT (channel 16) is a television station in Jackson, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Nexstar Media Group. Its advertising sales office is located on Oil Well Road in Jackson, and its transmitter is locate ...
was ironic, given that Nexstar terminated the affiliations of several of its small-market Fox stations during 2011 and 2012 amid a
reverse compensation
Reverse compensation, in United States broadcasting, is the practice of a commercial television station paying a television network in exchange for being permitted to affiliate with that network. The word "reverse" refers to the historical practice ...
dispute.) The sale of KLRT/KASN to Mission received FCC approval on December 10, 2012, and was completed on January 3, 2013;
Nexstar took over the operations of KLRT and KASN, which were relocated to KARK/KARZ's Victory Building studios on West Capitol Avenue, under a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
on
February 2
Events Pre-1600
* 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law".
* 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
, 2013. As a result, Nexstar/Mission's Little Rock cluster became one of only two "virtual quadropolies"—four local full-power stations managed by one company—in existence in American television. (
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
, owner of
WEAR-TV
WEAR-TV (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Pensacola, Florida, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for northwest Florida and southwest Alabama. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fort Walton Beach–licensed ...
and
WFGX
WFGX (channel 35) is a television station licensed to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, United States, serving northwest Florida and southwest Alabama as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Pensacola-licensed ...
in that market, concurrently acquired Newport's
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ( ...
–
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
duopoly of
WPMI
WPMI-TV (channel 15) is a television station licensed to Mobile, Alabama, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for southwest Alabama and northwest Florida. It is owned by Deerfield Media alongside Pensacola, Florida–licensed independent ...
and
WJTC
WJTC (channel 44) is an independent television station licensed to Pensacola, Florida, United States, serving northwest Florida and southwest Alabama. It is owned by Deerfield Media alongside Mobile, Alabama–licensed NBC affiliate WPMI-TV (ch ...
in a similar arrangement through
Deerfield Media
Deerfield Media, Inc. is a broadcasting company and a shell corporation owned and operated by Stephen P. Mumblow. It was established on December 1, 2012 by the acquisition of several television stations connected to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. ...
.)
The consolidation resulted in the layoffs of around 20 KLRT/KASN employees, including longtime KLRT/KASN
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
Chuck Spohn (who was replaced by KARK/KARZ general manager Mike Vaughn), in addition to eight others from KARK/KARZ.
[
]
Subchannel history
KLRT-DT2
KLRT-DT2, which broadcasts in widescreen
Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
standard definition on channel 16.2, was launched on May 6, 2002 as a standard definition
Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
simulcast of sister station KASN. (A temporary DT3 subchannel was later utilized as a KASN simulcast from December 8, 2018 to October 14, 2019.) On January 5, 2009, it became an affiliate of outdoor sports network Untamed Sports TV. It was replaced by music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
network TheCoolTV
TheCoolTV was a digital broadcast television network and online music video " jukebox" streaming service owned by Cool Music Network, LLC of Lawrence, Kansas.
History
As a digital broadcast television network
Launched in March 2009, the netw ...
on April 15, 2011, through the network's groupwide agreement with then-owner Newport Television. KLRT-DT2 affiliated with This TV
This TV (also known as This TV Network and alternately stylized as thisTV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by Allen Media
Broadcast Networks, LLC, part of the Allen Media Group division of Entertainment Studios. Originally fo ...
on July 30, 2012, only for the subchannel to be discontinued after the Nexstar JSA/SSA took effect on February 2, 2013. KLRT-DT2 was relaunched as an affiliate of mystery/true crime network Escape (renamed Ion Mystery
Ion Mystery (formerly Escape and Court TV Mystery, stylized as ESCAPE and MYSTERY; formerly branded on-air as Mystery) is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. It focus ...
in September 2019), through an agreement between Katz Broadcasting
Katz Broadcasting, LLC, doing business as Scripps Networks, is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. The company owns (as of 2022) nine television networks that each carry ...
and Nexstar/Mission, on September 1, 2016.
Programming
KLRT-TV currently broadcasts the entire Fox network schedule, including the Steve Rotfeld
Steve Rotfeld is an American television producer and writer. He is the principal founder of two independent broadcast and syndication production companies: Steve Rotfeld Productions (SRP) and The Workshop, which he co-founded with Tom Farrell. Thr ...
-produced educational program An educational program is a program written by the institution or ministry of education which determines the learning progress of each subject in all the stages of formal education.
See also
*Philosophy of education
*Curriculum
In education, ...
block Xploration Station
Xploration Station is an American syndicated programming block that is programmed by Steve Rotfeld Productions, distributed by Fox, and debuted on September 13, 2014. It airs weekends (typically on Saturday mornings), primarily on Fox-affiliat ...
(which is distributed on a syndicated basis primarily to Fox stations). Channel 16 may occasionally preempt Fox programs to provide long-form breaking news
Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...
or severe weather
Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atm ...
coverage (the latter in simulcast with sister station KARK-TV) when necessary, with the preempted programs usually being rebroadcast in place of scheduled late-night programs. Syndicated programs broadcast by KLRT-TV include ''The Kelly Clarkson Show
''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and seg ...
'', '' Karamo'', ''The Steve Wilkos Show
For the talk show hosted by Steve Harvey, see Steve (talk show)
''The Steve Wilkos Show'' is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Steve Wilkos. The series is a spin-off of the long-running ''Jerry Springer'' show. ''The Steve Wilko ...
'', ''Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program '' Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series ''30 Minute Meals'' ...
'', ''Tamron Hall
Tamron Hall (born September 16, 1970) is an American broadcast journalist and television talk show host. In September 2019, Hall debuted her self-titled syndicated daytime talk show, which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award. Hall was formerly a ...
'', ''Family Feud
''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The show has had three separate runs, the ...
'', ''TMZ
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
'', ''Two and a Half Men
''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...
'', ''Young Sheldon
''Young Sheldon'' is an American List of coming-of-age stories, coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS. The series, set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a Spin-off (media), spin-off prequel ...
'' and ''The Big Bang Theory
''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...
''.
News operation
, KLRT-TV broadcasts 17 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with three hours on weekdays and one hour each on weekends), which is well behind the local news programming output offered on a weekly basis by either of the Little Rock market's Big Three network affiliates. In addition, it produces the half-hour sports highlight program ''Final Score'', which is hosted by weekend sports anchor Wess Moore and airs Sundays at 10:00 p.m.
Newscast history
Starting from its October 1983 sign-on, news programming on Channel 16 initially consisted mainly of one-minute hourly newsbriefs that aired within select commercial breaks during daytime and evening programs (usually from 9:00 a.m. until sign-off). Branded as ''Newscap 16'' (later retitled ''Prime News Time''), the newsbriefs consisted of local, national and international Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
wire reports and a brief weather forecast read by the assigned anchor. Initially anchored by Bill Powell (formerly an anchor at KTHV) and Linda Gilliam, both of whom alternated solo anchoring duties, the newsbriefs were presented by Ron Breeding (now at NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
member station KUAR
KUAR (89.1 MHz "FM 89") is a public radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a network affiliate of National Public Radio (NPR) and is licensed to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. During the day, KUAR airs NPR news, talk and inf ...
, 89.1 FM), then working primarily with KQLV (102.9, now KARN-FM
KARN-FM (102.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station, licensed to Sheridan, Arkansas, and serving the Little Rock metropolitan area. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a talk radio format. It has long been the flagship station of the ...
) towards the late 1980s. By the latter part of the decade, news updates were presented by staff from Arkansas Radio Network
Arkansas Radio Network (ARN) was a statewide radio network serving radio stations in the state of Arkansas. ARN was headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas operating from its flagship station KARN-FM and ended its existence under the ownership of ...
flagship KARN (920 AM), while weather segments were presented by local radio DJ (and eventual KTHV sports director
The title of sports director can refer to the director of a live sports broadcast. It can also refer to an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department.
Director
{{Job-stub ...
-turned-news anchor) Craig O'Neill, then with KKYK (103.7 FM, now KABZ
KABZ (103.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas. The station is owned by Signal Media and the broadcast license is held by Signal Media of Arkansas, Inc. KABZ airs a sports radio format, known as "103.7 The Buzz." The ...
), who often introduced segments as his radio character "Sherman Bonner, the World's Only Human Thermometer".
On September 4, 2000, KLRT premiered ''Fox First Weather'', a five-minute local weather segment produced by AccuWeather
AccuWeather Inc. is an American media company that provides commercial weather forecasting services worldwide.
AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Pennsylvania State University graduate student working on a master's degree i ...
(airing Sunday through Fridays at 10:00 p.m. and presented mainly by then-AccuWeather meteorologist Jim Kosek) that led into the station's late-access syndicated programming. (Then-sister station KOKI-TV
KOKI-TV (channel 23) is a television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Imagicomm Communications alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYT-TV (channel 41). The two stations share studios on East ...
in Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
had been producing a similar nightly local forecast program since January 1997, which ran until December 2001, two months before its news department began operations.) The news updates and ''First Weather'' were discontinued in December 2003.
KLRT finally commenced development of a full-scale news department in September 2003, and hired Michael Fabac (who previously served in the same role at WNEM-TV
WNEM-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Bay City, Michigan, United States, serving northeastern Michigan as an affiliate of CBS and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on North Franklin Street ...
in Flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
–Bay City, Michigan
Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...
) to serve as the new operation's news director
A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, ...
; the Clear Channel Metroplex building (selected by Clear Channel primarily because it was of sufficient size to house a news operation) was also renovated for the new operation. The news department launched on March 28, 2004, with the premiere of the nightly hour-long ''Fox 16 News at 9:00''; it was the second local prime time news program ever attempted in the Little Rock market, following a prior effort by then- WB affiliate KKYK-TV (channel 49, now MeTV
MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...
affiliate KMYA-DT
KMYA-DT (channel 49) is a television station licensed to Camden, Arkansas, United States, serving the Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock area as an affiliate of MeTV. Owned by LR Telecasting, Limited liability company, LLC, the station maintains ...
) that ran from September 1997 to September 1999. The 9:00 p.m. newscast was originally anchored by Donna Terrell (previously weeknight anchor at WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by the CBS television network. Under common ownership with CW affiliate WKBD-TV under the network's CBS News and Stations group, both statio ...
/WKBD-TV
WKBD-TV (channel 50) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WWJ-TV (channel 62). Both stations share studios on ...
in Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
until Viacom Television Stations shuttered the duopoly's news department in 2003) and Kevin Kelly (previously weekday morning anchor at KPNX-TV in Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
), chief weather anchor Troy Bridges (previously weekend morning weather anchor at KFOR-TV
KFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Independent station (North America), independent station KAUT-TV (channel ...
in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
) and sports director David Raath (previously a sports reporter at WEYI-TV
WEYI-TV (channel 25), branded on-air as NBC 25, is a television station licensed to Saginaw, Michigan, United States, serving northeastern Michigan as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, which maintains a shared services ...
in Flint, Michigan
Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...
). The weekend editions were initially anchored by Kim Betton (previously a reporter at then-Fox owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network and owned by INSP (TV network), Imagicomm Communications. The station's studios are located on South High ...
in Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
, later joining KARK as a reporter in November 2006), meteorologist Nate Higgins (previously chief meteorologist at WREX-TV
Urdnot Wrex is a fictional character in BioWare's ''Mass Effect'' franchise, who serves as a party member (or "squadmate") in the first game of the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. He is a krogan, an alien race near-sterilised by other galactic races f ...
in Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...
) and sports anchor Justin Holgate (previously sports reporter/photographer at then-Tulsa sister station KOKI-TV). Longtime KATV investigative reporter Dewayne Graham (who abruptly left KLRT in February 2005) was also hired to do regular consumer and government investigative reports similar to his former "7 On Your Side" segment at KATV.
KLRT began offering news programming outside of the established 9:00 slot on March 19, 2007, when it premiered an hour-long weeknight 5:00 p.m. newscast (formatted as two separate half-hour 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. broadcasts). A half-hour weeknight 10:00 p.m. newscast was added on January 18, 2010, which competed against the longer-established late newscasts on KARK, KATV and KTHV. On April 5, 2011, KLRT became the second television station in the Little Rock–Pine Bluff market (preceded only by KTHV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. With the HD conversion, KLRT adopted the "kitebox" logo (albeit absent the Fox searchlights incorporated into the standard design), music (OSI Music's "Fox Affiliate News Theme") and graphics package (a modified version of the Hothaus Creative Design package originally commissioned for fellow Fox affiliate KSWB-TV
KSWB-TV (channel 69) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Engineer Road in the city's Kearny Mesa section, and its tran ...
in San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, and used by several other Tribune
Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...
- and Newport-owned Fox affiliates including KLRT's then-sister stations KOKI-TV and WAWS in Jacksonville
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
) based on the standardized look of Fox's owned-and-operated stations at the time.
After Mission acquired KLRT, much of the station's news staff was laid off as the news department was to be consolidated with KARK, including news director
A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, ...
Ed Trauschke (who replaced Fabac in 2007) and sports anchor David Raath. Weeknight anchors Donna Terrell and Kevin Kelly, and chief meteorologist Jeff Baskin were among those who remained with the station as Mission employees, while weekend anchor Kelly Dudzik left for an anchor/reporter role at WGRZ
WGRZ (channel 2) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo, and its transmitter is located on Warner Hill ...
in Buffalo. Channel 16 merged its news department with KARK at the latter's Victory Building facility when the JSA/SSA with Nexstar went into effect on February 2, 2013. (The former news set used until the end of independent news operations would be repurposed by then-Memphis sister station WATN-TV
WATN-TV (channel 24) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside CW affiliate WLMT (channel 30). Both stations share studios at the Shelby Oaks Corporate Park on Shel ...
when its new studio facility opened on June 1.) At that time, the station cancelled its weeknight 5:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts, but retained its weeknight 5:30 p.m. and nightly 9:00 p.m. broadcasts; additionally on February 4, the station premiered ''Good Day Arkansas'', a two-hour weekday morning newscast (from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m.) that shares some on-air staff with KARK's separate morning program. (As a result, KARK canceled the 7:00 a.m. newscast it had been producing for KARZ-TV since 2010.)[ KLRT utilizes a separate news set and on-air identity from KARK's newscasts and, through Mission, maintains separate additional news anchors, meteorologists and sports anchors for its evening newscasts; otherwise, KLRT and KARK share most on-air personnel and maintain the "Arkansas Storm Team" partnership comprising their respective meteorologists, which allows the stations to simulcast severe weather coverage.
]
Notable former on-air staff
* Roby Brock – host of ''Talk Business & Politics'' (2000–2014; now at KATV as host of the program)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Analog-to-digital conversion
KLRT-TV signed on its digital signal on UHF channel 30 on May 6, 2002. The station shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 16, on February 17, 2009, the original deadline for American full-power television stations to transition exclusively to digital broadcasts (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 30. Through the use of PSIP
The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the AT ...
, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former UHF analog channel 16.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klrt-Tv
LRT-TV
Fox network affiliates
Ion Mystery affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1983
Mass media in Little Rock, Arkansas
Nexstar Media Group
1983 establishments in Arkansas