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58-565: KFSM-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Smith, Arkansas , United States, serving the Arkansas River Valley and Northwest Arkansas as an affiliate of CBS . Owned by Tegna Inc. , the station has studios on South 48th Street in Johnson (with a Springdale mailing address), and its transmitter is located northwest of Winslow, Arkansas . KFSM signed on for the first time on July 9, 1953, as KFSA-TV on channel 22. It

116-635: A barter in some cases. Non-commercial educational station A non-commercial educational station ( NCE station ) is a radio station or television station that does not accept on-air advertisements ( TV ads or radio ads ), as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was originally intended to offer educational programming as part, or whole, of its programming. NCE stations do not pay broadcast license fees for their non-profit uses of

174-605: A KFSM broadcast rather than a KTHV simulcast. The station's signal is multiplexed : KFSM-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 5, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 18, using virtual channel 5. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,

232-525: A considerable amount for a station in the 100th market. The station launched a mobile application in 2005. Over the years, KFSM has been the ratings leader in the area, mainly due to the fact that it was the only commercial VHF station on the air in the Fort Smith–Fayetteville market during the analog television era. As such, it was the only station in the market that did not need a second full-power analog transmitter to cover it. On April 21, 1996,

290-577: A dedicated news department, instead relying on reports from its sister newspapers. However, that changed with the addition of Cliff Walker, who became the outlet's first news director. Walker had worked for KFSA radio and earlier for Nakdieman at KWHN . In 1969, the FCC barred common ownership of newspapers and broadcasting outlets. Donrey owned one other newspaper/broadcasting cluster, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KORK-AM - FM - TV . While Reynolds

348-460: A fill-in translator in Van Buren on channel 24. KFSM operated a low-power analog translator, K62DQ (channel 62), licensed to Fayetteville with a transmitter in Johnson along I-540 / US 62 / US 71 . It had a construction permit to air on channel 44, but its license was cancelled on May 4, 2012. On July 1, 2013, Local TV announced that its stations would be acquired by Tribune Broadcasting . The sale

406-717: A fully commercial station that operates on 91.7.) NCE stations may also operate on a non-reserved channel. However this was rare in the United States due to the high cost of buying a commercial broadcasting station, and because for years the FCC failed to maintain a process that would ensure that non-commercial applicants would have a chance against those who could afford to bid at spectrum auctions . Two such stations are WGPB FM in Rome, Georgia and WNGH-FM in Chatsworth, Georgia , former commercial stations purchased in 2007 and 2008 and operated by Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB), serving

464-724: A large tornado , part of the April 1996 tornado outbreak sequence , destroyed and heavily damaged much of historic downtown Fort Smith around the Garrison Avenue Bridge. The storm left four people dead in western Arkansas. KFSM-TV covered the tornado and produced a documentary of the event shortly after called "Sunday's Fury". Days later, the Eads Brothers Furniture Building was destroyed by one of largest fires in Fort Smith's history. Until January 2012, KFSM-DT2 simulcast

522-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

580-447: A new hour-long 7 a.m. newscast on weekday mornings and a 30-minute newscast at 9 p.m. nightly. On weeknights, the latter newscast competes with the prime time newscast which airs on Fox affiliate KFTA-TV; KXNW was the only station which airs a 9 p.m. newscast on weekends until August 2012 when KHBS/KHOG began producing a nightly 9 p.m. newscast for their CW Plus -affiliated digital subchannels. At some point during summer 2012, KFSM became

638-529: A newly built studio in Johnson, a suburb of Fayetteville and Springdale. According to station manager Van Comer, the new facility is located near the population center of KFSM's 11-county, two-state primary coverage area. KFSM had been the only major station in the market whose main studio was still located in Fort Smith; NBC affiliate KNWA-TV and Fox affiliate KFTA are based in Fayetteville, while ABC affiliate KHBS

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696-444: A reserved band. (In Mexico, individual stations belonging to state and federal governments, educational institutions, and non-profit groups are licensed under permits or permisos , which are non-commercial, non-profit licenses that do not permit advertising. Canada, in practice, generally keeps most of the U.S. NCE band as noncommercial or with limited advertising based on each individual licence, but there are exceptions, such as CIXL ,

754-409: A series of transactions with multiple companies that totaled $ 1.32 billion. (As KXNW does not rank among the top four in total-day viewership and therefore is not in conflict with existing FCC in-market ownership rules, it was retained by Nexstar, thus creating a de facto triopoly with KNWA and KFTA. The sale was completed on September 19, 2019. On June 14, 2019, KFSM moved most of its operations to

812-406: A standalone RTV affiliate, officially became KFSM's sister station on January 5, 2012, with an FCC "failing station" waiver and changed its call letters to KXNW ; at that time, KXNW dropped all remaining RTV programming in favor of a simulcast of KFSM-DT2, which had for a while also carried a part-time affiliation with Antenna TV in addition to its primary MyNetworkTV affiliation (until Antenna TV

870-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

928-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

986-665: Is also rare in Mexico, though XEIMT-TV , a cultural channel in Mexico City, and XEWH-TV , the main station of the state network of Sonora, operate under commercial concessions and not permits. A number of new low power FM ( LPFM ) NCE stations operating in the non-reserved part of the spectrum have been licensed by the FCC since the Local Community Radio Act was enacted in 2010. The FCC defines several different activities as being commercial in nature. Sponsorship of NCE stations

1044-447: Is based in Rogers . Fort Smith had been the state's second-largest city for most of the 20th century and well into the 21st, but by this time Fayetteville had passed Fort Smith in population. When the station announced plans to build the facility in 2018, original plans called for a newer facility in Fort Smith to serve as its main studio. However, by 2019, the planned Johnson studio had become

1102-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

1160-553: Is called underwriting , and stations may make announcements of these grants on-air. However, they may not accept money for such mentions, only goods and services , unless the sponsor itself is a non-profit , such as a charitable organization or public college . Money can be accepted if there is no on-air mention of the sponsor. NCE stations may also not mention prices or qualities of commercial products or services in any situation which would be construed as promoting or endorsing any company, regardless of whether it sponsors

1218-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

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1276-593: The COVID-19 pandemic . On weekdays, 5 News This Morning was shortened 30 minutes, beginning at 5 a.m. instead of 4:30 a.m. A replay of the previous night's edition of 5 News at 10 was played to fill the time slot. Additionally, on Saturdays, 5 News This Morning was sometimes replaced by a simulcast of sister station KTHV's Saturday morning newscast. In November 2020, KFSM returned to its normal broadcast schedule with 5 News This Morning weekdays beginning at 4:30 a.m. and 5 News This Morning Saturday originating as

1334-617: The FM broadcast band , the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reserved the lowest 20 channels, 201~220 (88.1~91.9 MHz ) for NCE stations only. This is known as the reserved band , sometimes known by the term "left of the dial" (taken from the Replacements' song of the same name ), which refers to the college and other non-commercial stations that broadcast from those frequencies. It also includes channel 200 (87.9 MHz), but only for class D NCE stations unable to find another frequency;

1392-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

1450-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

1508-643: The mountains northwest of Atlanta which previously had no GPB radio service. In addition, there were at least four stations with commercial licenses that formerly operated as PBS member stations ( WNYC-TV in New York City , WMHX in Albany, New York , KAUT-TV in Oklahoma City , and KCPQ-TV in Seattle are a few examples of this); most of those stations now broadcast as affiliates of commercially owned networks. This

1566-495: The radio spectrum . Stations which are almost always operated as NCE include public broadcasting , community radio , and college radio , as well as many religious broadcasting stations. Nearly all non-commercial radio stations derive their support from listener support, grants and endowments, such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that distributes supporting funds provided by Congress to support public radio. On

1624-523: The FCC to designate it for hearing and leading Tribune to terminate the deal and sue Sinclair for breach of contract . Following the Sinclair deal's collapse, Nexstar Media Group announced its purchase of Tribune Media on December 3, 2018, for $ 6.4 billion in cash and debt. As Nexstar already owned NBC affiliate KNWA-TV (channel 51) and Fox affiliate KFTA-TV (channel 24), the company agreed on March 20, 2019, to divest KFSM-TV to Tegna Inc. as part of

1682-552: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

1740-483: The east, Shreveport – Texarkana (channels 3 , 6 , and 12 ) to the south, Springfield (channels 3 and 10 ) and Pittsburg – Joplin (channels 7 and 12 ) to the north, and Tulsa (channels 2 , 6 , 8 , and 11 ) to the west. This created a large "doughnut" in Northwest Arkansas where there could be only one commercial VHF license, plus a noncommercial license (eventually occupied by AETN's KAFT). Many of

1798-567: The first commercial live spots for $ 1.00 per minute. At that time, the network live signal reached only as far as Memphis, Tennessee . However, the networks extended the AT&;T coaxial cable to Little Rock in 1957 to provide live coverage of the Little Rock Crisis . Reynolds then built a microwave relay hop on Mount Magazine to relay live programming from the Little Rock stations. Although

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1856-612: The first station in the Fayetteville-Fort Smith market and the last primary Local TV-owned station to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition . In fall 2017, KFSM began airing a 30-minute newscast at 4 p.m., titled 5 News First at Four . This was the first 4 p.m. newscast in the Fayetteville-Fort Smith market, and the only such newscast until KHOG launched a 4 p.m. show in August 2024. In March 2020, KFSM temporarily scaled back its broadcast schedule in response to

1914-543: The frequency has been unused for its intended purpose in the United States since KSFH shut down in 2021. Many of the reserved-band channels are used by stations bordering the United States, such as with broadcasting in the San Diego/Tijuana metropolitan area . Additionally, neither the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission nor Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Institute have such

1972-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

2030-495: The late 1950s, both KFSA-TV and KNAC struggled for advertising and viewers. By 1958, it became apparent the Fort Smith market was not large enough to 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 use the KFSA-TV call letters under the ownership of the wealthier Reynolds, but operate under KNAC's license using

2088-509: The license transfer to Donrey's broadcasting subsidiary, American Television Company, was finalized in January 1959, channel 5 changed its calls to KFSA-TV. The merged operation benefited from a technical 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 (channels 2 , 4 , 7 , and 11 ) to

2146-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

2204-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

2262-493: The main studio. The station's longtime home in Fort Smith was briefly retained as a River Valley bureau, but the studio in Johnson is now the station's only location. In July 2021, chief meteorologist Garrett Lewis left KFSM after 20 years with the station to pursue a career in finance and community relations. KFSM currently broadcasts 35 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of newscasts each week (with six hours each weekday, 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours on Saturdays and three hours on Sundays),

2320-415: The personnel at channel 22 (Pat Porta, Harry Freeman, John Candler, and 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's broadcasting history. Many had started their broadcasting careers on KFSA radio just after World War II . Until 1964, the station operated without

2378-445: The present rules, a new agreement is negotiated every three years, and stations must choose must-carry or retransmission consent for each cable system they wish their signal to be carried on. Non-commercial stations (such as local PBS stations) may not seek retransmission consent and may only invoke must-carry status. Like commercial stations, NCE stations are allowed to lease subcarriers in exchange for money , essentially making

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2436-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

2494-504: The station a common carrier . This may be for a commercial audio , video , or data service, or a non-commercial one like a radio reading service for the blind . NCE stations broadcasting in digital TV or HD Radio may lease part of their bandwidth (actually bitrate ) in a similar manner, however, the commercial use is limited. The main program must always be non-commercial, and must not have its quality diminished excessively by increased lossy compression done in order to fit

2552-449: The station. Underwriting spots are brief and to-the-point, as they must not be disruptive to programming. Additionally, underwriting spots on public TV are at the beginning or end of the TV show rather than in the middle, as they have increasingly become on commercial stations. Retransmission consent has often been chosen over must-carry by the major commercial television networks. Under

2610-499: The stronger channel 5 facility. However, under the terms of an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the merged station used the KNAC call letters until the sale formally closed. KFSA-TV signed off permanently from channel 22 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-TV. After

2668-474: 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 that disrupted several games of the 1954 World Series . In 1956, KFSA-TV gained a competitor when KNAC-TV signed on channel 5 from studios in Van Buren as a primary CBS affiliate and secondary ABC affiliate. At that time, CBS

2726-477: The time — NBC , CBS, ABC and DuMont — but it was a primary NBC affiliate. Initially, KFSA-TV relied on kinescopes 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 videotapes were not yet available. A local TV-Appliance dealer, Bill Engles (a.k.a. "Wild Bill") along with Engles TV & Appliance, bought

2784-519: The time, UHF stations could only be seen with an expensive converter, and even with one picture quality was marginal at best. Additionally, the Fort Smith television market is a fairly large market geographically, spilling across a large and mostly mountainous swath of Arkansas and Oklahoma . UHF stations do not get good reception over large areas or in rugged terrain. It did not help that viewers in Fort Smith could receive stations from Tulsa and Little Rock by using large masts and rotary antennas. During

2842-412: The weekday morning show and then re-aired it in a rotating cycle. It also simulcasted the weekday noon and nightly broadcasts. The simulcasts were discontinued shortly after Local TV consummated on its purchase of the former KPBI and changed its call letters to KXNW, and were replaced with Antenna TV and syndicated programming as KXNW began to simulcast KFSM-DT2. On March 12, 2012, KXNW/KFSM-DT2 began airing

2900-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

2958-613: 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, the KFSA stations were sold off, with channel 5 going 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, and subsequently became that company's second station after WREG-TV in Memphis. Aside from KNAC's brief time on-the-air, KFSA/KFSM

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3016-598: Was completed on December 27. With the completion of the deal, KFSM and KXNW became Tribune's smallest television stations by market size (previously, the company's New Orleans duopoly of WGNO and WNOL-TV held this distinction). Sinclair Broadcast Group entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media on May 8, 2017, for $ 3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $ 2.7 billion in Tribune debt. The deal received significant scrutiny over Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, prompting

3074-490: Was due to the network searching for stronger affiliates in the Fort Smith market. 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. The area's original MyNetworkTV affiliate, KPBI-CA , which was repeated on full-power KPBI, went silent after its owner Equity Media Holdings went bankrupt. Full-power KPBI, at one point

3132-682: Was owned by Donald W. Reynolds and his Donrey Media Group alongside Fort Smith's two major newspapers — the Southwest American and Times Record (later merged as the Southwest Times Record ) — and KFSA radio (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

3190-674: Was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

3248-420: 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. This

3306-484: Was the top network with such hits as Red Skelton , Jackie Gleason and 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 (48 km) from downtown Fort Smith, leaving many homes without clear television reception. At

3364-422: Was ultimately segregated out onto its own dedicated sub-channel via KFSM-DT3, as of spring 2016). 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

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