KATV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KATV
city =
station_
station_slogan = The Spirit Of Arkansas (general)
7 is News (newscasts)
station_branding = "KATV 7" (general)
"Channel 7 News" (newscasts)
analog = 7 (VHF)
digital = 22 (UHF) (silent)
44-HD2 (temporary)
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC
network =
founded =
airdate = December 1953 [The "Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook" says December 18, while the "Television and Cable Factbook" says December 19.]
location = Little Rock, Arkansas
callsign_meaning = Arkansas TeleVision
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Allbritton Communications Company
licensee = KATV, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 316 kW (analog)
750 kW (digital)
HAAT = 591 m (analog)
574 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 33543
coordinates = coord|34|28|23.6|N|92|12|11.1|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.katv.com/ www.katv.com]

KATV (referred to as "KATV 7" or "Channel 7 News"), is a critically acclaimed affiliate station of ABC serving the Little Rock television market and central Arkansas. The station is owned by Allbritton Communications Company.

The station broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 7; its assigned digital frequency is UHF channel 22. Both broadcast from the KATV Tower near Redfield, Arkansas until it collapsed January 11, 2008; its analog license continues to reflect this site, though KATV is presently broadcasting in analog from a temporary site and in HDTV on a subchannel of KWBF until it rebuilds. It has received approval to relocate its digital transmitter to Shinall Mountain, near the Chenal Valley neighborhood of Little Rock, from which its temporary signals are now broadcast.

History

It signed on the air on December 19, 1953, originally in Pine Bluff, and is now Little Rock's oldest television station, beating KARK-TV by a few months. Less than a year after it was founded in Pine Bluff, KATV moved to Little Rock and took over the studio of KRTV, a failed UHF station that had been Arkansas' first TV station (itself beating KFSM in Fort Smith by a few months), on North Beech Street near Kavanaugh in the Pulaski Heights section of Little Rock; however, it burned in 1957.

KATV then moved to downtown Little Rock; it moved to its current studio, a former home of Worthen Bank (now Bank of America) at Fourth and Main Streets, in 1970. The KATV Building at 401 Main Street extends along Fourth Street a full block eastward to Scott Street, one block north of the "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette" and across Fourth Street from the Rose Law Firm. KATV continues to maintain a nominal studio in Pine Bluff to satisfy the original FCC conditions for moving the license to Little Rock, even though modern FCC rules would allow it to operate only from Little Rock even if the license returned to Pine Bluff. A secondary studio utilized primarily for its daily mid-morning "Good Morning Arkansas" program is located in Little Rock's River Market District, at President Clinton Avenue and Ottenheimer Plaza.

KATV, along with sister station KTUL in Tulsa, Oklahoma and original sister station KWTV in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, were founded by John Griffin (whose company would later become today's Griffin Communications) and Jimmy Leake. Leake became sole owner of KATV and KTUL in the late 1960s or early 1970s, and owned the stations until 1982, when he sold both stations to their current owner, Allbritton Communications Company.

KATV has used the Circle 7 logo since the 1960s; though it is traditionally associated with O&O ABC stations, KATV is one of several non-O&Os to have used it. KATV's use of the Circle 7 logo predates even the variant Circle 7 once used by Allbritton's flagship WJLA before it switched to the standard version. However, unlike WJLA and most of the O&Os, KATV only uses the ABC logo with the Circle 7 occasionally, usually in screen-corner bugs where the Circle 7 covers the standard ABC bug. KATV also first placed the Circle 7 inside a square in the 1990s; WJLA now uses that as well, though neither station uses it consistently.

KATV's Broadcast Service Area

Before the recently-collapsed tower was built in 1965, KATV broadcast from a smaller tower near Jefferson (south of Redfield).

KATV's broadcast area comprises mostly central Arkansas. However, many sections of the state were able to receive KATV's signal. Western sections of Bolivar and Coahoma Counties in west central Mississippi have been known to receive KATV's signal. KATV is also carried on cable systems in those areas, including Greenville, Cleveland, Clarksdale, and Drew.

On July 6, 2004, a spectacular intense high MUF Sporadic-E opening allowed Mike Bugaj [http://pages.cthome.net/fmdx] to receive KATV [cite web | title=High Band E Skip | work=Mike's TV and FM DX Page | url=http://fmdx.usclargo.com/hibandes.html | accessdate=April 26 | accessyear=2005] (channel 7, Little Rock, Arkansas) in Enfield, Connecticut, 1,176 miles (1,892 km) away. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-skip#Notable_sporadic_E_DX_receptions]

Tower collapse

The KATV Tower collapsed January 11, 2008 while workers were adjusting guy wires. [http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0108/487185.html] KATV's analog signal returned to the air a couple of weeks later from an auxiliary tower of competitor KTHV. In addition, Equity Media Holdings, based in Little Rock, initially helped restore KATV's signal to cable and satellite systems. [http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0108/487185.html] Equity is presently carrying KATV's digital signal thru its station KWBF--originally as 42.3 in SDTV, now as 7.1 in HDTV. KATV's analog signal was never interrupted on Comcast's Little Rock system due to a direct studio feed, though the HDTV feed was initially interrupted; Comcast is also feeding KATV's signal to other cable and satellite providers. [http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=1384565] [http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=102175.81991.114316]

The tower was also used by the Arkansas Educational Television Network for analog broadcasts into central Arkansas via KETS Channel 2. Its analog signal was unavailable until June 13, 2008, when a temporary analog antenna was installed at the Clear Channel Broadcasting Tower Redfield, where its digital signal already originated.

KATV has received final approval to replace this tower with a new tower on Shinall Mountain, where Little Rock's other major-network affiliates (and both of its present backup signals) are located. [http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0608/528809.html]

Image of former tower

KATV in the Digital Age

Before the collapse of its tower, KATV also broadcast on the second band of its digital signal (7-2), calling this channel KATV News Now. Like competitor KTHV's THV2 channel, KATV News Now broadcasts 24 hour news and weather and is available online; it remained online even after the tower collapse, and has recently been restored on Comcast in Little Rock.

News Operation

KATV broadcasts a total of 28 hours of local news per week (with five hours on weekdays, two hours on Saturdays and one hour on Sundays), the most of any station in the Little Rock market. KATV is currently the only Little Rock station carrying a weekend morning newscast, a Saturday edition of "Channel 7 News Daybreak".

KATV 7 Notable Personalities

Current On-Air Talent (as of August 26, 2008)

Current Anchors
*Heather Crawford: weeknights on Channel 7 News at 5PM (also investigative reporter)
*Jason Harper: weekdays on Channel 7 News Daybreak and Mid-Day Arkansas Anchor (also "Good Morning Arkansas" feature reporter)
*Beth Hunt: weekdays on Channel 7 News Daybreak and Mid-Day Arkansas Anchor (also reporter)
*Scott Inman: weeknights on Channel 7 News at 5, 6 and 10PM (also reporter)
*Christina Muñoz: weeknights on Channel 7 News at 6 and 10PM (also reporter)
*Jason Pederson: Saturdays on Channel 7 News Daybreak (also consumer reporter)
*Steve Powell: weekdays on Good Morning Arkansas (also "All About Arkansas" feature reporter)
*Pamela Smith: weekends on Channel 7 News at 5:30 (Sun.), 6 (Sat.), and 10PM (also reporter)
*Renee Shapiro: Saturdays on Channel 7 News Daybreak (also entertainment editor)

Reporters
*Jessica Dean: General Assignment Reporter
*Joan Early: "Family First" Feature Reporter
*Kristin Fisher: General Assignment Reporter
*Michael Knight: Traffic Reporter, seen weekday mornings
*Amanda Manatt: General Assignment Reporter
*"Chopper" Scott Munsell: Air7 Pilot Reporter
*Anne Pressly: General Assignment Reporter/Saturday Daybreak Feature Reporter
*Michelle Rupp: Special Assignment Reporter

KATV Weather
*Ned Perme (NWA Seal of Appoval): Chief Meteorologist, weeknights on Channel 7 News at 6 and 10PM
*Barry Brandt (AMS Seal of Appoval): weekdays on Good Morning Arkansas, Mid-Day Arkansas and Channel 7 News at 5PM
*Melinda Mayo: weekdays on Channel 7 News Daybreak and co-host of Good Morning Arkansas
*Todd Yakoubian: weekends on Channel 7 News at 5:30 (Sun.), 6 (Sat.), and 10PM

Sports
*Steve Sullivan: Sports Director, weeknights on Channel 7 News at 5, 6 and 10PM
*Dale Nicholson III: weekends on Channel 7 News at 5:30 (Sun.), 6 (Sat.), and 10PM
*Beau McCastlain: "Hog Central" Arkansas Razorbacks Reporter (based in Fayetteville)

Former On-Air Talent

Logos

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"Arkansas Newsreel" (1953-1962)
*"KATV News" (1962-1974)
*"Newscene 7" (1974-1987)
*"Channel 7 News" (1987-present)

tation Slogans

*"77 - The Year Of The Seven, in Arkansas. Channel 7!" (1977)
*"Channel 7's Still the One!" (1977-1978, local version of ABC slogan)
*"The One and Only TV7" (1978-1979)
*"Superseven's the One!" (1979-1980, local version of the 1979-80 ABC "Still the One" slogan)NOTE: For a few years, KATV used a separate Superman style logo for on-air promotions but retained the Circle 7 logo for the news. The Superseven name remained well into the mid-80s, but the Superman style logo was dropped in favor of the Circle 7 logo.
*"The Spirit Of Arkansas" (Early 1980s-present; general slogan)
*"If It's KATV-7, It Must be ABC" (1992-1993, local version of ABC campaign)
*"7 is News" (2000-June, 2007; newscast slogan)

References

External links

* [http://www.katv.com KATV Website]
* [http://www.katvnewsnow.com KATV News Now]
* [http://www.katv.com/anniversary/getfile.hrb?file=history_timeline.htm Historical timeline of KATV]
* [http://www.littlerock.org/CityManager/Divisions/CityClerksOffice/OurHistoricalCity.aspx/ Little Rock city timeline, from city manager's office (includes original KRTV)]
*TVQ|KATV
*BIA|KATV|TV|TV
*TitanTV|KATV