'NBC Nightly News' to Be Shown on Internet

Source: Associated Press NBC News said Monday said that it would begin making its "NBC Nightly News" broadcast available for free on the Internet starting next week.

Past broadcasts will also be archived at the http://www.nightlynews.msnbc.com Web site, the network said.

It's not necessarily news on demand, though. The newscast, aired at 6:30 p.m. on many NBC stations on the East Coast, won't be available on the Web until after 10 p.m. ET.

"Many of our viewers tell me they often miss the broadcast because they're not at home or tending to their busy lives and families," anchor Brian Williams said. "This new service reflects the fact that the pace of our lives has changed."

The first newscast available on the Internet will be on Nov. 7.

Where Are They Now

Former KHBS/KHOG-TV 40/29 anchor/reporter Nicole Burgin is spotlighted today.

Nicole graduated from the University of Oklahoma and began her reporting career in Ardmore, OK. Most recently Nicole worked for the ABC affiliate in Fort Smith/Fayetteville where she was an anchor and reporter.

What's she doing now? Nicole is a reporter at KTUL-TV 8 in Tulsa, OK.

New Noon Format Begins Monday at Today's THV

Arkansas Business.com has an article about Channel 11's new noon format that will begin Monday. AB spoke with 11's general sales manager Leslie Heizman about the program. Below is an excerpt from the article:

"First, there will be an 10-minute newscast followed by a program called “Positively Arkansas,” which Heizman described as “advertiser-friendly with a community focus.”

The rest of the half-hour time slot will be filled by three advertisers per day sponsoring segments that Heizman referred to as “infotainment.”

“It’s not going to be infomercials about Ginsu knives,” she said. “It will be about topics that are of interest to the viewer that’s available at that time.”"

And don't forget former WB'er Sheryl Lackey will host the program.

Nexstar Working with Comcast to Keep KARK on Cable in LR

Pretty article over at Arkansas Business.com about the fight to keep KARK on cable in the Little Rock market. To sum it up, Nexstar exec Duane Lammers blames the other stations in Little Rock for keeping the stink stirred up that KARK will be leaving Little Rock cable come January 1, 2006. KARK GM Rick Rogala doesn't beat around the bush who is stirring up the stink. Check out this quote from the article:

“You have some television stations in that marketplace that are trying to confuse the advertisers and use our position against us, which is very unfortunate and very unprofessional, and it’s just too bad,” Lammers said. “But that’s just kind of what I would expect from people like Allbritton. I hope you quote me on that.”

Of course Allbritton is the parent company of KATV. Read the full article HERE.

Where Are They Now

Today we feature Deena Day, 5,6,10 former Co-Anchor (2003,2004) of Arkansas’ NBC News 24/51 (now KNWA) Fayetteville

After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Deena worked in radio for two years before crossing over to television. Deena was a reporter, producer, executive producer and news anchor in Meridian, Mississippi from 1988 through 1995, and then again from 1997 to 2003 when she returned as news director/anchor. (Deena and her husband had moved from Mississippi in 1996 to work in television in El Paso, Texas.) Deena was hired to co-Anchor with Don Elkins in Fayetteville in January 2003, but when Nexstar bought the station, they opted not to renew her contract.

What’s Deena up to now? She wanted to stay in Northwest Arkansas because her husband was ill and they have lots of family in the area. She’s currently Director of Marketing for Montana Tractors, at the North American Headquarters in Springdale, AR. Montana Tractors, a company co-owned by J.B. Hunt, assembles and distributes tractors to more than 250 dealers throughout the United States and Canada.

KARK Hires New OSD and New OM/SPM

KARK has hired a new Creative Services Director and a New Operations Manager. KARK-TV Assignment Manager Greg Yarbrough tells ATN: "Our new creative services director is Rob Thomas. He comes to us from WLTX-TV in Columbia, South Carolina where he was marketing manager. He previously worked here at KARK as a reporter and at KTHV in promotions.

Our new operations manager/special projects manager is Tim Whitely. He currently is the Production manager at KNWA."

Where Are They Now

Former KHBS/KHOG-TV 40/29 reporter Sean Brown is in the spotlight.

Brown spent five years at KHBS/KHOG. During that time he covered everything from county fairs to the I-40 bridge collapse.

Before getting into television news Sean earned a bachelor's degree from George Washington University in DC. He then moved to the Windy City and got his master's degree from Northwestern University in Illinois.

So what's Brown doing now? Since March 2003 Sean has been a reporter for ABC-7 in Fort Myers, Florida.

Where Are They Now

Austin Onek is featured today.

I couldn't come up with any info for a detailed bio BUT Austin once was a meteorologist at KFSM.

What's he doing now? He is a met for WREG-TV in Memphis.

Sports Anchor Out at KARK

KARK sports anchor Mark Rushing is leaving the station after 6 years. KARK-TV Assignment Manager Greg Yarbrough tells ATN, "He resigned a few weeks ago. He will be working for us every Friday until high school football season is over."

Where Are They Now

Today we feature former KARK'er Todd Tongen.

Born in Minnesota, Todd went to school and kick-started his career there. Todd attended the University of Minnesota in Duluth and Brown Institute of Broadcasting in Minneapolis.

Todd began his broadcasting career in 1983 in a Podunk Minnesota farm town. He started broadcasting on the airwaves as a radio disk jockey on KMRS-AM, a country and western station. Then he moved to Grand Junction, Colo., in 1984 to join KSTR-AM/FM, an adult contemporary station. A year later, he became a movie host and weatherman on KJCT-TV. From 1986 to 1989, Todd was a feature reporter and weatherman at KARK-TV in Little Rock, Ark., and ate crawfish with future President Bill Clinton.

Todd received the Associated Press Award for Best Weather Segment in 1988.

What's Todd doing now? Since 1989 Todd has been with WPLG in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Where Are They Now

Former KSLA reporter Bob Burns is in the spotlight today.

The Emmy nominated newsman started out reporting in the Capital City back in the late 1980's. During his seven years in Tallahassee, Burns covered some of the most memorable and entertaining stories ever seen in North Florida. His face and voice became synonomous with the down-home nature of life in Tallahassee. Since then he's covered news in virtually every major city in the state. Burns has also recently anchored and reported in West Virginia and Louisiana.

Burns left Tallahassee for South Florida in 1996. The gypsy journalist spent several years roaming Florida as a statewide correspondent for Florida's News Channel. Burns then moved north to West Virginia, where he was the main anchor and feature reporter in Clarksburg. From West Virginia, Burns headed to Shreveport, Louisiana, home to Barksdale Air Force Base and nearby the Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Polk. Burns was onhand at Barksdale as the President sought safehaven there on September 11th, 2001.

What's Bob up to these days? Bob is a weekday anchor at WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida.

Cox Communications, Nexstar & Mission Broadcasting Reach Retransmission Consent Agreement

Source: Nexstar Press Release Cox Communications, Inc, Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc and Mission Broadcasting, Inc today announced that the companies have signed a retransmission consent agreement for analog and digital carriage rights. The deal includes 12 Nexstar stations and 9 Mission stations serving the following Designated Market Areas: Abilene-Sweetwater, San Angelo, Lubbock, Amarillo, Odessa-Midland and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas; Shreveport, La.; Fort Smith, Little Rock and Monroe-El Dorado, Ark.; Springfield and Joplin, Mo. and Pittsburg, Kan.

The agreement means that Cox customers in San Angelo, Texas can again enjoy KLST/CBS on Cox Cable. KTAL/NBC returns to the Cox lineup in Bossier City and Minden, La., as well as Magnolia, Ark. and Mt. Pleasant, Texas. KRBC/NBC (a Mission Broadcasting station) is again available to Cox customers in Abilene, Sweetwater and Snyder, Texas. Without permission from Nexstar and Mission to carry these broadcast signals, Cox was required to remove these channels from the lineups in the impacted markets last January.

“We are pleased to welcome these Nexstar and Mission stations back to Cox Cable,” said Pat Esser, chief operating officer. “We regret the inconvenience to our customers while we negotiated these deals, which will help keep cable prices reasonable, fair and competitive. We also thank our loyal customers who stuck with us through this challenging time.”

Nexstar Broadcasting Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Perry A. Sook commented, “As has been previously reported, Nexstar refused to grant retransmission consent without receiving adequate compensation. Although the confidentiality provisions limit Nexstar and Cox from discussing publicly the financial aspects of this agreement, we are pleased to have reached an economic agreement that is acceptable to both parties. This agreement encompasses all of the Nexstar and Mission stations carried on Cox cable systems. Going forward, we anticipate a mutually beneficial relationship between the companies.”

“We highly value the local and national programming that the Nexstar and Mission stations deliver to our customers,” said Debbie Cullen, director of programming. “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Mission and Nexstar, which meets all of our original objectives. The deal demonstrates that broadcasters and cable operators can reach terms that are mutually agreeable and in the best interest of consumers. Our innovative agreement provides for incremental value to all parties, while giving Cox the long-term rights to carry the primary analog and digital signals of the Nexstar and Mission stations.”

Additional from Arkansas Business.com: A deal has yet to be reached with Comcast Cablevision in Little Rock, leaving the possibility that Nexstar-owned KARK-TV, Channel 4, could be yanked from the air when parties' agreement expires in December.

Brian Jones, regional vice president of Nexstar, has said that he is optimistic a deal with Comcast will be reached during negotiations next month.

New KATV Met's Bio Up at KATV.com

The KATV webteam has posted the bio of new KATV met Todd Yakoubian.

"A Little Rock native, Meteorologist Todd Yakoubian comes home after being away for 13 years.
He is a member and is certified by both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. He is a 1992 graduate of Little Rock Catholic High. From there, he attended and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1996. Todd took his first television job in Missoula, Montana. He says he will never forget his first winter up north, where 111 inches of snow fell. He learned how to snow ski and fly fish.

Todd's most recent job was in Chattanooga, TN. There he was part of the team of meteorologists who won the Tennessee AP award for best weathercast two years in a row. His most memorable weather moments were covering the Veterans Day weekend outbreak of tornadoes in 2002 and the flooding caused by hurricane Ivan in September 2004. But most importantly, he met his wife Andria there. The two were married in April 2003."

Where Are They Now

Today we feature Amy Oliver Barnes.

Amy worked as an anchor/reporter and producer at KATV from 1977 until 1985. She worked at KARK as producer, then assignment editor and assistant news director from 1985 until 1990. In 1990 she went to work for then Arkansas Department of Health Director Dr. Joycelyn Elders as a researcher/media relations person. Soon after taking that job Barnes soon joined AETN as the Executive Producer of Arkansas Week and AETN Operations Manager, in charge of producing news and public affairs programming for the network. In 1993 Barnes accepted a job from Arkansas Children's Hospital as Public Relations Director. In 1994 Barnes began working on getting her master's degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at which time she became a graduate assistant in the UALR Office of Communications.

What's Amy up to now? In 1997 Amy became the Director of the UALR Office of Communications

Amy is married to well known Arkansas journalist, Steve Barnes. She and Steve have been married for 24 years.

Where Are They Now

Trey Stafford is in today's spotlight.

Trey's first dab in broadcasting came at KPCA-AM in Marked Tree doing school news. Stafford was the weekend weather on KAIT from 1992 til 1997.

What's Trey doing now? Trey is a part of the top rated morning crew at KDXY 104.9FM in Jonesboro.

KARK Names Weekend Anchor

KARK-TV Assignment Manager Greg Yarbrough tells ATN Sonseeahray Tonsall has been named weekend anchor following the departure of Alice Stewart a month ago. Tonsall has worked as a general assignment reporter for KARK the last 5 years.

Where Are They Now

Today we feature Beth Carter.

Carter was a producer at KHOG. She is an U of A grad and a native of North Little Rock.

What's she doing now? Beth has worked at CNN for over 10 years and is now Executive Producer of CNN “Newsource.”

Former Little Rock Market Anchor Canned in Atlanta

Former Little Rock anchor Ken Watts was canned recently at WXIA in Atlanta. Below is an article from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"Buzz finally reached Ken Watts, who was unceremoniously dumped last month by WXIA-TV after nearly eight years as an anchor. After his Sept. 29 noon broadcast, he said he was given the bad news. "It was very abrupt," he said. "I wasn't able to say goodbye to the audience."

Though he said he was warned a month earlier that WXIA was seeking a replacement for him, Watts kept the news to himself and worked until management dropped him. Watts said he'd like to stay in Atlanta but is willing to go elsewhere.

Watts, who also spent 16 years at WAGA-TV and is now in his mid-50s, said he wasn't sure why WXIA no longer wanted him and didn't know if it had to do with his age.

(WXIA-TV general manager Bob Walker earlier declined to comment about Watts' exit.)

Watts said his favorite story was an award-winning piece he did about how DNA testing enabled black families to learn which part of Africa their slave ancestors came from. "I got calls from all over the country," he said."

Where Are They Now

Today we roll on by featuring former KATV reporter Pam Martin.

Pam was born and raised in St. Louis, Mo. She graduated from Parkway Central High School, where she was National Honor Society president, class vice president and associate editor of the high school newspaper. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with honors in three years, earning a degree in journalism.

She was sports editor of her college newspaper and the first woman allowed to cover sports events from the Texas A&M press box.

She had previously worked at KATV and a station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After leaving KATV, Pam started work at a station in Atlanta, Georgia.

What's Pam doing now? In 1989 she left that other station in Atlanta and joined WSB Channel 2 where she anchors the morning and noon newscasts.

KATV to Pick Up Murrow Awards Monday Night

KATV will be given a couple of Edward R. Murrow Awards this Monday night, October 17. The event will take place in New York City and is sponsored by The Radio-Television News Directors Association. KATV will come home with awards in the for Best Documentary for 365 Days AND an Overall Excellence Award in the Small Market division.

Shreveport Stations Cover Texarkana Train Derailment

The Shreveport stations are experiencing a busy weekend already as they cover a train derailment and explosion at the Union Pacific railyard in Texarkana. From what I have read on the WWW, the incident occured around 5am Saturday morning. I am sure the incident was covered before I finally awoke at 10am. Anyway, at 10am KTBS, Channel3 was the only station providing LIVE coverage of the incident while all the others were just running a crawl informing of the latest. KTBS broke away from LIVE coverage at around 10:20am.

UPDATE: CNN has picked up the story and is using video from KLSA on the air.

Where Are They Now

Today ATN features Tonya Beane Webber.

Tonya worked as a television anchor/investigative reporter for the KATV, the ABC affiliate in her hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor's degree in radio, television and film. While working full-time in broadcasting, she obtained her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law.

What's she doing now? Tonya is a partner in the law firm Porter, Rogers, Dahlman and Gordon and works in the firm's Corpus Christie, Texas office. She joined the firm in 1985.

KTBS to Air 50th Anniversary Special Tonight

According to KTBS.com, a special 50th Anniversay program is planned to air tonight at 6:30pm. KTBS began broadcasting on September 3, 1955.

KLRT Doing Evening News?

This from the tip jar: "Maybe I've missed it on here, but how come no-one has mentioned that Fox16 has been doing a 30-minute newscast at 6pm or 6:30pm. Not sure on the time."

Someone please post more about this. I don't receive KLRT in South Arkansas.

Where Are They Now

Today we feature former KFSM sports anchor John Hartung.

John Hartung grew up in Woodland Hills, where as a 10-year-old, he would tape record the sports segment on ABC7 in Los Angeles, California, then record his own, dreaming of one day becoming a sportscaster. Now all grown up, John joined the Eyewitness Sports Team in September of 2002 as weekday sports reporter. John graduated from San Diego State University in 1992 with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Business Management. While at SDSU, he got his first real taste of sports journalism as a writer for The Daily Aztec.

John eventually made the transition to television, and in the summer of 1995, he moved to the heart of "Razorback Country" as weekend sports anchor at KFSM in Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Arkansas. Eight months and one huge tornado later, he took over as primary sports anchor. Hartung was honored by the Arkansas Associated Press for Best Sportscast, Best Sports Reporting and Best Sports Special.

In August of 1999, KSWB in San Diego lured John back home to Southern California to be the sports director and 10pm anchor. While there, he won a Golden Mike for Best Sports Segment and an Emmy nomination.

What's John doing now? He is back where he started, at KABC in Los Angeles where he is a sports anchor.

People Jumping Ship in NWA?

A tipster brought this to my attention:"KNWA needs a new weekend anchor and morning director? Are people jumping ship? Where's Aryana Evers going? Why did the morning director leave?"

FOX News Style Newscasts Coming to FOX Broadcast Local Stations

Just when you thought you could get away from the Fox News Channel by watching broadcast tv, watch out! FOX News style 'news' is coming to local FOX newscasts. In an article in Media Week, new CEO of FOX Broadcasting Jack Abernethy says to expect a change in the newscasts of FOX stations. Below is an excerpt from the article:

"“We think the future of local stations is in news and information. We want to program the stations more like channels, which means having blocks of [compatible] programming that can supplement local news,” Abernethy explained. He pointed to the new syndicated Geraldo at Large with Fox News Channel reporter Geraldo Rivera as a prime example of the kind of show that would provide strong lead-ins and bookends to local station news.

To develop those news-centric blocks, the TV group will be tapping sibling Twentieth Television, also under Abernethy’s purview, in addition to Fox News Channel, which already shares content with the local stations. Contrary to popular belief, although the group is strengthening those connections with the appointment of Berg, that doesn’t necessarily mean a traditional network newscast is in Fox’s future. “It’s premature,” Abernethy said, noting that the Big Three network newscasts are losing viewers. “Fox stations have made more money doing news locally.”

Case in point: mornings, where the group has achieved broad success with its locally flavored Good Day franchise. In some markets, Fox’s local shows have beat the networks’ national product. “It’s the greatest growth area in TV; it sets up your whole day,” said Leone.

Early-afternoon news, where Rivera’s new show will begin on the Fox stations in November, is the next likely target. “We’d like to shore up the daypart, where we haven’t offered local news at all,” Abernethy said.

Strengthening the identity of the Fox TV group is also high on Abernethy’s list of priorities. While the Fox station group is No. 1 in the industry by revenue with $2.4 billion in 2005, according to BIA Financial Network estimates, the stations lack the visibility of their Big Three counterparts, which must stick in the craw of the hard-charging Ailes.

Since Abernethy joined Fox, he’s initiated training seminars among the station staff to learn writing and production techniques and use “a more conversational style rather than anchor speak,” hallmarks of the No. 1-rated cable news net Fox News Channel."

KLRT "News at Nine" and Arkansas Blue Cross/Blue Shield Team Up To Offer Classroom Grants

Who would have thought I would have found some Arkansas media news while glancing through the latest issue of ABC/BS's current issue of Blue and You? KLRT and ABC/BS have teamed up to award a $500 grant to a teacher/classroom around the state of Arkansas to help supplement class needs. Interested in more information? According to info at KLRT.com, "Each month, FOX 16 News at Nine and Arkansas Blue Cross will award one classroom a $500 grant to be utilized for classroom needs, activities and academic enrichment. One Class at a Time is open to teachers and schools within the state of Arkansas."

Where Are They Now

Former KSLA reporter Barry Simmons is in the spotlight.

Simmons has Barry worked at KSLA-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana, and KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri. During his two years reporting at NBC affiliate KOMU-TV, he also fit in a couple semesters freelancing for The Washington Times and interning for Dateline NBC's Washington, D.C., bureau.

What's Barry doing now? He is a reporter at WTVF in Nashville, TN.

Where Are They Now

Today we feature Tony Brooks.

Info for Tony's bio comes from a story done by KAIT over 2 years ago: "He holds the record for the most time on the anchor desk at KAIT. His name is Tony Brooks. The former educator became the face of Region 8 news during his long stint that also saw him trek the nation in bringing the news home.

He took the news on the road; appealed to our compassion for children at Arkansas Children's Hospital; recognized the hard work of area teachers; and, long before P. Allen Smith was on the scene, Tony brooks had us "Growing Smart."

"I received more mail about Growing Smart than anything I did because we talked about how you planted your tomatoes," said Brooks, the anchor at KAIT from 1983 through 1999. "What you put on them for fungus, what you spray your roses with for black spots. It was stuff that people could use."

Tony served up news that people could "use" for nearly 16 years. First as a reporter who, by himself, served as the Kennett bureau for K8 News."

What's Tony doing now? He left KAIT in 1999 to become the deputy director of AETN.

Where Are They Now

Where Are They Now is back and today we feature former KTHV'er Chris Shaw.

Out of college Chris worked as a reporter for KMOT in very cold Minot, North Dakota. After almost a year there, it was south to Cape Girardeau, Missouri and KFVS for more than two years. The next couple years I reported even farther south at KTHV in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Chris was born and raised in St. Louis and stayed there for college, graduating with a broadcast journalism degree from Webster University.

What's Chris doing now? He is a reporter for WXIX in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Stewart Gets Ear Full at First Briefing

Source: Arkansas News Bureau This time when Alice Stewart read the news, someone talked back.

The former Little Rock television anchor and new press secretary for Gov. Mike Huckabee defended her calling of a news conference Friday as a way to make the governor's office accessible to the media while the governor was out of state.

Except Friday, Huckabee wasn't out of state and Stewart's inaugural briefing drew grumblings from several reporters.

Stewart said Huckabee returned to Arkansas on Thursday night from a trip to South Carolina, where he touted health initiatives as part of his role as chairman of the National Governor's Association.

"I thought you said you were going to be available to us when he was out of state," said longtime Associated Press correspondent James Jefferson.

"That's going to be the main focus of these press conferences, when's he out of town," Stewart responded.

"But he's not out of state today?" Jefferson asked.

"Right," said the former reporter and weekend anchor for KARK.

In another exchange, Jefferson asked why Stewart would hold the news conference when the information she provided could have been delivered by e-mail or fax.

"Why do we need these briefings?" he said. " ... You're standing there reading, essentially, a press release from the governor. Isn't that right?"

"Right," Stewart said.

Jim Harris, Huckabee's brother-in-law and his director of press operations, cut off questioning immediately after that.

TV Grudge Match Reignites

Source: Broadcasting and Cable For months, station owners have praised Nexstar Broadcasting for standing up to cable operators in the battle that is known in TV circles as retransmission consent.

Nexstar Broadcasting is insistent on forcing cable systems to pay cash to retransmit its local stations' signals. Since January, three Nexstar stations have been stripped from cable systems that refused to pay. Last week, as the kickoff of the latest season of retransmission-consent negotiations was about to commence, Nexstar COO Duane Lammers was preparing to issue similar demands on behalf of most of his remaining 46 stations.

Nexstar considers its move a noble cause, but few seem willing to follow the broadcaster to the mat and risk the ratings and advertising pain of cable operators' not carrying their signals.

Lammers says he doesn't expect a lot of company in the battle: “There's a lot of people out there ready to fight to the last drop of our blood.”

The Nexstar fight lingers on. The company's stations are still off cable systems in Abilene and Texarkana, Texas, and Joplin, Mo. Cox Communications Director of Programming Debbie Cullen says she hasn't met with Nexstar since February. Cable operators have handed out a few thousand rabbit-ear antennas and lost a few thousand subscribers that have jumped to DirecTV or EchoStar services, both of which pay cash for retransmission consent. (On DBS, broadcast stations come on an optional tier. If the FCC lets cable do that, cable operators would happily pay for retransmission consent—and give away a lot more pairs of rabbit ears.)

But Nexstar's audience has plunged; Nielsen Media's May book shows its stations are down 30%-40% in key dayparts. But the markets are small enough that it's not causing a financial crunch to Nexstar as a whole. Expanding the war will magnify the pain.

Although antitrust laws prevent companies from teaming up against systems, Lammers hopes other broadcasters in Nexstar markets will take up the fight, dramatically increasing the pain to cable. Says Lammers, “It's market-by-market.”

Read the full article HERE.

4 Live at the Fair This Weekend

I had to do a double take and look at the calendar to make sure it was Saturday as KARK had its full weekday anchor team broadcasting the 10pm news LIVE from the Arkansas State Fair. I take it KARK will be broadcasting its newscasts LIVE throughout the fair.

AND ALSO want to mention it looks as though KARK has adopted, 'We've Got You Covered' as it new slogan. The station currently has a promo airing that stresses it makes LOCAL NEWS the priority.

Dwayne Graham for Sheriff?

Check out THIS post on the Lynch at Large blog. It says The former "Seven on Your Side" guy, Dwayne Graham, is now a candidate for Pulaski County Sheriff. And gives a number to call for info.

Saturday is Today's THV Day at the Arkansas State Fair

Well it seems Saturday will be Today's THV and The Point 94.1 Pay One Price Ride Day at the Arkansas State Fair. The Fair kicked off Friday with a KARK Ride-o-Rama and KARK will end the fair's run with another Ride-o-Rama Sunday October 16.

Trouble in NWA?

This from an e-mailer: "The KNWA bureau in Rogers Pinnacle Point can not go live because of continued technical problems. This despite a big announcement on air, staff that moved to Benton County to work out of the studio, and promises from management.

New Nightline Format Announced

Source: Cynthia Turner's Cynopsis Ted Koppel's last Nightline episode will air on November 22. ABC News will return on November 28 with the new post-Koppel edition of Nightline, and while no official information yet as to what that show will look like (single topic, multiple topics) and who will be hosting, Broadcasting & Cable reports staffers were told on Wednesday the show would have two anchors - based in NY and DC - and will include four segments.

It's KARK Night at the Arkansas State Fair

Friday night is KARK night at the Arkansas State Fair. The night is being dubbed "KARK-4 Ride-O-Rama" at the fair. KARK will also broadcast its 5pm, 6pm and 10pm newscasts LIVE from the from the fair today.

TodaysTHV.com Powered by Google

Today's THV.com has gotten another little makeover. Maybe it's been like this the last couple of weeks and I just have not had time to visit the site BUT the website now features a google search bar and the ability to search for a specific story on the site. ALSO is a site map at the bottom of the homepage. Still waiting for the LIVE streaming of newscasts. That would really come in handy when stuck at work where there is no tv.

Where Are They Now?

ATN needs suggestions for the Where Are They Now feature. Either leave the suggestions in the comments section OR e-mail them OR drop them in the anonymous tip box. The feature will resume next week!

KTAL ND Leaving

Newsblues adds more details to the comments left on one of the posts about Sean Kennedy leaving KTAL. It seems Kennedy will become assistant News Director at McGraw Hill's KGTV-10-ABC in San Diego.

Where Are They Now

A former behind the scenes guy at KTHV is featured today.

Rustin was in born Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he spent most of his time playing on Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs Village Golf Courses. He worked at KTHV as an assignment editor/photographer.

What's he doing now? Rustin is now a weeday reporter and weekend meteorologist at KNOE in Monroe, Louisiana.

KTAL Simulcast Continues on Beaumont Sister Station

This from the KBTV 4 website:"KBTV is back on the air in Southeast Texas transmitting the signal from our sister station KTAL the NBC affiliate in Shreveport, Louisiana. We will be running Beaumont news and weather information within the KTAL newscasts as well as using the crawl at the bottom of the screen. We are currently evaluating the damage at our Beaumont and Port Arthur facilities. As soon as we can broadcast news directly out of Southeast Texas using generators and limited power we will. In the meantime we will provide stories, evacuee information, weather and more via KTAL. We do have several crews working in Southeast Texas to cover the news under very difficult circumstances. Thank you for your continued patience."