Longtime KTHV Anchor Retires Friday
Source: KTHV.com Veteran Little Rock newscaster Anne Jansen will retire from broadcasting February 1st after a 25-year career. Since 1982, she has anchored and reported her entire career for Today’s THV.
This week, well-known Arkansans are honoring her 25 years of service with personal farewell messages to Anne. You can see those video messages on Today's THV at 6 and on todaysthv.com. Click on the THVideo icon to the right to view those messages.
After a lifetime of news events and stories, Jansen said the time has come for more family life.
“For the immediate future, I plan on spending less time in front of a mirror, rediscovering the joys of reading for pleasure, and cooking without a microwave. I’ll help my sons with their homework, and may even manage to clean out a few closets,” said Jansen.
Did Channel 5 in Fort Smith Drop Ball OR Make Right Decision?
This from a TV viewer in Fort Smith: Channel 5 in Fort Smith, showed tonight how they're becoming a NWA station too. Their first two news stories had to do with trials in NWA.
197 of the Barracks at Fort Chaffee burned to the ground in a massive fire fueled by the high winds. Channel 5 made it their 4th story of the night. Channel 40 it was the lead story and they had team coverage on it.
I think the 5 news director really dropped the ball on what was really the lead story or they were just going to lead with NWA news.
KNWA Hires New News Director
From the tip box: KNWA got a new news director. His name is Brook Thomas.
KTHV Lends KATV Tower Space
Arkansas Business.com reports KTHV is letting KATV use its auxiliary broadcast tower to get its signal out. The article says Channel 7 began transmitting its signal from the site Monday night.
The two GM's had this to say: "This kind of cooperation between KTHV and KATV is most appreciated and evidence broadcasters are here to serve the community," said Dale Nicholson, general manager at KATV.
"That's how much we believe in local TV," said Larry Audas, general manager at KTHV in a news release. "We go nose to nose with KATV every day in news, sales and every competitive aspect of broadcasting. But THV's first obligation is to Arkansas viewers ... . Competitive results will take care of themselves."
KATV Analog Signal Back On
Received several emails stating KATV turned its analog signal back on..following the crash of its tower. The e-mailers noted problems with the signal as I did. Mine at times looked more like a scrambled satellite signal..finally this morning it was back to normal.
Additional: How crazy....KATV has a news article on its website about the return of the analog signal. What's wild is the article on the website is from the Associated Press!
Television station KATV resumed broadcasting an analog signal 10 days after losing its antenna while crews worked to restring guy wires.
Once the signal returned Monday night, some viewers complained that the signal was snowy. The station said that restoring a strong signal is "still just a work in progress."
KATV's 2,000-foot tower at Redfield collapsed January 11th, knocking out the ABC affiliate's analog and digital signals. The collapse also disrupted the analog signal of Public Broadcasting Service affiliate KETS. KETS's analog signal was not seen Monday night in Little Rock.
At the time it was built, KATV's tower was the second-tallest structure in the world. The station has said a new tower will not be as tall. The station has not decided whether to rebuild at Redfield, about 20 miles south of Little Rock, or to build a tower on Shinall Mountain, just west of the city.
KTAL/Channel 6/Shreveport ND Fired
This from a tipster:KTAL News Director Andy Pontz was suddenly and mysteriously fired on
Wednesday (1/16/08). No replacement or interim has been named. The dept. will be headed up by the news managers until further notice.
KFSM Strong in 11 County Area; Second in NWA
Arkansas Business.com reports KFSM-TV, Channel 5 lead the ratings in the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the November Nielsen ratings for the 11 county area....BUT came in second behind KNWA in Northwest Arkansas. Read more HERE
KNWA Reporter Leaving
This from a tipster: KNWA reporter Whitney Ray is leaving for a job in Florida, per himself on tonight's 5:00 news, but didn't say exactly where he is going. Ray had been working at KNWA for 3 1/2 years after majoring in journalism at the University of Arkansas.
Timber!!!! KATV Tower Tumbles to Ground
Source: KATV.com A 2,000-foot television tower that was the second-tallest structure in the world when it was built has collapsed as workers were restringing guy wires.
The collapse of the KATV tower Friday afternoon about 20 miles south of Little Rock knocked two area television stations off the air.
KATV news director Randy Dixon said one person on the ground suffered a minor injury Friday when the Channel 7 tower collapsed.
After the collapse, the station was working to establish a feed to restore its signal to the portion of its audience that obtains programming by satellite and cable.
An engineer said damage and injuries were limited because of the tower's design. Wayne Morgan, an engineer for Vinco Inc. who was at the scene this afternoon, said that it looks like the tower did exactly what it was designed to do. He said it was designed to crumple up and fall pretty much straight down.
Morgan said the guy wires are designed so they don't put too much tension on the tower, pulling it in one direction or another, and it fell straight down like it was supposed to.
Competitors of KATV, an ABC affiliate, immediately offered help. Rob Heverling, news director at NBC affiliate KARK-TV, Channel 4, said the station immediately contacted KATV and sent engineers to the scene. Heverling said all competition is out the window when something like this happens.
Larry Audas, general manager at KTHV-TV, Channel 11, a CBS station, did the same. Audas said he knows it's the most difficult of circumstances for any TV station to have its transmission tower totally out of action.
The collapse also knocked out the analog signal of KETS, a Public Broadcasting Service affiliate with studios at Conway which is the flagship station of the Arkansas Educational Television Network. AETN said it could be several days before its analog signal was restored to viewers not using cable or satellite services.
Equity Broadcasting is redistributing the KATV broadcast signal to cable systems across Arkansas, so everyone should have station programming back on the air Friday night.
UPDATE: 9PM The cable system in Hope just got the KATV signal back on the air. There's still seems to be an issue with the audio.
Feels good to get back in the groove of blogging again. This past Christmas season exhausted me to what I thought was the very end of life. Anyway I survived, barely, so let the blogging begin. Send in those tips. BTW, I've got a much needed vacation planned later in the month. Hopefully where I plan to go they will have an internet connection!
KTBS Channel 3 Booted off Dish Network
As of January 1st there's no more KTBS/Channel 3/Shreveport on Dish Network. Here's the info from KTBS.com:
As of midnight, January 1, 2008, KTBS is no longer available on DISH Network's local channel lineup. KTBS continues to negotiate with DISH Network in good faith, hoping to reach a fair agreement as soon as possible.
As a KTBS viewer, you may continue to receive our signal, FREE of charge, with an antenna. Our signal is also available through other cable and satellite providers.
We are NOT asking you, the viewer, for any money. We are only asking DISH Network to pay a fair share of what it is already charging you for taking our signal and retransmitting it back to you.
We have appreciated your comments. We understand that many DISH Network subscribers are frustrated by this situation. Because we do care about you and your opinion, we would like to speak with you personally. If you will complete the form below, a member of the KTBS staff will call you back to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you in advance for your patience as we speak to each of our concerned DISH Network viewers personally.
If you wish to speak to DISH Network, you may contact it at 1-888-284-7116.
In addition, answers to the most frequently asked questions are available by clicking here.
KTAL Morning Weather Anchor MIA
A couple of weeks ago KTAL/Channel 6/Shreveport weather anchor Rustin Duke was arrested for DUI. I have not seen him on the air since. Has he been let go?
KATV.com Revamped
Yea I know this is old news BUT I've gotta get some news going on here. Not sure when it happened but Channel 7 finally redesigned its website. The now features blogs too.
