KLRT Awarded AP Best Newscast

Source: KLRT FOX16 News was awarded the coveted “Best Newscast” award from the Associated Press this past Saturday night in a ceremony conducted in Downtown Little Rock. FOX16 News anchor Donna Terrell and chief meteorologist Troy Bridges were among those on hand at the Holiday Inn Presidential to accept the award. Terrell had this to say: “We proudly accepted the award on behalf of all the dedicated members of our team who’ve worked tirelessly to make our product worthy of this recognition.” FOX16’s weekend sports anchor Chris Kolkhorst walked away with two first place awards in the News Feature and Sports Coverage categories, while weekend news anchor Kelly Dudzik earned an honorable mention in the Continuing Coverage category.

FOX16 News continues to make significant strides in the market, and now lays claim to the market’s longest continuous anchor team with Donna Terrell, Kevin Kelly, Troy Bridges and David Raath. FOX16 News Director Ed Trauschke says that his team’s success comes from consistently focusing the needs of the viewer. “Segments like Kevin’s ‘Consumer Alert’, Donna’s ‘Family Healthcast’, or our “County-by –County” coverage are just a few examples of ways that we’ve been able to create a pinpoint focus for our viewers.”

FOX16 has been in the news business for just over four years now, having launched on March 29, 2004. It added early news at 5p and 530p just over a year ago. “It’s particularly satisfying that the AP chose FOX16 News over the three established news stations in the market”, said FOX16 General Manager Chuck Spohn, “It echoes exactly what we’re seeing in the ratings; more and more viewers continue to make us their new choice for news.” The award comes just weeks after FOX16 posted their strongest Nielsen ratings numbers to date. FOX16 News @ 9’s audience grew an additional +70% from where it was this same time last year, and with that surpassed or tied several competiting newscasts airing in the 10pm hour. The growth was even more impressive at 5p and 530p where FOX16 grew well over 100% from the most recent rating period.