KTHV

KTHV ("Today's THV"), is the CBS network affiliate television station serving the Little Rock/Pine Bluff television market and central Arkansas. The station is owned by Gannett Company, which purchased the station in 1994. KTHV's transmitter and antenna are located atop Shinall Mountain on the same tower as KARK.

The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 12, using its former analog assignment of 11 as its virtual channel via PSIP. A 24-hour local news channel, THV2 is carried on KTHV-DT digital channel 11.2. KTHV is available on Comcast in Little Rock on analog cable channel 10 and digital cable channel 233.

History
KTHV first signed on the air on November 27, 1955, and was licensed to the owners of KWKH-AM in Shreveport, the owners of the Arkansas Democrat, and businessman C.E. Lowry, among others. Its callsign is derived from former radio sister station KTHS (whose calls stood Kome To Hot Springs), which later became KAAY after being sold to LIN Broadcasting in the 1960s.

The station's studios at 720 Izard Street in downtown Little Rock were built a year before KTHV's first broadcast, and are where the television station still broadcasts from today. The building was the first in Arkansas to be constructed for both radio and television. KTHV's studios were on the first floor, while KTHS-AM's studios were on the second floor. Though the interior of the station has been periodically upgraded, especially with improved technology, the exterior of the station remains much as it appeared when built in the 1950s.

KTHV was locally owned until December 1994, when Gannett Company acquired the station in an all-stock transaction. The purchase of KTHV marked a re-entry into the Little Rock/Pine Bluff television market for Gannett, which previously had owned and sold KARK (channel 4), the market's NBC affiliate, during the 1980s. The purchase of the station was believed to be positioning on Gannett's part to have a station in the former home of President Bill Clinton.

On March 1, 1997, chief meteorologist Ed Buckner went on the air to cover a significant tornado outbreak that cause damage to much of Arkansas. There were 19 tornadoes that day, the final death toll was 26, though it is believed that it would have been much higher without the advance warning provided by Buckner and the rest of the KTHV weather staff.

In 2002, KTHV became the first station in the Little Rock television market to erect a digital antenna and broadcast a digital television signal. KTHV has operated for many years a low-powered translator station, K13HP, operating on channel 13 in Euclid Heights, Arkansas, near Hot Springs.

Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Digital channels In 2005, KTHV launched a 24-hour news and weather channel, called THV2, which like competitor KATV's KATV News Now channel (which is now temporarily available only online and on Comcast Digital Cable until KATV's digital signal can be fully restored as a result of a tower collapse in January 2008) features a mix of rebroadcasts of KTHV's newscasts and live local news and weather updates. The channel airs over virtual digital channel 11-2 (physical RF digital channel 12-2), on Comcast Digital Cable in the Little Rock area, and online at www.todaysthv.com.

KTHV's broadcasts are now digital-only, as of June 12, 2009.[1]

Programming
KTHV broadcasts CBS' entire schedule, but schedules one hour of CBS' Saturday morning lineup on Sunday mornings before the airing of CBS News Sunday Morning. Current syndicated programming includes Deal or No Deal, Dr. Phil, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with weekend telecasts of CSI: NY, CSI: Miami, Monk and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

News operation
KTHV broadcasts a total of 26½ hours of local news per week (with 4½ hours on weekdays, three hours on Saturdays and one hour on Sundays). Since 1997, the station has identified on-air as Today's THV, a branding that may be inspired by Milwaukee NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV (owned by Journal Broadcast Group), which has used the "Today's TMJ4" branding since July 1992; however unlike WTMJ-TV, station promos, anchors and reporters during the station's newscasts identify the station as simply "Today's THV" omitting the channel number "11", although a stylized "11" is included in the station's logo.

KTHV's weather forecasts during the station's local newscasts are typically presented outside, in the "LiveView Backyard". The backyard is simply a courtyard located directly outside the station's Izard Street studios, with a chroma key (bluescreen) wall and a robotic camera. Weather forecasts for The Early Show and updates seen on THV2 are done from a chroma key wall inside the weather center. The concept was inspired by KTHV's sister station NBC affiliate KUSA-TV in Denver (also owned by Gannett Company), who also does its forecasts in the courtyard of the station's studios.

On April 6, 2009 KTHV expanded its 6 p.m. newscast to one hour with the addition of a 6:30 p.m. newscast, which competes against syndicated programming on KARK, ABC affiliate KATV (channel 7) and Fox affiliate KLRT (channel 16).[2] On April 3, 2010 KTHV launched a Saturday edition of Today's THV This Morning, airing from 6-8 a.m., the Saturday edition of The Early Show was moved back one hour in order to accommodate the newscast; the newscast competes against KATV's Saturday edition of Channel 7 News Daybreak.[3]

On September 9, 2010 KTHV announced that it will begin producing its local newscasts in high definition later in the fall, this will make KTHV the first television station in the Little Rock market and the state of Arkansas to broadcast their local newscasts in high definition (KTHV currently only broadcasts some syndicated programming such as Dr. Phil and The Ellen Degeneres Show as well as CBS network programming in HD).[4] On September 13, 2010, KTHV became the first television station in Arkansas to begin its weekday morning newscast before 5 a.m., by adding a half-hour extension of Today's THV This Morning at 4:30 a.m., extending the newscast to 2½ hours.[5]

[edit] Newscast titles

 * Channel 11 with George Moore (1955-Early 1960s)
 * Dateline News (1970s-early 1980s)
 * Newswatch 11 (early 1980s-1982)
 * 11 Action News (1982–1997)[6]
 * Today's THV (1997–present)
 * 11 on 11: The THV 10:00 Difference (10 p.m. newscast; 1997–present)

[edit] Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.===News team=== ====[edit] Current on-air staff (as of May 1, 2010)[7] ==== Faith Abubey of KTHV-DT during a live television broadcast on May 30, 2010Anchors LiveWarn Weather Sports team Reporters
 * Arkansas 11, We've Got the Touch (1984–1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Setting the Standard (1985–1989)
 * Arkansas' Very Own (1990–1997)
 * Arkansas' Fastest Growing News Station (1997–2003; news slogan)
 * Today's THV: See the Difference, Feel the Difference (1997–2004; general slogan)
 * Today's THV: The Difference (2004–present)
 * Pam Baccam - Saturday mornings; also "Backpack Journalist" general assignment and education reporter
 * Stefanie Bryant - weekdays at noon; also reporter
 * Alyson Courtney - weekday mornings "Today's THV This Morning"
 * Charles Crowson - weekday mornings "Today's THV This Morning"; also "Backpack Journalist" reporter
 * Mike Duncan - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends on "The THV 10:00 Difference"; also reporter
 * Liz Massey - weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and "The THV 10:00 Difference"
 * Craig O'Neill - weeknights at 6, 6:30 and "The THV 10:00 Difference"
 * Dawn Scott - weeknights at 5 and 6:30 p.m.
 * Ed Buckner (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, 6:30 and "The THV 10:00 Difference"
 * Tom Brannon (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "Today's THV This Morning" and noon
 * Meredith Mitchell - Weather Anchor; Saturday mornings and 6 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 and weekends on "The THV 10:00 Difference"
 * Wess Moore - Sports Director; weeknights at 5, 6 and "The THV 10:00 Difference"
 * Mark Edwards - Sports Anchor; Saturday mornings and 6 p.m., Sundays at 5:30 and weekends on "The THV 10:00 Difference"; also sports reporter
 * Faith Abubey - multimedia journalist
 * Ashley Blackstone - general assignment reporter
 * Jessica Duff - web reporter; also morning editor
 * Melissa Dunbar-Gates - general assignment reporter
 * Ebone Monet - general assignment reporter
 * Max Seigle - multimedia journalist; also producer
 * B.J. Steed - multimedia journalist
 * Katherina Yancy - general assignment reporter

[edit] Former on-air staff
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.==References==
 * Joni Anderson
 * Larry Audas
 * Ron Blome
 * Larry Brannan
 * Bob Bray - anchor
 * Mike Browning
 * Terry Caldwell
 * Chris Curtis
 * Becky Ditchfield
 * Chuck Dovish
 * Stephanie Farrar
 * Penny Hatcher
 * Jeff Herzer
 * Lucy Himstedt (Riley)
 * Gary Hogan
 * Anne Jansen
 * Jim Lytle
 * Steve Martone - meteorologist
 * Max Morgan - sports anchor
 * Jeanne Norton
 * Andy Pearson - evening anchor
 * Kris Phillips
 * Jim Prather
 * Ken Rainey - meteorologist
 * Robyn Richardson - morning anchor
 * Joe Quinn
 * B.J. Sams - evening, then weekday morning anchor (early 1980s-2009; retired)
 * Mary Shalvarjian
 * Carol Strong
 * Ray Tucker
 * Tyler Tucker
 * Dina Tyler
 * 1) ^ http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/251640/
 * 2) ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/190797-KTHV_to_Launch_6_30_P_M_News.php
 * 3) ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/Station_to_Station/30964-KTHV_Launches_6_A_M_Saturday_Cast.php
 * 4) ^ http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2010/09/09/45137/kthv-introducing-local-news-in-high-def
 * 5) ^ http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2010/09/13/45217/kthv-adds-30-minutes-to-this-morning
 * 6) ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ozrt_-F-ic
 * 7) ^ http://www.todaysthv.com/company/bios/default.aspx