HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

KAIT (channel 8) is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
in
Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro () is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of ...
, United States, affiliated with ABC,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, and
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast television broadcast syndication, syndication service feed of The CW, whose controlling stake of 75% is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery holding their ow ...
. It is owned by
Gray Media Gray Media, Inc., doing business as Gray Television, is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 statio ...
alongside
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
affiliate KJTB-LD (channel 36) and KJBW-LD (channel 35). The three stations share studios on New Haven Church Road (
County Road A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...
766) north of Jonesboro; KAIT's transmitter is located in Egypt, Arkansas.


History

KAIT first signed on July 15, 1963, as an
independent station An independent station is a broadcast station, usually a television station, not affiliated with a larger broadcast television network, network. As such, it only broadcasts broadcast syndication, syndicated programs it has purchased; brokered pr ...
, a venture of Fort Smith businessman George Hernreich. It has been affiliated with ABC since 1965. Most television markets in the country received at least two VHF commercial channels. However, the Jonesboro market could only receive ''one'' VHF license because it was sandwiched between Springfield (channels 3 and 10) to the west, Memphis (channels 3, 5, 10, and 13) to the east, Cape Girardeau (channels 3, 6, 8, and 12) to the north, and
Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...
(channels 2, 4, 7, and 11) to the south. KAIT was fortunate to receive this license, and as a result became the only television station to serve Jonesboro until KTEJ signed on the air in May 1976. The Hernreich family sold the station to Channel Communications in 1984. That company, in turn, sold KAIT to Cosmos Broadcasting, the broadcasting arm of
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
-based insurer
Liberty Corporation The Liberty Corporation was a media corporation originally based in Greenville, South Carolina. At its peak, Liberty owned 15 network-affiliated television stations across the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. Cable advertisin ...
, in 1986. Liberty exited the insurance business in 2000, bringing the Cosmos stations directly under the Liberty banner. Previous owner
Raycom Media Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom ...
obtained the station in 2005 through its purchase of Liberty. Before the digital transition, the Little Rock-area VHF stations, including KATV (channel 7) and KARK (channel 4), adequately covered parts of the KAIT viewing area. Several
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
systems in the KAIT viewing area, including Jonesboro and Blytheville, have carried KATV for decades. In compliance with syndex and
must-carry In cable television, many governments, including the ones of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, apply a must-carry regulation stating that forces a cable TV provider to carry the public interest programming, like locally licensed te ...
regulations, some systems may black out KATV and KARK when either station airs the same program as KAIT, usually during the daytime and prime time hours, except for breaking news, weather bulletins, and regularly-scheduled newscasts. Other cable systems in parts of the KAIT viewing area that are within the Little Rock television market that also carry KATV, such as in Searcy and Heber Springs, carry both stations without restrictions. KAIT has been digital-only since June 12, 2009. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 9 to channel 8 for post-transition operations.


Sale to Gray Television

On June 25, 2018,
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
-based
Gray Television Gray Media, Inc., doing business as Gray Television, is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 statio ...
announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including KAIT, and Gray's 93 television stations) under the former's corporate umbrella. The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion – in which Gray shareholders acquired preferred stock then held by Raycom – resulted in Gray's entry into Arkansas with KAIT. The sale was approved on December 20, and was completed on January 2, 2019.


Transmitter upgrades

On October 4, 2021, KAIT announced it would upgrade its main transmitter to improve its broadcast signal, forcing many antenna viewers to rescan their channels before November 9 so that they would not lose access to the three subchannels, and causing KAIT to broadcast over the K24NY-D transmitter for one week.


Subchannel history


KAIT-DT2

KAIT-DT2 is the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
-affiliated second digital subchannel of KAIT.
Over the air Over the Air was an annual mobile technology-focused overnight Hackathon, hack day event held in London from 2008 to 2016. The two-day event would include practical and educational talks and a hacking competition. Sponsors of the event have inc ...
, KAIT-DT2 broadcasts a
720p 720p (720 lines progressive) is a progressive HD signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HD (1.78:1). All major HD broadcasting standards (such as SMPTE 292M) includ ...
high definition signal (downconverted from the native
1080i In high-definition television (HDTV) and video display technology, 1080i is a video display format with 1080 lines of vertical resolution and Interlaced video, interlaced scanning method. This format was once a standard in HDTV. It was particular ...
resolution of the NBC network, to preserve bandwidth so that KAIT-DT3 can transmit in 720p HD over-the-air) on channel 8.2; however, a direct-to-cable full 1080i high definition feed of this subchannel is available on select cable providers. KAIT began carrying NBC programming on its second digital subchannel on January 26, 2015. The subchannel used to broadcast 24/7 weather coverage, and occasionally local sports coverage, starting in 2006.


KAIT-DT3

KAIT-DT3 is the CW-affiliated third digital subchannel of KAIT, broadcasting in 720p high definition on channel 8.3 (hence the on-air branding KAIT CW 8.3). All programming on KAIT-DT3 is received through The CW's programming feed for smaller media markets,
The CW Plus The CW Plus is a secondary national broadcast television broadcast syndication, syndication service feed of The CW, whose controlling stake of 75% is owned by Nexstar Media Group, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery holding their ow ...
, which provides a set schedule of syndicated programming acquired by The CW for broadcast during time periods outside of the network's regular programming hours; however, Gray Television handles local advertising and promotional services for the subchannel. Upon its inception, KAIT-DT3 had been broadcast in the 16:9
widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...
standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV; also standard definition or SD) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. ''Standard'' refers to offering a similar resolution to the ...
picture format as, meanwhile, a direct-to-cable 720p high definition feed of this subchannel had been made available on select cable providers; however, ever since an upgrade to KAIT's
multiplexer In electronics, a multiplexer (or mux; spelled sometimes as multiplexor), also known as a data selector, is a device that selects between several Analog signal, analog or Digital signal (electronics), digital input signals and forwards the sel ...
equipment sometime in October 2019, KAIT-DT3 has been broadcasting in HD over-the-air as well. The subchannel used to broadcast
The Tube The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
beginning in 2006, until the network’s shutdown on October 1, 2007. The subchannel would not rebroadcast until 11 years later. On July 25, 2018, KAIT announced it would be bringing The CW programming (via their national CW+ service) into the Jonesboro market through a third subchannel, starting on September 1, 2018; CW programming had previously been seen on cable systems under the unofficial call sign "KJOS" (which stood for "K-Jonesboro's WB 21"). "KJOS" seamlessly became associated with the new CW network (branded as "Jonesboro's CW 21") on September 18, 2006, after the merger of The WB and
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...
into that one network. On September 11, 2020, KAIT-DT3 started broadcasting
Tegna Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publi ...
's '' Daily Blast Live'' at noon.


News operation

KAIT presently broadcasts hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition to reporting on local news stories, members of KAIT's reporting staff are also employed as photojournalists for the station. On October 15, 2007, beginning with the 5 p.m. newscast, KAIT's local newscasts were rebranded, replacing the former ''K8 News'' branding with ''Region 8 News'', a branding the station had used during much of the 1980s. The station's longtime slogan "Good Neighbors You Can Turn To" (also "Your Good Neighbor Station") was also replaced with a new slogan ("Always Tracking. Always Watching. Always On."). On May 1, 2023, beginning with its 5 p.m. newscast, the station switched back to the name ''K8 News'', also switching to a new slogan ("Live. Local. Now.") On September 16, 2011, KAIT announced that upgrade its newscasts to high definition, and broadcast from a new set; the following night, fellow ABC affiliate KATV in Little Rock started broadcasting its local newscasts in HD. On October 17, 2011, beginning with its 11 a.m. newscast, KAIT became the fourth station in Arkansas (the first in Jonesboro) to broadcast its local newscast in high definition. Although not owned by the same company, KAIT frequently forms a partnership with the Jonesboro Radio Group for community projects and promotions. The three Jonesboro Radio Group stations involved in the partnership are KEGI (100.5 FM), KDXY (104.9 FM) and KJBX (106.3 FM). An audio simulcast of KAIT's 6 p.m. newscast airs weekday evenings on KJBX.


Notable former on-air staff

*
Rodger Bumpass Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as well, includi ...
announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...
, film processor, cameraman, audio technician, and technical director * Hogan Gidley – news/weather anchor


Technical information


Subchannels

The station's signal is
multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...
:


Former translator

For many years, KAIT also operated a low-power
translator station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
, K11JW, in nearby Blytheville. It is not to be confused with present-day K11JW-D in Russellville, currently serving as a translator for
Arkansas PBS Arkansas PBS (sometimes shortened to AR PBS) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is operated by the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, a statutory non-cabinet agency of the Arkan ...
station KAFT.


Out-of-market coverage

KAIT's home market only comprises Craighead,
Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
, Greene,
Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...
, Lawrence, Randolph, and Sharp counties in Arkansas. With KAIT's 28,200
watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
s worth of effective radiated power, KAIT's signal can extend into nearby portions of all neighboring markets (e.g. the Memphis, Little Rock, Springfield, MO, and
Cape Girardeau, MO Cape Girardeau ( , ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, Cape Girardeau and Scott County, Missouri, Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...
Paducah, KY Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern United States at the confluenc ...
markets). Even after the digital transition of 2009, KAIT's over-the-air signal can still be picked up as far south as
Forrest City Forrest City is a city in and the county seat of St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a notable Confederate war hero who later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Shortly ...
, as far north as
Hendrickson, Missouri Hendrickson is an unincorporated community in northern Butler County, Missouri, United States. History Hendrickson was laid out in 1873 when the railroad was extended to that point, and named after Nathan Henrickson, the original owner of the to ...
, as far west as Mountain View and as far east as
Tiptonville, Tennessee Tiptonville is a town in and the county seat of Lake County, Tennessee, Lake County, Tennessee, United States. Its population was 2,439 as of the 2000 census and 4,464 in 2010, showing an increase of 2,025. It is also home to the Northwest Correc ...
, and Caruthersville, Missouri. Some of the northern suburbs of Memphis can also pick up at least a grade B signal. KAIT was dropped from New Wave Communications in Southeast Missouri, in favor of in-market ABC affiliate WSIL and NBC affiliate
WPSD WPSD-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to Paducah, Kentucky, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase region, Southern Illinois, the Missouri Bootheel, and northwest Tennessee. Own ...
on December 31, 2017.


See also

* 2020 Jonesboro tornado, an event covered extensively by KAIT


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1963 establishments in Arkansas American Broadcasting Company affiliates The CW affiliates Gray Media NBC affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1963 AIT