KAIT
{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:
- Template:Infobox broadcasting network
- Template:Infobox television channel
- Template:Infobox television station
If an internal transclusion led you here, you may wish to change it to point directly to the intended page.
{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.
KAIT "Region 8" in Jonesboro, Arkansas is the ABC and NBC affiliated television station for Northeastern Arkansas and Southeastern Missouri, offering a mix of news and syndicated programming and local broadcasts. Its transmitter is located in Egypt, Arkansas.
History
KAIT first signed on July 15, 1963 as an independent station, a venture of Fort Smith businessman George Hernreich. It has been affiliated with ABC since 1965. 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-based insurer The Liberty Corporation, in 1986. Liberty exited the insurance business in 2000, bringing the Cosmos stations directly under the Liberty banner. Current owner Raycom Media obtained the station in 2005 through its purchase of Liberty.[1] For many years, KAIT also operated a low-powered translator station K11JW operating on Channel 11 in nearby Blytheville, Arkansas.[2]
KATV (channel 7) in Little Rock and the signals of other Little Rock area VHF stations adequately covered parts of the KAIT viewing area before the digital transition. Several cable systems in the KAIT viewing area, including Jonesboro and Blytheville, have carried KATV for decades. In compliance with syndex and must-carry regulations, some systems may blackout KATV when both channels are carrying the same program, usually during the daytime and primetime hours, except for breaking news, weather bulletins, and newscasts. Other cable systems in parts of the KAIT viewing area that are within in the Little Rock television market that also carry KATV, such as in Searcy and Heber Springs, carry both stations without restrictions.
KAIT began carrying NBC programming on its second digital subchannel on January 26, 2015. The subchannel's programming will include simulcasts of the newscasts from Memphis sister station WMC-TV, with local insertions from KAIT.
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KAIT-DT | Main KAIT programming / ABC |
| 8.2 | 720p | 16:9 | KAIT-DT2 | NBC Region 8 |
Analog-to-digital conversion
KAIT shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition VHF channel 9 to former VHF analog channel 8 for post-transition operations.[4]
News operation
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 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 of Jonesboro, Arkansas, for community projects and promotions. The three of the five radio stations owned by the Jonesboro Radio Group 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 Monday-Friday evenings on KJBX.
Notable former on-air staff
- Rodger Bumpass - announcer, film processor, cameraman, audio technician, and technical director (best known for providing the voice of Squidward Tentacles on Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants)