not to be confused with tegna owned wfaa tv . for the contemporary radio also known as kfaa see air 1 . knwa tv fort smith fayetteville arkansas united states city rogers arkansas branding knwa general northwest arkansas news newscasts fox 24 knwa dt2 subchannel slogan your northwest arkansas news team . always . channels digital 50 uhf & kfta dt 27.2 psip virtual 51 psip subchannels 51.1 nbc in hd 51.2 fox in hd 51.3 grit 51.4 laff affiliations nbc dt1 fox dt2 grit dt3 laff dt4 owner nexstar broadcasting group nexstar broadcasting inc. first air date october 1 1989 ; 27 years ago 1989 10 01 as satellite of kpom tv call letters meaning northwest arkansas sister station s kfta tv former callsigns kfaa tv 1989 2004 former channel number s analog 51 uhf 1989 2009 transmitter power 1 000 kw 600 kw kfta dt2 height 267 m 300 m kfta dt2 facility id 29557 29560 kfta dt2 transmitter coordinates 36 24 47.8 n 93 57 16.8 w 36.413278 n 93.954667 w 36.413278 ; 93.954667 35 42 36 n 94 8 15 w 35.71000 n 94.13750 w 35.71000 ; 94.13750 kfta dt2 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.nwahomepage.com knwa tv is the nbc affiliated television station for northwest arkansas and the arkansas river valley . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 50 virtual channel 51.1 via psip from a transmitter southeast of garfield . owned by the nexstar broadcasting group the station is sister to the fort smith based fox affiliate kfta tv . the two stations share a studio on dickson street in downtown fayetteville . 1 it also operates a satellite studio in rogers its city of license as well as on kelley highway in fort smith . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 newscasts 5 references 5.1 further reading 6 external links history edit the station began on october 1 1989 as kfaa tv as a satellite of kpom tv in fort smith . 2 both stations were owned by the oklahoma city oklahoma based griffin television . its sign on marked the first time that nbc had been seen over the air in much of the northern part of the market since kfsm tv lost the area s nbc affiliation to kpom in 1983 . kpom only provided grade b coverage of fayetteville and could not be seen at all in rogers and points north . in 2004 griffin television sold kpom tv and kfaa tv to nexstar 3 and the stations changed their calls to knwa tv and kfta tv respectively in 2004 and knwa became the main station . at the same time the two stations operations both were merged in a new studio located in the historic campbell bell building on south block avenue in downtown fayetteville . kfta s original studio on kelley highway in fort smith remained in use as knwa s arkansas river valley bureau . in april 2006 nexstar announced that it would sell kfta to mission broadcasting though it would continue to operate the station under a local marketing agreement with knwa . under the plan kfta would become the fox affiliate for the area leaving knwa as the sole nbc affiliate for northwest arkansas . equity broadcasting owner of the class a fox affiliate kpbi ca challenged the sale of kfta to mission with the federal communications commission fcc . nonetheless the separation occurred on august 28 while both were under nexstar ownership . until the sale of kfta to mission was approved the stations continued to simulcast from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays . kfta now runs a separate programming schedule from knwa even though nexstar as of may 19 2013 update still owns both knwa and kfta outright . this station took its analog transmitter off the air for a few days in mid august to relocate it to another site for improved coverage . 4 this did not pose as much of a problem as it may have seemed given the high penetration of cable and satellite service in this area . the only station that has adequate coverage throughout the market from a single transmitter is arkansas educational television network s kaft . cable and satellite are all but essential for acceptable television in northwest arkansas due to its rugged terrain . for example dish network and directv carried kpbi ca while it was the fox affiliate even though those carriers usually do not offer low power stations . after the split kpbi ca was dropped in favor of kfta . on the other hand the split improved fox s coverage and enables high definition fox programming in this market as kpbi ca is low power and does not have a digital transmitter unlike knwa and kfta . according to their fcc filings both stations have digital transmitters licensed for one million watts each compared to five million watts for an analog uhf transmitter . thus their digital coverage areas well exceed the analog coverage areas of both kfta 2.5 million watts and especially knwa . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 5 51.1 1080i 16 9 knwa dt main knwa tv programming nbc 51.2 720p kfta sd simulcast of kfta tv fox 51.3 480p 4 3 grit 51.4 laff knwa and kfta each carry the other s signal in standard definition as subcarriers of their digital stations alongside their main signals in high definition . this is necessary because knwa s analog signal only aired at 182 000 watts . kfta has a transmitter south of artist point . analog to digital conversion edit knwa tv discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over uhf channel 51 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 remained on its pre transition uhf channel 50 6 7 using psip to display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 51 . programming edit syndicated programming on knwa includes who wants to be a millionaire entertainment tonight judge judy the people s court and the doctors . knwa also airs the statewide news program arkansas today along with nexstar sister stations kark ktal and ktve . newscasts edit kpom and kfaa relaunched a local newscast in 1999 . an earlier local broadcast had aired under various titles until 1992 . in 2003 after morris multimedia sold kark in little rock to nexstar the company eventually consolidated most sports operations from that station with knwa . the two nbc affiliates share certain news resources with some reports filed by kark personnel occasionally used during knwa broadcasts . in 2007 the two stations began co produced a daily newscast at noon monday through friday arkansas at noon with news anchors in little rock and fayetteville . eventually kark began airing its own broadcast at that time . since then this station has not aired a midday newscast . kfta maintains a bureau at its original studios on kelley highway in fort smith . on april 2 2012 knwa debuted a half hour weekday noon newscast titled arkansas today produced by little rock sister station kark tv anchor mallory hardin and meteorologist co host greg dee also appear on kark s weekday morning newscast ; the statewide newscast features news stories filed by reporters from all four nexstar owned nbc stations serving arkansas as well as a knwa produced sports segment focusing on university of arkansas athletics called razorback nation . knwa also provides a weather insert for northwest arkansas during the broadcast . in addition to airing on kark and knwa the program is also simulcast on ktal tv shreveport texarkana and ktve monroe el dorado the coverage areas of ktve and ktal include several counties in southern arkansas ten in ktal s viewing area fourteen in ktve s though both stations primarily serve parts of northern louisiana and ktal also serves parts of northeast texas . 8 on october 24 2012 knwa and kfta started producing its newscast in high definition . 9 references edit http nwahomepage.com fulltext news nxd id 376022 ap nbc affiliates in arkansas re launch local news with ap s enps archived august 27 2006 at the wayback machine . nexstar plans to buy fayetteville s nbc 24 51 ; griffin holdings co. to sell fayetteville television station arkansas business via highbeam research september 8 2003 . channel 51 off air august 14 2006 rabbitears.info . retrieved 25 august 2016 . l. lamor williams 2009 02 07 . northwest arkansas news source . nwanews.com . archived from the original on february 12 2009 . retrieved 2009 07 16 . dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . nexstar launches statewide ark . newscast tvnewscheck april 2 2012 . error . retrieved 25 august 2016 . further reading edit deal could mean new fox affiliate in nwa april 21 2006 fort smith tv station plans begin to take shape july 11 2006 kpbi kfta fight for fox network july 31 2006 fox network likely to switch in fort smith august 7 2006 fox switch planned monday august 26 2006 external links edit official website query the fcc s tv station database for knwa tv v t e television stations in northwest arkansas the arkansas river valley mcdonald county missouri and eastern oklahoma including fort smith fayetteville and rogers reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations fayetteville springdale rogers tahlequah k04dy nbc translator based in northeastern state university kfsm tv 5.1 cbs 5.2 mntv ant tuff tv kaft 13.1 pbs aetn 13.2 aetn plus world 13.3 create 13.4 airs kajl ld 16.1 telemundo 16.2 grit 16.3 gettv 16.4 buzzr k22hs d 22.1 gcn khog 29.1 abc 29.2 cw kwnl cd 31.1 uni 31.2 metv kegw ld 30 kkaf cd 33 kffs cd 36 xx .1 mundomax xx .2 metv kxnw 34.1 mntv ant tuff tv 34.2 cbs kwog 39.1 ds k48mr d 48.1 the family channel knwa 51.1 nbc 51.2 fox 51.3 grit 51.4 laff fort smith van buren sallisaw mena k04ra d 32.1 a1 koet 3 pbs oeta kfsm 5.1 cbs 5.2 mntv ant tuff tv kxun ld 43.1 uni 43.2 metv kaft 13.1 pbs aetn 13.2 aetn plus world 13.3 create 13.4 airs kflu ld 20.1 bounce tv 20.2 grit 20.3 escape 20.4 laff kfta 24.1 fox 24.2 nbc 24.3 escape 24.4 bounce tv krah cd 33 kfdf cd 44 xx .1 mundomax 31.2 metv khbs 40.1 abc 40.2 cw adjacent locals little rock kets 2.1 pbs 2.2 create 2.3 aetn world 2.4 airs kark tv 4.1 nbc 4.2 laff kthv 11.1 cbs 11.2 ant 11.3 justice springfield mo kytv 3.1 nbc 3.2 weathernation tv 3.3 cozi tv kolr 10.1 cbs 10.2 laff 10.3 grit tulsa kotv dt 6.1 cbs 6.2 cw 6.3 news ktul 8.1 abc 8.2 comet 8.3 ant kqcw dt 19.1 cw joplin koam tv 7.1 cbs 7.2 fox kode tv 12.1 abc 12.2 grit 12.3 bounce tv kfjx 14.1 fox defunct stations kpbi 46 fox mntv k67eo 67 cbs via kfsm tv bentonville oklahoma broadcast television areas by city ada sherman tx amarillo tx fort smith ar eastern ok joplin mo northeast ok lawton wichita falls tx oklahoma city metro texarkana tx ar shreveport la tulsa east central ok see also little rock tv springfield tv v t e nbc network affiliates in the state of arkansas kark 4 little rock ktal 6 texarkana shreveport la kait 8.2 jonesboro ktve 10 el dorado monroe la knwa 51 fort smith fayetteville see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in arkansas