television network statewide arkansas united states branding aetn channels digital see table below subchannels see table below affiliations pbs owner arkansas educational television commission first air date december 4 1966 former affiliations net 1966 1970 transmitter power see table below height see table below facility id see table below transmitter coordinates see table below licensing authority fcc public license information educational television network profile educational television network cdbs website www.aetn.org the arkansas educational television network or aetn 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 an agency of the arkansas state government which holds the licenses for all the pbs member stations licensed in the state . the broadcast signals of the six stations that are part of the public television network cover almost all of the state as well as portions of mississippi tennessee missouri oklahoma texas and louisiana . aetn s offices and network operations are based out of the r. lee reaves center for educational telecommunications located adjacent to the university of central arkansas in conway ; its programming is distributed via a thirteen site microwave interconnection relay system around the state which covers most of arkansas as well as parts of all surrounding states . approximately two thirds of aetn s funding comes from state tax dollars to support the broadcast infrastructure and all services that are provided for educators and schools . more than 10 % comes from the federal government as a partial match of what is raised locally . almost 20 % comes from voluntary contributions from individual viewers and businesses . contents 1 history 2 stations 3 digital television 3.1 digital channels 3.2 analog to digital conversion 4 references 5 external links history edit the arkansas educational television commission was created in 1961 following a two year legislative study to assess the need for educational television programming in arkansas . kets channel 2 in little rock the flagship station of aetn first signed on the air as the nation s 124th educational television station on december 4 1966 . in the early years kets was associated with national educational television the forerunner of the current pbs . in the station s early years kets broadcast its programming black and white only before upgrading to color capabilities in 1972 . the station maintained limited hours of operation during its early years with its programming focused primarily on instructional content for use in arkansas schools . the kets analog tower in redfield before the collapse . for many years kets broadcast its signal from a transmitter tower located in redfield ; this tower collapsed on january 11 2008 during work on adjusting guy wires . 1 kets s analog signal remained off the air until june 13 2008 when a temporary analog antenna was installed at the clear channel broadcasting tower redfield where its digital transmitter had already originated . after nine years of serving only central arkansas through kets aetn began to launch satellite stations between 1976 and 1980 in order to expand its coverage to virtually the entire state becoming a full statewide network in the traditional sense . the first three satellites launched over the course of six months in 1976 ktej in jonesboro signed on the air on may 1 kaft signed on from fayetteville on september 18 and ketg signed on from arkadelphia on october 2 1976 ; the final of the original satellites to debut was kemv in mountain view on november 13 1980 . aetn s hours of operation gradually expanded over time to 24 hours a day seven days a week as programming for general audiences was added during the evenings and on weekends . much of south central arkansas was underserved by pbs programming from aetn receiving only stations from nearby transmitters until ketz in el dorado signed on the air on may 20 2006 . the five analog transmitters eventually converted to digital by mid 2009 joining ketz which had operated only a digital signal from launch as part of the national digital transition . during the 1960s 1970s and 1980s aetn became an educational resource for public school and college educators through the use of instructional videos with teacher guides and supplements for grade school classrooms college telecourses and ged education for adults . during the mid 1990s aetn began providing distance learning via broadcast satellite the internet and compressed video to provide educational professional development as well as access for students to a wide variety of educational courses for classroom use . aetn began creating local programming in the late 1960s and still annually produces more than 100 hours of full length educational and cultural programming specifically about arkansas . stations edit aetn s network comprises six digital transmitters which cover almost all of arkansas as well as parts of louisiana missouri oklahoma and tennessee . map all coordinates using osm map all coordinates using google map up to 200 coordinates using bing export all coordinates as kml export all coordinates as georss export all coordinates as gpx map all microformatted coordinates place data as rdf station city of license channels digital vc1 first air date erp future erp haat facility id transmitter coordinates kaft fayetteville 9 vhf 13 september 18 1976 37.9 kw n a 501.1 m 2767 35 48 53 n 94 1 41.5 w 35.81472 n 94.028194 w 35.81472 ; 94.028194 kaft kemv mountain view 13 vhf 6 november 13 19802 12.1 kw n a 407.2 m 2777 35 48 47.1 n 92 17 24.2 w 35.813083 n 92.290056 w 35.813083 ; 92.290056 kemv ketg arkadelphia 13 vhf 9 october 2 1976 13.85 kw n a 319.5 m 2768 33 54 26.6 n 93 6 46.5 w 33.907389 n 93.112917 w 33.907389 ; 93.112917 ketg kets little rock 7 vhf 2 december 4 1966 26.73 kw n a 547m 2770 34 26 31.1 n 92 13 3.8 w 34.441972 n 92.217722 w 34.441972 ; 92.217722 kets ktej jonesboro 20 uhf 19 may 1 1976 322.9 kw n a 310.2 m 2769 35 54 11.8 n 90 46 14 w 35.903278 n 90.77056 w 35.903278 ; 90.77056 ktej ketz el dorado 10 vhf 12 may 20 2006 16.2 kw n a 538 m 92872 33 4 41.7 n 92 13 31 w 33.078250 n 92.22528 w 33.078250 ; 92.22528 ketz notes 1 . virtual channel psip . 2 . the broadcasting and cable yearbook says kemv signed on november 11 while the television and cable factbook says it signed on november 16 . digital television edit digital channels edit the digital channels of aetn s stations are multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 2 3 4 5 6 7 2 720p 16 9 kets 1 main aetn programming pbs 2.2 480i 4 3 kets 2 create 2.3 kets 3 aetn plus world 2.4 kets 4 arkansas information reading service audio only ; radio reading service analog to digital conversion edit during 2009 in the lead up to the analog to digital television transition that would ultimately occur on june 12 aetn shut down the analog transmitters of its stations on a staggered basis . listed below are the dates each analog transmitter ceased operation as well as their post transition channel allocations 8 9 kets shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 2 on january 25 2009 . the station s digital signal was relocated from its pre transition vhf channel 5 to vhf channel 7 the analog allocation formerly used by abc affiliate katv . through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 2 . ktej shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 19 on february 17 2009 the original date for full power television stations in the united states to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate which congress had moved the previous month to june 12 . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 20 . through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 19 . kemv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 6 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 vhf channel 13 . through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 6 . kaft shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 13 on june 12 2009 . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition vhf channel 9 . through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 13 . ketg shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 9 on june 12 2009 . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition vhf channel 13 . through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 9 . ketz signed on in may 2006 as a digital only station although it also had to endure a temporary shutdown in early 2009 in final preparation for the transition . references edit katv tower collapses ; competitors comcast try to help nate hinkel arkansas business january 11 2008 rabbitears tv query for kets rabbitears tv query for ketz rabbitears tv query for kemv rabbitears tv query for ktej rabbitears tv query for ketg rabbitears tv query for kaft fcc document appendix b all full power television stations by dma indicating those terminating analog service before on or february 17 2009 . dtv tentative channel designations for the first and second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . external links edit aetn.org aetnfoundation.org pbs.org arkansas department of human services field services maintainer of airs query the fcc s tv station database for kets query the fcc s tv station database for kemv query the fcc s tv station database for ketg query the fcc s tv station database for kaft query the fcc s tv station database for ktej query the fcc s tv station database for ketz biafn s media web database information on kets tv biafn s media web database information on kemv tv biafn s media web database information on ketg tv biafn s media web database information on kaft tv biafn s media web database information on ktej tv biafn s media web database information on ketz tv v t e broadcast television in central arkansas including little rock hot springs and pine bluff local stations kets 2 kemv 6 ketg 9 x. 1 pbs aetn x. 2 create x. 3 aetn plus kark tv 4.1 nbc 4.2 laff katv 7.1 abc 7.2 comet 7.3 grit kthv 11.1 cbs 11.2 ant 11.3 justice kqps ld 14.1 tmd 14.2 drtv klrt tv 16.1 fox 16.2 escape klra cd 20.1 uni 20.2 metv kvtn dt kvth 25.1 26.1 religious ind. vtn tln kkyk cd 30.1 soul of the south tv 30.2 cozi tv 30.3 qvc 47.1 mundomax 49.1 metv kmya dt kkap 36.1 ds kasn 38.1 the cw karz tv 42.1 mntv 42.2 bounce tv defunct stations kzjg lp 9 amgtv analog k15fw 15.1 ind. krtv 17 cbs nbc klep 17 edu . ind. kjlr lp 28 amgtv analog see also jonesboro tv memphis tv fort smith tv springfield tv el dorado monroe tv greenwood tv texarkana tv v t e television stations in northeastern arkansas including jonesboro and paragould local stations kait 8.1 abc 8.2 nbc ktej aetn 19.1 pbs kpmf ld 26.1 escape 26.2 gettv 26.3 laff 26.4 tcn k30mf d 30.1 silent future mynetworktv kjnb ld 39 kjne ld 42 .1 fox .2 cbs kvtj vtn 48.1 ind. rel