Northwest Arkansas Television Stations

• Northwest Arkansas is served by several television stations representing most of the major television networks. PhotoLink/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Residents of northwest Arkansas are served by television stations based in Fayetteville. Stations licensed in Fayetteville were, in 2010, affiliated with the ABC, CBS and Fox networks as well as with PBS. Two of the stations maintain operating partnerships with stations to the south, in Fort Smith, while also operating offices to the north in Rogers, Arkansas, in addition to their Fayetteville studios.

KAFT Channel 13

• Fayetteville's KAFT, Channel 13, is an affiliate of the Public Broadcasting Service television network and, along with stations in Little Rock, Mountain View, Arkadelphia and Jonesboro, operates as part of the Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN). AETN broadcast territory includes most of Arkansas as well as portions of neighboring Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Missouri. KAFT joined AETN in 1976 and is owned by the network. The station began digital broadcasting in 2004. In 2010, AETN completed a project that doubled the broadcast power at its KAFT transmitter. The station is commercial-free and is primarily focused on delivering educational programming for children and adults.

KFSM Channel 5

• KFSM, Channel 5, originally signed on as KFSA in 1953. It was the only television station at the time to serve western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma with news and network offerings. With its original studio in Fort Smith, KFSM was the first television station to open a studio in Fayetteville, allowing the station to provide dual coverage of local news. The station claims to have the most-watched local news programs in its markets. In addition to providing news, weather and sports, the CBS affiliate partners with police in River Valley and Northwest Arkansas to operate a Crimestoppers program in each region of its broadcast territory.

KHOG Channel 29

• ABC affiliate KHOG, Channel 29, located in Fayetteville, signed on as a satellite station of KHBS Channel 40 in Fort Smith to represent ABC in the broader Fayetteville-Fort Smith market. The two stations continue to share some staff and operations, including a joint website, and are generally known as 40/29. Both were owned by Hearst Television in late 2010. In October 2007, the stations announced an expansion of facilities to Rogers, Arkansas, a city just north of Fayetteville. The expansion brought a new studio, digital control room and news facility as well as engineering, sales and marketing offices. In September 2010, KHOG entered into an agreement for exclusive rights to air web video highlights from all University of Arkansas major sports.

KNWA Channel 50

• KNWA, channel 50, was once an affiliate of the NBC network. KNWA is based in Fayetteville. The station maintains a news bureau in nearby Rogers, Arkansas, the city that holds its broadcasting license. KNWA launched in 1989 as KFAA and was at first a satellite of KPOM television. It launched its own newscast 10 years later. In 2004, the station changed its call letters to KNWA and became the primary station in the partnership with KPOM, which changed its name to KFTA at the same time. The station was owned by Nexstar Broadcasting in 2010. Its headquarters were in Fort Smith it is was a Fox Broadcasting affiliate.