A Royal Bogard Of The Airwaves

The above screenshots are from primary channels of local stations KARK, KATV, KTHV, and KLRT Little Rock, plus KTVE El Dorado (AR) carrying their respective network's coverage of The British Royal Wedding. A notable no show is KARD West Monroe LA via the subchannel of KTVE "10-2" which is showing regular programming.

I did not plan on getting up this early for this but the dog woke me up howling....perhaps he wanted to watch it, lol.

The Royal Wedding is also bumping local early morning news for the most part. The only local news this morning is KARK sister station KARZ (RF 44/PSIP 42-1 OTA) carrying KARK 4 Today in the 5-7AM timeslot, which preempted the syndicated show The Daily Buzz which normally airs on KARZ. Neither the subchannels of KATV (Accu wx 7-3, RTV 7-2), nor KTHV (11-2 THV2) are broadcasting live local news.

The Daily Buzz Remains On KARZ Schedule, But New Time Slot

Per a check minutes ago via Titan TV, KARZ Little Rock will debut its two-hour local newscast produced by sister station KARK on Monday August 30 from 7-9AM. An issue not written about on other sites is the fate of the syndicated news/entertainment program, The Daily Buzz on the Central Arkansas airwaves.

Fans of Kim Malone and the gang in Central Arkansas can relax. The Daily Buzz moves to a 5AM start (previously occupied by infomercials) and will air for two hours until 7AM.

This will be the third season season that The Daily Buzz will air in Central Arkansas. TDB aired on KASN during the 2007-2008 TV season, and was returned to Central Arkansas by KARZ in the fall of 2009. Recently, TDB converted to high-definition television and KARZ has aired them in that format (except for a two day period, following the HDTV debut).

Nexstar Little Rock Announces Start-Date Of KARZ 7-9AM Weekday Morning Newscast

Per a tweet via sister station KARK, and the website of the Nexstar stations in Little Rock, the date of August 30 was announced today for the debut of KARZ's two hour weekday morning newscast between 7-9AM.

Still in question, the future of The Daily Buzz on KARZ if it will be aired for the first hour (6-7AM) or be dropped entirely by KARZ.

Friday Morning Local TV Roundup (August 13, 2010)

Gospel-huxter, and 24/7 relayer of Daystar Television, KKAP 36 ("36-1") the only cischanneled "full power" TV station in Little Rock AR transmitting only a black screen with the message "No signal" in the upper right-hand corner (URC). KKAP unlike its "rival" KVTN 24 ("25-1") does not carry any locally originated programming.

This morning's airing (August 13) of The Daily Buzz via KARZ is in HDTV. I think the KARZ crew finally have the ship righted...for now. I had doubts when KARZ shown Tuesday and Wednesday's shows in SDTV despite the program's HDTV debut on Monday (carried in HDTV by KARZ).

HDTV Returns To KARZ's Broadcast Of The Daily Buzz Thursday Morning

The Daily Buzz back in Hi Def on "The Z" (KARZ) August 12

Good news for viewers of The Daily Buzz in Central Arkansas as High Definition broadcasts of the show via KARZ resumed this morning. Tuesday and Wednesday's (August 10-11) shows were shown on KARZ in standard definition despite The Daily Buzz debuting HDTV on Monday. KARZ shown the first day of TDB's switch to HDTV on Monday August 9.

Another Day, Another SDTV Broadcast Of The Daily Buzz--Thanks KARZ/Nexstar!

Day three of HDTV for The Daily Buzz in national syndication but unavailable in Little Rock (via KARZ) since the initial HDTV debut on Monday morning.

Day three of HDTV broadcasts nationally of The Daily Buzz, but the second day of KARZ Little Rock AR showing the live syndicated news/talk program in glorious standard definition and 4x3 aspect ratio. Little Rock local television again disappointing once again as it comes to HDTV. TDB debuted in HDTV/16x9 aspect ratio on Monday morning and KARZ broadcast it but yesterday and this morning it was as if it were just a dream.

KARZ/Nexstar needs to explain some things. Is The Daily Buzz on the way out of the schedule or just going to one hour? Or is it a case of "not minding the store" as longtime shortwave broadcast critic/DXer Glenn Hauser often asks when wayward broadcasters pull these sorts of things.

The Daily Buzz via KARZ Not Shown In HDTV/16x9 During 6-7AM Hour August 10

KARZ Little Rock AR broadcasting syndicated news/talk program, The Daily Buzz in SDTV/4x3 aspect ratio. The Daily Buzz debuted HD yesterday and KARZ broadcast the show in High Def, but its not the case this morning. Is Nexstar not wanting to have KARZ upstage its more established sister station KARK and its SDTV newscast? Or is The Daily Buzz on the chopping block to be replaced during the 6-7AM hour for infomercials? Stay tuned for further developments.

Yes, that is Kia Malone walking in the background on The Daily Buzz set.

UPDATE 7AM: The Daily Buzz still in SDTV/4x3 Aspect Ratio. Pathetic.

Breaking News-- The Daily Buzz via KARZ Goes High Def

Craving OTA HD News between 6-7AM? The syndicated news/talk program The Daily Buzz via KARZ Little Rock has you covered. PQ observed on an actual HDTV is a bit soft. Screenshots are in SDTV via a NTSC capture card fed by a Zenith DTV converter.

The "money" shot, showing the "The Daily Buzz HD" bug in pillar boxes with SDTV/4x3 file footage.

Once again, change does occur albeit slowly to the Little Rock airwaves. The Daily Buzz syndicated news/talk program converted today to HDTV and KARZ is also relaying the show in this format although the HD picture quality is a bit soft on KARZ. This should be a boost to the show for competing with the local morning shows between 6-7AM as none of KARK, KTHV, or KATV's local newscasts are currently in HD and/or 16x9 widescreen.

However, don't get too spoiled by three hours of HD on The Daily Buzz (6AM-9AM), KARZ plans a local newscast (produced by sister station KARK) between 7-9AM to debut later this month (TBA). Hopefully, KARZ will retain the 6-7AM hour of The Daily Buzz instead of reverting to infomericals.

Via Arkansas Business: KARZ To Get 7-9AM Local Newscast

A hat tip from the reactivated Arkansas TV News blog. Well, KLRT got caught napping if it wanted to be the first to have a local morning newscast after 7AM. KARK sister station KARZ will broadcast a "late" edition of KARK 4 This Morning according to a story in the August 2 (online issue) of Arkansas Business. The article failed to mention the exact date the newscast would begin.

I welcome this addition of expanded local news in the morning. It was something that I have put on my wish list for local TV for sometime. Say what you want about Nexstar, and I'm no fan over everything they do but once again the overachievers of KARK/KARZ pull another one out of the hat. Now if they would only do the local news in widescreen SDTV at least.

There is the issue of The Daily Buzz, the syndicated morning show co-hosted by Arkansas native Kim Malone. TDB was carried during the 2007-08 season by KASN dropped in 2008 and absent from the Little Rock market before being back last January by KARZ

DTV DX Logs And Highlights: May 7, 2010

This female co-host of KALB's morning news show, Jambalaya, prepares to deliver the local weather on the main "5-1" subchannel. KALB which transmits on channel 35 broadcasts both NBC ("5-1") and CBS ("5-2") network programming in HD. Received May 7, 2010.

The friday morning DX session was short-lived due to an early work schedule. However, what it lacked in time, it made up for in quailty. Below the fold is some logs from the Houston area and Alexandria LA.

The Daily Buzz Returns To KARZ

Kia Malone and The Daily Buzz crew return to KARZ this morning. Yesterday's preemption of The Daily Buzz for infomercials was snow related as even KARK was unable to broadcast NBC's Days Of Our Lives for most that broadcast yesterday afternoon. Hopefully The Daily Buzz will be on the air for all three hours

Wet, Heavy snow blanked Central and North Central Arkansas yesterday. Little Rock television was effected by poor or snowed out feeds. One hazard of the modern distribution of network programming since satellites replaced the old land-line coaxial cables is that heavy wet snow will cover the dishes and block out the signals.

KARZ Falls Off The Wagon

KARZ returning to the ways of old

Not sure if this is a permanent move or technical difficulties, but a check at 7:10AM on KARZ 44 ("42-1") shows that the syndicated news-entertainment show, The Daily Buzz has been replaced by a infomercial. This development deserved a separate post from the other station's storm coverage.

More idiocy from Little Rock's television broadcasters.

FEBRUARY 9, 2010 UPDATE: The Daily Buzz is still on the KARZ schedule, the preemption was weather related. Not sure why infomercials were chosen instead of actual programming for substitution though. --fhp

Morning Roundup, Janauary 28 2010

No tropo this morning, period. Even weak signals from Central Arkansas (KDIS 99.5, and KZTS 101.1) not listenable.

KARK--- Business as usual on KARK 4 This Morning. Ex KATV "Bozo" Gary Weir doing horse picks via phone interview, just caught tail end. Full crew (Matt Mosler, Mallory Hardin, Mike Francis) on the court.

KATV-- Daybreak's Beth Hunt won't return for another week due to vacation as announced on-air, but bleach-blond Heather Crawford holding the fort down just fine in Huntesque fashions (sans boots).

KTHV -- Business as usual. THV This Morning blander than a typical radio station that plays a "at work friendly playlist". The glory days of BJ Sams and Robyn Richardson are long over.

KARZ --Syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz experiencing some buzz, as in sparklies. Sparklies, in the digital age, apparently so. KARZ decides to insert storm warning graphics into the show (alternating radar/map). I forgot to mention on an earlier post that Arkansas native Kia Malone is part of The Daily Buzz on air team.

Local TV: KARZ Brings The Daily Buzz Back To Central Arkansas

KARZ-DT 44 received January 12, 2010

The syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz broadcast on KASN during the 2007-2008 TV season was brought back to Little Rock yesterday(?) by KARZ 44 ( channel "42-1" OTA) in Little Rock. TDB's weather features local cut ins by KARK/KARZ's Mike Francis.

The Daily Buzz has been in production for several years, and I discovered it way back in 2005 on Springfield's KYTV-DT 44 UPN subchannel ("3-3"). There were other stations over the years that I have DX'd that had TDB on analog, or primary and sub digital channels. However, KASN's one season airing the show ended, and the the station returned to paid religious broadcasts of Arnold Murry's Shepard's Chapel and infomercials in 2008-2009.

KARZ's decision to air TDB puts more legitimacy in a station historically known (during the Equity Broadcasting era) as a infomercial conduit on weekdays. The listings in Titan TV are still reflecting the old schedule of infomercials. The program continues past 7AM for those OTA-bound wanting an alternative to the Old Guard on CBS, ABC, NBC. However, TDB is only 4x3 SDTV though.