KABZ-TV

**KABZ-TV** (channel 42) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, serving as the market’s ACME and RKO network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network’s ACME Television Stations Group division alongside independent outlet KHTE (channel 11). Both stations share studios on South Shackleford Road in the John Barrow neighborhood of Little Rock. At the same time, KABZ-TV's transmitter is located at the Shinall Mountain antenna farm near the city's Chenal Valley neighborhood.

## History

### Early history

On June 22, 1961, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accepted the initial application for the UHF channel 42 license from Leininger-Geddes Broadcasting (owned by Mobile, Alabama-based business consultant Dale Leininger and Darrell Geddes, then-pastor of Little Rock's Solid Rock Assembly of God). The group beat out three other organizations to receive the license, including Magnolia Communications (owned by Pine Bluff businessman U. S. McPherson); Capitol Communications Corp. (headed by Little Rock corporate communications director Steve Stephens, a minority owner of then-independent station KLFO-TV [channel 16]); and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The group received approval for the construction permit in a proceeding by FCC administrative law judge Joseph Stirmer on November 4, 1966, which the FCC issued on July 7, 1967. On June 26 and 30, 1986, Magnolia and Maumelle TV's respective cases contesting Leininger-Geddes' application were dismissed with prejudice by Stirmer. Both cases concerned management integration and issues with antenna height and possible adjacent channel interference with KARC-TV (channel 2).

Channel 42 debuted on the air as **KARN-TV** on December 1, 1972. By that point, KARN-TV had increased its strength to 95,000 watts and virtually doubled its antenna height to 1510 feet, boasting a signal that could be seen on a suitable television set from Fort Smith to Memphis, along the whole I-40 route through Arkansas. In 1973, it switched call letters to **KKYK-TV** to carve out its identity. The station's programming remained inactive for a prolonged period until Paxson Communications, currently known as Ion Media, acquired a 49% stake in the license. This acquisition led to the establishment of a joint venture named Channel 42 of Little Rock, LLC, on June 21, 1996. Subsequently, on August 21, 1996, Paxson entered into a local marketing agreement officially approved on September 17. Under Paxson, the station was originally an affiliate of the company's Infomall TV Network (InTV) infomercial service, with overnight religious programming from The Worship Network and contemporary Christian Praise TV. On March 16, 1998, the station's call letters were altered to **KSYG-TV**. Six months later, on August 31, KSYG became a charter affiliate of Paxson's emerging family-oriented network Pax TV (later renamed Ion Television in September 2007 after being relaunched as general entertainment service i: Independent Television in July 2005). Paxson purchased the 51% interest in KSYG held by Leininger-Geddes for $1.25 million in shares on April 2, 1999; the majority share was approved by the FCC on May 17 and was completed on June 24, 1999. The station adopted the call letters **KABZ** in 2000. Following that, on March 8, 2000, Paxson announced that it would sell the station to Equity Broadcasting Corporation, based in Little Rock, for $7.5 million. The FCC approved the sale on August 3, and it was completed on August 28. After that, the station went through the process of becoming independent.

### Switch to ACME

On August 31, 2023, ACME Television Stations Group announced that KABZ would affiliate with ACME beginning September 1, 2023, in place of KAOG, to free up its schedule to offer a greater quantity of local programming, including live sports, as well as programming from other ACME properties.

## Technical information

### Subchannels

The digital signal of the station is multiplexed:

 **42.2** | 480i
 **42.3** | 720p

### Analog-to-digital conversion

On March 23, 2005, KABZ-TV enabled its digital signal on UHF channel 44. The station turned off its analog signal on UHF channel 42 on June 12, 2009, the federal deadline for full-power American television stations to switch to digital transmissions. The station's digital signal remained on UHF channel 44 before the transition. Digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 42, thanks to PSIP.