KHOG News Leads at 6 and 10 p.m.
by July 26, 1999 12:00 am 140 views
Although KFSM-TV, Channel 5, had the most local news viewers in the eight-county “dominant market area” in May, KHBS/KHOG, Channel 40/29, had more viewers for the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. daily newscasts in the Northwest Arkansas counties of Washington, Benton and Madison combined.
The county-by-county numbers from the May sweeps were released July 13 by Nielsen Media Research.
The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal reported the dominant market area numbers in the Outtakes column in its July 12 issue. The dominant market area includes eight counties in western Arkansas and two counties in eastern Oklahoma. KFSM led the dominant market area in all three news time slots – 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. KFSM also had the most viewers at 5 p.m. in Washington, Benton and Madison counties combined.
Jeff Bartlett, president and general manager of KHBS/KHOG says the difference is demographics. Younger viewers in Northwest Arkansas prefer KHOG, he says. In the Fort Smith area, where viewers tend to be older, KFSM is more popular.
KFSM and KHBS/KHOG are the only local stations that provide local newscasts. KPOM/KFAA, based in Fort Smith and Rogers, and KPBI, a Fox affiliate, both offer reruns of situation comedy shows during the news time slots.