NBC 24/51 Starts the Crawl

On Dec. 10, NBC 24/51 started running a “crawl” at the bottom of the screen as a way of squeezing more news into the newscasts.

“Within moments after we find out about something, we can get it on the crawl,” said Gary Darnell, news director for the television station, which has offices in Fayetteville and Fort Smith. “We just decided, ‘Hey, that’s a cool way to get more news in there.'”

Darnell said NBC 24/51 purchased software from CGS InfoGraphics of Lexington, Ky., that makes the crawl possible. The new software also makes it easier to post school and business closings in what is called a “squeeze,” when the information is displayed on the side of the television screen.

Darnell said some television stations started using a crawl during newscasts after the Sept. 11 terrorism but he has been wanting to implement it for more than a year. Darnell said he believes NBC 24/51 is the first station in Arkansas to use a crawl throughout every newscast.

Darnell said the crawl will continue indefinitely.

“We’re just going to keep using it until somebody tells me they don’t like it,” Darnell said. “It’s about 50/50 so far. Some people say it’s too busy, too much to look at, so we’ve tried to make it as palatable as possible. But we kind of think it’s a valuable tool.”