Cox Line Up To Be Uniform For Area

Cox Communications is currently working on about 25 of Fayetteville’s 60 “nodes” as part of the $25 million renovation of the city’s cable television system. A “node” is a neighborhood consisting of 500 to 600 homes.

When completed, Fayetteville will have the same digital cable lineup as Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville, said Dennis Yocum, system manager for Cox Communications at its area headquarters in Johnson.

Yocum said most of the work should be completed by the end of the year. Work on the cable systems in the other three area cities was finished last year.

When completed, basic cable will consist of 22 channels instead of the current 14 for Fayetteville residents, and expanded digital cable may offer as many as 190 channels, Yocum said.

Basic cable will include ESPN for sports fans. Gone will be KOTV, Channel 6, of Tulsa, one of the first cable stations available in the area. The CBS broadcasting on KOTV was duplicated by KFSM, Channel 5, of Fort Smith and Fayetteville, but at a weaker signal. Instead, Cox will pick up KOLR, Channel 10, the CBS affiliate from Springfield, Mo.

Yocum said KTUL, Channel 8, of Tulsa, will still be available and provide information on weather heading east into Arkansas.

Cox has already replaced KARK, Channel 4, with the Universal Paramount Network (UPN) in Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville. The change also will be effective in Fayetteville in July.

Cox began blacking out the channel 4 broadcast last year just before KPOM/KFAA, Channels 24/51, relaunched its local newscast after an eight-year hiatus. The move was requested by the owners of NBC 24/51 because the simulcast of NBC programming would have hurt 24/51’s ratings, which are more important now that it’s airing a newscast again.

In a recent survey, Yocum said, 91.5 percent of Northwest Arkansas viewers voted to do away with the Little Rock channel. He said KARK is classified as a “distant signal” for the area rather than “significantly viewed” as the Tulsa stations are classified.