KATV Channel 7
KATV Channel 7 is an ABC television network affiliate in Little Rock, Arkansas. KATV has been owned by Allbritton Communications Company since 1982.
KATV broadcast its first signal on December 19, 1953, from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, making it the oldest television station in continuous operation in central Arkansas. The station was founded by John Griffen, who owned KTUL in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and KWTV in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Jimmy Leake. Leake eventually became sole proprietor of KATV.
The station moved to Little Rock in 1954, and established its operations in the former studio of UHF station KRTV. A fire destroyed the station, located near the corner of Kavanaugh Boulevard and North Beechwood Street, in 1957. Since 1957 the studio has been located at the corner of Main and Fourth streets in the old Worthen Bank building (401 Main). KATV continues to operate small studios in Pine Bluff and opened another for use by the Good Morning Arkansas program in the River Market District.
KATV's analog tower near Redfield, Arkansas, collapsed in an accident on January 11, 2008. The station is erecting a new digital tower on top of Shinall Mountain, located just beyond the Chenal Valley neighborhood of west Little Rock.
