Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas

This Day in Arkansas History

April 5, 1953

Television came to Arkansas when KRTV, a UHF station in Little Rock (Pulaski County), made its debut. Announcer Bob Lawrence is thought to have been the first person seen on an Arkansas television station. There are now more than one million television households in modern-day Arkansas. There are twenty-three commercial television stations in the state, sixteen owned by media groups. Those groups include Equity, Gannett, Allbritton, Nexstar, Liberty, Hearst-Argyle, New York Times Company, and Clear Channel. It is not surprising that most of the television stations are located in the largest population centers of the state: Little Rock, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, Rogers, and Hot Springs.

Browse the Encyclopedia

About the Encyclopedia

The CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas is a free, authoritative source of information about the rich history, geography, and culture of Arkansas. It is updated regularly to ensure the people of Arkansas have an accurate and accessible resource to explore our heritage. We invite you to browse our text entries and media galleries to learn more about the people, places, events, legends, and lore of the 25th state. We are continually adding new entries, photographs, maps, videos, and audio files, so check back frequently to see what’s new.

New to Arkansas?
New to Arkansas?

Our overview page covers everything you would want to know about our beautiful state, including state symbols, demographics and more!

See Overview