KNWA-TV

KNWA-TV
	Rogers–Fayetteville–; Fort Smith, Arkansas; ; United States;
City	Rogers, Arkansas
Channels	Digital: 33 (UHF); Virtual: 51;
Branding	KNWA
Programming
Affiliations	51.1: NBC; 51.2: Fox (KFTA-TV); for others, see § Subchannels;
Ownership
Owner	Nexstar Media Group; (Nexstar Media Inc.);
Sister stations	KFTA-TV, KXNW
History
First air date	August 23, 1989
Former call signs	KFAA (1989–2004)
Former channel numbers	Analog: 51 (UHF, 1989–2009); Digital: 50 (UHF, to 2019);
Call sign meaning	Northwest Arkansas
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	29557
ERP	820 kW
HAAT	258.7 m (849 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	36°24′48″N 93°57′17.4″W / 36.41333°N 93.954833°W
Translator(s)	KFTA-TV 24.2 Fort Smith
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Website	www.nwahomepage.com

KNWA-TV (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Rogers, Arkansas, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas River Valley. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Fort Smith–licensed Fox affiliate KFTA-TV (channel 24) and Eureka Springs–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KXNW (channel 34). The stations share studios on Dickson Street in downtown Fayetteville. KNWA-TV's transmitter is located southeast of Garfield, Arkansas; KNWA-TV's programming is also broadcast from KFTA-TV's transmitter south of Artist Point as one of its subchannels and vice versa.

Channel 51 began broadcasting as KFAA on August 23, 1989. It served as a satellite station of channel 24, then KPOM-TV, owned by Griffin TV. The addition of channel 51 resolved a coverage shortfall for KPOM-TV in fast-growing, affluent Northwest Arkansas that had hindered its competitive position. The two stations carried the same NBC programming and local news, though they had separate advertisements and promotions; KFAA had its own studios in Rogers and eventually originated Northwest Arkansas news inserts for the shared newscasts. The expanded coverage did not improve channel 24/51's news ratings, which had long been in third place, and Griffin discontinued the news department in 1992. Northwest Arkansas's growth in the 1990s made it possible for Griffin to restore a newscast in 2000. As part of the effort, Griffin built new studios in the Campbell-Bell building in downtown Fayetteville.

When Nexstar assumed control of KPOM–KFAA in 2004, it reoriented the news department to primarily serve Northwest Arkansas, changing the stations' call signs to KFTA-TV and KNWA-TV, respectively; moving station operations from Fort Smith to Fayetteville; and reallocating news resources to focus on the Fayetteville area. In 2006, Nexstar split the signals of the two stations, with Fox programming on KFTA, NBC on KNWA, and both services broadcast market-wide as digital subchannels. Even though the stations have separate programming, they are considered one program service by the Federal Communications Commission as a legacy of their prior configuration, enabling Nexstar to own KXNW.