KGTO-TV Fayetteville, Arkansas
I just posted a schedule in the TV Schedules section for Saturday, August 19, 1972. The schedule comes from the Missouri Edition of TV Guide and includes listings for the long-defunct KGTO-TV, Channel 36, Fayetteville, Arkansas.
With the exception of a few brief mentions that pretty much just acknowledge the fact that the station existed, I have not been able to find out much at all online about KGTO-TV, which operated from February 1969 to December 1973. I first became aware of KGTO's existence while browsing through old TV Guides at the University of Missouri library back in the mid-'90s. What initially struck me back in the mid-'90s about KGTO was the station's afternoon sign-on time. The TVG issues I saw 20 or so years ago had KGTO signing-on in the early afternoon on weekdays (I can't recall the specific time). I think those TVG issues were from a later time period than the issue I currently possess. In the 1972 issue that my schedule came from, KGTO signed-on at 7AM on weekdays and signed-off following "The CBS Late Movie" on weeknights. However, KGTO did not sign-on until 1PM on Saturday and noon on Sunday, with weekend sign-offs at 10PM.
KGTO presumably had affiliations with all three networks. My 1972 issue of TVG lists KGTO as being primary NBC and secondary CBS and ABC. Other online mentions of KGTO typically list it as NBC/CBS or ABC/NBC. As of August 1972, KGTO was clearly favoring CBS. NBC programming was limited to Saturday afternoon baseball, "Meet the Press" on Sunday, weekday showings of "Three on a Match" (preempted on KFSA in Fort Smith, which substituted "Let's Make a Deal" from ABC), Thursday prime-time showings of "Ironside" and "The Bobby Darin Amusement Company," and tape-delayed afternoon showings of "Dinah's Place" and "Concentration." KGTO's carrying of "Three on a Match" was interesting in that necessitated the preemption of "As the World Turns." TVG also lists KGTO as carrying "The Tonight Show" on Thursday only. "The CBS Late Movie" is scheduled every other weeknight. I'm guessing the "Tonight" listing was a TVG error, and that CBS was cleared each weeknight at 10:30. In this particular issue of TVG, I could not find an example of KGTO airing ABC programming.
I'm guessing (but not certain) that KGTO was limited to off-air pick-ups for network programming. KGTO preempted "All in the Family" from CBS on Saturday evening, replacing it with "Championship Fishing," which would normally be weekend filler programming. KFPW (Fort Smith), KUHI (Joplin), KOLR (Springfield), and KOTV (Tulsa) also preempted "All in the Family," but those stations' preemptions were more logical. Coincidentally, KGTO aired a delayed broadcast of "All in the Family" on Thursday evening at 6:30, in pattern with delayed broadcasts on KFPW, KOLR, and KUHI (KOTV aired AITF on Tuesday at 7). My guess is that KGTO probably had to access network programming either through the Fort Smith or Joplin stations. The Springfield stations might have also been a source, as KGTO's afternoon showings of "Dinah's Place" and "Concentration" mirror KYTV (which could have also been KGTO's source for "Three on a Match").
KGTO was likely under-funded from the beginning, with the further complications of having a weak UHF signal serving an area of rough terrain. Any additional information on KGTO that anyone has would be appreciated.
