A 2,000-foot television tower collapsed while workers were restringing guy wires, knocking two television stations off the air.
KATV
news director Randy Dixon said one person suffered a minor injury
Friday when the tower collapsed in a field about 20 miles south of
Little Rock. The station was working to establish a feed to restore its
signal to the portion of its audience that obtains programming by
satellite.
"We're off the air. It's a heckuva mess," Dixon said.
KATV is an ABC affiliate.
The collapse also destroyed a tower for the Arkansas Educational Television Network's Little Rock station, KETS. In a statement in its Web site, AETN said the tower for its Channel 2 analog broadcast had been "destroyed" and that Channel 2 was off the air.
"For
the people of central Arkansas who watch AETN on KETS 2 analog, we are
taking steps to restore our analog broadcast signal," the station said.
"This could take several days."
AETN's KETS 2 digital transmitter was unaffected by the collapse, the station said.
"Anyone
with a digital television will still be able to receive AETN's digital
channels at full power," AETN said. "Viewers who receive KETS 2 through
their cable or satellite provider (Conway Corp, Cox, etc.), should
still be able to watch AETN. Customers should contact their provider
with inquiries."
ArkansasBusiness.com will update this story.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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