Arkansas TV

About Arkansas TV

The network's roots go back to the Arkansas Educational Television Association, founded in 1954 to bring instructional television to the state's schools. The Arkansas Educational Television Commission was created on December 4, 1961, and the network's first transmitter went on the air December 4, 1966, from Conway — affiliated with National Educational Television until PBS launched in 1970. It grew into a six-station, five-translator statewide network covering nearly all of Arkansas plus parts of six neighboring states, distributed through a thirteen-site microwave relay system.

For decades the network branded itself AETN, then rebranded as Arkansas PBS in 2020 to align with the national PBS identity, with executive director Courtney Pledger leading the transition. Its programming mixed PBS staples with Arkansas-made public affairs, cultural, and documentary programming and Arkansas Activities Association sports events. Its Conway headquarters sit on the University of Central Arkansas campus at the corner of Donaghey Avenue — "Sesame Street," as staff liked to say.

In December 2025 the commission voted not to renew its PBS contract, and effective July 1, 2026, the network became Arkansas TV — an educational independent broadcaster focused on Arkansas-produced programming, local storytelling, emergency weather alerts, and K-12 education resources. Its digital home is arkansastv.gov.