THE ENTRY OF FOX AFFILIATE KLRT-TV, Channel 16, into the Little Rock newscast market is just a few months away.

New news director Michael Fabac, 30--about one month on the job and still awaiting his first hire--said a one-hour, 9 p.m., seven-day newscast will launch in early 2004.

KLRT's move will make it the second station in recent years to launch a regular newscast in the Little Rock market and the third in Arkansas. KKYK-TV, Channel 22, now known as KYPX-TV, canceled its ill-fated newscast in 2000 after two years and millions of dollars, while KPOM-TV, Channel 24/51 in Fort Smith is chugging along after an investment of more than $5 million in 2000.

While Fabac wouldn't be specific about the launch date, he did acknowledge the importance of getting the newscast off the runway in time to make a full showing in the Nielsen Media Research Inc.'s May rating book.

That particular period--April 29 through May 26--will be vital to the startup to gauge popularity and have numbers to take to advertisers, since the next key ratings book won't be available until November 2004, many local media analysts said.

Although newsroom and newscast set construction started two weeks ago at Clear Channel Television's west Little Rock headquarters on Col. Glenn Road, Fabac offered few details on startup costs, staffing goals, target audience or news direction.

"There really isn't much to tell at this point, I've only been here one month," said Fabac, occasionally unnerved in a temporary office near the sales department as air horns and whistles blew to announce new ad sales. "We're still pretty much putting together a budget. We have ideas, but we're not far enough into the (development) process to say what we'll...