a news department on September 15, 1997, when it began producing an hour-long prime time newscast on Monday through Friday evenings. Titled News @ Nine, it was the first prime time newscast ever attempted in the Little Rock–Pine Bluff market, preceding the premiere of KLRT's 9:00 p.m. newscast—launched in March 2004—by seven years; it was anchored by Doug Krile (who served as the station's news and public affairs director, and joined KKYK following a six-year tenure as weeknight anchor at NBC affiliate KARK-TV [channel 4]) and Tamara Henry, who were joined by chief meteorologist Mark Frankum and sports director Tim Jernigan; the station also hired additional news department staff previously employed with KARK, KATV and KTHV. The newscast was an early adopter of streaming media, having been streamed on KKYK's website throughout its run. Originally conducted from a conventional set, in October 1998, the newscast began to originate from a virtual set designed by Devlin Design Group and powered by software from Discreet Logic. (Due to tracking problems during camera shot transitions, the $750,000 Discreet system was replaced with a virtual set system from Orad Hi-Tech Systems in February 1999.) The newscast ultimately struggled to build an audience, regularly losing a substantial share of its WB prime time lead-in (pulling in, at best, a 1 rating on certain nights) and even being outperformed by syndicated Friends reruns that followed the 9:00 broadcast starting in September 1998. KKYK shuttered its news department on September 4, 1999, the day after what became its last 9:00 p.m. newscast. (Syndicated sitcoms began filling the timeslot the following Monday.) Krile stayed on as channel 49's public affairs director; however, 16 news staffers, who were not notified of the department's closure until they reported to work on September 6, were laid off—with Henry, Frankum and Jernigan having to serve the remainder of their contracts through early 2000. Krile had attributed the newscast's flagging viewership and demise on various factors, including KKYK's limited broadcast range and cable distribution, The WB's younger-skewing audience tending not to be avid news viewers, and insufficient investment into the news operation. Channel 22 continued to produce the midday news/interview program Arkansas View and the weekend local sports program "Sports Jam" (both of which premiered in September 1998 and were cancelled by December 2000) as well as live news and weather updates throughout the day. As a Pax affiliate, in October 2001, Equity