KNWA-TV broadcasts KFTA-TV's Fox programming from its transmitter southeast of Garfield, Arkansas, as one of its subchannels and vice versa.

Despite its 2.5 million watt effective radiated power, it only provided a Grade B signal to Fayetteville and could not be seen at all in Rogers and points north.

Much of the far northern part of the market got a better signal from KSNF in Joplin, Missouri (which, incidentally, switched from CBS to NBC in 1982).

A simulcast of KNWA would be available on KFTA's digital subchannel in order to continue relaying NBC programming over-the-air throughout the entire market.

However, with some exceptions, KFTA continued to simulcast KNWA from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 10:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. until January 2008, when the two stations began maintaining separate programming schedules full-time.

Because KNWA and KFSM both rank among the four highest-rated stations in the Fort Smith–Fayetteville market in total day viewership, on March 20, 2019, it was announced that Nexstar would keep the KNWA/KFTA duopoly (through an existing satellite station waiver that predated KFTA's conversion into a separately programmed Fox affiliate in 2006) and sell KFSM to Tegna Inc., as part of the company's sale of nineteen Nexstar- and Tribune-operated stations to Tegna and the E. W. Scripps Company in separate deals worth $1.32 billion.

As the duopoly partner of KNWA, the station may also simulcast long-form severe weather coverage from the NBC affiliate in the event that a tornado warning is issued for any county in its viewing area within northwest Arkansas and east-central Oklahoma.

KPOM and KFAA relaunched a local newscast in 1999, under the brand Arkansas' NBC News; Griffin hired top local talent to anchor the newscasts including Don Elkins, Donna Bragg, Steve Gibbs, Mike Nail, and Rhonda Justice, the latter four of whom formerly worked at rival ABC-affiliated station KHBS/KHOG.

[23][24] On October 24, 2012, coinciding with the move into its new facilities inside the Underwood Building, KNWA began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, becoming the market's third and last Big Three network affiliate (after KFSM and KHBS/KHOG) to upgrade its newscasts to the format; KFTA's morning and prime time shows were included in the upgrade.

Also broadcast on the KFTA-TV multiplex is a simulcast of KXNW, whose own signal does not reach the Fort Smith area.