KADN
Encyclopedia
KADN-TV is the Fox
affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana
.
affiliate beginning on September 16, 1968. With KATC-TV and KLFY already operating, the Lafayette market was considered too small at the time to support three TV stations. After suffering financial difficulties for the few years it was on the air, KLNI discontinued operations in 1976, leaving WBRZ (and later WRBT, now WVLA
) from Baton Rouge and KPLC
from Lake Charles as Lafayette's de facto NBC
affiliates. The allocation for channel 15 in Lafayette as a commercial TV station remained after the demise of KLNI and went unused until KADN signed on.
KADN, the current incarnation of channel 15, began broadcasting as "TV15, Acadiana's Alternative" on February 29, 1980 as an independent station, offering mainly movies, old sitcoms, children's programming, and local sports. It was owned by Charles Chatelain and his company, Delta Media Corporation. Another name it called itself was "The Movie Station." Movie blocks were given titles such as "Cinema 15," "Nightowl Theater" and "Primetime Theater."
KADN was innovative in creating its own original programming, esp. in the music genre. Shows such as "The Larry Brasso Show" (country music), "Cypress with Warren Storm" (swamp pop) and the long-running "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler" (Cajun French music) were a Saturday mainstay during the station's early years. The latter produced so many episodes, that reruns aired weekday mornings under the title "Bon Temps Rouler Encore." A music video hour aired daily called "Acadiana Music Box" around the same time MTV was catching on.
Also in the early years, KADN had its own news department, first with just five minute newsbreaks called "Capsule News 15" and then its own 5pm daily newscast called "Acadiana in Review." After just a couple of years, it was realized that it was not financially feasible to compete with KLFY and KATC in news, so the news department was eliminated.
Shortly after KADN signed on the air, KLFY preempted an episode of the popular prime-time drama series Dallas
to run a Billy Graham
televangelism special. This caused then-owner Charles Chatelain to seek to run the episode that KLFY was going to miss on his station. At that time, an arrangement was made for channel 15 to officially become a CBS secondary affiliate, picking up a microwave relay of WAFB
in Baton Rouge for network programming. KADN then began airing all of CBS
's programming that KLFY dropped for one reason or another, especially the morning daytime offerings from 9am-10am (KADN would re-air those shows in the afternoon.) The arrangement lasted until 2005, with preempted CBS programming running in the later years on sister station KLAF-LP
.
KADN is a charter member of Fox, joining the network upon its debut in 1986.
From the late 1980s to 1997, KADN operated a low-powered semi-satellite in Alexandria
, K47DW, to bring Fox programming to central Louisiana. It aired separate commercials for the Alexandria market, identifying as "Fox 47". In 1991, when Delta Media bought WNTZ
in Natchez
, the Fox affiliation moved to channel 48. Since 1995, the channel 47 translator has simulcasted WNTZ to serve portions of Alexandria where channel 48's signal is weak.
Digital channel 15.2 Real Channel 16 KLAF Myklaf Lafayette, Louisiana
KADN serves as the flagship station for the Lafayette, LA-based Communications Corporation of America (ComCorp) chain of TV stations. ComCorp began operating KADN in 1997 through a leased marketing agreement with original owner Charles Chatelain until purchasing the station outright in late 2004. After being located on cable channel 8 since signon, KADN moved to channel 6 on August 15, 2006 as part of a lineup restructuring of the Cox Communications
Greater Lafayette system. http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS01/607130314/1002
In June 2006, owner ComCorp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ComCorp said in a press release viewers and staff would see no changes at the station.
The programming of sister station KLAF-LP was added to KADN-DT's signal on channel 15.2 in August 2007. This began a period of transition in which all four translators that made up KLAF were shut off.
In early 2008, KADN became the first station in the Lafayette market to air HD programming outside of network-provided offerings with syndicated Two and a Half Men
airing in 720p HD. Further, on February 29, 2008, KADN began airing promotional materials throughout the day in 720p
HD and identifying on the HD signal as "Fox 15 HD."
Fox News Louisiana was produced by Baton Rouge Fox affiliate WGMB
. Originally, the first 20 minutes of the program were taped earlier and geared specifically towards the Acadiana audience, with stories by Lafayette-based reporters, plus a local forecast. KADN then joined the WGMB's live broadcast for the final two segments, which included generic national and world news, plus a statewide sportscast. In 2008, the newscast was retitled Fox News Lafayette, although the former branding (Fox News Louisiana) was not removed from the set.
On August 20, 2007, KADN debuted Fox News Louisiana AM, a 7AM to 9AM newscast. Like the evening news, certain segments were taped and included stories by the Lafayette-based reporting staff, while other segments were aired live.
In December 2008, Fox News Louisiana AM was canceled.
In April 2009, KADN canceled its 30-minute evening newscast and let go of its local news staff. KADN now airs Fox News Now at 9 pm, a five-minute newscast featuring local headlines and a weather forecast.
Fox News Now (Weeknights 9 to 9:05 P.M.)
KADN uses additional news personnel from KETK in Longview, Texas, see that article for a complete listing
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
.
History
Channel 15 in Lafayette was originally home to KLNI-TV, which operated as an NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate beginning on September 16, 1968. With KATC-TV and KLFY already operating, the Lafayette market was considered too small at the time to support three TV stations. After suffering financial difficulties for the few years it was on the air, KLNI discontinued operations in 1976, leaving WBRZ (and later WRBT, now WVLA
WVLA
WVLA-TV, virtual channel 33, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It transmits its digital signal on UHF channel 34. It is owned by White Knight Broadcasting, but it is controlled by ComCorp. and is sister station to the area's Retro Television Network affiliate,...
) from Baton Rouge and KPLC
KPLC
KPLC, channel 7, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Lake Charles, Louisiana broadcasting on digital channel 7. It is owned by Raycom Media, and has transmitter facilities located in Fenton, Louisiana....
from Lake Charles as Lafayette's de facto NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliates. The allocation for channel 15 in Lafayette as a commercial TV station remained after the demise of KLNI and went unused until KADN signed on.
KADN, the current incarnation of channel 15, began broadcasting as "TV15, Acadiana's Alternative" on February 29, 1980 as an independent station, offering mainly movies, old sitcoms, children's programming, and local sports. It was owned by Charles Chatelain and his company, Delta Media Corporation. Another name it called itself was "The Movie Station." Movie blocks were given titles such as "Cinema 15," "Nightowl Theater" and "Primetime Theater."
KADN was innovative in creating its own original programming, esp. in the music genre. Shows such as "The Larry Brasso Show" (country music), "Cypress with Warren Storm" (swamp pop) and the long-running "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler" (Cajun French music) were a Saturday mainstay during the station's early years. The latter produced so many episodes, that reruns aired weekday mornings under the title "Bon Temps Rouler Encore." A music video hour aired daily called "Acadiana Music Box" around the same time MTV was catching on.
Also in the early years, KADN had its own news department, first with just five minute newsbreaks called "Capsule News 15" and then its own 5pm daily newscast called "Acadiana in Review." After just a couple of years, it was realized that it was not financially feasible to compete with KLFY and KATC in news, so the news department was eliminated.
Shortly after KADN signed on the air, KLFY preempted an episode of the popular prime-time drama series Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
to run a Billy Graham
Billy Graham
William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...
televangelism special. This caused then-owner Charles Chatelain to seek to run the episode that KLFY was going to miss on his station. At that time, an arrangement was made for channel 15 to officially become a CBS secondary affiliate, picking up a microwave relay of WAFB
WAFB
WAFB is the CBS-affiliated television station for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter southwest of Arlington. Owned by Raycom Media, WAFB is sister to Class A MyNetworkTV affiliate WBXH-CA. The two share studios on Government...
in Baton Rouge for network programming. KADN then began airing all of CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's programming that KLFY dropped for one reason or another, especially the morning daytime offerings from 9am-10am (KADN would re-air those shows in the afternoon.) The arrangement lasted until 2005, with preempted CBS programming running in the later years on sister station KLAF-LP
KLAF-LP
KLAF-LP is the Communications Corporation of America-owned My Network TV affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana, and is the sister station of Fox-affiliated KADN. KLAF is carried on cable TV channel 13 on Cox cable systems throughout the Acadiana region...
.
KADN is a charter member of Fox, joining the network upon its debut in 1986.
From the late 1980s to 1997, KADN operated a low-powered semi-satellite in Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
, K47DW, to bring Fox programming to central Louisiana. It aired separate commercials for the Alexandria market, identifying as "Fox 47". In 1991, when Delta Media bought WNTZ
WNTZ
WNTZ-TV is the Fox affiliate television station for the Alexandria, Louisiana Designated Market Area. It is licensed to Natchez, Mississippi, which is part of the Jackson, Mississippi television market. The station also has a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV.It broadcasts a digital signal on...
in Natchez
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
, the Fox affiliation moved to channel 48. Since 1995, the channel 47 translator has simulcasted WNTZ to serve portions of Alexandria where channel 48's signal is weak.
Today
Digital channel 15.1 Real Channel 16 KADN Fox Lafayette, LouisianaDigital channel 15.2 Real Channel 16 KLAF Myklaf Lafayette, Louisiana
KADN serves as the flagship station for the Lafayette, LA-based Communications Corporation of America (ComCorp) chain of TV stations. ComCorp began operating KADN in 1997 through a leased marketing agreement with original owner Charles Chatelain until purchasing the station outright in late 2004. After being located on cable channel 8 since signon, KADN moved to channel 6 on August 15, 2006 as part of a lineup restructuring of the Cox Communications
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
Greater Lafayette system. http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS01/607130314/1002
In June 2006, owner ComCorp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ComCorp said in a press release viewers and staff would see no changes at the station.
The programming of sister station KLAF-LP was added to KADN-DT's signal on channel 15.2 in August 2007. This began a period of transition in which all four translators that made up KLAF were shut off.
In early 2008, KADN became the first station in the Lafayette market to air HD programming outside of network-provided offerings with syndicated Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
airing in 720p HD. Further, on February 29, 2008, KADN began airing promotional materials throughout the day in 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
HD and identifying on the HD signal as "Fox 15 HD."
Newscasts
On March 26, 2007, KADN began running on-air promos teasing a 9:00 pm newscast with the tagline "At 9 it's news, by 10 it's history."Fox News Louisiana was produced by Baton Rouge Fox affiliate WGMB
WGMB
WGMB-TV is the local Fox affiliate for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is owned by Communications Corporation of America, and is sister station to the area's The CW affiliate, WBRL-CD. WGMB also shared facilities and staff with WVLA-TV and KZUP-CD...
. Originally, the first 20 minutes of the program were taped earlier and geared specifically towards the Acadiana audience, with stories by Lafayette-based reporters, plus a local forecast. KADN then joined the WGMB's live broadcast for the final two segments, which included generic national and world news, plus a statewide sportscast. In 2008, the newscast was retitled Fox News Lafayette, although the former branding (Fox News Louisiana) was not removed from the set.
On August 20, 2007, KADN debuted Fox News Louisiana AM, a 7AM to 9AM newscast. Like the evening news, certain segments were taped and included stories by the Lafayette-based reporting staff, while other segments were aired live.
In December 2008, Fox News Louisiana AM was canceled.
In April 2009, KADN canceled its 30-minute evening newscast and let go of its local news staff. KADN now airs Fox News Now at 9 pm, a five-minute newscast featuring local headlines and a weather forecast.
Fox News Now (Weeknights 9 to 9:05 P.M.)
- Anchor:
- Crystal Kobza
- Weather:
- Zach Glenn
KADN uses additional news personnel from KETK in Longview, Texas, see that article for a complete listing
Newscast titles
- Channel 15 News (1980–1983)
- TV-15 News/Acadiana in Review (1983–1986)
- Fox 15 News (1986–2000)
- Fox News Louisiana (2000–present)
Station slogans
- Channel 15, Watch What We're Doing Now! (1983–1986)
- Just Good Stuff! (mid 1990s)