KDFW
Encyclopedia
KDFW, virtual channel
4 (digital channel 35), is the Fox
owned-and-operated television station in the Dallas
-Fort Worth
Metroplex designated market area.
It is owned by Fox Television Stations, Inc. in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV
affiliate KDFI
(channel 27), and is also co-owned with Fox Sports Southwest, through parent company News Corporation
. The station is licensed to Dallas and its studios and business offices are located downtown
, with the station's transmitter located in Cedar Hill.
affiliate KRLD-TV on December 3, 1949, owned by the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald
newspaper, which also operated KRLD radio (1080 kHz.). Channel 4 was the third television station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area to sign-on, following Dallas-based KBTV (now WFAA-TV
, channel 8) earlier in 1949, and Fort Worth-based WBAP-TV (now KXAS-TV
, channel 5) in 1948.
KRLD-TV served as the home base for the CBS
network's coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
, led by Dan Rather
, on November 22, 1963. News director Eddie Barker was the first person to announce Kennedy's death on television, passing along word from a Parkland Hospital
official (because of a local pool
arrangement, Barker's scoop appeared live simultaneously on CBS and ABC
).
KRLD-TV's transmission tower in Cedar Hill
, which was 586 feet tall and was considered the highest television transmission tower in the world, was hit by a military helicopter doing training exercises in 1968. The two passengers survived, but the tower had to be reconstructed.
Federal Communications Commission
rules at the time prevented common ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market
, and the combination of KRLD-AM-TV and the Dallas Times-Herald was protected under a grandfather clause
from forced divestiture. However, the newspaper and its broadcast holdings were sold to the Los Angeles
-based Times-Mirror Company on May 15, 1970 for $
30 million. As a result of the sale, Times-Mirror could not keep the Times-Heralds grandfathered protection for the radio and television stations, but was granted a waiver to keep the newspaper together with the television station, which was renamed KDFW-TV on July 2, 1970. KRLD radio was sold to Metromedia
soon thereafter; the newspaper was sold off in 1986, and was shut down five years later.
In 1993, Times-Mirror announced its intention to divest itself of its television station properties, KDFW and the other Times-Mirror stations were sold to Argyle Television in a group deal. Early in 1994, KDFW began managing a struggling station, KDFI (channel 27), which was rebroadcasting KDFW's newscasts in different time slots.
, New World Communications
reached an agreement for its stations to make the big switch to the network. Afterwards, New World bought out Argyle, which owned KDFW along with sister stations KTVI
(channel 2) in St Louis
, WVTM (channel 13) in Birmingham, Alabama
, and KTBC
(channel 7) in Austin
. When that buyout became final on April 14, 1995 (although New World had been operating the Argyle stations through time brokerage agreements
since January 19), KDFW and KTBC switched affiliations to Fox on July 1 of that year (and KTVI followed suit on August 7)—while WVTM remained affiliated with NBC
because former ABC affiliate WBRC
(channel 6) in the same market was sold directly to Fox (WVTM was subsequently sold to NBC before being purchased by current owner Media General
).
Upon the network switch, the Cowboys
football games moved back to KDFW after a one year absence; KDFW as a CBS affiliate carried the Cowboys through 1993, after which the NFC package moved from CBS to Fox (the first season that the Cowboys were back on KDFW, they won the Super Bowl
). The CBS affiliation moved to KTVT
(channel 11), and former Fox O&O station KDAF
(channel 33; which Fox sold to Renaissance, later Tribune Company
) took The WB affiliation from KXTX (channel 39). News Corporation
purchased KDFW and its LMA
with KDFI in a group deal in early 1997. Like most New World-owned stations, KDFW did not pick up Fox Kids; it stayed with KDAF until 1997 when Fox Kids moved to KDFI (Fox/NewsCorp eventually bought KDFI outright in 2000).
KDFW (briefly branded as Fox 4 Texas upon affiliation switch in 1995) is not the only Fox owned-and-operated station to replace a previous Fox O&O; sister station WAGA
(channel 5) in Atlanta replaced WATL (channel 36) during the Fox/New World agreement in 1994. KDFW and KDFI are one of three groups of network O&Os (albeit a duopoly) based in Dallas (with KTVT and KTXA being owned by CBS; KXAS and KXTX being owned by NBC). With Fox switching from a UHF to a VHF position, Dallas-Fort Worth became the first market at the time where all "Big Four" affiliates are on the VHF dial alongside New York
, Los Angeles
, San Francisco
, Washington, DC
, Miami
, Las Vegas and Seattle
. Portland
and Minneapolis-St. Paul
would not join suit until 2002.
On the morning of July 30, 2007 around 7 a.m., a traffic helicopter used by KDFW crash-landed near Joe Pool Lake
after the engine suddenly lost power. Helicopter pilot Curtis Crump was able to make a hard emergency landing, with the aircraft skidding and then tipping over before coming to a stop near a lake dam. All three people in the helicopter survived.
is used to display KDFW's virtual channel
as 4 on digital television receivers. Its analog signal was nightlighting until July 12, 2009.
). Syndicated programming includes talk shows (such as Live with Regis and Kelly
and The Wendy Williams Show
), court shows (such as Judge Judy
, Judge Joe Brown and Judge Jeanine Pirro
), newsmagazines (such as Access Hollywood
and TMZ on TV
), off-network dramas (such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
) and weekend morning children's shows. The station began to broadcast a few off-network sitcoms by the late 1990s (though for a brief period during the mid-2000s and also as of the 2008-2009 season, no off-network sitcoms were on its schedule—a rarity for a Fox station). Some of the syndicated court shows airing on the station air in both daytime and late night.
By the very late 1990s, the station began to broadcast a few off-network sitcoms. KDFW is also the alternate flagship station for Texas Rangers
baseball; sister station KDFI (channel 27) is the official flagship, and Fox Sports Net
also broadcasts some Rangers games.
In 1972, the station debuted 4 Country Reporter, hosted by Bob Phillips
. In 1986, Phillips left KDFW and began selling the show in syndication, which was renamed Texas Country Reporter
, and now airs in all 22 television markets in Texas. KDFW did not pick up the syndicated version, but rival station WFAA carried the show (calling it 8 Country Reporter).
KDFW is one of a steadily growing number of Fox stations with a newscast in the traditional late news time slot (with the majority of Texas being located in the Central time zone, at 10 p.m. in KDFW's case), in addition to the primetime (9 p.m.) newscast, along with one of the few to continue their Big Three-era 10 p.m. (or 11 p.m.) newscast after the affiliation switch. In 2006, Fox Television Stations Group started to push expansion into that time slot (sister station KTBC
in Austin
had a 10 p.m. newscast for years after switching to Fox, which was moved to 9 p.m. in 2000). After the switch, KDFW's 10 p.m. newscast was scaled back to weeknights only (Fox late night programming airs on Saturdays at 10 p.m., while the sports wrap-up show "FOX4 Sports Sunday" airs Sundays in that timeslot). It is likely that Fox will have all of its owned-and-operated stations add these later newscasts within the next few years (at least half of the Fox O&Os already have added newscasts at 11 p.m. (ET/PT)/10 p.m. (CT/MT)).
Starting in 2006, the Fox-owned stations began revamping their sets and graphics to be more closely aligned with Fox News Channel. The stations now have standardized logos that resemble Fox News Channel's. KDFW debuted the new logo, set, graphics and news music on September 20, 2006 on its 9 p.m. newscast. The station also launched a new website, which features more news and video with the "myfox" name and interface (the "My" in the "myfox" name may be a reference to MySpace, which Fox's parent News Corporation owns). On February 18, 2009 at noon, KDFW became the fifth station in the Dallas-Fort Worth market to broadcast its local newscasts in high definition
, thus leaving KDAF (channel 33, a CW affiliate [and the Metroplex's original Fox O&O] owned by Tribune Company) as the only local English-language television station not to broadcast its newscasts in HD for another 15 months.
On April 5, 2010 the station expanded its morning newscast by a half-hour, now running from 4:30 to 9 a.m. KDFW is the last remaining Fox-owned station not to run news in the 9 a.m. hour; this is due to the fact that the station broadcasts Live with Regis and Kelly
in that timeslot, which KDFW has done for several years. On July 10, 2011, KDFW debuted a Sunday morning edition of its Good Day newscast (prior to then, the only weekend morning newscast on KDFW was a two-hour Saturday morning newscast from 8-10 a.m., which remains on the station).
4WARN Weather Team
In addition to providing forecasts on KDFW, the 4WARN Weather Team also provides forecasts for KLIF
radio.
Sports team
Team Traffic
Reporters
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
4 (digital channel 35), is the Fox
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...
owned-and-operated television station in the Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
-Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
Metroplex designated market area.
It is owned by Fox Television Stations, Inc. in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate KDFI
KDFI
KDFI-TV, virtual channel 27, is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated station serving the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The station is licensed to Dallas and owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network outlet KDFW . Its transmitter is located in Cedar...
(channel 27), and is also co-owned with Fox Sports Southwest, through parent company News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
. The station is licensed to Dallas and its studios and business offices are located downtown
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...
, with the station's transmitter located in Cedar Hill.
As a CBS affiliate
The station signed on as CBSCBS
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...
affiliate KRLD-TV on December 3, 1949, owned by the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald
Dallas Times Herald
The Dallas Times Herald, founded in 1888 by a merger of the Dallas Times and the Dallas Herald, was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, and two George Polk Awards, for local and regional reporting...
newspaper, which also operated KRLD radio (1080 kHz.). Channel 4 was the third television station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area to sign-on, following Dallas-based KBTV (now WFAA-TV
WFAA-TV
WFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network...
, channel 8) earlier in 1949, and Fort Worth-based WBAP-TV (now KXAS-TV
KXAS-TV
KXAS-TV, virtual channel 5 , is the NBC television station for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station was Texas' first television station when the station made its debut on September 28, 1948. Its transmitter is located in Cedar Hill...
, channel 5) in 1948.
KRLD-TV served as the home base for the CBS
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
network's coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, led by Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
, on November 22, 1963. News director Eddie Barker was the first person to announce Kennedy's death on television, passing along word from a Parkland Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital is a hospital located at 5201 Harry Hines Boulevard, just west of Oak Lawn in Dallas, Texas . It is the main hospital of the Dallas County Hospital District and serves as Dallas County's public hospital.- History :The original hospital opened in 1894 in a wooden...
official (because of a local pool
Press pool
Press pool refers to a group of news gathering organizations that combine their resources in the collection of news. A pool feed is then distributed to members of the broadcast pool who are free to edit it or use it as they see fit. In the case of print reporters, a written pool report is...
arrangement, Barker's scoop appeared live simultaneously on CBS and ABC
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
).
KRLD-TV's transmission tower in Cedar Hill
Cedar Hill, Texas
Cedar Hill is a city in Dallas and Ellis Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located approximately sixteen miles southwest of downtown Dallas and is situated along the eastern shore of Joe Pool Lake and Cedar Hill State Park. The population was 32,093 at the 2000 census...
, which was 586 feet tall and was considered the highest television transmission tower in the world, was hit by a military helicopter doing training exercises in 1968. The two passengers survived, but the tower had to be reconstructed.
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
rules at the time prevented common ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market
Concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
, and the combination of KRLD-AM-TV and the Dallas Times-Herald was protected under a grandfather clause
Grandfather clause
Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
from forced divestiture. However, the newspaper and its broadcast holdings were sold to the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
-based Times-Mirror Company on May 15, 1970 for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
30 million. As a result of the sale, Times-Mirror could not keep the Times-Heralds grandfathered protection for the radio and television stations, but was granted a waiver to keep the newspaper together with the television station, which was renamed KDFW-TV on July 2, 1970. KRLD radio was sold to Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
soon thereafter; the newspaper was sold off in 1986, and was shut down five years later.
In 1993, Times-Mirror announced its intention to divest itself of its television station properties, KDFW and the other Times-Mirror stations were sold to Argyle Television in a group deal. Early in 1994, KDFW began managing a struggling station, KDFI (channel 27), which was rebroadcasting KDFW's newscasts in different time slots.
As a Fox affiliate
In late 1993, when Fox gained the contract from CBS to carry the NFC package of the National Football LeagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, New World Communications
New World Communications
New World Pictures was an independent motion picture and television production company, and later television station owner in the United States from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s...
reached an agreement for its stations to make the big switch to the network. Afterwards, New World bought out Argyle, which owned KDFW along with sister stations KTVI
KTVI
KTVI, virtual channel 2, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the St. Louis, Missouri, designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, under a local marketing agreement with Tribune-owned CW affiliate KPLR...
(channel 2) in St Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, WVTM (channel 13) in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, and KTBC
KTBC
KTBC, channel 7, is the Fox owned-and-operated television station in Austin, Texas. Studios are located in downtown Austin at the corner of 10th and Brazos Streets , and its transmitter is located in the city....
(channel 7) in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
. When that buyout became final on April 14, 1995 (although New World had been operating the Argyle stations through time brokerage agreements
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
since January 19), KDFW and KTBC switched affiliations to Fox on July 1 of that year (and KTVI followed suit on August 7)—while WVTM remained affiliated with 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...
because former ABC affiliate WBRC
WBRC
WBRC, virtual channel 6, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Birmingham, Alabama designated market area. The station is owned by Raycom Media, and its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham...
(channel 6) in the same market was sold directly to Fox (WVTM was subsequently sold to NBC before being purchased by current owner Media General
Media General
Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV.The company was...
).
Upon the network switch, the Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
football games moved back to KDFW after a one year absence; KDFW as a CBS affiliate carried the Cowboys through 1993, after which the NFC package moved from CBS to Fox (the first season that the Cowboys were back on KDFW, they won the Super Bowl
Super Bowl XXX
Super Bowl XXX was an American football game played on January 28, 1996 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona to decide the National Football League champion following the 1995 regular season...
). The CBS affiliation moved to KTVT
KTVT
KTVT, virtual channel 11, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth designated market area. The station is co-owned with independent station KTXA , and the two stations share facilities in Dallas and Fort Worth...
(channel 11), and former Fox O&O station KDAF
KDAF
KDAF, virtual channel 33 , is a CW-affiliated television station serving the Dallas-Fort Worth television market area. The station is licensed to Dallas and owned by the Tribune Company with its studios located off the John W. Carpenter Freeway in northwest Dallas. The station's transmitter is...
(channel 33; which Fox sold to Renaissance, later Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
) took The WB affiliation from KXTX (channel 39). News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
purchased KDFW and its LMA
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
with KDFI in a group deal in early 1997. Like most New World-owned stations, KDFW did not pick up Fox Kids; it stayed with KDAF until 1997 when Fox Kids moved to KDFI (Fox/NewsCorp eventually bought KDFI outright in 2000).
KDFW (briefly branded as Fox 4 Texas upon affiliation switch in 1995) is not the only Fox owned-and-operated station to replace a previous Fox O&O; sister station WAGA
WAGA (TV)
WAGA-TV, virtual channel 5.1 is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...
(channel 5) in Atlanta replaced WATL (channel 36) during the Fox/New World agreement in 1994. KDFW and KDFI are one of three groups of network O&Os (albeit a duopoly) based in Dallas (with KTVT and KTXA being owned by CBS; KXAS and KXTX being owned by NBC). With Fox switching from a UHF to a VHF position, Dallas-Fort Worth became the first market at the time where all "Big Four" affiliates are on the VHF dial alongside New York
WNYW
WNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
, Los Angeles
KTTV
KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...
, San Francisco
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
, Washington, DC
WTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
, Miami
WSVN
WSVN, channel 7, is a television station located in Miami, Florida, USA. WSVN is owned by Sunbeam Television, and is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company. The station has its studio facilities located in North Bay Village and transmitter based in north Miami-Dade County.WSVN operates a Key...
, Las Vegas and Seattle
KCPQ
KCPQ, channel 13, is the Fox television affiliate licensed to Tacoma, Washington serving the Seattle/Tacoma television market, owned by the Tribune Company...
. Portland
KPTV
KPTV is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Portland, Oregon market, which includes most of the state of Oregon and portions of Southwest Washington. KPTV is owned by the Meredith Corporation in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX , with its studios located in Beaverton and...
and Minneapolis-St. Paul
KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV, channel 9, is the Fox-owned-and-operated television station serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota designated market area, owned in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WFTC...
would not join suit until 2002.
On the morning of July 30, 2007 around 7 a.m., a traffic helicopter used by KDFW crash-landed near Joe Pool Lake
Joe Pool Lake
Joe Pool Lake is a fresh water impoundment located in the southern part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas . The lake encompasses parts of Tarrant, Dallas and Ellis counties. The lake measures with a conservation storage capacity of...
after the engine suddenly lost power. Helicopter pilot Curtis Crump was able to make a hard emergency landing, with the aircraft skidding and then tipping over before coming to a stop near a lake dam. All three people in the helicopter survived.
Analog-to-digital conversion
After the analog television shutdown of June 12, 2009, KDFW-DT remains on channel 35 PSIPProgram and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
is used to display KDFW's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 4 on digital television receivers. Its analog signal was nightlighting until July 12, 2009.
Programming
Being a network O&O, KDFW airs the entire Fox network schedule (primetime, Saturday late night and sports programming, and the political talk show Fox News SundayFox News Sunday
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is a public affairs program on the Fox network, hosted by Chris Wallace and airing on Sunday mornings. The show began on April 28, 1996, which predated the launch of Fox News Channel, and usually talks about items similar to Sunday morning talk shows...
). Syndicated programming includes talk shows (such as Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
and The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show
The Wendy Williams Show is a syndicated talk show hosted by Wendy Williams that premiered on July 14, 2008, as six-week sneak peek, in Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City. The test run was picked up for a full season that began its run on July 13, 2009 in over 70% of the country in...
), court shows (such as Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
, Judge Joe Brown and Judge Jeanine Pirro
Judge Jeanine Pirro
Judge Jeanine Pirro is an American reality series that debuted on The CW on September 22, 2008...
), newsmagazines (such as Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
and TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV, or simply TMZ and TMZTV, is an American syndicated entertainment and gossip news television show that premiered on September 10, 2007. The program is generally aired on Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates, though a majority of the stations that carry the series are Fox affiliates...
), off-network dramas (such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
) and weekend morning children's shows. The station began to broadcast a few off-network sitcoms by the late 1990s (though for a brief period during the mid-2000s and also as of the 2008-2009 season, no off-network sitcoms were on its schedule—a rarity for a Fox station). Some of the syndicated court shows airing on the station air in both daytime and late night.
By the very late 1990s, the station began to broadcast a few off-network sitcoms. KDFW is also the alternate flagship station for Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
baseball; sister station KDFI (channel 27) is the official flagship, and Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
also broadcasts some Rangers games.
In 1972, the station debuted 4 Country Reporter, hosted by Bob Phillips
Bob Phillips
Robert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips , is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program Texas Country Reporter...
. In 1986, Phillips left KDFW and began selling the show in syndication, which was renamed Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter
Texas Country Reporter is a weekly syndicated television program hosted and produced by Bob Phillips. It airs in all 22 Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and reruns are broadcast nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV...
, and now airs in all 22 television markets in Texas. KDFW did not pick up the syndicated version, but rival station WFAA carried the show (calling it 8 Country Reporter).
News operation
KDFW broadcasts a total of 48½ hours of local news a week (eight hours on weekdays, four hours on Saturdays and 4½ hours on Sundays), more than any other station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and the most of any television station in Texas; however as is standard with Fox stations that carry early evening weekend newscasts, KDFW's Sunday 5 p.m. newscast is subject to preemption and the Saturday 6 p.m. newscast is subject to delay due to sports coverage from Fox. From the time KDFW became a Fox affiliate (and later owned-and-operated station) in 1995, the station has placed more emphasis on local news; maintaining a newscast schedule that is very similar to a CBS, ABC, or NBC affiliated station, along with the added weeknight 5:30 and nightly 9 p.m. newscasts and the additional two hours of news on weekday mornings.KDFW is one of a steadily growing number of Fox stations with a newscast in the traditional late news time slot (with the majority of Texas being located in the Central time zone, at 10 p.m. in KDFW's case), in addition to the primetime (9 p.m.) newscast, along with one of the few to continue their Big Three-era 10 p.m. (or 11 p.m.) newscast after the affiliation switch. In 2006, Fox Television Stations Group started to push expansion into that time slot (sister station KTBC
KTBC
KTBC, channel 7, is the Fox owned-and-operated television station in Austin, Texas. Studios are located in downtown Austin at the corner of 10th and Brazos Streets , and its transmitter is located in the city....
in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
had a 10 p.m. newscast for years after switching to Fox, which was moved to 9 p.m. in 2000). After the switch, KDFW's 10 p.m. newscast was scaled back to weeknights only (Fox late night programming airs on Saturdays at 10 p.m., while the sports wrap-up show "FOX4 Sports Sunday" airs Sundays in that timeslot). It is likely that Fox will have all of its owned-and-operated stations add these later newscasts within the next few years (at least half of the Fox O&Os already have added newscasts at 11 p.m. (ET/PT)/10 p.m. (CT/MT)).
Starting in 2006, the Fox-owned stations began revamping their sets and graphics to be more closely aligned with Fox News Channel. The stations now have standardized logos that resemble Fox News Channel's. KDFW debuted the new logo, set, graphics and news music on September 20, 2006 on its 9 p.m. newscast. The station also launched a new website, which features more news and video with the "myfox" name and interface (the "My" in the "myfox" name may be a reference to MySpace, which Fox's parent News Corporation owns). On February 18, 2009 at noon, KDFW became the fifth station in the Dallas-Fort Worth market to broadcast its local newscasts in high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, thus leaving KDAF (channel 33, a CW affiliate [and the Metroplex's original Fox O&O] owned by Tribune Company) as the only local English-language television station not to broadcast its newscasts in HD for another 15 months.
On April 5, 2010 the station expanded its morning newscast by a half-hour, now running from 4:30 to 9 a.m. KDFW is the last remaining Fox-owned station not to run news in the 9 a.m. hour; this is due to the fact that the station broadcasts Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
in that timeslot, which KDFW has done for several years. On July 10, 2011, KDFW debuted a Sunday morning edition of its Good Day newscast (prior to then, the only weekend morning newscast on KDFW was a two-hour Saturday morning newscast from 8-10 a.m., which remains on the station).
Newscast titles
- The EssoEssoEsso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
Reporter (1949–1963) - Big City News (5:30 p.m. newscast; 1963–1968)
- Nightly News (10 p.m. newscast; 1963–1968)
- NewsScene (5 p.m. newscast; 1968–1975)
- 24 Hours (10 p.m. newscast; 1968–1978)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1975–1978) - Channel 4 News (1978–1980 and 1984–1990)
- News 4 Dallas-Fort Worth (1980–1984)
- News 4 Texas (1990–1996; KDFW kept this news title after switch to Fox in 1995)
- Fox 4 News (1996–present)
Station slogans
- "Catch The Brightest Stars on Channel 4" (1975–1976; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- "Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
: Dallas/Fort Worth's #1 News Team" (1975–1978) - "Channel 4, We're The Hot Ones" (1976–1977; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- "There's Something in the Air on Channel 4" (1977–1978; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- "Reach For The Stars on Channel 4" (1981–1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- "Great Moments on Channel 4" (1982–1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- "Hello Dallas" (1984–1989; during period station used Frank Gari's Hello News)
- "Share The Spirit on Channel 4" (1986–1989; localized version of CBS campaign)
- "Channel 4 News, Working For You" (news slogan) / "Believing in Texas" (general slogan; 1989)
- "Your 24-Hour News Source24 Hour News SourceThe 24 Hour News Source brand was a common name used by American television stations starting in the early 1990s for brief hourly news updates, usually running 30 seconds to a minute in length. At its peak, dozens of stations across the U.S. were producing these brief news updates...
" (1990–1995) - "The Look of Dallas/Fort Worth is Channel 4" (1991–1992; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- "Fox 4 Texas" (1995–1996)
- "Nobody Gets You Closer" (1996–1997)
- "Fox 4: The News Station" (1997–present; primary slogan from 2009–present)
- "Have You Had a Good Day?" (2002–present; used in morning newscast promos)
- "Now You Know" (2009–present; secondary news slogan)
- "So Fox 4" (2009–present; localized version of Fox ad campaign)
Current on-air staff (as of July 13, 2011)
Anchors- Adrian Arambulo - Sunday mornings Good Day; also weekday morning reporter
- Steve Eagar - weeknights at 5:30, 6 and 9 p.m.
- Dan Godwin - weekdays at noon, and Saturday mornings Good Day; also weekday morning reporter
- Heather Hays - weeknights at 6 and 9 p.m.
- Lauren Przybyl - weekday mornings Good Day (4:30-9 a.m.)
- Richard Ray - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5, and weekends at 9 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
- Tim Ryan - weekday mornings Good Day (4:30-9 a.m.)
- Natalie Solis - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5, and weekends at 9 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
- Clarice TinsleyClarice TinsleyClarice Tinsley is an American broadcast journalist. In November 1978, she moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area to anchor the ten o'clock news for KDFW. In 1979 the six o'clock news was added to her duties. Prior to KDFW, she spent three years working for WITI-TV in Milwaukee...
- weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m.
4WARN Weather Team
In addition to providing forecasts on KDFW, the 4WARN Weather Team also provides forecasts for KLIF
KLIF
KLIF is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Dallas, Texas, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media. KLIF broadcasts a conservative-leaning news/talk radio format to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Call sign history:...
radio.
- Dan Henry (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, 9 and 10 p.m. - Evan Andrews (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Good Day (4:30-9 a.m.)
- Fiona Gorostiza - weather anchor; weekdays at noon
- Ron Jackson (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings Good Day, Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5, and weekends at 9 p.m.
Sports team
- Mike Doocy - sports director; weeknights at 6, 9 and 10 p.m., also host of Sports Sunday
- Max Morgan - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5, and weekends at 9 p.m., also sports reporter
Team Traffic
- Chip Waggoner - weekday mornings Good Day (4:30-9 a.m.), and weeknights at 5 p.m.
- Todd Carruth - fill-in traffic reporter
Reporters
- Fil Alvarado - general assignment reporter
- Dionne Anglin - general assignment reporter
- Lari Barager - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Melissa Cutler - general assignment reporter
- Peter Daut - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Saul Garza - general assignment and "What's Buggin' You" feature reporter
- Matt Grubs - general assignment reporter
- Krystle Gutierrez - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Lynn Kawano - general assignment reporter
- Emily Lopez - general assignment reporter
- Doug Luzader - Fox News Washington D.C. correspondent
- Steve Noviello - "Fox 4 On Your Side" consumer reporter
- Becky Oliver - investigative reporter
- Shawn Rabb - general assignment reporter
- James Rose - general assignment and "Street Squad" feature reporter
- Brandon Todd - general assignment reporter
Notable former on-air staff
- Rebecca AguilarRebecca Aguilar-Career:Aguilar has worked as a television reporter at WDHO-TV, Toledo Ohio, KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi,TX, KENS-TV, San Antonio, TX, USA Today on TV, Washington, DC, KPNX-TV, Phoenix, AZ, KNBC-TV, Los Angeles, CA, and KDFW-TV, Dallas, TX....
- reporter (1994-2008) - Ashleigh BanfieldAshleigh BanfieldAshleigh Banfield is a Canadian-American journalist who as of 2010 hosts Disorder in the Court, Open Court and Hollywood Heat on Tru TV , where she reports on domestic and pop culture issues...
- anchor (1995–2000; now with TruTV) - Katherine CreagKatherine CreagKatherine Creag is a television news reporter for WNBC TV, News 4 New York. She reports primarily for the award-winning morning news show: Today in New York, from 4:30 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. She can also be seen on the Saturday and Sunday programs: Weekend Today in New York and News 4 New York at...
- reporter (2002–2005; now at WNYWWNYWWNYW, virtual channel 5 , is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located in the Yorkville section of Manhattan...
in New York City) - Sam DonaldsonSam DonaldsonSamuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
- announcer (1959–1960; later with ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, retired) - Wayne FreedmanWayne FreedmanWayne Freedman is a feature reporter for KGO-TV; the ABC owned television station in San Francisco, California.Freedman's education included Chaminade High School near his hometown of Woodland Hills, California. Freedman showed an interest in reporting at an early age, and became published with a...
- reporter (1980–1981; now at KGO-TVKGO-TVKGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
in San Francisco) - Frank GlieberFrank GlieberFrank John Glieber was an American sportscaster.-Early life and career:...
- sports reporter/anchor (deceased) - Cynthia GouwCynthia GouwCynthia Gouw is a American TV news anchor and host, an actress and model.-Television:As a TV journalist, Gouw is a 3-time Emmy Award winning reporter....
- weekend anchor/reporter (1993–1994) - Judd HambrickJudd HambrickJudd Hambrick is an American former Emmy-award winning television newscaster/reporter.Hambrick grew up in Mount Pleasant, Texas.- Career, accomplishments, and awards :...
- anchor (1972–1973) - Dale HansenDale HansenDale Hansen is an American sportscaster, currently the weeknight sports anchor during the 6 pm and 10 pm newscasts on ABC's Dallas affiliate WFAA-TV. He also hosts Dale Hansen's Sports Special on Sundays at 10:20 pm, consistently one of the highest-rated local programs in...
- sports anchor (1980–1983; now at WFAA) - Megan HendersonMegan HendersonMegan Henderson is a journalist and weekday morning anchor of the 4:30am to 7am KTLA News in Los Angeles. Prior to joining KTLA in March 2009, Henderson hosted the #1 rated morning show Good Day at the Fox affiliate KDFW in Dallas and Fox's Good Day Utah at KSTU in Salt Lake City...
- Good Day anchor (2003–2009; now at KTLAKTLAKTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
in Los Angeles) - Craig James - sports anchor (1992–1993; now with ABC Sports and ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
) - Dick JohnsonDick Johnson (reporter)Dick Johnson was the morning news co-anchor for NBC owned television station WMAQ-TV in Chicago and is currently a street reporter and a back-up weeknight anchor at WMAQ-TV....
- anchor (1976–1982; now at WMAQ-TVWMAQ-TVWMAQ-TV, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401...
in Chicago) - Bill MercerBill MercerBill Mercer is an American sportscaster, educator and author, originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, who now lives in Richardson, Texas. In 2002, he was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.-Personal:...
- sportscaster/wrestling announcer (1953–1964) - Bob PhillipsBob PhillipsRobert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips , is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program Texas Country Reporter...
- host of 4 Country Reporter (1972–1986; now host of Texas Country ReporterTexas Country ReporterTexas Country Reporter is a weekly syndicated television program hosted and produced by Bob Phillips. It airs in all 22 Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and reruns are broadcast nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV...
) - Dick RisenhooverDick RisenhooverWilliam Ervin "Dick" Risenhoover, Jr. was the sportscaster for the Texas Rangers from 1972-1977.-External links:*...
- sports anchor (1970–1973; deceased) - Dale SchornackDale SchornackDale Dwayne Schornack is the lead male anchor at KXTV. Schornack has anchored along with Cristina Mendonsa for over 10 years....
- anchor/reporter (1991–1995; now at KXTVKXTVKXTV, channel 10, is an ABC affiliate television station in Sacramento, California. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. Its transmitter tower is located in Walnut Grove, California, and studios are located on Broadway, just south of Business Loop 80 at the south edge of downtown...
in Sacramento) - James SpannJames SpannJames Spann is a television meteorologist based in Birmingham, Alabama. He currently works for ABC 33/40, whose studios are located in Hoover, Alabama but which has transmitters in Tuscaloosa and Anniston. Spann has worked in the field since 1978. -Career:Spann began his broadcast career in...
- meteorologist (mid 1980s; now at WBMA-LP/WCFT/WJSUWBMA-LPWBMA-LD, channel 58, is the ABC television affiliate for Birmingham and central Alabama. Its transmitter is located in Birmingham, while its studio is in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham....
in Birmingham, AL) - Casey StegallCasey StegallCasey Stegall is a network correspondent for Fox News Channel, based in the Los Angeles bureau. Stegall joined FOX News after working as a general assignment morning reporter and substitute anchor at KDFW-TV; FOX 4 in Dallas, Texas. Prior to that, he was a city hall reporter at KVUE-TV; ABC 24 in...
- reporter (2005–2007; now with Fox News) - Roger TwibellRoger TwibellRoger Twibell is currently a sportscaster for the CBS College Sports Network. Twibell most often commentates on football and basketball events. Prior to working at CBS College Sports, he worked at ABC, ESPN, and the Big Ten Network...
- sports reporter (1975–1976; now at Big Ten Network)