KDFW
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- KDFW is also the ICAO airport code for the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
| KDFW | |
|---|---|
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| Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas | |
| Branding | FOX4 |
| Slogan | Just You Watch, The News Station |
| Channels | 4 (VHF) analog, 35 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | FOX |
| Owner | Fox Television Stations Group (New World Communications of Texas, Inc.) |
| Founded | December 3, 1949 |
| Call letters meaning | K Dallas-Fort Worth |
| Former callsigns | KRLD-TV (1949-1970) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1949-1995) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW/511 m (analog) 857 kW/510 m (digital) |
| Website | MyFoxDFW.com |
KDFW ("FOX4 - The News Station") is the Fox Broadcasting Company owned and operated television station in the Dallas, Texas/Fort Worth, Texas designated market area. Its transmitter is located in Cedar Hill. It is co-owned with KDFI-TV channel 27 as well as Fox Sports-Southwest.
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[edit] History
The station signed on as CBS affiliate KRLD-TV on December 3, 1949, and was owned by the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald newspaper; the two were located next to each other. KRLD served as the headquarters of the CBS network's coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, led by Dan Rather, on November 22, 1963. The Times Herald and the station remained neighbors until the paper shut down in December 1991.
The station changed its call letters to KDFW on July 2, 1970. That year, Times Mirror acquired KDFW through its purchase of the Times Herald. The newspaper was sold off in 1986, and was shut down five years later. In 1993, KDFW and the other Times Mirror stations were sold to Argyle in a group deal. Early in 1994, KDFW began managing a struggling station, KDFI, which was rebroadcasting KDFW's newscasts in different time slots.
In late 1993, when Fox gained the contract from CBS to carry the NFC package, New World Communications reached an agreement to make 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 in St Louis, WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama, and KTBC in Austin. With that buyout was final, KDFW, along with KTBC and KTVI switched affiliation to Fox on July 1, 1995 -- while WVTM remained affiliated with NBC because former ABC affiliate WBRC in the same market was sold directly to Fox (WVTM was subsequently sold to NBC Universal 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 CBS affiliation moved to KTVT, and former Fox O&O station KDAF (which Fox sold to Renaissance, later Tribune Company) took The WB affiliation from KXTX. News Corporation purchased KDFW and its LMA with KDFI in a group deal in early 1997. Like most New World-owned station, 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 broadcasts close to 50 hours of local news a week along with prime time Fox programming, sports, syndicated talk, court and reality shows. By the very late 1990s, the station also began to broadcast a few off-network sitcoms. When the station switched networks in 1995, it was known as FOX4 TEXAS. It is now known as FOX4 - The News Station.
Under Fox ownership, KDFW is the alternate flagship of Texas Rangers baseball as KDFI is the official flagship; Fox Sports Net also broadcasts some games as well.
[edit] Ratings
KDFW is currently in: second place at 6 a.m., third place at 5 p.m., fourth place at 6 p.m., and in fourth place at 10 p.m. newscasts.
[edit] Programming Oddities
KDFW is one of the few (most likely the only) Fox affiliate or O&O that does not air sitcoms, outside of Fox network programming. KDFW did air sitcoms in the early and late evening hours until 2005 when this programming was replaced with court shows produced by Twentieth Television (Fox's television syndication production company). Any off-network sitcoms that did air on KDFW have either been moved to sister station KDFI, (and less so) CW affiliate (and former Fox station) KDAF or independent stations KTXA and KFWD.
KDFW also airs Access Hollywood three times daily. The entertainment news program which is produced by NBC Universal's television syndication unit (Ironically, KXAS is owned by NBC Universal, though it no longer airs Access Hollywood) airs on KDFW weekdays at 6:30pm, 11:00pm and 4:30am. This is unusual as most it is the only station to air the show three times daily and a majority of the stations that air the show air it only once (though a few air the program twice a day).
[edit] Digital Television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 4.1 / 35.1 | Main KDFW programming / Fox HD |
| 4.2 / 35.2 | 4 Warn Weather Radar |
[edit] Newscasts
KDFW, WITI in Milwaukee, WDAF in Kansas City, WBRC in Birmingham and KSAZ in Phoenix are the only Fox stations to have a 10 p.m. newscast in either the Central and Mountain Time Zones. Sister stations WTVT in Tampa-St. Petersburg and WTTG Washington, D.C. have recently added 11 p.m. newscasts. Fox may have all the O&O's add an 11 p.m. newscast should this become a success. So that means more of the Fox O&Os in the Central and Mountain Time Zones could add a 10 p.m. newscast as well (KTBC in Austin had a 10 p.m. newscast for years after switching to Fox, which has since been scaled back to 9 p.m.). The Fox stations are all revamping their sets and graphics to be more closely aligned with Fox News Channel. They have new FOX News standardized logos, have the myfox(city).com templated websites and many have started to promote themselves as "The Most Powerful Name In Local News". KDFW debuted the new logo, set and graphics on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 on their 9pm show. It was the biggest change in the station's look since it flipped to Fox in 1995.
At one time KDFW had an Eyewitness News format. Local counterpart WFAA also used this format as well.
[edit] Weekdays
- Good Day: 5-6 a.m.
- Tim Ryan, Natalie Solis, Evan Andrews (weather), Todd Carruth (traffic)
- Good Day: 6-9 a.m.
- Tim Ryan, Natalie Solis, Evan Andrews (weather), Chip Waggoner and Todd Carruth (team traffic)
- FOX4 News at Noon: 12-12:30 p.m.
- Dan Godwin, Maria Sotolongo (weather)
- FOX4 News at 5: 5-5:30 p.m.
- Clarice Tinsley and Baron James, Dan Henry (weather)
- FOX4 News at 5:30: 5:30-6 p.m.
- Steve Eagar, Dan Henry (weather)
- FOX4 News at 6: 6-6:30 p.m.
- Steve Eagar and Megan Henderson, Dan Henry (weather), Mike Doocy (sports)
- FOX4 News at 9: 9-10 p.m.
- Steve Eagar and Megan Henderson, Dan Henry (weather), Mike Doocy (sports)
- FOX4 News at 10: 10-10:30 p.m.
- Clarice Tinsley and Baron James, Dan Henry (weather), Mike Doocy (sports)
As of March 19, 2007, Heather Hays is on maternity leave, So Megan Henderson will be leaving Good Day to fill in for the 6 and 9 pm Newscast with Steve Eagar. For Good Day, Natalie Solis will be filling in for Megan Henderson.
[edit] Weekends
Saturdays
- FOX4 Good Day Saturday: 8-10 a.m.
- Lari Barager, Dan Godwin, Ron Jackson (weather)
- FOX4 News at 6: 6-7 p.m.
- Richard Ray, Natalie Solis, Ron Jackson (weather), Max Morgan (sports)
- FOX4 News at 9: 9-10 p.m.
- Richard Ray, Natalie Solis, Ron Jackson (weather), Max Morgan (sports)
Sundays
- FOX4 News at 5: 5-6 p.m.
- Richard Ray, Natalie Solis, Ron Jackson (weather), Max Morgan (sports)
- FOX4 News at 9: 9-10 p.m.
- Richard Ray, Natalie Solis, Ron Jackson (weather)
- Sports Sunday: 10-10:30 p.m.
[edit] Notable Personalities
[edit] Current On-Air Talent
FOX4 NEWS ANCHORS
- Steve Eagar, 5:30PM, 6PM and 9PM Anchor/Reporter
- Dan Godwin, "Good Day Saturday" Anchor /Noon Anchor/Reporter
- Heather Hays, On Leave
- Megan Henderson, 6PM and 9PM Temporary Anchor(5-9AM)/Reporter
- Baron James, 5PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
- Richard Ray, Weekend Evening Anchor/Reporter
- Tim Ryan, "Good Day" Anchor (5-9AM)/Reporter
- Natalie Solis, Temporary "Good Day" Anchor
FOX4 NEWS REPORTERS
- Paul Adrian, Investigative Reporter
- Rebecca Aguilar, General Assignment Reporter
- Fil Alvarado, General Assignment Reporter
- Dionne Anglin, General Assignment Reporter
- Lari Barager, General Assignment Reporter
- Todd Carruth, "Team Traffic" Reporter
- Jeff Crilley, General Assignment Reporter
- Melissa Cutler, General Assignment Reporter
- Saul Garza, General Assignment Reporter
- John Hammarley, Medical Reporter
- Lynn Kawano, General Assignment Reporter
- Emily Lopez, General Assignment Reporter
- Steve Noviello, Consumer Reporter
- Becky Oliver, Investigative Reporter
- Jason Overstreet, Metro North Correpondent
- Shawn Rabb, General Assignment Reporter
- James Rose, General Assignment Reporter
- Scott Sayres, Business Reporter
- Casey Stegall, General Assignment Reporter
- Brandon Todd, General Assignment Reporter
- Ed Wallace, Automobile Tester
- Chip Waggoner, "Team Traffic" Reporter
4WARN FORECAST/4WARN STORM TEAM METEOROLOGISTS
- Dan Henry (AMS Seal of Approval), Weekday Evening Chief Meteorologist
- Evan Andrews, "Good Day" Weather Anchor/Fill-in Anchor
- Maria Sotolongo, Noon Weather Anchor/Fill-in Weather Anchor
- Ron Jackson (AMS Seal of Approval), Weekend Morning/Evening Meteorologist/Fill-in Meteorologist
SPORTS ANCHORS/REPORTERS
- Mike Doocy, Sports Director/6PM, 9PM, 10PM Sports Anchor/"Sports Sunday" Host
- Max Morgan, Weekend Sports Anchor/Fill-in Weeknight Sports Anchor
- Nita Wiggins, Sports Reporter
- Chris Yates, Sports Reporter
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- NewsScene (1970s)
- Eyewitness News (1975-78)
- Channel 4 News: The 10 O'Clock Report (1978-1980)
- News 4 Dallas-Fort Worth (1980-1984)
- Channel 4 News (1984-1990)
- News 4 Texas (1990-1997 kept this news title after switch to FOX in 1995)
- Fox 4 News (1997-present)
[edit] Station Slogans
- Hello Dallas (1980s, when used Frank Gari's Hello News)
- Channel 4 News, Working For You (1989)
- Believing in Texas (1989)
- Your 24 Hour News Source (early 1990's)
- Fox 4 Texas (1995-1997)
- Fox 4: The News Station (1997-)
[edit] Former logos
 Channel 4 in 1979. |
 News 4, Late 1980s and Early 1990s. |
 Fox 4 News late 1990's-2006 |
[edit] See also
[edit] Video samples
[edit] References
- Shannon, Mike (January, 2004). Dallas-Fort Worth TV Station History. The History of Dallas-Fort Worth Radio and Television.
- KDFW FOX 4 -- 50 Years and Counting! (1999) KDFWFox4.com.
[edit] External links
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KDTN 2 (DS) - KDFW 4 (Fox/4 Warn Weather Radar on DT 2) - KXAS 5 (NBC/WX+ on DT 2) - WFAA 8 (ABC/Xpress 8.2 on DT 2/DFW Airport Towercam on DT 3) - KTVT 11 (CBS) - KERA 13 (PBS) - KTXA 21 (Ind) - KNAV 22 (Genesis) - KUVN 23 (UNI) - K25FW 25 (HSN) - KODF 26 / KLEG 44 (AZA) - KDFI 27 (MNTV) - KHPK 28 (Genesis) - KMPX 29 (Ind) - K31GL 31 (Ind) - KDAF 33 (The CW/The Tube on DT 2) - KJJM 34 (LAT TV) - KVFW 38 (Religious) - KXTX 39 (TEL) - KTAQ 47 (Religious) - KSTR 49 (TFU) - KATA 50 (Multimedios) - KFWD 52 (Ind) - KSEX 57 (Ind) - KDTX 58 (TBN) - KPXD 68 (ION/qubo on DT 2/ION Life on DT 3/Worship on DT 4) |
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| Local digital television channels |
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XHRIO 2 (Matamoros / Brownsville)* - KDFW 4 (Dallas) - KIDY 6 (San Angelo) - KTBC 7 (Austin) - KCIT 14 (Amarillo) - KFOX 14 (El Paso) - KXVA 15 (Abilene) - |
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*XHRIO is licensed in Matamoros, Mexico, but primarily serves viewers on the US side of the Rio Grande. |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, MyNetwork TV, NBC, PBS, Telefutura, Telemundo, Univision, Religious, Other English and Other Spanish stations in Texas | |
