Everything about Kdfw totally explained
» KDFW is also the
ICAO airport code for the
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
KDFW, channel 4, is the
Fox owned and operated television station in the
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex designated market area. The station is licensed to Dallas and the main business offices and studios are located
downtown. The station's transmitter is located in
Cedar Hill. It is co-owned with
KDFI digital channel 27 as well as
Fox Sports-Southwest.
KDFW is a slightly more news based Fox station than the norm with 44 hours (most average about 40 hours a week) a week of news.
History
The station signed on as
CBS affiliate KRLD-TV on
December 3,
1949 (the third television station in the Metroplex), 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.
KRLD'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.
The station changed its call letters to KDFW on
July 2,
1970, now broadcasting on its new transmission tower. That year, the
Times-Mirror Company acquired KDFW through its purchase of the
Times Herald. FCC rules at the time prevented common ownership of a newspaper, radio and television station in the same market and
KRLD radio was divested by Times-Mirror. 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 of the
National Football League,
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. When that buyout was final, KDFW, along with KTBC and KTVI switched affiliations 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 stations, KDFW didn't 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 isn't the only Fox O&O to replace a previous Fox O&O (KDAF); sister station
WAGA in Atlanta replaced
WATL during the Fox/New World agreement in 1994. KDFW and KDFI are the only network O&O's (albeit a duopoly) based in Dallas.
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
Fox 4 TEXAS. It is now known as
Fox 4: 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.
Digital Television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| Channel |
Programming |
| 4 / 35.1 |
Main KDFW programming / Fox HD |
| 35.2 |
4 Warn Weather Radar |
KDFW will leave channel 4 and stay on channel 35 in
2009 when the analog to digital conversion is complete. However, through the use of
PSIP, digital television receivers will display KDFW-TV's
virtual channel as 4
News Operations
KDFW was one of the few Fox O&O stations with a newscast in the traditional "late" newscast timeslot of 10 p.m. central. (or 11 p.m. eastern) In 2006, the group started to push expansion into that time slot. (
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.). It is possible Fox will have all of its O&O stations add these later newscasts.
In 2006, the Fox stations revamped their sets and graphics to be more closely aligned with
Fox News Channel. The stations now have Fox News standardized logos and have all switched to the myfox(city).com websites. 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 became a Fox affiliate in 1995.
Notable Personalities
Current On-Air Talent
Fox 4 Anchors
- Lari Barager: Good Day Saturday Anchor
- Steve Eagar: Fox 4 News at 5:30, 6, Fox 4 News: First at 9 Anchor
- Dan Godwin: Fox 4 News at Noon, Good Day Saturday Anchor
- Heather Hays: Fox 4 News at 6, Fox 4 News: First at 9 Anchor
- Megan Henderson Good Day Anchor
- Baron James: Fox 4 News at 5, Fox 4 News at 10
- Richard Ray: Fox 4 News at 6 (Saturday), Fox 4 News at 5 (Sunday), Fox 4 News: First at 9 (weekend) Anchor
- Tim Ryan: Good Day Anchor
- Natalie Solis: Fox 4 News at 6 (Saturday), Fox 4 News at 5 (Sunday), Fox 4 News: First at 9 (weekend) Anchor
- Clarice Tinsley: Fox 4 News at 5, Fox 4 News at 10 Anchor
Fox 4 Reporters
Paul Adrian: Investigative Reporter
Fil Alvarado: Senior Reporter
Dionne Anglin: General Assignment Reporter
Adrian Arambulo: General Assignment Reporter
Jeff Crilley: General Assignment Reporter
Melissa Cutler: General Assignment Reporter
Saul Garza: General Assignment Reporter, What's Buggin' You Reporter
Krystle Gutierrez: General Assignment Reporter
John Hammarley: Medical Reporter
Lynn Kawano: General Assignment Reporter
Emily Lopez: General Assignment Reporter
Steve Noviello: Fox 4 On Your Side Reporter
Becky Oliver: Investigative Reporter
Jason Overstreet: Metro North Bureau
Shawn Rabb: General Assignment Reporter
James Rose: General Assignment Reporter, Street Squad Reporter
Scott Sayres: Business News Reporter
Brandon Todd: General Assignment Reporter
Team Traffic
Todd Carruth - 5 to 9 a.m.
Chip Waggoner - 6 to 9 a.m., 5 & 5:30 p.m.
4Warn Weather
Dan Henry (AMS Certified): Fox 4 News at 5, 5:30, 6, Fox 4 News: First at 9, Fox 4 News at 10 Chief Meteorologist
Ron Jackson (AMS Seal of Approval): Good Day Saturday, Fox 4 News at 6 (Saturday), Fox 4 News at 5 (Sunday), Fox 4 News: First at 9 (weekend) Meteorologist
Evan Andrews (AMS Seal of Approval): Good Day Meteorologist
Sports Team
Mike Doocy: Fox 4 News at 6, Fox 4 News at 9, Fox 4 News at 10 Sports Director, Host: Sports Sunday
Max Morgan: Fox 4 News at 6 (Saturday), Fox 4 News at 9 (weekend) Sports Anchor
Nita Wiggins: Sports Reporter
KDFW Alumni
Rebecca Aguilar - Reporter (1994-2008)
Ashleigh Banfield - anchor (1995-1999, now at TruTV)
Eddie Barker - newscaster (1949-1972)
Gary Bazner - weather anchor (1978-1982, deceased)
Steve Bosh - anchor (1984-1990, now a reporter at KUSI-TV in San Diego)
Bill Brown - reporter (1970s, now in public relations)
Jack Brown - "Jack Brown's Texas" feature reporter (1980-1998, deceased)
Mike Burger - meteorologist (1989-1996, now at KTVT)
Bill Ceverha - anchor/reporter (1962-1972, served as Republican member of Texas House from 1977-1989)
Bill Clarke - consumer reporter (1974-1975, now at KMGH-TV in Denver)
Paul Crane - sports anchor (1983-1992, now at Cox Sports Television in New Orleans)
Katherine Creag - reporter (2002-2005, now at WNYW-TV in New York)
John Criswell - anchor (1990-1997)
Steve Crocker - anchor (1995-1998, now at WBRC-TV in Birmingham)
Warren Culbertson - meteorologist (1963-1984)
Steve Dawson - anchor (1984-1986)
Ted Dawson - sports anchor (1987-1995, now a sports anchor at KIDK-TV in Idaho Falls, ID)
Sam Donaldson - announcer (1959-1960, now with ABC News in Washington, D.C.)
Linda Edwards - anchor/reporter (1990-1997, now a communications consultant)
Bobby Estill - sports anchor (1992)
Walter Evans - anchor (1963-1993)
Wayne Freedman - reporter (1980-1981, now at KGO-TV in San Francisco)
John Gilbert - Capitol Bureau reporter (now at KCEN-TV in Waco)
Bud Gillett - reporter (1978-2000, now at KTVT)
Eric Glasser - anchor (1995-2005, now at WPTV in West Palm Beach)
Sylvia Gomez - reporter/anchor (1990-1992)
Cynthia Gouw - weekend anchor/reporter (1993-1994)
Judd Hambrick - anchor (1972-1973)
Dale Hansen - sports anchor (1980-1983, now at WFAA-TV)
Barbara Harrison - anchor/reporter (1979-1980, now at WRC-TV in Washington, DC)
Tim Heller - chief meteorologist (1994-2002, now at KTRK-TV in Houston)
Craig James - sports anchor (1992-1993)
Dick Johnson - anchor (1976-1982, now at WMAQ-TV in Chicago)
Judy Jordan Greene - anchor (1966-1980, now at KYTX-TV in Tyler)
Kim Keelor - anchor (mid 1990s)
Su Keenan - reporter (1980s)
Kimberly Kennedy - anchor (1992, now at WSB-TV in Atlanta)
Bill Mercer - sportscaster/wrestling announcer (1953-1964)
Kevin McCarthy - sports reporter (1981-1986)
Marlene McClinton - anchor/reporter (1980-1984)
Stan Miller - anchor/reporter (1985-1986)
Chip Moody - anchor (1980-1984, deceased)
George Riba - sports reporter (1975-1977, now at WFAA-TV)
Dick Risenhoover - sports anchor (1970-1973, deceased)
Erika Ruiz - reporter (1999-2004, now at KRQE in Albuquerque)
Cameron Sanders - reporter (?-1988)
Hosea Sanders - weekend anchor/reporter (1981-1986, now at WLS-TV in Chicago)
Dale Schornack - anchor/reporter (1991-1995, now at KXTV in Sacramento)
Wayne Shattuck - meteorologist (1981-1984, now at WFTS-TV in Tampa)
Brett Shipp - investigative reporter (1990-1992, now at WFAA-TV)
Sara Sidner - reporter (was at KTVU in San Francisco 2004-2007, now at CNN in the New Dehli, India bureau)
James Spann - meteorologist in mid 1980's, now at ABC 33/40 in Birmingham
Steve Stoler - reporter (1985-2002, now at WFAA-TV)
Maria Sotolongo: Noon Weather Anchor (2003-2008)
Bill Swanbeck - sports anchor (1986-1987)
Julia Jackson-Somers - morning anchor/reporter (1992-2003, now Julie Sommers and at WPLG-TV in Miami)
Roger Twibell - sports reporter (1975-1976, now at ABC Sports and ESPN)
Phyllis Watson - anchor (1995-1998)
Ray Walker - anchor (1973-1978)
Barbara White - reporter (1981-2005)
Charlie Wilson - reporter (1968-1991, deceased)
Wes Wise - sports anchor (1961-1968)
Casey Stegall - reporter (2005-2007, now correspondent at Fox News Channel in Los Angeles)
News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
The Esso Reporter (1949-1963)
Big City News (1963-1968, 5:30 p.m. newscast)
Nightly News (1963-1968, 10 p.m. newscast)
NewsScene (1968-1975, 5 p.m. newscast)
24 Hours (1968-1978, 10 p.m. newscast)
Eyewitness News (1975-78)
Channel 4 News (1978-1980)
News 4 Dallas-Fort Worth (1980-1984)
Channel 4 News (1984-1990)
News 4 Texas (1990-1997; KDFW kept this news title after switch to Fox in 1995)
Fox 4 News (1997-present)
Station Slogans
Hello Dallas (1980s-1989, when used Frank Gari's Hello News)
Reach for the Stars on Channel 4 (1981-1982, local version of CBS campaign)
Channel 4 News, Working For You (1989)
Believing in Texas (1989)
Your 24 Hour News Source (1990-1995)
Fox 4 Texas (1995-1997)
Fox 4: The News Station (1997-present)
==
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kdfw'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://kdfw.totallyexplained.com">KDFW Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
