WDAF-TV
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| WDAF-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Branding | FOX4 |
| Slogan | Working For You |
| Channels | 4 (VHF) analog, 34 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | Fox] |
| Owner | Fox Television Stations Group (New World Communications of Kansas City, Inc.) |
| Founded | October 19, 1949 |
| Call letters meaning | None. It was sequentially assigned by the federal government to the AM sister station (now KCSP). [1] |
| Former affiliations | NBC (1949-1994) CBS (secondary, 1949-52) DuMont (secondary, 1949-52) ABC (1949-53) |
| Website | www.myfoxkc.com/ |
WDAF-TV ("FOX4") is the Fox owned and operated television station in the Kansas City television market. It runs about 50 hours a week of locally produced newscasts, as well as first-run prime time and sports programming from Fox. It also runs off-network sitcoms, talk shows, reality shows, sports and court shows. Its transmitter is located in Kansas City, Missouri.
The station uses a news helicopter (Sky Fox) to check traffic, cover breaking news and track storms. It has the #1 newscast in several time slots, including 9:00pm and the morning newscast.
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[edit] History
WDAF began operation on October 19, 1949 and affiliated with all four major networks of the time: NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont. It was the first television station in Kansas City, with Randall Jessee at the helm of newscasting. Several other notables, including Shelby Storck (WDAF-TV's first weathercaster) and future Hollywood character actor Owen Bush, did announcing for the station during the early 1950s. When KMBC signed on in 1953, CBS and Dumont programming moved there. WDAF shared ABC with KMBC until later in 1953, when KCMO-TV (now KCTV) signed on as the CBS affiliate. KMBC and WDAF then affiliated exclusively with ABC and NBC respectively. The station pre-empted moderate amounts of NBC programming, usually some daytime shows and occasionally a prime time show.
The station was originally owned by the Kansas City Star along with WDAF-AM 610, which began operations in 1922. Political pressure and anti-trust rulings forced the Star to sell the stations (plus WDAF-FM) in 1957.
In 1958, WDAF-AM-FM-TV was sold to Transcontinent Broadcasting. Transcontinent Television later sold the station and the rest of its stations to Taft Broadcasting on April 1, 1964. Citicasters, formally Great American Communications, acquired Taft Broadcasting on October 12, 1987. By that year WDAF had overtaken KMBC as the dominant station in Kansas City, as was the trend at many NBC affiliates.
On July 13, 1984, WDAF-TV became one of the first 20 NBC stations in the country to receive network programming via satellite. In 1986 WDAF-TV also became the first TV station in Kansas City to broadcast in stereo.
[edit] As a Fox station
In the winter & spring of 1994, WDAF was sold to New World Communications (along with Phoenix's KSAZ). Shortly after the sale was announced, New World also announced that its stations were to affiliate with the Fox network. This came after Fox picked up the contract to carry the NFC game package from CBS.
As such, WDAF became a Fox affiliate on September 12th of 1994 and the NBC affiliation moved to KSHB Channel 41, the old Fox station. As a Fox affiliate, WDAF was the only New World-owned station to be a former NBC affiliate; sister stations WVTM in Birmingham and KNSD in San Diego were sold to NBC Universal.
After the affiliation swap, WDAF increased its local news programming from 30 hours a week to 50 hours - including expansions in morning and evening news. While it carries the entire Fox lineup, WDAF has pre-empted Fox Kids programming from the beginning, of which instead aired over the years on KSMO and later KMCI (now 4Kids TV); the pre-emption has been common among its newer Fox sister stations as well in the same timeframe since the mid-1990s.
WDAF officially became a Fox owned and operated station in 1997, following Fox's purchase of the New World station group. WDAF is the only O&O of any major network in the Kansas City market.
The station was the over-the-air flagship station of the Kansas City Royals for many years -- but lost the broadcast rights for the games in 1992. The station also produced and aired Kansas City Chiefs pre-season games from 1997 to 1999.
In 2005, WDAF-TV began broadcasting in full power High Definition.
[edit] Newscasts
Weekdays
- FOX 4 News at 5 AM - 5-6 AM
- FOX 4 News at 6 AM - 6-7 AM
- FOX 4 News Morning Show - 7-9 AM
- FOX 4 News at Noon - 12-12:30 PM
- FOX 4 News at 12:30 PM - 12:30-1 PM
- FOX 4 News at 5 PM - 5-6 PM
- FOX 4 News at 6 PM - 6-6:30 PM
- FOX 4 News at 9 PM - 9-10 PM
- FOX 4 News at 10 PM - 10-10:30 PM
Saturdays
- FOX 4 Saturday - 7-9 AM
- FOX 4 News at 5 PM - 5-6 PM
- FOX 4 News at 9 PM - 9-10 PM
- FOX 4 News at 10 PM - 10-10:35 PM
Sundays
- FOX 4 Sunday - 7-9 AM
- FOX 4 News at 5 PM - 5-5:30 PM
- FOX 4 News at 5:30 PM - 5:30-6 PM
- FOX 4 News at 9 PM - 9-10 PM
- FOX 4 News at 10 PM - 10-10:35 PM
[edit] Personalities
[edit] Current
[edit] Anchors
- Mark Alford - morning/noon anchor
- Heather Claybrook - weekend morning anchor/"Problem Solver"
- Loren Halifax - 5-7:30 am/noon anchor
- Paul Herdtner - 7:30-9 a.m. anchor
- Susan Hiland - 5 and 9 p.m. anchor
- John Holt - 5 and 9 p.m. anchor/"Problem Solver"
- Sharita Hutton - weekend morning
- Tom Lawrence - Weekend anchor
- Shelli Lockhart - 6 and 10 p.m. anchor
- Laura Thornquist - 7:30-9 a.m. anchor
- Phil Witt - 6 and 10 p.m. anchor
[edit] Reporters
- Eric Burke
- Kim Byrnes
- Leslie Carto
- Nancy Lewis
- Rob Low
- Meryl Lin McKean - medical reporter
- John Pepitone
- Ken Price
- Kathy Quinn
- Bob Stepanich
- Nick Vasos - traffic
- Linda Wagar
[edit] Meteorologists
- Don Harman, Morning meteorologist
- Joe Lauria, Weekends
- Mike Thompson, Chief Meteorlogist
[edit] Sports
- Frank Boal, sports director/Monday-Thursday anchor
- Jason Lamb, weekend sports reporter
- Al Wallace, Friday sports anchor/reporter
[edit] Former
- Carmen Ainsworth, 6 & 10 PM anchor
- Carrie Coogan, "Fox 4 Problem Solver", "Try it before you Buy it"
- Toby Cook, Weekday mornings 7:30-9:00 AM, now with the Kansas City Royals
- Casey Curry, Noon news, Weekend morning meteorologist, moved to KTRK [2]
- Harris Faulkner, 6 & 10 PM anchor, now with Fox News
- Gary Lezak - Morning Meteorologist, Now Chief Meteorologist at KSHB in Kansas City
- Heather McMichael - Morning anchor, now works a law firm in Kansas City,MO
- Sue Mason - Weekday mornings, 6 AM-7:30 AM, now with Nebraska Furniture Mart
- Johnny Rowlands, traffic reporter, now at KMBC-TV in Kansas City
- Tina Simpkin, Noon news, Weekend morning meteorologist, now meteorologist at WTHR in Indianapolis
- Steve Shaw, reporter, fired after DUI
- Shelly Slater, 6 & 10 PM weekend anchor, moved to WFAA-TV
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- Channel 4 Action News (1974-1992)
- NewsChannel 4 (1992-1997)
- FOX4 News (1997-present)
[edit] Station Slogans
- Working For You (2003-present)
[edit] Trivia
- WDAF-TV (along with a few other television and radio stations in the US) is an exception to the FCC rule that call signs must start with K west of the Mississippi River and W east of it.
[edit] External links
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KTVI 2 (St. Louis) - WDAF 4 (Kansas City) - KBSI 23 (Cape Girardeau) - KSFX 27 (Springfield) - K38II 38 (Jefferson City) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Missouri | |
