WFAA-TV

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WFAA-TV
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Branding	WFAA 8, Channel 8 (general) News 8, News 8 HD, Channel 8 News (newscasts)
Slogan	The Spirit of Texas First In News, First In HDTV Start Here
Channels	Analog: 8 (VHF) Digital: 9 (VHF)
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Belo Corporation (WFAA-TV, Inc.)
First air date	September 17, 1949
Call letters’ meaning	Nothing. The call sign was sequentially assigned by the federal government to the AM sister station.
Sister station(s)	KFWD
Former callsigns	KBTV (1949-1950)
Former affiliations	Primary: DuMont (1949-1950) NBC (1950-1957) Secondary: DuMont (1950-1955) ABC (1950-1957)
Transmitter Power	316 kW (analog) 18.6 kW (digital)
Height	512 m (analog) 527 m (digital)
Facility ID	72054
Transmitter Coordinates	32°35′7.3″N, 96°58′42.3″W
Website	www.wfaa.com

WFAA-TV ("WFAA 8") is the ABC television affiliate serving the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas DMA (5th largest nationwide). The station is licensed to Dallas and its main business offices and studios are located next to the Dallas Morning News office in Downtown Dallas and in Victory Park next to American Airlines Center. Its transmitter is located in Cedar Hill, Texas. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation, which formerly owned the Dallas Morning News daily newspaper. (The Dallas Morning News is now owned by the A. H. Belo Corporation.) WFAA-TV is currently the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network (through Disney rather), and the largest affiliate by market size of a "Big Four" network (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) not to be owned and operated by that network.^{[citation needed]}

WFAA-TV also serves as one of four default ABC affiliates for the Sherman, Texas/Ada, Oklahoma market (along with KSWO-TV in Lawton, KTUL-TV in Tulsa and KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City) since that market currently lacks an ABC affiliate of its own, as the market's former ABC affiliate KTEN became an NBC affiliate in 1998. WFAA is carried as the "local" ABC affiliate to Dish Network subscribers within that market and the sole ABC affiliate carried by cable operators in several of the largest cities in the Sherman-Ada market including Sherman and Denison in Texas; as well as Ardmore, Durant and Hugo in Oklahoma.

[edit] History

WFAA signed on as DuMont affiliate KBTV on September 17, 1949, owned by Texas oil magnate Tom Potter. (Note: The callsign KBTV was used for years by Channel 9, the ABC (now NBC) affiliate in Denver, but now belongs to Channel 4, the Beaumont, Texas NBC station.) WFAA was the third TV station in Texas (behind Fort Worth's WBAP-TV, now KXAS-TV, and Houston's KLEE-TV, now KPRC-TV), the second in the Metroplex, and the first licensed to Dallas. The station became WFAA (after sister radio station WFAA-AM) on March 21, 1950, not long after the station was purchased by Belo in the midst of a FCC television license freeze from 1948 to 1952. Later in 1950, it switched its primary affiliation to NBC, and also took on a secondary ABC affiliation. DuMont shut down in 1955, and NBC disappeared from the schedule in 1957 when WBAP-TV boosted its signal to cover Dallas, leaving WFAA-TV with just ABC.

WFAA was the first station to break the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated on November 22, 1963. The station conducted the first live television interview with Abraham Zapruder, who shot the famous Zapruder film, about an hour and a half after the President's death. WFAA and its live remote unit fed much coverage of the assassination and its aftermath to the ABC network over the next four days. The shocking and unexpected shooting of accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters, however, was not broadcast live (as on NBC) or on tape (as on CBS a minute later) by WFAA/ABC as their live truck was positioned elsewhere at the time. ABC was thus only able to show delayed newsreel footage of the historic event.

WFAA dominated the market ratings for local news from the mid 1970s until the late 1990s, with talent such as Tracy Rowlett, Iola Johnson, Bob Gooding, Judi Hanna, John Criswell, Chip Moody, John McCaa, Gloria Campos, Scott Sams, Verne Lundquist, Dale Hansen, and Troy Dungan. Former News Director turned Belo executive Marty Haag is credited for leading the station to ratings dominance and national prominence.

WFAA also does major outside work with cities and small "town hall" meetings through its Family First program. Family First first started back in 1993.

WFAA became the first TV station in the nation to broadcast a digital signal on a VHF channel in February 1997 at 2:17 p.m. The station is one of the only ABC affiliates to broadcast HDTV in 1080i format; other ABC affiliates broadcast in 720p. The programming is broadcasted from their new Victory Park studios (News 8 Daybreak, Good Morning Texas, News 8 Midday, News 8 at Five, and also when a major event is being held at Victory Park).^[1][2]

The WFAA calls reportedly stood for "Working For All Alike", and also "World's Finest Air Attraction."

[edit] Radio

WFAA-AM was the radio counterpart to the TV station. It signed on June 26, 1922, and used the WFAA calls through July 2, 1983. (Thereafter, it was known as "KRQX" until Belo sold it, along with sister station KZEW-FM {the former WFAA-FM,} on January 1, 1987.) WFAA-AM has a rich history of service to the Dallas area. Moving around the AM dial, as most stations did in the 1920s and 1930s, the station settled into a permanent stay at 570 AM by 1938, while splitting time with WBAP-AM at their clear-channel frequency of 820. This was the longest timeshare agreement in the US, starting in 1929 and concluding on April 27, 1970.

WFAA-AM was the first network-affiliated station in Texas (initially with NBC beginning April 2, 1923; later with Texas Quality Network, then ABC [to August 1, 1975] and CBS thereafter,) the first US station to carry educational programs, the first to produce a serious radio drama series, the first to air a state championship football game, and the first to air presidential inaugural ceremonies. WFAA-AM was home to the long-running morning program, "The Early Birds", hosted by John Allen; "Hymns We Love", "Saturday Night Shindig", "The Big D Jamboree", "Murray Cox RFD", "Slo-and-Ezy", and later, "57 Nostalgia Place."

After many years of an entertainment/variety format, the station flipped to Middle of the Road in 1970, followed by Top 40. On Election Day 1976, the station made its final format change to News/Talk (As "Newstalk 570.")

WFAA-AM was initially located in a 9' x 9' tent on the roof of the Dallas Morning News; to the Morning News library thereafter; to the Baker Hotel on October 1, 1925; atop the Santa Fe Railroad Warehouse on Jackson St. from June 20, 1941 to April 4, 1961 (the building today still has "WFAA" clearly painted on the top) and to Communications Center thereafter.

Sister station WFAA-FM was the first FM to sign on in Texas, beginning October 5, 1946 as "KERA-FM" (no relation to the current radio and TV station known under the same call letters,) although its roots go back to an experimental FM station "W5X1C" that signed on October 15, 1945, and another experimental trial dating back to 1939. By 1947, it had moved from its original home at 94.3 FM to a preferred location in the center of the dial at 97.9 FM. With FM broadcasting in its infancy, WFAA-FM signed on and off the air for months and even two years at a time before settling on a permanent broadcast schedule by 1965. Initially a simulcast of the AM side, it programmed Middle-of-the-Road and Beautiful Music until 1973, then flipped to Album Rock as KZEW-FM "The Zoo" on September 16, 1973. Featuring talent such as John LaBella and John Rody ("LaBella and Rody,") George Gimarc, Charley Jones, Dave Lee Austin, Nancy Johnson, John Dew, John Dillon, Doc Morgan and Tempie Lindsey, the station's concept and programming were initially under the direction of Ira Lipson. The FM station shared studio locations with WFAA-AM.

[edit] Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels

Xpress 8.2 screens weather radar, news headlines on a crawl, and occasional live programming. This live programming includes ABC News Now [1].

In 2009, WFAA-TV/News 8 will move to digital channel 8 and KFWD will move from digital channel 51 to digital channel 9 in order to complete the analog to digital conversion.^[3]

[edit] Saturday mornings

WFAA airs the ABC Kids children's programming block significantly out of pattern compared to most other ABC stations. Currently, a double run of Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive airs on a one-week delay from 5-6am, instead of the recommended time of 11am to 12 Noon, when the ABC network feeds the show to its affiliates "live". Also, The Emperor's New School and The Replacements airs on same-day delay from 11-12pm, instead of the recommended 8am-9am timeslot for both shows. The remaining two hours air in pattern "live" from the ABC feed.

WFAA airs the Saturday edition of News 8 Daybreak on Saturday mornings from 7-8:30am and the Saturday edition of Hot On! Homes at 8:30am.

[edit] News operations

WFAA started producing their local newscasts in high-definition on February 2, 2007.

WFAA's main studios is located at 606 Young St. in Downtown Dallas. Their Victory Park studios is located on the right side of the American Airlines Center (home of the Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars & Dallas Desperados). They broadcast from both studios in High Definition.

[edit] Notable personalities

[edit] Current on-air talent

[edit] News 8 anchors

(In Alphabetical Order)

[edit] News 8 reporters/other

(In alphabetical order)

[edit] News 8 Investigates

(In alphabetical order)

[edit] News 8 Weather

(In order of rank)

[edit] News 8 Sports

(In order of rank)

[edit] News 8 alumni

• Neal Barton: Meteorologist (1989-1994, now at KETK-TV in Tyler/Longview, Texas)
• Alan Berg: Austin Bureau Chief (1992-2000, now managing partner at Arts+Labor in Austin, Texas)
• Jan Bridgman: Consumer Reporter/Weekend Anchor (late 1970s-1984, deceased)
• Bill Brown: Reporter (1980-2004, now in public relations)
• Bob Brown: Reporter/Anchor (1975-1977, now at ABC News)
• Arch Campbell: Reporter (1971-1974, now at WJLA-TV in Washington, DC)
• David Cassidy (not to be confused with the actor/singer: Reporter (1974-1988; early 2000s-present)
• Mark Clegg: Anchor/Reporter (1990-1992, now at KSHB-TV in Kansas City)
• Lin Sue Cooney: Anchor/Reporter (1980-1984, now at KPNX-TV in Phoenix)
• John Criswell: Anchor (1973-1990, left for KDFW-TV before retiring, now a Dallas Media Consultant)
• Medghan Danahey: Meteorologist (2007-2008, left for KVUE in Austin)
• Deanna Dewberry: Anchor (1998-2005, now Anchor/Reporter at WISH-TV in Indianapolis)
• Deborah Duncan: Good Morning Texas Host (1994-1997, now at KHOU-TV in Houston)
• Troy Dungan: Chief Weather Anchor (1976-2007, will be given 25 days a year for on-air specials)
• Bill Evans: Meteorologist (1987-1989, now at WABC-TV in New York)
• Dave Evans: Senior Reporter (1989-2000, now at WABC-TV in New York)
• Doug Fox: Anchor/Reporter/Urban Affairs Unit manager (1974-2003)
• Jim Fry: Washington Correspondent/City Hall Reporter (1982-2006)
• Chris Gailus: Daybreak Co-anchor (2000-2003, now at CHAN-TV in Vancouver)
• David Garcia: Weekend Anchor/Reporter (1965-1968, later with ABC and most recently with KPSP-TV in Riverside County, CA, now deceased)
• Bob Gooding: Anchor (1961-1979, retired in east Texas and in poor health)
• Judi Hanna: Anchor/Reporter (1969-1974, later with KVIL-FM)
• Charles Hadlock: Anchor/Reporter (1980-1982, went to Houston and eventually to NBC News)
• Erin Hawksworth: Sports Reproter (2006-2008, now reporting at WFXT in Boston)
• Chris Heinbaugh: Dallas City Hall Reporter (2000-2007, now with the City of Dallas)
• Michael Hill: Reporter (1988-1993, now at WGNO-TV in New Orleans)
• Midge Hill: Anchor/Reporter (1984-1989, left for KTVT-TV, does occasional community theatre in Garland)
• Jackie Hyland: Morning Anchor/Reporter (2005-2007, went back to New York City)
• Brian Jensen: Sports Anchor/Reporter (1988-1997, currently radio voice for Texas Tech Football)
• Iola Johnson: Anchor (1973-1985, last with KTXA-TV as host of Positively Texas)
• Andrea Joyce: Sports Reporter (1987-1988)
• Kristine Kahanek: Meteorolgist (1997-2001, now Chief Meteorologist at KTVT-TV)
• Karin Kelly: Reporter (1979-2006)
• Shelley Kofler: Capitol Bureau Reporter (2000-2004, now at KERA-TV)
• Mike Landess: Anchor/Reporter (1967-1971 as Malcolm Landess, now at KMGH-TV in Denver)
• Ed Lavandera: Reporter (1991-1998, now at CNN's Dallas bureau)
• Mike Lee: Reporter (1966-1968, now at ABC News in London)
• Bert Lozano: Reporter (2004-2006, now in public relations)
• Verne Lundquist: Sports Anchor (1967-1983, now at CBS Sports)
• Mark Mathis: Meteorologist (now at KREX-TV in Grand Junction, Colorado)
• David Margulies: Anchor/Reporter (1976-1986, now a public relations consultant)
• Anna Martinez: Reporter/Host of La Vida (1991-2002, now working at Southern Methodist University)
• Tony Martinez: Sports Anchor/Reporter (1983-1987 and 1996-2000, now working for The Coaching Company [2])
• Lisa McRee: Anchor/Reporter (1989-1991)
• Stan Miller: Anchor/Reporter (1983-1985)
• Russ Mitchell: Anchor (1983-1985)
• Chip Moody: Anchor (1987-2000, deceased)
• Steve Newman: Weekend Weather Anchor/Meteorologist (1976-1980), later moved to KRON-TV (1980-1985; 1989-1993), KGO-TV (1985-1989) and KPIX-TV (1996-2001). Now writes Earthweek, distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.
• Bill O'Reilly, host of the cable news program The O'Reilly Factor.
• Vince Patton: Reporter (1989-2000, now at KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon)
• Scott Pelley: Reporter (1982-1989, now at CBS News)
• Pablo Pereira: Meteorologist (1990-1997, now at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles)
• Mary Ann Razzuk: Reporter (2001-2006)
• Bill Ratliff: Anchor/Reporter/PM Magazine Host (1980-1982, now at WFLA-TV in Tampa)
• Gina Redmond: Midday Anchor (1995-2001)
• Michael Rey: Anchor/Reporter (to 2005)
• Elisa Robin: Meteorologist
• Robyne Robinson: Reporter (1985-1987, now at KMSP-TV in Minneapolis)
• Rebecca Rodriguez: Anchor/Reporter (2000-2006)
• Dan Ronan: Reporter (2003-2007)
• Tracy Rowlett: Anchor (1974-2000, now at KTVT-TV)
• Scott Sams: News, Weather, Sports Anchor/Reporter (1985-2004, fired, went to KTEN-TV, now at KTVT-TV)
• Nancy Snell: Meteorologist (to 2006)
• Mary Stewart: Reporter (1986-2000, now at KTVT-TV)
• Rene Syler: Anchor/Reporter (1992-1997, left for KTVT-TV, last with CBS' The Early Show)
• Susan Taylor: Anchor/Reporter (1980-1982, now at KNSD-TV in San Diego)
• Jack Van Roy: Chief Weather Anchor (1970s-1977, deceased)
• Sonya Van Sickle: Reporter/Anchor (1986-2000, now an actor/spokesperson with the Mary Collins Agency [3])
• Anita Vanetti: Daybreak Reporter (1990-2001, now a confidence coach [4])
• Don Wall: Environmental Reporter (1989-2006)
• Uze Brown Washington:Reporter (1984-1991)
• Peggy Wehmeyer: Reporter (1981-1993)
• Yolanda Walker: Reporter (2001-2006)
• Jay Watson: Program Director/Anchor (?-1966, first to break the news of John F. Kennedy assassination, now deceased)
• Phyllis Watson: Anchor (1983-1991)
• Sherry Williams: Reporter (1992-1995, now at KHCW-TV in Houston)
• Valeri Williams: Reporter (1992-1994 and 2000-2003)
• Doug Wilson: Education Reporter (1994-2001, currently working at Richland College)
• Paula Zahn: Reporter (1978-1979, now at CNN)

[edit] News/station presentation

[edit] Newscast titles

• Channel 8 News (1960s-1974) (Still used today on reporters' lower thirds.)
• News8, News 8 (1974-2007) (Was shown in newscast as 'News8' in the past.)
• News 8, News 8 HD (2007-present)

[edit] Station slogans

• The Spirit of Texas (1984-present)
  • Variations: Working In The Spirit of Texas, In The Spirit of Texas
• Trust Troy, Trust News 8 Weather (used in promotion of former chief weather anchor, Troy Dungan)
• First in News, First in HDTV (2007-present; new sub-slogan is unofficial)
  • Variation: First in HDTV
• Start Here (2007-present) (for all other programming; also the slogan for ABC)

[edit] News music packages

The "Spirit" news music package that was used on WFAA's newscasts was written by James R. Kirk of TM Productions in 1984 for the Texas Sesquicentennial, which actually took place in 1986. The "Spirit" news music package was used from 1984 until 1991. All of WFAA's news music packages since dropping TM Productions' package in 1991 have carried the "Spirit" motif, including the "WFAA 1992 News Theme" from 1992-1996. WFAA also used McKinney, TX-based Stephen Arnold Music's "The Spirit" from 1996-2004, a customized "News Matrix" package from 2004-2005 and the "Evolution" package from 2004-2007 (which all carry the same signature that TM Productions' package used). They recently switched to a brand new 615 Music package called "Propulsion" (which is also based on the Spirit signature logo). This package is also being rolled out to several other Belo owned stations.

Other former packages used by WFAA include Tuesday Productions'"TuesdayC" from 1978-1980, and TM Productions' "Newsbeat" from 1980-1984.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• WFAA-TV is one of the few television stations west of the Mississippi River with a callsign beginning with a W. The FCC normally assigns stations west of the Mississippi callsigns that begin with K; W is only used east of the Mississippi. The reason WFAA-TV is different is that its callsign came from its sibling WFAA-AM, whose callsign predates this FCC policy.
• WFAA had an FM radio station in Dallas. It was 97.9, but now WFAA does not own it and it is currently an urban radio station called KBFB-FM, 97.9 The Beat.
• WFAA (along with KDAF) are the only network-affiliate stations in the market not to be owned and operated by any major network.
• WFAA is the largest "big three" (ABC, NBC, CBS) affiliate not to be owned and operated by the network in terms of DMA market size.
• In 1998, the digital variant of the station went online. Its frequency was already in use by Dallas hospitals and there was interference with the medical equipment.^[4]
• WFAA's "Spirit" theme is also used at sister stations: KHOU-TV, WVEC-TV, and at WCNC-TV.
• WFAA's HD Chopper 8 still has the 1984-1996 logo on the underside of the helicopter and reads: N8TV.
• WFAA didn't have its current affiliate's logo in its branding until 2007.
• For the longest time, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune aired on Channel 8. But, in 2005, CBS affiliate KTVT won the rights to both shows.

[edit] Logos

WFAA 1975 Logo The WFAA 8-Ball logo is used from 1968 to 1983	WFAA 1984-1996 Logo	WFAA/NEWS 8 Mid-Late 1980s Logo	WFAA 1996-2003 Spirit Logo
WFAA 1996-Present Logo	WFAA 1996-Present Logo (variation)	WFAA Current Logo with website	WFAA Current Spirit Logo
WFAA Current Spirit Logo (variation)	WFAA.com Logo	WFAA/NEWS 8 Current 'HD' Logo	WFAA "Family First" Logo
WFAA logo with ABC logo

[edit] External links

• WFAA-TV Website
• WFAA-TV's 50th Anniversary
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WFAA-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WFAA-TV
• Program Information for WFAA at TitanTV.com

[edit] References

• Shannon, Mike (January, 2004). Dallas-Fort Worth TV Station History. The History of Dallas-Fort Worth Radio and Television.