, '''''"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 () 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.
WDAF began operation in
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. 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. 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 560, which began operations in 1922. The Star was founded by Democrat
William Rockhill Nelson . However under Roy Roberts in the 1940s it became increasingly Republican supporting opponents of hometown boy
Harry S. Truman . In 1953, the federal government began antitrust action against the Star over its broadcasting properties (WDAF-AM-FM-TV), allegedly at the behest of Truman during the waning days of his administration. The Star was found guilty in 1955. After appeals failed, it signed a consent decree in 1957 requiring it to sell its broadcasting properties.
In
1958 , WDAF-AM-FM-TV was sold to Transcontinent Broadcasting. Transcontinent merged with
Taft Broadcasting in
1964 . Most of Taft's stations were sold to
Great American Broadcasting (along with many other Taft-owned stations) in
1987 . By that year WDAF had overtaken KMBC as the dominant station in Kansas City, as was the trend at many NBC affiliates.
In the 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.
As such, WDAF became a Fox affiliate in September of that year, and the NBC affiliation moved to
KSHB Channel 41. WDAF, however, did not take the programming from Fox Kids, which moved to
KSMO (subsequently moving to
KCWE in
1998 , and
KMCI in
1999 ). WDAF also increased its local news programming from 30 hours a week to 50 hours.
WDAF officially became a Fox
Owned And Operated Station in
1997 , following Fox's purchase of the New World station group.
The station was the over-the-air flagship station of the
Kansas City Royals for many years, long after many Big Three affiliates dropped regular coverage of local sports.
In
2003 , WDAF launched a rapid modernization campaign. The station remodeled its studio, updated its technology and weather equipment, and introduced improved graphics and a modified logo. The station also added the , a team of investigative reporters assigned to help people with various problems.
Note,that WDAF has one of the five FOX O&O Stations has 10pm Newscast,the others are their sister stations
KDFW in Dallas ,
WITI in Milwaukee ,
WBRC in Birmingham and
KSAZ in Phoenix in Central and Mountain Time Zones. also their sister station
WTVT in Tampa is testing out at 11pm Newscast for Eastern and Pacific time Zones for FOX O&O if successful,all the FOX O&O Stations will have 10pm and 11pm Newscast.
- ''FOX4 News at 5AM'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 6AM'' -
- ''FOX4 News Morning Show'' -
- ''FOX4 News at Noon'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 12:30'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 5'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 6'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 9'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 10'' -
- ''FOX4 Saturday'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 5'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 9'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 10'' -
- ''FOX4 Sunday'' - & '''9:00 - 10:00AM'''
- ''FOX4 News at 5'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 9'' -
- ''FOX4 News at 10'' -
