 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | Fox 4 Kansas City |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | October 16, 1949 |
Former channel number(s) |
|
Call sign meaning | Derived from WDAF radio |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 11291 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 347 m (1,138 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°4′21″N 94°35′46″W / 39.07250°N 94.59611°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | fox4kc |
WDAF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal Hill section of Kansas City, Missouri.
WDAF-TV is Kansas City's oldest operating TV station, beginning broadcasts in October 1949, and was the only station in the city for three and a half years. It, alongside with WDAF radio (610 AM), was an NBC affiliate owned by The Kansas City Star newspaper. Under The Star, the station developed its news department with national coverage of the Great Flood of 1951 and aired a series of popular local programs. After the newspaper was investigated for monopolistic practices in advertising sales, it signed a consent decree in 1957 and sold the WDAF stations to National Theatres the next year. Under National and subsequent owner Transcontinent Television Corporation, WDAF-TV largely coasted on the news image it had crafted and enjoyed a slight edge in local ratings.
Taft Broadcasting acquired WDAF radio and television in 1964 as part of its purchase of most of Transcontinent. Under Taft, the station's news ratings suffered as cost-cutting and corporate mandates produced a revolving door of on-air personnel; one bright spot was the early evening news, which WDAF led in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1980 and 1992, the station was the local broadcaster of Kansas City Royals baseball games. Ratings took a dive in the years after Taft Broadcasting was purchased in 1987 and reorganized as Great American Broadcasting Company, with the station posting multi-year lows in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
New World Communications acquired WDAF-TV and three other Great American stations in 1994, then switched the affiliations of WDAF-TV and 11 other stations to Fox. The station's weekday news output more than doubled to accommodate extended news coverage throughout the day, including in morning news, which became a station strength. Fox parent News Corporation bought the New World Fox affiliates, including WDAF-TV, in 1996; channel 4 remained third in local news through this period. WDAF was sold to Local TV LLC in 2007, Tribune Media in 2013, and Nexstar in 2019, becoming more competitive with second- and first-place ratings finishes in news.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WDAF-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.