Talk:WFAA-TV
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[edit] Comment
WFAA was the first station to broadcast a digital signal on a VHF channel.
[edit] Is it 'NEWS 8', 'NEWS8', 'News 8', or 'News8?
In the past I have seen it shown as 'News8' but now I am not to sure. On their website, I see it as both 'NEWS 8' and 'News 8'. Aznismyname2367 22:44, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Suggestion to change station logo
I suggest the logo currently used be changed to the one listed on Belo's corporate web pages. It can be found at http://www.belo.com/images/site_logos/wfaa.gif. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mnw2000 (talk • contribs)
Removed: *WFAA is the largest ABC affiliate not to be owned and operated by the network in terms of market size. (Boston's WCVB is owned by Hearst and is two market sizes larger) Tknab 06:58, 18 September 2006 (UTC)
Dallas/ Forth Worth is at DMA #5 and Boston is at #7. So WFAA-TV is the largest ABC affiliate not to by O&O be ABC.
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 1956, 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 John F. Kennedy was shot to death 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, News 8 Midday, News 8 at Five, and also when a major event is being held at Victory Park).[1][2]
"WFAA" reportedly stood for "Working For All Alike", and also "World's Finest Air Attraction."
