texas assigned the icao code kdfw see dallas fort worth international airport . not to be confused with kfwd . kdfw dallas fort worth texas united states city dallas texas branding fox 4 general fox 4 news newscasts slogan we are fox 4 general the news leader newscasts channels digital 35 uhf virtual 4 psip subchannels 4.1 fox affiliations fox o & o owner fox television stations nw communications of texas inc. first air date december 3 1949 1949 12 03 call letters meaning dallas fort worth also the icao code for dallas fort worth international airport which it predates by 25 years sister station s broadcast kdfi cable fox sports southwest former callsigns krld tv 1949 1970 former channel number s analog 4 vhf 1949 2009 former affiliations cbs 1949 1995 transmitter power 857 kw height 510 m 1 670 ft facility id 33770 transmitter coordinates 32 35 6 n 96 58 41 w 32.58500 n 96.97806 w 32.58500 ; 96.97806 coordinates 32 35 6 n 96 58 41 w 32.58500 n 96.97806 w 32.58500 ; 96.97806 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.fox4news.com kdfw virtual channel 4 uhf digital channel 35 is a fox owned and operated television station serving the dallas fort worth metroplex that is licensed to dallas texas united states . the station is owned by the fox television stations subsidiary of 21st century fox as part of a duopoly with mynetworktv owned and operated station kdfi channel 27 . the two stations share studio facilities located at 400 north griffin street in downtown dallas ; kdfw maintains transmitter facilities located south of belt line road in cedar hill . contents 1 history 1.1 as a cbs affiliate 1.2 as a fox station 2 digital television 2.1 digital channel 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 sports programming 4 news operation 4.1 on air staff 4.1.1 notable current on air staff 4.1.2 notable former on air staff 5 references 6 external links history edit as a cbs affiliate edit the station first signed on the air at 12 30 p.m. on december 3 1949 as krld tv ; it was founded by the dallas times herald newspaper now defunct which also owned krld radio 1080 am and 92.5 fm now kzps . channel 4 originally operated as a cbs affiliate having inherited the affiliation through the cbs radio network s longtime relationship with krld am which became the first radio station in texas to affiliate with the television network s radio predecessor in 1927 . the first program ever broadcast on krld tv on that afternoon was the cbs game show it pays to be ignorant ; the first local program aired on the station that day was a college football game in which the notre dame fighting irish defeated the southern methodist mustangs 27 20 . the station inherited the call letters of its radio sister which was named after edwin kiest an original investor and later owner of krld am and the radio station s founding owner radio laboratories of dallas . channel 4 was the third television station to sign on in the dallas fort worth metroplex following dallas based kbtv channel 8 now wfaa which launched three months earlier on september 17 ; and fort worth licensed wbap tv channel 5 now kxas tv which debuted on september 29 1948 ; it was also the fourth texas based television station to be granted a license by the federal communications commission fcc . krld tv originally produced its programming from a temporary studio facility located north of the times herald building until its full time facilities based at the times herald offices at 1101 patterson street in downtown dallas were completed . the original transmitter tower on griffin street and san jacinto avenue which provided a signal spanning approximately 90 miles 140 km from the site was the tallest free standing television transmission tower in the world at the time at 586 feet 179 m . in may 1955 the station began construction of a new 1 521 feet 464 m tall tower in cedar hill . at the time of its completion in october 1955 the structure was considered to be the tallest television broadcast tower in the world once krld tv moved its transmitter to the cedar hill tower in early 1956 the original griffin street transmitter remained in use as an auxiliary facility until it was disassembled in 1984 ; the antenna on which it was installed was torn down in 1995 in order to reduce the load on the tower . among the local programs on channel 4 in its early years included o.kay mr. munn hosted by an artist drawing visual interpretations of various song lyrics predating the advent of the music video and confessions a series featuring interviews with incarcerated criminals from the dallas county jail revealed why they committed the crimes they were convicted of . krld tv served as the home base for cbs network coverage of the assassination of president john f. kennedy on november 22 1963 when suspect lee harvey oswald from an upper floor window at the texas school book depository shot his rifle point blank at the presidential motorcade carrying kennedy and texas governor john connally as it turned onto elm street . eddie barker who was the station s news director at the time and had been with krld tv since it signed on fourteen years earlier as one of the original members of the station s news department staff was the first person to announce kennedy s death on television relaying a message from a parkland hospital official that kennedy had passed as doctors conducted emergency surgery ; because of a local press pool arrangement barker s scoop appeared live simultaneously on cbs which had correspondent dan rather report from dallas and abc . two days later a krld tv field crew captured footage of oswald s assassination by nightclub owner jack ruby as officers were transferring the former in handcuffs out of the dallas police department s downtown precinct . cbs also maintained an arrangement with channel 4 to use the station s remote unit to transmit live programming broadcast by the network during the 1960s and 1970s ; in particular the remote transmission truck was used to relay color broadcasts of cbs s nfl and college football game telecasts held in texas . in 1964 kdfw moved its operations from the times herald s patterson street offices into its current purpose built studio facility at the intersection of 400 north griffin street across the street from the former building . in 1968 kdfw s original transmitter site in cedar hill was struck by a helicopter causing substantial damage to the tower . on may 15 1970 the times herald and the krld radio and television stations were sold to the los angeles based times mirror company for us 30 million . the purchase voided the grandfathered protection from forced divestiture that the fcc granted to the combination of krld am tv and the dallas times herald in 1967 when the agency passed a measure prohibiting the common ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market ; however the fcc granted a waiver to times mirror that allowed it to retain ownership of the newspaper and the television station . the sale to times mirror was finalized on july 2 1970 at which point due to fcc rules that prohibited separately owned broadcast properties based in the same market from using the same callsign the station changed its call letters to kdfw tv in reference to its service area of dallas and fort worth the tv suffix was dropped from the callsign in july 1998 ; the krld tv calls were later used from 1984 to 1986 by channel 33 now kdaf which ironically was co owned with krld radio during that timeframe . krld radio was sold to metromedia soon afterward ironically it is now co owned with present day cbs owned and operated station ktvt channel 11 through cbs corporation . in the spring of 1986 times mirror sold the times herald to the medianews group leaving kdfw as its sole remaining media property in the metroplex the newspaper would cease publication five years later in december 1991 after it was purchased by the a.h. belo corporation owners of rival newspaper the dallas morning news . a helicopter tower collision similar to the one that occurred 19 years earlier happened on january 14 1987 when kdfw s cedar hill broadcast tower which was jointly owned by kdfw and wfaa via the hill tower inc. consortium involving their respective corporate parents was hit by a navy f 4 phantom that was performing training exercises as it was on approach to the dallas naval air station clipping several guy wires . the jet s two occupants survived as they had ejected themselves from the aircraft and parachuted to the ground before it crashed . a new 1 400 feet 430 m tall tower was constructed a 1 4 mile 0.40 km to the southwest which was completed in 1989 the former tower which had its height reduced to 1 240 feet 380 m due to the removal of the candelabra mast that encompassed the upper 281 feet 86 m of the structure was converted into an auxiliary transmitter facility for kdfw wfaa and radio stations kjmz 100.3 fm now kjkk kmez 107.5 fm now kmvk kqzy 105.3 fm now krld fm kkda fm 104.5 and kmgc 102.9 fm now kdmx . in march 1993 in order for the company to concentrate on its newspaper and cable television system franchises times mirror sold kdfw tv and its three sister stations fellow cbs affiliate ktbc in austin abc affiliate ktvi in st. louis and nbc affiliate wvtm tv in birmingham to argyle television holdings in a two part deal for us 335 million in cash and securities . under the transaction s purchase option structure kdfw and ktbc became the last two stations that argyle sold to new world which had earlier respectively acquired wvtm and ktvi from the group for 45 million and 35 million ; 1 2 3 4 5 the purchase of the entire group was completed in december of that year following securement of financing for the deal . 6 7 in the winter of early 1994 argyle television took over management responsibilities for struggling independent station kdfi channel 27 now a mynetworktv owned and operated station under a local marketing agreement . through the consolidation of that station s operations with channel 4 kdfi began airing late night rebroadcasts of kdfw s 10 00 p.m. newscast and select syndicated programs seen on the station ; during the first months of the lma kdfw also produced a daily 30 minute wrap up of the proceedings in the o. j. simpson murder case for kdfi airing in place of the 10 00 p.m. news rebroadcast during the summer and fall of 1994 . as a fox station edit main articles 1994 united states broadcast tv realignment and repercussions of the 1994 united states broadcast tv realignment on may 23 1994 in an overall deal in which network parent news corporation also acquired a 20 % equity interest in the company new world communications signed a long term affiliation agreement with the fox broadcasting company . under the initial agreement nine television stations affiliated with either cbs abc or nbc five of the seven that new world acquired through its 1992 purchase of sci television and four others that it acquired on may 5 from great american communications in a separate deal for 350 million in cash and 10 million in share warrants would become fox affiliates once their existing respective affiliation contracts expired . 8 9 10 the deal was part of a strategy by fox to strengthen its affiliate portfolio after the national football league nfl accepted the network