KXAS-TV, virtual channel 5 (digital channel 41), is the NBC television station for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station was Texas' first television station when the station made its debut on September 28, 1948. Its transmitter is located in Cedar Hill. The station is owned by a joint venture between NBCUniversal (76%) and LIN Television (24%) under the name "Station Venture Operations, LP", its only other sister station under this co-ownership is KNSD in San Diego. However, because NBC has majority control of the station, KXAS is run as an NBC owned-and-operated station.

History[link]

The station was launched on September 28, 1948, as WBAP-TV, the first television station in the state of Texas. It was owned by Amon G. Carter, publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, along with WBAP radio. A year later, the two stations were joined by WBAP-FM (96.3 FM, now KSCS).

Even though it was obvious that Dallas and Fort Worth would be a single television market, Carter didn't care whether people in Dallas could see channel 5; he had long been a booster for the Fort Worth area. The station moved to the 1,500-foot candelabra tower owned by WFAA and KRLD-TV (channel 4, now KDFW) in Cedar Hill in 1964 along with its FM sister, reportedly only after NBC threatened to yank its affiliation. WBAP-TV started with a 400 foot tower (still at the studios, supporting microwave and remote antennas). In 1957 a taller tower was built at the west end of the property in the Meadowbrook portion of Fort Worth. Before this, WFAA-TV served as the NBC affiliate for the eastern half of the market.

On November 24, 1963, a KTVT-TV remote unit loaned to WBAP-TV^[1] set up at Dallas Police Headquarters fed the live images of accused Presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald being gunned down by Jack Ruby to the NBC network. It was the first time a murder had been witnessed live on network television in the United States. It was also notable that, during NBC's network coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, news reports from WBAP-TV's studios were transmitted in color, with NBC broadcasting the coverage in New York from a black and white studio (WBAP-TV was one of the earliest local stations to convert its local programming to color).

The station was owned by the Carter family trusts until 1974, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) barred common ownership of newspapers and TV stations in all but a few cases. The FCC grandfathered the Metroplex's other newspaper/radio/television combination--Belo's Dallas Morning News and WFAA-AM-FM-TV—but would not do the same for the Star-Telegram and WBAP-AM-FM-TV. Accordingly, the Carters decided to break up their media empire. WBAP-TV was then sold to LIN Broadcasting, the predecessor of today's LIN TV Corporation, for $35 million. LIN took control in the summer of 1974 and changed the calls to the current KXAS-TV (the Star-Telegram, WBAP-AM and KSCS were sold to Capital Cities Communications at that time; the newspaper is now owned by the McClatchy Company, while the two radio stations are now owned by Cumulus Media.

On January 25, 1986 during live coverage on KXAS of a standoff at an area 7-Eleven store, Thomas Stephens, who had been served divorce papers from his wife the day before, shot and killed himself with .357-caliber pistol on-air during KXAS' coverage. Stephens, believed they encouraged her to seek the divorce, shot his wife's two co-workers, killing one and wounding another. His wife, Patricia, slipped away while he was talking to police over the phone.^[2] In 1987, the old Cedar Hill tower was severely damaged when an F-4 military aircraft on approach to Dallas Naval Air Station clipped several guy wires. WFAA, KDFW and KXAS were briefly knocked off the air. While the tower was severely damaged, the stations were only off air for a few seconds of the first few minutes. Aux facilities were improvised at the nearby channel 39 tower. (The 39 tower would collapse during tower work in 1996). KXAS opted to build its own tower to the east of the old tower. KXAS had owned many acres of land at Cedar Hill since the sixties.

LIN wholly owned the station until 1997, when it sold 76% of KXAS to NBC, in exchange for 24% of KNSD in San Diego (which NBC had recently purchased from New World Communications, who had also owned channel 5's rival KDFW until it and the other Fox affiliates owned by New World were sold to Fox) and cash. As part of the deal, NBC took control of KXAS' operations.

On November 19, 2009 a fire at the Fort Worth studios of KXAS and KXTX knocked both KXAS and its sister station KXTX off the air. The fire was located in the electrical room of the studio. Fire alarms went off at 9:30 PM, which lead to the studio being evacuated, disrupting the 10 o'clock news broadcast.^[3]

KXAS has been a long time affiliate of the Muscular Dystrophy Association's "Love Network". The station has aired the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon for 38 years. However, with a major overhaul in hosting and the show now relegated to 6 hours on Sunday Nights as of 2011, the MDA Telethon duties have been transferred to KTXA-TV due to the fact that it would interfere with NBC's Sunday Night schedule. In recent years, substantial portions of the telethon had been preempted by commitments to NBC entertainment and sports programming.^[4]

Digital Television[link]

KXAS also has a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 5.1, broadcasting at 1.83 Mbit/s.^[5][6]

NBC Weather Plus was previously offered on digital subchannel 5.2; the national NBC WX+ network is defunct as of December 1, 2008. On December 23, the channel was revamped as NBC Plus, featuring weather maps, radar and the L-bar, alongside audio from Fort Worth's NOAA Weather Radio station KEC55.^[7] It also uses NOAA's KEC56 in Dallas as an alternate audio feed. Programming on digital channel 5.2 switched from NBC Plus to DFW Nonstop, a local news channel offering a mix of originally-produced news and lifestyle programming and rebroadcasts of KXAS newscasts, on May 4, 2011; the channel is also available to Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and Grande Communications customers in the Metroplex.^[8]

Channel 5.3 was broadcasting Universal Sports, a network primarily airing Olympic sporting events. As of December 31, 2011, Universal Sports airs exclusively on cable and satellite and no longer transmits on digital OTA multicasts including KXAS. It is unknown if new programming would be in place of channel 5.3 or if the channel spot would be dropped altogether.

Analog-to-digital conversion[link]

After the DTV transition period ended on June 12, 2009,^[9] KXAS-DT continued on channel 41^[10] PSIP is used to display KXAS-TV's virtual channel as 5 on digital television receivers. At Noon that day, their analog signal transmitted a brief test pattern, followed by instructional programming about how to receive digital TV until June 26, 2009,^[11] but the -DT suffix was replaced by a -TV suffix (formerly on its analog singal) when KXAS-TV's analog signal ended nightlight programming. KXAS-TV started High Definition newscasts on September 7, 2007 at 10 AM.

News operation[link]

This section requires expansion.

KXAS broadcasts a total of 32 hours of local news a week (5½ hours on weekdays and 3½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition to the newscasts seen on KXAS, the station also produces 5½ hours of news on weekdays for its DFW Nonstop digital subchannel in the form of a three-hour extension of KXAS' morning newscast NBC5 Today called DFW Today, and a half-hour 6:30 p.m. newscast, Nonstop Nightly.^[12]

In the late 1960s, Fort Worth native Bob Schieffer began his broadcast career at WBAP-TV as a reporter and anchor of the 10 p.m. news. Schieffer then went on to Washington, D.C. as a reporter for the now-defunct Metromedia news service and WTTG-TV, then embarked on a long career with CBS News.

KXAS is locally known for its weather coverage. It claims to be the first station to have hired only full-time meteorologists. One of its first, Harold Taft, broadcast for over 40 years. On March 28, 2000, while an F3 tornado was ripping through downtown Fort Worth, a tower camera caught the tornado on air live during the 6 p.m. newscast as KXAS chief meteorologist David Finfrock was explaining to the viewers at home as well as anchors Jane McGarry and Mike Snyder about the tornado warning for Tarrant County.

On January 16, 2009 KXAS began sharing its news helicopter with Fox owned-and-operated KDFW (channel 4), under a Local News Service agreement.^[13]

Ratings[link]

According to the local Nielsen ratings for the February 2011 sweeps period, KXAS placed second in the 6 a.m. time period with total viewers and adults age 25–54 years old; this in direct comparison to the same time period the year before, when it placed first in that timeslot, when it was aided by NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In evening news, KXAS was in third place at 5 p.m. with total viewers and adults 25-54, in last place at 6 p.m. among both total viewers and with adults 25-54, and placed third at 10 p.m. with total viewers and last with 25-54 year olds.^[14]

According to the local Nielsen ratings for the May 2011 sweeps period, the 10 p.m. newscast placed last among 25 to 54-year-olds and in third with total viewers (overall, all four stations showed year-to-year gains in total viewers while only KXAS was down slightly among 25-to-54-year-olds); the station's morning newscast had placed third in both demographics. In total viewers, the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts were also last place finishers among the Metroplex's late newscasts, though the 5 p.m. newscast was in third, behind KTVT, in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic (the 6 p.m. newscast placed last behind KTVT among adults 25-54). The morning newscast was the only KXAS newscast to rank above third place in total viewership (though it, along with KTVT and WFAA's morning newscasts all lost viewers in both key demos to KDFW, which ranked first).^[15]

News/station presentation[link]

Newscast titles[link]

• The Texas News (1948–1971 and 1974–1979; simply known as Texas News, formerly used on KTRK-TV in Houston in the 1960s)
• News at Six/News at Ten (late 1960s)
• Area Five Texas News (1971–1974)
• Action News (1979–1985)
• Channel 5 News (1985–1989)^[16]
• Texas News 5 (1989–1998)^[17]
• NBC 5 Texas News (1998–2000)
• NBC 5 News (2000–present)^[18]

Station slogans[link]

• "Five Keeps Bringing It Home To You" (1970–1980)
• "Channel 5, Let's All Be There" (1984–1986; locallized version of NBC ad campaign)
• "Channel 5 News, The Team to Watch for News" (1985–1989)
• "Come Home to Channel 5" (1986–1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
• "Come on Home to Channel 5" (1987–1988; locallized version of NBC ad campaign)
• "Come Home To The Best, Only On Channel 5" (1988–1990; locallized version of NBC ad campaign)
• "Building a Better Texas" (1989–1992)
• "Channel 5, is The Place To Be!" (1990–1992; locallized version of NBC ad campaign)
• "The Texas News Channel" (1992–2003)
• "Not Just What Happens, What Matters" (general) / "Live. Local. Latebreaking." (news; 2003–2007)
• "Where You Matter" (2007–2008)
• "Anytime. Everywhere." (2008–present)
• "We'll Keep You Advised" (weather slogan)

News team[link]

[edit] Current on-air staff (as of December 2011)^[19]

Anchors

• Kevin Cokely - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5, and weekends at 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Brian Curtis - weekdays at 4, 4:30, and weeknights at 10 p.m.; also reporter
• Deborah Ferguson - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m. on KXAS, 7-10 a.m. on DFW Nonstop); also co-host of The Rundown (on DFW Nonstop) and reporter
• Marc Fein - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
• Scott Friedman - weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m. on KXAS, 7-10 a.m. on DFW Nonstop); also co-host of The Rundown (on DFW Nonstop) and reporter
• Meredith Land - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Jane McGarry - weeknights at 5 (on KXAS) and 6:30 p.m. (on DFW Nonstop)
• Kristi Nelson - weekdays at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Lindsay Wilcox - weekend mornings NBC 5 Today; also weeknight reporter

NBC 5 Weather Plus

• David Finfrock (AMS Member) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, and 10 p.m.
• Samantha Davies (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval; member, NWA) - meteorologist; weekday mornings NBC5 First Weather (4:30-7 a.m.)
• Grant Johnston - meteorologist; Wednesday-Fridays at 4 p.m., Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5, and weekends at 10 p.m.
• Remeisha Shade (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings NBC 5 Today, Monday-Wednesday at 11 a.m. and Mondays and Tuesdays at 4 p.m.
• Michael Hammer - meteorologist; occasional weekend mornings

Sports team

• Newy Scruggs - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m., also host of NBC 5 Sports Extra and Out of Bounds
• Matt Barrie - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5, and weekends at 10 p.m., also sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor
• David Watkins - sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor

Reporters

• Tammy Dombeck - weekday morning traffic reporter ("Gridlock Buster Traffic")
• Amanda Fitzpatrick - freelance general assignment reporter
• Scott Friedman - investigative reporter (also anchor)
• Keaton Fox - morning multimedia reporter
• Ellen Goldberg - Dallas Police Department reporter
• Scott Gordon - general assignment reporter
• Amanda Guerra - general assignment reporter
• Ken Kalthoff - general assignment reporter
• Randy McIlwain - general assignment reporter
• Sara Story - Denton reporter
• Andrew Tanielian - general assignment reporter
• Chris Van Horne - Fort Worth reporter
• Omar Villafranca - general assignment reporter
• Ray Villeda - general assignment reporter
• Ben Russell - reporter
• Ames Meyer - Chopper 5 photojournalist
• Christine Lee - Irving/Grand Prairie reporter
• Mola Lenghi - Arlington reporter
• Tammy Mutasa - Garland/Mesquite reporter
• Catherine Ross - Plano reporter
• Andrew Tanielian - Fort Worth reporter

Notable KXAS alumni[link]

• Karen Hughes - reporter (mid 1980s)
• Jane Jayroe - anchor (1980–1984; Miss America 1967)
• Boyd Matson - sports anchor (1970s)
• Howard McNeil - meteorologist (1970s)
• Scott Pelley - reporter (1978–1981; now at CBS News as anchor of the CBS Evening News)
• Charlie Rose - talk show host (1979–1981; returned to CBS News' 60 Minutes and CBS This Morning)
• Bob Schieffer - anchor/reporter (1967–1969; now at CBS News)
• Harold Taft - meteorologist (1948–1991; deceased)
• Bobbie Wygant - entertainment reporter (1948–present)

Logos[link]

KXAS has used its "Star 5" logo since 1971—the longest-used numeric logo in the market and one of the longest-used numeric logos in the country. The use of a star in the numeric station logo has since spread to other television stations in Texas, including KTVT, KFWD and KTXA in Dallas-Fort Worth, WOAI-TV in San Antonio, KPRC-TV in Houston and KWES-TV in Midland.

External links[link]

Dallas-Fort Worth portal

• KXAS website
  • KXAS mobile
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KXAS-TV
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KXAS-TV
• Program Information for KXAS at TitanTV.com

References[link]

• Shannon, Mike (January, 2004). Dallas-Fort Worth TV Station History. The History of Dallas-Fort Worth Radio and Television.
• A DFW Historical Icon (2008). NBCDFW.com.

v t e NBCUniversal LLC A joint venture of Comcast (51%) and General Electric (49%) Company Officials Board of Directors Stephen B. Burke (CEO) · Brian Roberts · Michael Angelakis · Jeffrey Immelt · Keith Sherin Senior Corporate Executives Stephen B. Burke (CEO) · Matt Bond · Lynn Calpeter (CFO) · Steve Capus · Richard Cotton · Dick Ebersol · Patricia Fili-Krushel · Robert Greenblatt · Bonnie Hammer · Ted Harbert · Mark Hoffman · Paula Madison · Ron Meyer · Adam Miller · Jeff Shell · Page Thompson · Lauren Zalaznick Universal Studios Focus Features · Geneon Universal (80.1%)[nu 1] · Illumination Entertainment • United International Pictures[nu 2] · Universal Animation Studios · Universal Pictures · PlayBack · Universal Studios Home Entertainment · Working Title Films Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Studios Dubailand · Universal Studios Hollywood · Universal Orlando Resort (Universal Studios Florida · Islands of Adventure · Universal CityWalk) · Universal Studios Japan · Universal Studios Singapore · Universal Studios South Korea Broadcast TV assets NBC · NBC News · NBC Sports · Telemundo NBCUniversal Cable A+E Networks (15%) · Bravo · Chiller · Cloo · CNBC · E! · G4 (88%) · MSNBC · Mun2 · Oxygen · PBS Kids Sprout (part owner)  · ShopNBC (30%) · Style Network  · Syfy · Telemundo Puerto Rico · Universal HD · USA Network · The Weather Channel[nu 3] · Weatherscan[nu 3] NBC Sports Group Golf Channel · NBC Sports Network · Universal Sports (part owner)[nu 4] · Alli Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (45%)  · California  · Chicago (20%)  · Houston  · Mid-Atlantic  · New England  · Northwest  · Philadelphia  · SNY (8%)  · The Mtn. (50%) · CSS (50%) · Comcast Sports Southwest  · New England Cable News  · Comcast Network CNBC CNBC global channels CNBC · CNBC Africa · CNBC Asia · CNBC Europe · CNBC Latin America · CNBC World CNBC Europe branches Class CNBC (20%) · CNBC Africa · CNBC Arabiya (according to CNBC Europe) · CNBC-e · CNBC Nordic · TVN CNBC CNBC Asia branches CNBC-TV18 · CNBC Australia · CNBC Awaaz · CNBC Hong Kong · CNBC Pakistan · CNBC Singapore · Nikkei CNBC · SBS-CNBC Universal Networks International 13th Street Universal · Diva Universal · KidsCo[nu 5] · Movies 24 · Steel[nu 6] · Studio Universal · Syfy · Universal Channel Syfy global channels Asia · Australia · Benelux · France · Germany · Japan · Latin America · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · Serbia · Slovenia · Spain · UK · US NBCUniversal Television Group NBC Studios · NBCUniversal Television Distribution · Telemundo of Puerto Rico Studios · Telemundo Television Studios · Universal Television NBC O&Os California Nonstop · KNBC · KNSD[nu 7] · KNTV · KXAS[nu 7] (DFW Nonstop) · WCAU (NBC Philadelphia Nonstop)  · WMAQ (Chicago Nonstop) · WNBC (New York Nonstop) · WRC (Washington Nonstop) · WTVJ · WVIT Telemundo O&Os KBLR · KDEN · KEJT-LP · KHRR · KNSO[nu 8] · KSTS · KTAZ · KTMD · KVDA[nu 8] · KVEA · KXTX · WKAQ · WNEU[nu 8] · WNJU · WSCV · WSNS ShopNBC O&Os WWDP Internet ventures: Hulu[nu 9] · iVillage · msnbc.com[nu 10] · Television Without Pity · DailyCandy · Fandango Other assets: EMKA, Ltd. · qubo[nu 11] · WSI Corporation[nu 3]  · International Media Distribution Defunct properties: NBC Weather Plus (2004–2008) · Trio (1997–2005) · Diva TV (2007−2012) · Hallmark Channel International (1997−2011) · Discovery Kids (1996-2010) · Discovery Kids on NBC (2002-2006) · DreamWorks Records (1996-2005) · Go Fish Pictures (2000-2007) See also: Vivendi (former NBCUniversal stockholder and current parent company of Universal Music Group) · Comcast (telecommunications company that holds 51%) · General Electric (conglomerate that holds 49%) · MCA Inc. (legal predecessors of NBCUniversal) ^ Co-owned with Dentsu. ^ 50%, with Viacom's Paramount Pictures. ^ a b c Co-owned with Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. ^ minority share, InterMedia Partners is the majority owner. ^ Co-owned with Corus Entertainment and Cookie Jar Group. ^ Co-owned with Mediaset. ^ a b The stations are co-owned with LIN TV in a joint venture (76% owned by NBC, 24% owned by LIN). ^ a b c The stations are owned by NBCUniversal, but are controlled by ZGS Broadcast Holdings. ^ Co-owned with News Corporation and The Walt Disney Company. ^ Co-owned with Microsoft in a joint venture (50% owned by NBC, 50% owned by Microsoft). ^ Co-owned with Corus Entertainment, Classic Media, Nelvana, Scholastic Books and ION Media Networks.

Harold Ernest Taft Jr. (September 5, 1922 - September 27, 1991), affectionately known as "The World's Greatest Weatherman" and "The Dean of TV Meteorologists", was the first television meteorologist west of the Mississippi River and held the post for a record 41 years.

A native of Enid, Oklahoma, he joined the Army Air Corps during World War II, and went to the University of Chicago to study meteorology. Taft was a second lieutenant stationed in Maine on D-Day. Erroneously, he has been listed as assisting Dwight D. Eisenhower in settling the date of the D-Day invasion, but unfortunately, this is mere legend. His input from Maine may have been of some minor help, but he was still too young and inexperienced to have been involved in such important matters. However, by Korea, he was involved in major decisions where weather was an important factor. He graduated from Phillips University in 1946 and joined American Airlines as a staff meteorologist.

Television meteorology[link]

In 1949, Taft and two fellow American Airlines meteorologists, Bob Denney and Walter Porter, proposed a nightly weather program to WBAP-TV (now KXAS). “We told them we would present a three-dimensional look at the weather, and we would call it Weather Telefacts, because we wanted to explain the weather to people,” he later said. The three meteorologists were hired, Taft as chief meteorologist at the rate of $7 per show, and at 10:15 p.m. on October 31, 1949, Weather Telefacts premiered.

Harold's weather forecasts also aired on WBAP radio, where overnight personality Bill Mack nicknamed him "The World's Greatest Weatherman". Much in the style of Chicago weathercaster Tom Skilling, Taft resisted dumbing down of his presentations, explaining complicated meteorological concepts in layman's terms where needed and enhancing charts with isobars and upper-level diagrams. This was occasionally a source of conflict with KXAS producers.

When new management at KXAS planned to replace Taft in the early 1980s, a grassroots campaign bombarded the station with complaints. Bumper stickers proclaiming "I Believe Harold" began appearing and advertisers threatened to pull their business. Management relented, and Taft remained a permanent part of KXAS' news programs.

Decline[link]

In the late 1980s, Taft was diagnosed with stomach cancer. During his chemotherapy treatments, which left him frail and bald, he presented a series of reports on his health problems. In spite of the hardships, Taft continued to forecast the weather. Even during his last year of life, he continued to present weather reports on the 5pm and 6pm newscasts. One of his colleagues noted that he was so ill that he had to lay down and rest between the two newscasts. His last weather broadcast was August 30, 1991, 41 years and 10 months after his first broadcast, and he died a month later.

A devout Lutheran, Taft had been a regular cornet player at St. John Lutheran Church in Grand Prairie and King of Glory Lutheran Church in Fort Worth. His funeral service had to be moved to St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church, one of Fort Worth's largest churches, to accommodate the crowd of mourners and a live KXAS broadcast. Taft's rival of 15 years, chief weather anchor Troy Dungan of WFAA-TV, attended the service. He is survived by his 2 children from a first marriage, Janice Taft Spooner and Earnest Taft, and several stepchildren from a second marriage.

Taft was posthumously presented the Award for Outstanding Service by a Broadcasting Meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society. He received the award "in recognition of his warmth as a broadcaster and his professionalism as a forecaster."

His widow, Pat, died in 1994, and his first wife Eleanor died in 2004.

Accomplishments and legacy[link]

• In 1955, Taft served on an American Meteorological Society committee that recommended that the society establish what eventually became their Seal of Approval for broadcast meteorologists.^[1]
• Taft served as a colonel in the Texas Air National Guard, and he was often referred to as "Colonel Taft" on the air, especially through the 1970s.
• In 1975, Taft was co-author of the book "Texas Weather" with fellow KXAS meteorologist Ron Godbey. In 1985, Taft testified as an expert witness on wind shear, which he identified as the cause of the crash of Delta Air Lines Flight 191 on August 2, 1985 at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
• In September 2008, KXAS began awarding a Harold Taft Scholarship for undergraduate meteorology students in association with the Lone Star Emmy Educational Foundation. The awards were presented by his daughter Janice Taft Spooner and his oldest granddaughter Denise Spooner Buckner.^[2]
• In 2002 Harold Taft's 41-year record of "world's longest-serving TV meteorologist" was superseded by Canadian Dave Devall, who retired with 49 years of experience.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Rhoden, Gene (1991-11-30). "Harold Taft: The World’s Greatest Weatherman". Stormtrack (Texas) 15 (1): 11.