johnintx

These are the three markets where I have spent most of my life: Houston, DFW, and OKC. This is all true. Fort Worth has grown to over 900,000 people itself. Not only have the suburbs of Fort Worth and Dallas grown together, but Denton and Collin counties to the north are two of the fastest growing in the nation. Collin County itself now has over 1 million people. There is a lot of suburban unincorporated land in Harris County that has not been annexed by the city of Houston. Harris County has 4.8 million people (3rd most populous in the nation), while the city of Houston has 2.3 million. The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth have almost as many people as the city of Houston. However, Dallas and Fort Worth have more suburbs and more fully developed suburbs.

Pancake syrup!

Griffin is now in a unique position. They outlasted corporate owners in OKC, bought KOTV several years ago, and now have 800 pound gorillas in both markets. Oklahoma is very provincial to begin with, and they play the locally owned card to their advantage. They have new studios in both cities and are positioned to dominate for years to come. They'll be the last ones standing. Other markets would do well to have at least one local owner as OKC/Tulsa do. We're past that stage in most places.

The Fox affiliate in Rochester, MN is valued at $495,000. I know the market is small, but that's not much money. I presume a good chunk of that is tied up in being the local home of the Vikings.

Can they make an eventual play for the ABC affiliation on a subchannel? That could be the end game here.

Storm chasing. OKC and Tulsa are hotbeds of storm chasing during tornado season. KWTV, KFOR, and KOCO all have their own helicopters...not sure about KOKH. In Tulsa, KOTV has a helicopter. On a storm night, the network affiliates pre-empt programming for wall-to-wall storm coverage. They have pilots in the air and a team of storm chasers on the ground (with cameras in their trucks). The OKC affiliates will station storm chasers on the ground throughout the market, and will track the storm on the ground and in the air from the Texas border in the west to the edge of the OKC market in the east. In the case of KWTV and KOTV, they will often share storm chasers on a big night...there was a night last spring when there were storms on both sides of OKC, and the KWTV storm chasers were in the rural western portion of the market while a storm hit Seminole, east of OKC. KWTV chief meteorologist David Payne directed KWTV's helicopter pilot and the KOTV storm chasers to provide live video of the storm. The pilots and some of the better known storm chasers have local sponsorships. They have become local celebrities. It's entertainment, but more importantly, it's informational. Viewers depend on the local weather personnel to keep them safe, especially with the preponderance of storms in that area. I recommend streaming KWTV on a storm night in the spring. As long as you're not in the storm, it's entertainment. David Payne is good TV on a storm night. This is KWTV's coverage from May 4. At about 1:03:00 of this video, he tells people to call "me-ma" to get to her safe spot. Shortly afterward, he calls on the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to shut down Interstate 40. Lots of local storm coverage gold on this night. apologies for taking over the Tegna thread for non-Tegna stations...

I used to travel for work, and would watch as much local TV news as possible. I remember her from WFMZ. She was pregnant with her first child at that time. According to her Twitter bio, she now has three children. Best of everything to her.

I remember when she was the host of A Current Affair.

WFAA, KHOU, and KVUE going from Tegna to Cox, the owner of WSB, WFTV and WSOC? That's an upgrade. It's not the old Belo, but it's pretty good for this era.

Longtime lurker, first time poster... I'm long gone from Oklahoma, but I grew up just outside OKC watching Channel 4 (WKY/KTVY/KFOR). Bob Barry Sr. or Jr. held the sports director's chair there for 49 years. As mentioned in a column in Friday's Oklahoman, the station has changed call letters more than it has changed sports directors. They were truly legendary in that market. Relationships are tight, even among long-time competitors. Brothers Kelly (KWTV) and Kevin Ogle (KFOR) are prime-time anchors on competing stations. Their father, Jack, was an anchor on WKY (now KFOR) in the 1960's and 70's. Kevin's daughter Abigail is a morning anchor on KOCO. KOCO is really stepping up to the plate by staffing the KFOR newsroom on Friday. This is a big loss to the market and to the community.