K47DF
Encyclopedia
K47DF is an independent television station
in Corpus Christi, Texas
. It broadcasts a low-powered
analog signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter southeast of downtown along TX 358
. Owned by Cordillera Communications (a wholly owned subsidiary
of the Evening Post Publishing Company), the station is sister to NBC
affiliate KRIS-TV
, low-powered Telemundo
affiliate K68DJ
, and CBS
affiliate KZTV
(owned by Eagle Creek Broadcasting but operated by Cordillera through shared services
agreement). All four stations share studios on Artesian Street in Downtown Corpus Christi.
Syndicated
programming on this station includes: Everybody Loves Raymond
, My Wife and Kids
, The People's Court
, and Judge Mathis
. KDF can also be seen on K20EK channel 20 in Kingsville
–Alice
(transmitter northwest of Bishop
along the Nueces and Jim Wells
County line) and K30EG channel 30 in Beeville
–Refugio
(transmitter east of Beeville).
K47DF was started in 1990 by Paloma Broadcasting (which the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi
had a stake in). It started as an independent with general entertainment programming. KDF's big break came in 1993 when some high-profile syndicated programming such as Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, and Oprah
moved to the station after KRIS-TV dropped them in favor of other programming. Paloma also launched the station's two repeaters in order to improve KDF's availability in the fringes of the market
. That same year, the cable wars between the big three
affiliates of Corpus Christi were going on.
In 1994, the station became a Fox
affiliate. Even though the network name was used in KDF's logo and the station referred to itself as "KDF Fox", it did not follow the station standardization mandate imposed by the network. Otherwise, it would have been called "Fox 47", "Fox Corpus Christi", or even "Fox 13" after its cable slot on Time Warner
. By 1997, KDF had invested heavily in expensive programing, leaving the station nearly bankrupt. Regretting its attempt to enter commercial television, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi sold its share in the station. It was then sold to T. Frank Smith, then-owner of KRIS-TV. KDF moved into that station's studios on South Staples Street in Downtown Corpus Christi while Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and Oprah were moved back to that channel.
On January 16, 2008, it was announced that the station would lose its Fox affiliation in favor of new higher-powered KUQI
, which began airing the network's programming starting on February 4, 2008. At that time, the channel reverted back to an independent. One of the last scheduled network programs on KDF was Super Bowl XLII
on February 3. After the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) issues construction permit
s to KDF and its translators, they will convert to digital-only broadcasting eventually adding high definition
capabilities.
(now Time Warner Cable), KDF began its own news department and produced local news. These shows featured former KRIS-TV anchor Jay Ricci (now at KVII-TV
in Amarillo
). Weather was provided by WeatherVision
meteorologists during the newscast's run. In 1995, the news department was shut down due to low ratings and increased production costs. In Fall 1997, KRIS-TV restored news programming to KDF with a fifteen-minute news update at 9 followed by Star Trek
. This practice continued until the sale of the stations to Cordillera in 1999, at which point the newscast was expanded to a full thirty minutes.
The prime time show is simulcasted on CW affiliate KRIS-DT2
but is known by a different name and has a different opening. After KRIS-TV and former rival KZTV joined forces, the former moved into the latter's facilities in September 2010. Due to technical issues with the move of KRIS-TV, it was not able to air newscasts from September 26 until September 28. That station unveiled a brand new high definition-ready set and graphics package on September 29. Eventually, KRIS-TV will stream all of its newscasts on the website. Previously, it had streamed the weekday noon show online.
(weeknights 9 to 9:30)
Additional personnel from KRIS-TV and KZTV are seen on this channel. See those articles for a complete listing.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
. It broadcasts a low-powered
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...
analog signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter southeast of downtown along TX 358
Texas State Highway 358
State Highway 358 or SH 358 is a Texas state highway that runs along the southern edge of Corpus Christi. The route was designated in 1946 from SH 286 to the Naval Air Station, replacing FM 693. It was extended northwest to Interstate 37 in 1958, replacing FM 891. It is also known as Padre...
. Owned by Cordillera Communications (a wholly owned subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of the Evening Post Publishing Company), the station is sister to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate KRIS-TV
KRIS-TV
KRIS-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Corpus Christi area of South Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter in Robstown...
, low-powered Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
affiliate K68DJ
K68DJ
K68DJ, known on-air as KAJA is a low-power television station in Corpus Christi, Texas, broadcasting locally on channel 68 as an affiliate of the Spanish-language Azteca America network. It is co-owned with KRIS-TV and K47DF, both of which are owned by KRIS Communications, a DBA of KVOA...
, and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate KZTV
KZTV
KZTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Corpus Christi area of South Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter between Petronila and Robstown...
(owned by Eagle Creek Broadcasting but operated by Cordillera through shared services
Shared services
Shared services refers to the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the providing department effectively becomes an...
agreement). All four stations share studios on Artesian Street in Downtown Corpus Christi.
Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on this station includes: Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
, My Wife and Kids
My Wife and Kids
My Wife and Kids is an American television family sitcom that ran on ABC from March 28, 2001 until May 17, 2005. Produced by Touchstone Television , it starred Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell-Martin, and centers on the character of Michael Kyle, a loving husband and modern-day patriarch who rules...
, The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
, and Judge Mathis
Judge Mathis
Judge Mathis is a syndicated television legal reality show produced originally by Black Pearl Productions. In 2008, it entered its tenth season produced by AND Syndicated Productions and Telepictures. It is taped at NBC Tower in Chicago, but includes cases and litigants from other U.S....
. KDF can also be seen on K20EK channel 20 in Kingsville
Kingsville, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,575 people, 8,943 households, and 6,134 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,848.8 people per square mile . There were 10,427 housing units at an average density of 753.8 per square mile...
–Alice
Alice, Texas
At the 2000 census, there were 19,010 people, 6,400 households and 4,915 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,597.4 per square mile . There were 6,998 housing units at an average density of 588.0 per square mile...
(transmitter northwest of Bishop
Bishop, Texas
Bishop is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,305 at the 2000 census, but decreased to 3,126 by 2009. Located on U.S...
along the Nueces and Jim Wells
Jim Wells County, Texas
At the 2000 census, there were 39,326 people, 12,961 households and 10,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 46 per square mile . There were 14,819 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...
County line) and K30EG channel 30 in Beeville
Beeville, Texas
Beeville is a city in Bee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,129 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bee County...
–Refugio
Refugio, Texas
Refugio is a town in Refugio County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,941 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Refugio County. Although the town's name is derived from Spanish, a vast majority of the town's residents pronounce it re-fury-oh. The Spanish pronunciation is...
(transmitter east of Beeville).
History
Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi is a Roman Catholic diocese in Texas. It was founded on March 23, 1912.The past bishops of the diocese are:*Dominic Manucy *Peter Verdaguer y Prat...
had a stake in). It started as an independent with general entertainment programming. KDF's big break came in 1993 when some high-profile syndicated programming such as Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, and Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
moved to the station after KRIS-TV dropped them in favor of other programming. Paloma also launched the station's two repeaters in order to improve KDF's availability in the fringes of the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
. That same year, the cable wars between the big three
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
affiliates of Corpus Christi were going on.
In 1994, the station became a Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate. Even though the network name was used in KDF's logo and the station referred to itself as "KDF Fox", it did not follow the station standardization mandate imposed by the network. Otherwise, it would have been called "Fox 47", "Fox Corpus Christi", or even "Fox 13" after its cable slot on Time Warner
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
. By 1997, KDF had invested heavily in expensive programing, leaving the station nearly bankrupt. Regretting its attempt to enter commercial television, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi sold its share in the station. It was then sold to T. Frank Smith, then-owner of KRIS-TV. KDF moved into that station's studios on South Staples Street in Downtown Corpus Christi while Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, and Oprah were moved back to that channel.
On January 16, 2008, it was announced that the station would lose its Fox affiliation in favor of new higher-powered KUQI
KUQI
KUQI is a full-power broadcast television station in the Corpus Christi, Texas market. It airs digitally over UHF channel 38. It is the Fox affiliate for the area, replacing the affiliation previously held by low-power station K47DF...
, which began airing the network's programming starting on February 4, 2008. At that time, the channel reverted back to an independent. One of the last scheduled network programs on KDF was Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...
on February 3. After the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) issues construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
s to KDF and its translators, they will convert to digital-only broadcasting eventually adding high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
capabilities.
Newscasts
Under pressure from TCI CableTele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. or TCI was a cable television provider in the United States, for much of its history controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone....
(now Time Warner Cable), KDF began its own news department and produced local news. These shows featured former KRIS-TV anchor Jay Ricci (now at KVII-TV
KVII-TV
-External links:** — live pictures of downtown Amarillo and surroundings from KVII's Sky Cam...
in Amarillo
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
). Weather was provided by WeatherVision
WeatherVision
WeatherVision is a TV syndication company based in Jackson, Mississippi, that produces and distributes customized weather forecast segments for local airing by over 200 commercial and public television stations and Networks nationwide...
meteorologists during the newscast's run. In 1995, the news department was shut down due to low ratings and increased production costs. In Fall 1997, KRIS-TV restored news programming to KDF with a fifteen-minute news update at 9 followed by Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
. This practice continued until the sale of the stations to Cordillera in 1999, at which point the newscast was expanded to a full thirty minutes.
The prime time show is simulcasted on CW affiliate KRIS-DT2
KRIS-DT2
KRIS-DT2 is the CW-affiliated television station for the Corpus Christi area of South Texas. The station is part of The CW Plus, a special CW feed that broadcasts on cable and/or over-the-air on a digital signal. It is a second digital subchannel of NBC affiliate KRIS-TV that is owned by Cordillera...
but is known by a different name and has a different opening. After KRIS-TV and former rival KZTV joined forces, the former moved into the latter's facilities in September 2010. Due to technical issues with the move of KRIS-TV, it was not able to air newscasts from September 26 until September 28. That station unveiled a brand new high definition-ready set and graphics package on September 29. Eventually, KRIS-TV will stream all of its newscasts on the website. Previously, it had streamed the weekday noon show online.
Newscast titles
- KDF 9 O'Clock News (1993–1995)
- KDF Fox News Update (15-minute segments, 1997–1999)
- KDF Fox News at 9 (1999–2001)
- KRIS 6 News at 9 (2001–2007, 2010-present)
- 6 News 9@9 (2007–2010)
News team
KRIS 6 News at 9 on KDF(weeknights 9 to 9:30)
- Anchors:
- Lee Sausley - 6 News at 9:00 anchor [2002-]
- Jennifer Lira - 6 News at 9:00 co-anchor [2004-]
- Weather:
- Dale Nelson - 6 News at 9:00 chief meteorologist (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seal of Approval) (1981–)
- Dale Nelson - 6 News at 9:00 chief meteorologist (AMS
Additional personnel from KRIS-TV and KZTV are seen on this channel. See those articles for a complete listing.