KFDA-TV: Difference between revisions

{{TooVery long|date=January 2022}}

| branding = {{ubl|NewsChannel 10<br>|NewsChannel 10 Too (on DT2)<br>|{{lang|es|italic=no|Telemundo Amarillo}} (on DT3)<br>|MeTV Amarillo (on DT4)}}

| digital = 10 ([[very high frequency|VHF]])

| translators = [[#Translators|See''see below]]{{Section link||Subchannels}}''

| affiliations = {{unbulleted listubl|'''10.1:''' [[CBS]]|'''10.2:'''for [[Independentothers, stationsee (North{{section America)link|Independent]]|Subchannels}}'''[[KEYU (TV)|10.3]]:''' [[Telemundo]]|'''10.4:''' [[MeTV]]}}

| licensee = Gray Television Licensee, [[Limited liability company|LLC]]

| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''[[Analog television|Analog]]:'''<br> 10 (VHF, 1953–2009)<br>|'''[[Digital terrestrial television|Digital]]:'''<br> 9 (VHF, 2001–2009)}}

| former_affiliations = '''Analog/DT1:'''<br>[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (secondary, 1953–1957)<br>'''DT2:'''<br>Telemundo (2002–2009)<br>'''DT3:''' [[UPN]] (2002–2006)<br>Independent (2006–2009)<br>'''DT4:''' [[LATV]] (2007–2011)<br>Local news/weather (2011–2018)

| erp = 20.862 [[kilowatt|kW]]

| coordinates = {{Coord|35|17|34|N|101|50|4244|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}

| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]

'''KFDA-TV''' (channel 10) is a [[television station]] in [[Amarillo, Texas]], United States, affiliated with [[CBS]]. It is owned by [[Gray Television]] alongside [[Borger, Texas|Borger]]-licensed [[Telemundo]] affiliate [[KEYU (TV)|KEYU]] (channel 31). BothThe two stations share studios on Broadway Drive (just south of West Cherry Avenue) in northern Amarillo, where KFDA's transmitter is also located.

On July 3, 1952, the Amarillo Broadcasting Company – a consortium led by radio station owners Wendell Mayes, oil, gas and publishing interest holder C. C. Woodson, Charles B. Jordan (vice president and assistant general manager of the [[Texas State Network]]), and Gene L. Cagle (Texas State Network president and general manager) – filed an application with the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) to obtain a [[broadcast license|license]] and [[Planning permission#Broadcasting|construction permit]] to operate a [[commercial broadcasting|commercial television station]] on [[Very high frequency|VHF]] channel 10.<ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=TV Applications Filed with the FCC|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/52-OCR/BC-1952-07-07-OCR-Page-0087.pdf |periodical=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]] |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=85 |date=July 7, 1952|access-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref> The FCC awarded the license and permit for channel 10 to the Amarillo Broadcasting Company on October 8, 1952; the group subsequently requested and received approval to assign '''KFDA-TV''' as the television station's call letters, using the base callsign that had been used by its existing radio station on KFDA (1440 AM, now [[KPUR (AM)|KPUR]]) since it signed on in March 1939.<ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/52-OCR/BC-1952-10-20-OCR-Page-0066.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=66 |date=October 20, 1952|access-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=KFDA Completes Staff For Aug. 1 Inauguration|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/39-OCR/1939-08-01-BC-OCR-Page-0067.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting-Broadcast Advertising |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=67 |date=August 1, 1939|access-date=August 6, 2018}}</ref>

The station first signed on the air on April 4, 1953; it was the second television station to sign on in the Amarillo market, debuting two weeks after [[NBC]] affiliate KGNC-TV (channel 4, now [[KAMR-TV]]) launched as the market's first television station on March 18. Channel 10 has been an CBS television affiliate since its debut; however, it also initially carried programming from [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], inheriting those rights through KFDA radio's longtime relationship with the television network's progenitor [[Cumulus Media Networks|ABC Radio]], which had been affiliated with that station since 1943 (as the post-NBC-split [[Blue Network]]).<ref name=bt-kfdacbs>{{cite newsmagazine |title=100th Affiliate Joins CBS-TV Network|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/53-OCR/BC-1953-11-16-OCR-Page-0064.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=73 |date=March 23, 1953|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=bt-kfdaabc>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Closed Circuit: TSN Acquires KFDA Control|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/53-OCR/BC-1953-11-16-OCR-Page-0064.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=64 |date=November 16, 1953|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

In January 1954, the Texas State Network (TSN) – a broadcasting consortium owned by [[Sid W. Richardson]] (philanthropist and owner of, among other petroleum firms in the state, Fort Worth-based Sid W. Richardson Inc. and Richardson and Bass Oil Producers), media executive Gene L. Cagle, mineral rights firm owner R. K. Hanger, company president Charles B. Jordan and D. C. Homburg – acquired a 75% controlling stake in KFDA-AM-TV from the original stockholders for $525,000, with Jordan retaining his existing 25% interest.<ref name=bt-kfdaabc/><ref name=bt-kfdatsn>{{cite newsmagazine |title= Transfer Bids Filed For KFDA-AM-TV, KTOK |url= http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/54-OCR/1954-01-11-BC-OCR-Page-0056.pdf |periodical= Broadcasting-Telecasting |publisher= Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=56 |type=PDF |date= January 11, 1954 |access-date= June 14, 2015}}<br>{{cite webmagazine |title= For the Record |url= http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/54-OCR/1954-01-18-BC-OCR-Page-0109.pdf |periodical= Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=109 |date= January 18, 1954 |access-date= August 7, 2018}}</ref> KFDA disaffiliated from ABC shortly before [[KVII-TV]] (channel 7) signed on as an affiliate of that network on December 21, 1957, with the station remaining an exclusive CBS affiliate. In January 1958, Jordan divested his stake in KFDA-TV to TSN/Amarillo Broadcasting in exchange for full ownership of KFDA radio through his firm, the Lone Star Broadcasting Company. Despite this separation of ownership, the KFDA television and radio stations continued to share a base call sign until 1966, when the radio station changed its call letters to KPUR, in order to comply with a since-repealed FCC rule that prohibited separately owned television and radio stations that were based in the same media market from sharing the same call letters.<ref name=b-kfdaamtvsplit1>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/57-OCR/1957-12-16-BC-OCR-Page-0080.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=80 |date=December 16, 1957|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kfdaamtvsplit2>{{cite newsmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/58-OCR/1958-01-13-BC-OCR-Page-0112.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=110 |date=January 13, 1958|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kfdaamtokpur>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/66-OCR/1966-08-29-BC-OCR-Page-0083.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=83 |date=August 29, 1966|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

In an effort to expand its viewing area, KFDA-TV launched a network of UHF translators to serve areas of the Texas Panhandle that were not covered by its main signal. KFDA's parent companies during the timeframe also acquired two standalone network affiliates during the mid-1960s for conversion into [[Broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite stations]] to reach areas where its primary signal was impaired by some of the rugged terrain within the Panhandle. The station was all but unviewable in [[Clovis, New Mexico|Clovis]], [[Portales, New Mexico|Portales]] and surrounding areas of northeastern New Mexico as well as portions of the far eastern Texas Panhandle. Many viewers in those areas received CBS programming either via KGGM-TV (now [[KRQE-TV]]) in [[Albuquerque]] or [[KWTV-DT|KWTV]] in [[Oklahoma City]]. On September 11, 1963, the Texas State Network purchased primary CBS and secondary ABC affiliate KICA-TV (channel 12) in Clovis from Marshall Enterprises (owned by John H. Marshall Sr., John H. Marshall Jr., Lena V. Marshall and Carolyn A. Marshall) for $350,000; the sale was approved on January 22, 1964. TSN subsequently changed the Clovis station's call letters to KFDW-TV to match its new parent station.<ref>{{cite newsmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/63-OCR/1963-09-16-BC-OCR-Page-0015.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=112 |date=September 16, 1963|access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref><ref name=b-kicabuy1>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/64-OCR/1964-01-27-BC-OCR-Page-0066.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=60 |date=January 27, 1964|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kicabuy2>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/64-OCR/1964-02-03-BC-OCR-Page-0086.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=82 |date=February 3, 1964|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kicatokfdw>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/64-OCR/1964-03-30-BC-OCR-Page-0149.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=149 |date=March 30, 1964|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

The owner of KFDA-TV and its satellites changed its name from the Texas State Network to the Bass Broadcasting Company – by then, led by investor/philanthropist [[Perry Richardson Bass|Perry R. Bass]] – in April 1965 (following TSN's sale of [[KFLC|KFJZ-AM]]-[[KEGL|FM]] in Fort Worth to a company that subsequently took on the Texas State Network name).<ref name=b-tsntobass>{{cite newsmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/65-OCR/1965-04-26-BC-OCR-Page-0076.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=76 |date=April 26, 1965|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kfjzsale>{{cite newsmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/65-OCR/1965-03-08-BC-OCR-Page-0092.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=92 |date=March 8, 1965|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kfjznewtsn>{{cite newsmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1965/1965-10-18-BC.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=112 |date=October 18, 1965|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref> The following year, in February 1966, the Bass family acquired a majority stake in the company from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation (a move that followed concerns from [[United States Congress|Congress]] and the [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department of the Treasury]] regarding nonprofit foundations' business interests) and Gene Cagle (who gave up his interest in Bass in exchange for acquiring [[KRIO (AM)|KRIO]] in [[McAllen, Texas|McAllen]] from the company) for nearly $2.3 million.<ref name=b-richardsontobass>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Richardson sale of properties OK'd|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/66-OCR/1966-02-07-BC-OCR-Page-0046.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=46 |date=February 7, 1966|access-date=June 15, 2015}}<br>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/66-OCR/1966-02-07-BC-OCR-Page-0078.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=78 |date=February 7, 1966|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref> On July 1 of that year, Bass Broadcasting acquired CBS affiliate KSWB (channel 8) in [[Elk City, Oklahoma]], from Southwest Broadcasting Company (owned by Lonnie J. Preston and Alice H. Preston) for $275,000, including a [[non-compete clause|non-compete agreement]] for Southwest Broadcasting worth $50,000. The sale, along with a concurrent renewal request for the KSWB license and proposed upgrades to its transmitter facility, received FCC approval on November 17, 1965. In September 1966, KSWB was converted into a KFDA satellite under the call letters KFDO-TV (which also had its [[city of license]] relocated to the nearby city of [[Sayre, Oklahoma|Sayre]]), to relay its programming into portions of western Oklahoma who could not adequately receive CBS programming from KWTV. (The KSWB call letters are currently used by a [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]-affiliated [[KSWB-TV|television station]] in [[San Diego]], [[California]].)<ref name=b-kswbbuy>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/65-OCR/1965-07-12-BC-OCR-Page-0086.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=86 |date=July 12, 1965|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/65-OCR/1965-11-22-BC-OCR-Page-0055.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=69 |date=November 22, 1965|access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/65-OCR/1965-11-29-BC-OCR-Page-0065.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=69 |date=November 29, 1965|access-date=August 7, 2018}}</ref><ref name=b-kswbtokfdo>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/66-OCR/1966-03-14-BC-OCR-Page-0084.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=94 |date=March 14, 1966|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kfdosayre>{{cite webmagazine |title=Station Turnover Evens Off|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/67-OCR/1967-02-27-BC-OCR-Page-0078.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=78 |date=February 27, 1967|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

The Bass family decided to exit broadcasting in the mid-1970s to focus on their oil and gas exploration interests.<ref name=b-kfdwsale>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-08-16-BC-OCR-Page-0030.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc. |page=30 |date=August 16, 1976|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref> In October 1975, Bass Broadcasting Co. sold KFDO-TV to Amarillo-based Marsh Media Ltd. – owned by entrepreneur and philanthropist [[Stanley Marsh 3]], Tom F. Marsh, Michael C. Marsh and Estelle Marsh Wattlington – for $300,000; Marsh converted KFDO into a satellite station of KVII (under the new calls [[KVIJ-TV]]), and along with it, changing the satellite's affiliation from CBS to ABC, serving areas where reception of [[KOCO-TV]] in Oklahoma City was not efficientsufficient. (KVIJ ceased operations on December 2, 1992, citing the fact that the majority of ABC's viewership in west-central Oklahoma came via either reception of KOCO-TV or KSWO-TV in Lawton on local cable providers in that area.)<ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/75-OCR/1975-10-13-BC-OCR-Page-0031.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=35 |date=October 3, 1975|access-date=August 4, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite webmagazine |title=For the Record|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-01-12-BC-OCR-Page-0046.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting-Telecasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications, Inc.|via=World Radio History|page=46 |date=January 12, 1976|access-date=August 4, 2018}}</ref><ref name=b-kfdotokvij>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Call letters|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-02-23-BC-OCR-Page-0105.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=105 |date=February 23, 1976|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-kfdosale>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/75-OCR/1975-10-13-BC-OCR-Page-0031.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=35 |date=October 13, 1975|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref>

In May 1976, KFDA-TV was sold to the Panhandle Telecasting Company (originally known as Amarillo Telecasters, and under licensee to Midessa Television Inc.) – a partnership of Ray Herndon, majority owner of [[KMID (TV)|KMID-TV]] in [[Midland, Texas|Midland]], and R.H. Drewry, owner of [[KSWO-TV]] in [[Lawton, Oklahoma]] – for $2.8 million; the sale was received FCC approval 3½ months later on August 20. The sale of KFDA did not include KFDW-TV, which was instead included in a sale of Bass's remaining stations to Mel Wheeler, Inc. a few months later in a $2.2-million deal. (After subsequent sales, KFDW would become KMCC-TV, a satellite of [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]] ABC affiliate [[KAMC]] in 1979, and KVIH-TV, a satellite of KVII, in 1986; KVIH remains a KVII satellite to this day.)<ref name=b-saletopanhandle1>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-05-10-BC-OCR-Page-0030.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=30 |date=May 10, 1976|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-saletopanhandle2>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-09-06-BC-OCR-Page-0041.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=41 |date=September 6, 1976|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref> In October 1983, Drewry (through his [[Drewry Communications|Lawton Cablevision Inc.]] subsidiary) acquired majority control of KFDA for $3 million; the transaction received FCC approval on February 27, 1984.<ref name=b-saletopanhandle1/><ref name=b-kfdwsale/><ref name=b-saletodrewry1>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/83-OCR/BC-1983-10-31-OCR-Page-0070.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=70 |date=October 31, 1983|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref><ref name=b-saletodrewry2>{{cite newsmagazine |title=Changing Hands|url=http://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/84-OCR/BC-1984-02-06-OCR-Page-0164.pdf |periodical=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcast Publications, Inc. |page=164 |date=February 6, 1984|access-date=June 15, 2015}}</ref>

On July 1, 2008, Drewry Communications Group announced its intention to sell its eleven television stations (as well as sister radio property [[KVLM|KTXC]] in [[Lamesa, Texas|Lamesa]]) to the Dallas-based London Broadcasting Company—a company founded by Terry E. London, former CEO of [[Ryman Hospitality Properties|Gaylord Entertainment]], the previous year to acquire broadcast properties in small to mid-sized markets within Texas, beginning operations with the February 2008 purchase of CBS affiliate [[KYTX]] in [[Tyler, Texas|Tyler]]—for $115 million. While the deal received approval by the FCC, London Broadcasting filed a notice of non-consummation to the FCC in January 2009, after company management decided to terminate the deal due to market uncertainties resulting from the [[Great Recession in the United States|Great Recession]].<ref>{{cite web |title=London Buys Drewry Stations |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/programming/london-buys-drewry-stations/32664 |authorfirst=Michael |last=Malone |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=Reed Business Information |date=July 1, 2008 |access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=London Broadcasting buys 11 stations from Drewry |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/06/30/daily34.html |newspaper=Dallas Business Journal |publisher=[[American City Business Journals]] |date=July 2, 2008 |access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref><ref name="kfda-saletolondon">{{cite news |title=NewsChannel 10 is purchased by London Broadcasting |url=http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=8582337 |website=KFDA-TV |publisher=[[Drewry Communications]] |date=June 30, 2008 |access-date=October 22, 2009}}</ref><ref name="tvbr-nosaletolondon">{{cite news |title=London adds a market, leaves a crater |url=http://www.rbr.com/tv-cable/tv_deals/12348.html |newspaper=Radio-Television Business Report |publisher=Streamline-RBR, Inc. |date=January 16, 2009 |access-date=October 22, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090621022235/http://www.rbr.com/tv-cable/tv_deals/12348.html |archive-date=June 21, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On February 23, 2011, KFDA became the first television station in the Amarillo market (and the [[West Texas]] region as a whole) to carry [[Broadcast syndication|syndicated programming]] and advertisements inserted during local commercial breaks (including station and network promos) in [[high-definition television|high definition]]. The station upgraded its [[master control]] facilities to allow content not directly fed by CBS or produced in-house to be transmitted in HD.<ref name=b&c-kfdahdnews>{{cite news |title=West Texas Gets Hi-Def News |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/technology/west-texas-gets-hi-def-news/48204 |authorfirst=George |last=Winslow |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=NewBay Media |date=March 7, 2011 |access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

On August 10, 2015, [[Montgomery, Alabama]]-based–based [[Raycom Media]] announced that it would purchase Drewry Communications' eight television and two radio stations (which by then included Amarillo radio station KEYU-FM (102.9, now [[KVWE (FM)|KVWE]]) for $160 million. The sale was completed on December 1; as result of the Raycom purchase, KFDA gained a new sister station in NBC affiliate [[KCBD]] in the adjacent Lubbock market (which Raycom has owned since it acquired [[Greenville, South Carolina]]-based–based [[Liberty Corporation]]'s television broadcasting unit in 2006.).<ref name="TVNC Drewry Raycom">{{cite web |title=Raycom Buying Drewry For $160 Million |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/87548/raycom-buying-drewry-for-160-million |authorfirst=Harry A. |last=Jessell |website=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NewsCheck Media |date=August 10, 2015 |access-date=August 12, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Raycom Acquires Drewry Stations for $160 Million |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/raycom-acquires-drewry-stations-160-million/143460 |authorfirst=Michael |last=Malone |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=NewBay Media |date=August 18, 2015 |access-date=August 4, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Raycom Media Completes $160 Million Acquisition of Drewry Communications |url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/local-tv/raycom-media-completes-160-million-acquisition-drewry-communications/146111 |authorfirst=Jonathan |last=Kuperberg |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=NewBay Media |date=December 1, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Raycom Closes On Drewry TV-Radio Buy |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/90407/raycom-closes-on-drewry-tvradio-buy |website=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NewsCheck Media |date=December 1, 2015 |access-date=June 23, 2018}}</ref>

On June 25, 2018, [[Atlanta]]-based [[Gray Television]] announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including KFDA-TV and KEYU as well as Lubbock sister station KCBD, and Gray's 93 television stations) under the former's corporate umbrella. The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion – in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom – resulted in KFDA/KEYU gaining a new [[sister station]] in the [[Odessa, Texas|Odessa]]–Midland market as Gray retained ownership of fellow CBS affiliate [[KOSA-TV]] in exchange for selling NBC affiliate [[KWES-TV]] (which was sold to [[Tegna Inc.]], along with CBS affiliate [[WTOL]] in [[Toledo, Ohio]], to comply with FCC ownership rules prohibiting common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market).<ref>{{cite press release |title=GRAY AND RAYCOM TO COMBINE IN A $3.6 BILLION TRANSACTION |url=https://www.raycommedia.com/gray-and-raycom-to-combine-in-a-3-6-billion-transaction/#amnewsers |website=[[Raycom Media]] |date=June 25, 2018 |access-date=July 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625161249/https://www.raycommedia.com/gray-and-raycom-to-combine-in-a-3-6-billion-transaction/#amnewsers |archive-date=June 25, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="graycom">{{cite web |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/114556/gray-to-buy-raycom-for-36-billion |title=Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion |last=Miller |first=Mark K. |work=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NewsCheckMedia |date=June 25, 2018 |access-date=June 25, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gray Buying Raycom for $3.6B |url=https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/gray-buying-raycom-for-3-6b |authorfirst=John |last=Eggerton |periodical=Broadcasting & Cable |publisher=NewBay Media |date=June 25, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group |url=https://deadline.com/2018/06/grey-acquiring-raycom-for-3-65-billion-forming-no-3-local-tv-group-1202416667/ |authorfirst=Dade |last=Hayes |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |date=June 25, 2018}}</ref> The sale was approved on December 20,<ref>[https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/fcc-ok-with-gray-raycom-merger "FCC OK with Gray/Raycom Merger"], [[Broadcasting & Cable]], 20 December 20, 2018, Retrieved 20 December 20, 2018.</ref> and was completed on January 2, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/227754/gray-closes-3-6-billion-raycom-merger/ |title=Gray Closes On $3.6 Billion Raycom Merger |work=TVNewsCheck |publisher=NewsCheckMedia |date=January 2, 2019 |access-date=January 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://gray.tv/uploads/documents/pressreleases/Press%20Release%20re%20Completion%20of%20Raycom%20Acquisition.pdf "Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media and Related Transactions"], [[Gray Television]], January 2, 2019, Retrieved January 2, 2019.</ref>

KFDA-TV clears the entire CBS network schedule; however, though the stationthird carries somehour of the networkSaturday 's'[[CBS programsWeekend]]'' outeducational ofblock pattern.airs Duebefore ''[[CBS Sunday Morning]]'' instead due to itsthe half-hourstation's Saturday morning newscast,airing theof ''[[CBSYour DreamHome Team]]Town View'', blockan airshour-long a[[brokered half-hourprogramming|brokered]] laterlocal than[[real onestate]] mostprogram CBSproduced affiliates,by andthe alsostation's airsadvertising overdepartment twoin daysassociation (thewith first[[Keller 2½Williams]] hoursRealty ofAmarillo. theThe blockshow airalso onairs Saturdaysin andseveral thetimeslots remainingon halfKFDA-hourDT2 airsthroughout onthe Sunday mornings)week.

On October 14, 1999, KFDA preempted an episode of ''[[Chicago Hope]]'' in which [[Mark Harmon]]'s character Jack McNeil says the word "[[shit]]" while amputating a boy's leg and replaced the show with local programming. The station's then -vice president and general manager Mike Lee decided forthat the station towould not to air the episode due to the curse word and later apologized to viewers for the network's poor choice, but not for the local decision to preempt.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

{{As of|September 2017}}, KFDA-TV currently broadcasts {{frac|24½|1|2}} hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with {{frac|4½|1|2}} hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition, KFDA-DT2 broadcasts {{frac|12½|1|2}} hours of locally produced newscasts each week: a morning newscast consisting of a combined second-hour simulcast and half-hour exclusive extension of the ''NewsChannel 10 Early Show'', and a simulcast of the hour-long 6:00&nbsp;p.m. newscast carried on the station's main feed. These air only on weekdays. The station may also simulcast long-form severe weather coverage on "NewsChannel 10 Too" in the event that a [[tornado warning]] is issued for any county within the [[Texas Panhandle|Texas]] and [[Oklahoma Panhandle]]s as well as [[Eastern New Mexico]].

Channel 10 served as the Amarillo market's "Love Network" affiliate for the [[Muscular Dystrophy Association]]'s ''[[Jerry Lewis]] [[MDA Labor Day Telethon]]'' for 39 years from September 1973 until Septemberto 2012. Because of the station's commitments to run CBS' entertainment and sports programming, KFDA usually aired the telethon on a three-hour tape delay following its 10:00&nbsp;p.m. newscast on the Sunday preceding [[Labor Day]]. For the same reason, when the telethon was reduced to a six-hour prime time telecast on the Sunday before Labor Day in September 2011, the broadcast was transferred over to KFDA-DT2 to allow the main feed to fulfill its CBS programming commitments. (The broadcast—by then reduced to a two-hour special—moved to ABC in September 2013, airing thereafter by association on KVII-TV until the final telecast of the retitled ''MDA Show of Strength'' in August 2014.<ref>{{cite news |title='MDA' Telethon Heads to Primetime on ABC |url=https://variety.com/2013/tv/news/mda-telethon-heads-to-primetime-on-abc-1200497737/ |periodical=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |date=June 17, 2013}}</ref>)

On September 10, 2018, the station began producing a local program called ''NewsChannel 10's 2nd Cup'', which airs weekdays at 9:00&nbsp;a.m.

In 2020, KFDA-DT2 began producing a local morning talk show known as ''The Chat'', which partners with radio station [[KGNC (AM)|KGNC]] 710 AM which airs weekday morningsweekdays at 7:00&nbsp;a.m. and also reruns weekday afternoons at 3:00&nbsp;p.m.

! scope = "row" | 10.2 |
| rowspan="35" |[[480i]] || KZBZ || [[Independent station (North America)|NewsChannel 10 Too]]

|! 10.4scope ||= MeTV"row" || [[MeTV]]10.5

KFDA began transmitting a [[digital television]] signal on [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 39 on September 1, 2002. It became the first television station in Amarillo to begin digital broadcasting operations upon sign-on of the digital channel as well as the first station in the market to simulcast programming content in high definition.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/091502/new_cablechannel.shtml | title=Cable channel shuffle heralds area's HDTV era | publisher=Amarillo Globe-News | date=September 15, 2002 }}</ref>

The station shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 10, on June 12, 2009, the official date inon which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital television]] under federal mandate.<ref>{{cite news |title=Start here for a DTV Basic Overview for NewsChannel 10's Viewing area |url=http://www.newschannel10.com/story/9311426/start-here-for-a-dtv-basic-overview-for-newschannel-10s-viewing-area |website=KFDA-TV |publisher=[[Drewry Communications]] |date=January 30, 2009 |access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=What DTV Delay Means for You |url=http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=9797488 |website=KFDA-TV |publisher=Drewry Communications |date=January 30, 2009}}</ref><ref name="Analog to Digital">{{cite web |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |url=https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]] |access-date=June 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013}}</ref> The station's digital signal moved to its pre-transition VHF channel 10.

In addition to maintaining [[cable television|cable]] carriage within this area, KFDA-TV covers a large portion of the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, northeastern [[New Mexico]] and far southwestern [[Kansas]] through a network of 19 UHF [[Broadcast relay station#Broadcast translators|translators]] that distribute its programming beyond the {{convert|75.2|mi|km|adj=mid|-wide}} range corridor of its broadcast signal (all translators transmit on virtual channel 10):

[[Category:CBS1953 networkestablishments affiliatesin Texas]]

[[Category:MeTVCBS affiliates]]

[[Category:1953This establishmentsTV in Texasaffiliates]]