Media - Dallas, Texas



Media

The Dallas–Fort Worth market intrigues in that you find two sizable cities sharing and experiencing broad and competitive coverage. Together, the cities span an area the size of Houston, yet they have their own newspapers and magazines that address the differing personalities and issues within their own cities.

That said, the media business suffers here—as it does across the nation—from the shrinking of newspapers and budget cuts at radio and TV stations. Perhaps the strangest development of this new world of media coverage is the recent concept of content sharing, which many journalists never predicted would occur. The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, healthy rivals for nearly a century, began sharing photographs and stories in late 2008.

Many of the media outlets offer expanded coverage on their Web sites, which is teased at on the print page or during broadcasts. Several newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV stations have good interaction with readers and a few have very amusing blogs. Check out www.guidelive.com from the Dallas Morning News; www.dfw.com from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram; www.unfairpark.com from the Dallas Observer; and frontburner.dmagazine.com from D Magazine, in particular.

On the radio, you’ll find plenty of talky hosts during the morning and afternoon drive times, so you’ll just have to hunt around for those that entertain you most or annoy you least. There’s abundant conservative talk radio, more than adequate sports radio, and plenty of music to go around. Television programming is average for a market of this size, with the network affiliates offering local shows in the morning and lots of local news throughout the day. Spanish-language radio and TV programming is always on the grow, keeping pace with the Hispanic population.

Be warned, however, that you may find yourself just about hooked on a station when it suddenly changes format. That’s happened frequently in the past couple of years as stations reinvent themselves in an effort to grab listeners who could be lured away by satellite radio. Many radio stations in the Dallas–Fort Worth market have gone high-def, too, also in an effort to keep you from devoting your time and money to satellite radio.

1. D Magazine

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 939-3636
Address: 4311 Oak Lawn Ave.

Description: Dallas’s monthly magazine, founded in 1974, likes to cover hot business and social types, fashion, food and wine, travel, and the occasional sports interest. Annual issues look at who lives in the most expensive homes in town, where the best school districts are, and where to find the best dining by neighborhood. Monthly circulation is about 62,000. D has one of the liveliest blogs in the state, found at frontburner.dmagazine.com.


2. Dallas Morning News

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 977-8222
Address: 508 Young St.

Description: “The world at your doorstep” was the long-running motto of Dallas’s surviving daily newspaper, which began publishing in 1885 and has won several Pulitzer Prize awards. Daily sections include coverage of metro news, business, arts and entertainment, lifestyle, and sports. Specialty coverage of food, cooking, dining, new films, theater, and museum openings usually happens weekly. Circulation is about 371,000 on weekdays and 522,000 on weekends. Interesting and entertaining blogs are found at www.guidelive.com.

3. Dallas Observer

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: 214) 757-9000
Address: 2501 Oak Lawn Ave.

Description: The alternative weekly in Dallas has a circulation of 110,000 and is well liked for its investigative stories and general irreverence for anyone in an ivory tower. Coverage ranges from government and politics to business, entertainment, and sports. Dining coverage is solid, too. The Best Of coverage each year is always fun to read, with goofy topics like “Best Place to See Garbage Bags as Outerwear,” along with the usual “Best Skyline View.” Amusing and thoughtful blogging is found at www.unfairpark.com.

4. Modern Luxury Dallas

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 880-0020
Address: 2828 Routh St., #350

Description: With a circulation of about 50,000, this fashion-centric monthly covers all areas that fall within the luxury lifestyle category. High-end trends are popular coverage, with interior design, travel, food, and wine among special interests.

5. Kdaf 33

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 252-9233
Address: 8001 John W. Carpenter Freeway

Description: The 33 belongs to the Tribune Broadcast Company station group, along with WGN in Chicago, KTLA in Los Angeles, and WPIX in New York. It’s a big hit, with top syndicated programs and offerings from the CW Network.

6. Kdfi 27

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 720-4444
Address: 400 North Griffin St.

Description: This is the sister station to KDFW. Programming is typically popular talk shows and reruns of favorite dramas and comedies.

7. Kdfw 4

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 720-4444
Address: 400 North Griffin St.

Description: Here’s the Fox affiliate, with original, local morning programming on a weekday show called Good Day. Visiting celebrities, authors, chefs, and others will frequently be featured on the program. The station dates back 80 years and was formerly known as KRLD.

8. Kera 13

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 871-1390
Address: 3000 Harry Hines Blvd.

Description: KERA 13 is the public television station, carrying PBS programming. It’s among those with the highest ratings in the nation and there is plentiful local programming. You’ll see the station working in community events and outreach, too.

9. Kxas 5

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (800) 232-5927

Description: Channel 5, the NBC affiliate, broke ground in color broadcasting in Texas. Today it’s a leader in breaking news, weather, traffic, and sports, and there’s local entertainment and lifestyle coverage, too.

10. Kxtx 39

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 521-3900
Address: 3100 McKinnon St.

Description: This Spanish-language station offers national, regional, and local programming.

11. Wfaa-Tv 8

City: Dallas, TX
Category: Media
Telephone: (214) 748-9631
Address: 606 Young St.

Description: Begun as a radio station in 1922 by the Belo Corporation, which owns the Dallas Morning News, WFAA became a TV station in 1950. The call letters stood for “working for all alike,” and by 1957 the station became the ABC affiliate. The station introduced local viewers to HDTV in 1997 and has won a raft of national news awards. Good Morning Texas provides local interest programming at 9 a.m. weekdays.
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