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📺 WFAA celebrates 75 years

WFAA celebrates 75 years of reporting essential Dallas news
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The station has become a household name in the city. From its humble beginnings, we take a look back at DFW’s first broadcast station. | Photo via WFAA
On this day in 1949, local history was made when former US Vice President Alben William Barkley cut the ribbon on a station that would go on to alter the way Dallasites received their news.

WFAA, then known as Channel 8 - KBTV, spent the next 70+ years documenting a series of historical moments, cherished laughs, and heartfelt stories that would lead them to become the city’s most-watched late-evening newscast. Today, the station marks 75 years of legacy news broadcasting.

Archive photo of WFAA first building on Harry Hines

From humble beginnings on Harry Hines Boulevard, WFAA aired its first broadcast in 1949.

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Photo via WFAA

Documenting history

The city turned to the station for coverage during one of the darkest days in the history of the metroplex.

In 1963, all eyes were on WFAA as the station was the first to break the news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and among the first broadcast stations in the country to produce a continuous live broadcast for over 24 hours following the shooting. The coverage featured a live interview from an eyewitness just hours after the event, and footage by WFAA’s Abraham Zapruder can be found at the Sixth Floor Museum.

The station continued to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing media landscape, from black-and-white television to high-definition broadcasts and 24-hour live streams on WFAA. Its extensive coverage in local news, politics, and feel-good stories is the reason the station has become a household name.

Notable firsts

1958: The first station to use a videotape recorder for news coverage
1969: First to use satellite capacity coverage
1970: The first station in the US to convert its news footage to videotape
1973: The station also hired the first African American news anchor in DFW television, Iola Johnson

As WFAA celebrates 75 years, Dallas celebrates a trailblazer that continues to set trends for the DFW area.
More WFAA history
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Events
Tuesday, Sept. 17
  • In Stitches - Fiber Arts Meetup | Tuesday, Sept.17 | Times vary | Renner Frankford Branch Library | Bring your projects and materials for a morning “in stitches” with other fibercraft artists.
  • Meet ‘n’ Greet Wild Animals | Tuesday, Sept. 17 | 6-9 p.m. | Vector Brewing | Free | The animals are out on the prowl; show up for a live meet and greet with the North Texas Wildlife Center.
  • Nicki Minaj Presents: Pink Friday 2 World Tour | Tuesday, Sept. 17 | 9 p.m. | American Airlines Center | $52+ | Enter Gag City as the queen of rap graces the stage during her Pink Friday 2 World Tour.
Wednesday, Sept. 18
  • Sunset Fitness: Sunset Zumba | Wednesday, Sept. 18 | 6:30-7:30 p.m. | Grandscape, The Colony | Free | Shake up your fitness routine as you Zumba with other Dallasites under the stars.
  • Slipknot: “Here Comes The Pain” 25th Anniversary Tour | Wednesday, Sept. 18 | 7 p.m. | Dos Equis Pavilion | $35+ | Feel the pain — in a good way, as Slipknot’s 25th Anniversary Tour hits you like a sledgehammer.
  • Garden of Music | Wednesday, Sept. 18 | 6-9 p.m. | Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens | Free | Grab a picnic blanket and that special person and hit the lawn for a night full of live music, food trucks, and nature.
Events calendar here
Click here to have your event featured.
Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services
 
Travel

✈️ 3 wildly cheap flights out of DFW in 2024
A plane flys over palm trees in a clear sky.
Pro tip: Set custom destination alerts as a Going Premium member. | Photo by Pexels
Great airfare deals do exist — and thanks to flight price tracking services like Going, you can save hundreds on your next trip. Sign up for Going’s Premium plan, and you’ll be emailed when international flights leaving our city are seriously discounted.

Here are real flight deals out of DFW the Going team found this year:
  • $260 to Maui
  • $244 to Puerto Rico
  • $281 to Scotland
Sign up + get local flight deals
News Notes
Festival
  • Dallas, the State Fair of Texas is right around the corner. Make sure to check out our guide with the 411 on all things the state fair. Tickets are now on sale, starting at $15. Gates open on Friday, Sept. 27.
Closing
  • El Bolero is sadly saying goodbye after a decade of being located in the Dallas Design District. The gourmet Mexican restaurant owned by Richard Ellman, joins two other restaurants (Pakpao and Shodo) that the restaurateur recently closed. (Culture Map Dallas)
Edu
  • Dallas ISD picked a winner after partnering with Cool Tropics in a district-wide art contest. Miriam M., a senior at the Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, won first place. Her artwork will be on punch fruit slush packaging in schools across the nation.(The Dallas Hub)
Community
  • Builders of Hope, a nonprofit community development corporation, is releasing anti-displacement toolkits to address housing displacement in the community. The nonprofit plans to brief the Dallas City Council on the toolkit by October, with a public release to follow later in the fall. (KERA News)
Watch
  • WFAA sports anchor Jonah Javad recently sat down with one of the station’s greats. Watch his interview with former Sports Director Verne Lundquist as part of the station’s 75th anniversary.
Sports
  • That first home game wasn’t our best, with the Saints beating the Cowboys 44-19. What’s next for the team? Get the biggest stories every day from the local experts of the Dallas Cowboys with Locked On’s daily podcasts.
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    Civic

    🗳️ It’s voter registration time

    It’s voter registration time — Here’s how.
    Dallas_City_Hall,_Dallas,_Texas_LCCN2015630778.tif.jpg
    Dallas City Hall has established offices for providing assistance to small businesses | Wikimedia Commons
    Did you know that National Voter Registration Day is today? According to the most recent US census data, as many as one in four Americans may still not be registered to vote. As of 2022, there are 1.42 million residents in Dallas County that are currently registered.

    Register, if you need to

    Not registered? Don’t sweat it. You can:
    • Register online through the Texas Secretary of State’s website to print, sign, and mail your application.
    • Call the Voter Registration office at 469- 627-VOTE (8683)
    Learn more about registration and voting in Dallas by visiting the Dallas County Elections Department website.

    Watch for these upcoming dates

    • Monday, Oct. 7 — Last day to register to vote online or by mail
    • Friday, Oct. 25 — Last day for the Elections Department to receive your mail ballot application
    • Monday, Oct. 21 to Friday, Nov. 1 — Early voting period.
    • Tuesday, Nov. 5 — Election Day
    Get election ready
    The Buy

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