KFDA-TV

KFDA-TV is a commercial television station licensed to Amarillo, Texas, and affiliated with CBS. It operates on virtual channel 10 and serves viewers across the Texas Panhandle, with additional reach into parts of Eastern New Mexico and western Oklahoma through its signal, digital distribution, and historical satellite operations. The station uses the NewsChannel 10 identity and is known primarily for CBS network programming, locally produced newscasts, severe-weather coverage, syndicated programming, and community-oriented local shows. The station originated with the Amarillo Broadcasting Company, a consortium of radio and media interests that applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a channel 10 license and construction permit in July 1952. The FCC granted the application in October of that year, and KFDA-TV began broadcasting on April 4, 1953, becoming the second television station to sign on in the Amarillo market. Its call letters were derived from KFDA radio, which had operated in Amarillo since 1939. From its launch, the station was associated with CBS, while also carrying some ABC programming during the early years because of the radio station's historical relationship with the predecessor of ABC Radio. KFDA became an exclusive CBS affiliate after KVII-TV began operating as the market's ABC station in 1957. Ownership changed several times during the station's first decades. Texas State Network acquired a controlling interest in 1954, and the company was later renamed Bass Broadcasting Company. Under Bass ownership, KFDA expanded its regional reach by developing translator facilities and acquiring stations that could be converted into satellites. These efforts addressed reception limitations caused by the Texas Panhandle's geography and extended CBS service into areas that otherwise relied on distant stations from Albuquerque or Oklahoma City. The station's former satellite relationships included KFDW-TV in Clovis, New Mexico, and KFDO-TV in western Oklahoma, although those properties later followed separate ownership and affiliation paths. KFDA-TV was sold to Panhandle Telecasting Company in 1976 and subsequently became associated with R. H. Drewry and Drewry Communications. Drewry acquired majority control during the early 1980s, beginning a long period in which KFDA remained part of a regional broadcasting group. A proposed 2008 sale of Drewry's television assets to London Broadcasting Company was approved but never completed; London filed a notice of non-consummation in 2009 amid market uncertainty during the Great Recession. The station's technical and production capabilities expanded substantially in the digital era. KFDA began digital transmission in 2002 and was the first Amarillo station to begin digital operations. In February 2011, it became the first station in the Amarillo market to transmit locally produced news, syndicated material, and local commercial content in high definition. Its local-news operation has developed into one of the market's largest, with more than 30 hours of weekly newscasts on the primary channel as of May 2025, supplemented by additional weekday programming on KFDA-DT2, branded NewsChannel 10 Too. Raycom Media acquired Drewry Communications in 2015. Gray Television's merger with Raycom was completed in January 2019, bringing KFDA-TV into Gray's national television-station portfolio. KFDA is owned alongside KEYU, a Telemundo affiliate licensed to Borger, Texas; the stations share facilities on Broadway Drive in northern Amarillo, where KFDA's transmitter is also located. Today, KFDA-TV's core proposition is regional service built around CBS programming and locally focused journalism. Its output includes daily news, weather and emergency coverage, community features, local lifestyle programming, advertising-supported programs, and selected sports and entertainment offerings. The station also uses its digital subchannel to expand local programming and provide schedul…

KFDA-TV traces its roots to the Amarillo Broadcasting Company, a consortium led by radio broadcasters and Texas media and petroleum interests. The group submitted an application for a commercial VHF television station on channel 10 to the FCC on July 3, 1952. The commission awarded the license and construction permit on October 8, 1952. The station adopted the KFDA call sign used by an existing Amarillo radio station and began operation on April 4, 1953. KFDA launched as a CBS affiliate and initially also carried selected ABC programming. That secondary relationship ended after KVII-TV began broadcasting as an ABC affiliate in December 1957. KFDA has remained aligned with CBS since its launch, making the affiliation a defining part of its identity in the Amarillo market. In January 1954, Texas State Network acquired a 75 percent controlling interest in KFDA-AM-TV for $525,000, with Charles B. Jordan retaining the remaining interest. Jordan later transferred his television stake to the company while taking full ownership of the radio station. The radio and television operations continued to share the KFDA call sign until 1966, when the radio station changed its calls to KPUR after the relevant FCC restriction on commonly based, separately owned radio and television stations sharing call letters. During the 1960s, KFDA's owners sought to overcome the Panhandle's difficult terrain and expand CBS coverage. Texas State Network acquired KICA-TV in Clovis, New Mexico, in 1963 and changed its calls to KFDW-TV. The company also acquired KSWB-TV in Elk City, Oklahoma, in 1966 and converted it into the KFDA satellite KFDO-TV. The ownership group changed its name to Bass Broadcasting Company in 1965. Later in the decade, the Bass family acquired majority control of the company. These satellite arrangements were part of a broader effort to reach viewers who could not reliably receive KFDA's main signal or nearby network stations. Bass Broadcasting began withdrawing from television in the 1970s as the family concentrated on oil and gas interests. In 1975, KFDO-TV was sold to Marsh Media and converted into an ABC satellite under the KVIJ-TV call sign. KFDA itself was sold in 1976 to Panhandle Telecasting Company, a partnership involving Ray Herndon and R. H. Drewry. Drewry later acquired majority control through Lawton Cablevision, with FCC approval in 1984. The station remained part of Drewry Communications for several decades. A proposed 2008 sale of Drewry's television stations to London Broadcasting Company did not close. Although the transaction received regulatory approval, London terminated the deal during the economic uncertainty associated with the Great Recession and filed a notice of non-consummation in January 2009. KFDA entered the digital era in September 2002, becoming the first Amarillo television station to begin digital broadcasting. On February 23, 2011, it became the first station in the Amarillo market to transmit local news and other locally inserted material in high definition. This transition strengthened the station's ability to combine network content, local reporting, advertising, and weather coverage in a modern broadcast workflow. Raycom Media announced its purchase of Drewry Communications in August 2015, and the transaction closed in December of that year. KFDA subsequently became part of a larger regional group that included stations such as KCBD in nearby Lubbock. In June 2018, Gray Television announced an agreement to merge with Raycom. The transaction was approved in December and completed on January 2, 2019. KFDA and KEYU became Gray-owned stations, and the two operations share a northern Amarillo facility on Broadway Drive. KFDA's local programming has included long-running community and public-service activities. It served as the Amarillo market's local outlet for the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon for 39 years, from 1973 through 2012. The station has also produced lifestyle and talk programming, including NewsChannel 10's 2nd Cup, which began in 2018, and The Chat, a weekday morning program produced on KFDA-DT2 in partnership with KGNC. The Chat ended in 2024. In 2025, the station added broadcasts of selected Amarillo Sod Poodles baseball games on its second subchannel and introduced a Saturday-night Good News Edition. As of May 2025, KFDA's primary service carries more than 30 hours of locally produced newscasts each week, while KFDA-DT2 provides additional weekday local-news programming and can simulcast extended severe-weather coverage. The station therefore combines the traditional role of a network affiliate with a substantial regional news, weather, sports, and community-service operation.

1. 2025Local sports and news additions

   KFDA announces Sunday Amarillo Sod Poodles broadcasts on its second subchannel and begins a Saturday-night Good News Edition.

   Source
2. 2019Gray-Raycom merger completes

   KFDA becomes a Gray-owned station after Gray Television completes its merger with Raycom Media.

   Source
3. 2015Raycom acquisition closes

   Raycom Media completes its acquisition of Drewry Communications, adding KFDA to its station portfolio.

   Source
4. 2011Local high-definition production launches

   KFDA upgrades its facilities and begins transmitting locally produced and inserted content in high definition.

   Source
5. 2002Digital transmission begins

   KFDA begins digital broadcasting on UHF channel 39 and becomes the first Amarillo station to launch digital service.

   Source
6. 1976Transfer to Panhandle Telecasting

   KFDA-TV is sold to Panhandle Telecasting Company, beginning its long association with the Drewry ownership group.

   Source
7. 1966KSWB becomes a KFDA satellite

   Bass Broadcasting acquires KSWB-TV in Elk City and converts it into the KFDA satellite KFDO-TV.

   Source
8. 1965Owner adopts Bass Broadcasting name

   The Texas State Network's broadcasting operations are renamed Bass Broadcasting Company.

   Source
9. 1963Clovis satellite acquisition

   Texas State Network purchases KICA-TV in Clovis, New Mexico, later changing its call sign to KFDW-TV to reflect its relationship with KFDA.

   Source
10. 1957KFDA becomes an exclusive CBS affiliate

    After KVII-TV launches as an ABC affiliate, KFDA ends its secondary ABC relationship and continues solely with CBS.

    Source
11. 1954Texas State Network acquires control

    Texas State Network purchases a 75 percent controlling interest in KFDA-AM-TV.

    Source
12. 1953KFDA-TV signs on

    KFDA-TV begins broadcasting on April 4 as the second television station in the Amarillo market and a CBS affiliate.

    Source
13. 1952FCC grants channel 10 authorization

    The FCC awards the Amarillo Broadcasting Company a license and construction permit for a commercial station on VHF channel 10.

    Source

A regional broadcast-news and CBS affiliate brand emphasizing local journalism, weather coverage, community programming, and broad service to the Texas Panhandle.

• NewsChannel 10Local television news

  KFDA-TV's principal local-news brand, covering Amarillo and the surrounding Texas Panhandle. Its output includes scheduled morning, midday, evening, and late-night newscasts, regional reporting, weather information, community stories, and breaking-news coverage. As of May 2025, the primary channel produces more than 30 hours of local newscasts per week.

• NewsChannel 10 TooDigital multicast television

  KFDA-DT2 is the station's second digital service. It carries additional local-news programming, including a weekday morning extension and a simulcast of the main channel's evening news. The service can also carry extended severe-weather coverage when dangerous conditions affect the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles or Eastern New Mexico.

• NewsChannel 10's 2nd CupLifestyle television2018

  A weekday local program introduced in September 2018. The format provides a daytime platform for local discussion, features, guests, and community-oriented content under the NewsChannel 10 brand.

• The ChatMorning talk television2020

  A weekday morning talk program produced for KFDA-DT2 beginning in 2020 in partnership with Amarillo radio station KGNC. The program extended the station's local lifestyle and conversation programming before being discontinued in 2024.

• CBS network serviceNetwork-affiliate programming1953

  KFDA-TV clears the CBS schedule, including network news, entertainment, sports, and other programming. A local brokered real-estate program has at times required schedule adjustments to the CBS educational block.

• 1973Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon

  Amarillo · Texas Panhandle

  KFDA served as the Amarillo market's Love Network station for the Muscular Dystrophy Association's Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon for 39 years. Because of CBS scheduling commitments, the station commonly used a delayed broadcast, and later placed the program on KFDA-DT2 when the telethon expanded into prime time.

  Outcome. KFDA's participation ended after the 2012 telethon. The event later moved to other network and local-station arrangements.

  Source

• 2025Amarillo Sod Poodles Sunday broadcastsProduct launch

  KFDA sought to expand locally relevant programming on its second digital channel.

  What changed. The station announced an agreement to air Sunday home games of the Amarillo Sod Poodles on KFDA-DT2.

  Aftermath. The agreement broadened the NewsChannel 10 brand's local sports coverage.

  Source
• 2011Transition to local high-definition outputGeneration change

  Digital broadcasting had been introduced in the Amarillo market, but locally inserted and produced material still required a technical upgrade.

  What changed. KFDA upgraded its master-control facilities to transmit local news, syndicated programs, advertising, and station promotions in high definition.

  Aftermath. KFDA became the first Amarillo television station to deliver locally produced and inserted content in HD, strengthening its digital broadcast presentation.

  Source
• 1999Preemption of a Chicago Hope episodeOther

  A CBS episode contained an expletive that KFDA management considered unsuitable for its local audience.

  What changed. The station removed the episode from its schedule and substituted local programming.

  Aftermath. The decision prompted a public explanation and apology concerning the network's choice of language, but the station maintained its decision to preempt the broadcast.

  Source

• 1999Chicago Hope episode preemptionControversy

  On October 14, 1999, KFDA replaced an episode of Chicago Hope after a character used an expletive during a surgical scene. General manager Mike Lee defended the decision as a response to the language and apologized to viewers for the network's programming choice, while not apologizing for the local preemption itself.

  Source

• 2025KFDA announces Sunday broadcasts of Amarillo Sod Poodles home games

  The station announces an agreement to carry Sunday home games of the Amarillo Sod Poodles on its second digital subchannel.

  Product launch
  Source
• 2019Gray Television completes merger with Raycom Media

  The completed Gray-Raycom transaction makes KFDA-TV part of Gray's expanded television portfolio.

  M&A
  Source
• 2015Raycom Media agrees to acquire Drewry Communications

  Raycom announces an acquisition of Drewry's television and radio assets, placing KFDA within the Raycom station group after completion of the transaction.

  M&A
  Source
• 2011KFDA becomes the first Amarillo station with local high-definition output

  The station upgrades its master-control and production systems so locally produced news, syndicated content, advertising, and promotions can be delivered in high definition.

  Product generation
  Source
• 1953KFDA-TV begins broadcasting in Amarillo

  KFDA-TV signs on as Amarillo's second television station and begins a CBS affiliation that continues into the present.

  Other
  Source

1. KFDA-TV
2. NewsChannel 10