
By focusing on constantly connecting with news viewers in Dallas-Fort Worth, WFAA executive news director Carolyn Mungo has rebuilt the station's early morning newscast, improved its ratings and sent its digital and social media visits soaring.
Mungo, who has been at WFAA since 2012, spent the past year and a half taking a hard look at the Tegna-owned ABC affiliate's 4:30 to 7 a.m. news block, Daybreak, and reinvigorating it.
Those changes began and ended with the talent, who Mungo felt needed to be able connect authentically to each other and the audience. Those skills aren't necessarily easy to identify in interviews alone, and Mungo and her team needed to look at many people before coming up with the current cast of anchors Ron Corning and Kara Sewell; traffic reporter Demetria Obilor, who came to the station in 2017 from Las Vegas; and meteorologist Greg Fields, who has been with WFAA for 20 years.
We knew what we had in Greg, but we kept on looking for people who were not afraid to get out of the box, to let the audience in and be expressive, Mungo said. But we also didn't want to wait to change and transform the show until we got the right people. Over time, we have acquired and recruited talent who would best fit in with the ensemble we were building.
Instead of going from segment to segment with the team staying behind their respective desks and talking only about their assigned topics, each team member has the freedom to chat with one another about the news of the day, giving their takes on different topics.
In my opinion, winning viewers' loyalty today means pulling back the curtain, Mungo said. Our journalists are also members of our community.
Morning Lift
Whatever that secret sauce may be, the changes have paid off. The station's early morning news block has improved by 200% among adults 18-49, Mungo said, good for second place in the Dallas-Fort Worth market the country's fifth-largest designated market area, according to Nielsen up from a years-long run in third.
That success also has taken root on the station's digital and social platforms. Visits are up every month in 2018 and the show averages more than 1 million social interactions per month. Video plays are up nearly 400% from January to September 2018, while YouTube video plays have increased more than 200% since the start of the year, surpassing 2.5 million as of September.
All good TV stations go far beyond their air to serve their communities, and in September 2017, WFAA lent its help to sister station KHOU Houston after it was thrown off the air by Hurricane Harvey when flood waters destroyed the station's building and equipment.
During the hurricane, WFAA took over coverage, posting stories to KHOU's Facebook page via Facebook Live with anchor David Schechter and Fields coming to the station on a Sunday to provide coverage.
When we saw what was happening in Houston that night, we immediately jumped into action, Mungo said. Many of us had lived there; that was our station too. I was really proud of our staff that night.
Just one year later, WFAA had the chance to unite Texas again. During this year's contentious and closely watched midterm elections, Texas was the home of one of the country's most-watched Senate races. Upstart Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke challenged incumbent Republican Ted Cruz, giving Cruz a run for his money in red Texas.
As soon as the primaries were concluded in March, Mungo and WFAA jumped into action, pitching both campaigns on a statewide debate.
Open to Debates
The day after the primaries were over, I presented formal proposals to both campaigns, Mungo said. One of the benefits of having the debate at a Tegna station in Texas is that's the only option the candidates had if they wanted to offer a live debate to viewers in every part of the state.
There are 10 Tegna-owned stations in Texas that cover 88% of the state. On Oct. 16, WFAA produced a statewide live debate between the two candidates from Tegna's KENS San Antonio before a live studio audience of about 120.
The debate was broadcast live in Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, College Station, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and several other markets, with C-SPAN picking it up for national broadcast. Afterwards, WFAA produced a 30-minute show on Facebook Live, and created a social media listening team that followed and reported on viewer reaction across social media.
WFAA also provided feeds to non-Tegna-owned stations across the state as well as live streams on digital and social media platforms. That experience changed the way WFAA's team covered the midterm elections. On Election Day, Nov. 6, the team went live with three hours of coverage and incorporated much more social media into the broadcast.
The news team worked to keep its coverage of the night much more fluid, frequently going live to reporters and experts on scene and staying in the field instead of focusing on the anchor desk, said Mungo.
I feel like we really informed our audience, she said. We're going to do more of that in 2019. Our viewers loved it.
In the end, having the right people in place is key, Mungo said.
I have spent more time on recruitment in the past five years than I ever have. Recruitment is so important, and to find great people who fit your brand you have to be recruiting all of the time.
By focusing on constantly connecting with news viewers in Dallas-Fort Worth, WFAA executive news director Carolyn Mungo has rebuilt the station's early morning newscast, improved its ratings and sent its digital and social media visits soaring.Subscribe for full article
Member Exclusive
Get Access to Our Exclusive Content
Learn MoreAlready subscribed? Log In
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
09/06/2026
FOX Sports and ReachTV, an airport media network, have announced an agreement to...
09/06/2026
Cosm Atlanta, a 70,000-square-foot, three-level immersive entertainment venue located within Centennial Yards adjacent to State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Sta...
09/06/2026
NESN captured five awards at the 2026 Boston/New England Emmy Awards, including four program honors and one individual award.
These awards reflect the passion...
09/06/2026
Ateme has announced that its support for Apple Immersive Video workflows was referenced by Apple during its 2026 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC26).
Atem...
09/06/2026
Bitmovin has announced that Axel Springer SE has deployed Player Web X, Bitmovin's web video player, to power audio readouts of news articles and an audio-o...
09/06/2026
Grass Valley and Lawo have announced a technology collaboration to validate orch...
09/06/2026
LiveU has announced a deployment with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) t...
09/06/2026
Globecast has announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform, powered by ...
09/06/2026
NBC Sports will present live coverage of Overtime's OT7 football league Championship Weekend from Sullivan Field at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angel...
09/06/2026
We're in three different locations, three different production teams. Coveri...
09/06/2026
The intro video for Men's Basketball won Outstanding In-Venue Video in the C...
09/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
09/06/2026
Since their debut, the clock-and-score graphic has drawn the affinity and ire of...
09/06/2026
Last month, Spotify hosted PURE FLOWERS LIVE, a special event celebrating the re...
09/06/2026
Last month, RADAR U.K. artist Skye Newman took the stage in East London for a sp...
09/06/2026
Company to cease operating on 30 June 2026
Australian loudspeaker and amplifier manufacturer Wayne Jones Audio have announced that after much consideration,...
09/06/2026
Increases low-end weight and character
The latest plug-in release from Sheffield-based fedDSP aims to offer an all-in-one solution for users in search of mo...
09/06/2026
Introduces AI Studio Assistant, Moises Studio integration & more
Fender Studio have just announced the launch a significant update that brings an array of n...
09/06/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is a statutory body mandated to spearhead the equitable growth and development of the South African film and video...
09/06/2026
The BBC has found its Hercule Poirot.
After Deadline revealed last month that t...
09/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
A project aimed at modernizing scheduling operations across Mediaset's channel portfolio
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitab...
09/06/2026
tvONE, an ACT Entertainment brand, debuts its most powerful video processor ever built: the 4RU CALICO PRO (C7-PRO-4200), at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N6813). Engine...
09/06/2026
Composer and Conductor Eric Whitacre to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee Va...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Technology collaboration to validate AMPP and Lawo HOME orchestration integration, showcasing Dynamic Media Facility principles in practice.
Grass Valley and ...
09/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced that Axel Springer SE, international media and technology company, has deployed Playe...
09/06/2026
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video solutions, today announced a landmark deployment with the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) that has brought Video ...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/06/2026
Two Alumni Win Tony Awards Mike Morris and Cedric Leiba Jr. won awards for Best Orchestrations and Best Play, respectively.
June 8, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
...
09/06/2026
NVIDIA GPUs with Confidential Computing are now used for confidential inference in Apple's Private Cloud Compute (PCC), as it expands beyond Apple's dat...
09/06/2026
X-Rite Pantone Launches Offset360 to Modernize Color Control Across Existing Pre...
09/06/2026
09 Jun 2026
VEON Appoints Serkan Ozturk as Chief of Staff & Strategy Officer Dubai and New York, June 9, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital oper...
09/06/2026
Tuesday 9 June 2026
Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a candid and unfiltered accou...