GM of the Year, Markets 1-25: Kathy Saunders, KDFW, Dallas-Fort Worth
Gaining a ratings point in Dallas-Fort Worth is a tall order, with a batch of intensely focused stations doing battle in every daypart. But Fox-owned KDFW, under Kathy Saunders, is inching ahead against stations owned by CBS, NBC and Tegna.
KDFWs Kathy Saunders keeps the Fox-owned station community minded.
Saunders said the hot news races bring out the best at Fox 4. This market is so, so competitive, and that's a good thing, she said. It keeps us paying attention and on our toes.
Fox 4 connects with viewers thanks in large part to the extraordinary connection its talent has with viewers. Saunders, KDFW's general manager since 1997, noted how comfortably residents approach anchors at community events. The station's involvement with events in Dallas-Fort Worth, including carnival Mayfest in the spring and the Plano Balloon Festival in September, stokes that relationship. Viewers are similarly comfortable watching the anchors on TV, whether it's on morning colossus Good Day, late news or the new sports program.
I think the viewer feels very comfortable with us, Saunders said. What they need to know, they know we'll be there to tell them.
More Local Heroes: Station Group of the Year | GM of the Year, Markets 26-50 | GM of the Year, Markets 51+ | News Director of the Year | Multiplatform Broadcaster of the Year
The station cranks out close to 60 hours of news a week. KDFW took the sign-on-to-sign-off crown in November, its 1.5 rating in viewers 25-54 topping the 0.9s put up by KXAS and WFAA. It also won 7-9 a.m. news, 5 and 6 p.m., and late news, too. (KDFW airs late news at 9 p.m.)
The station has had a couple big launches of late. Late in 2018, KDFW extended Good Day by another hour. The program now goes 4-10 a.m. The show is a mix of news, anchor banter, chef segments, musical guests and whatever else turns up. News is a big part of it, but there's an easier feel, Saunders said.
Fox 4s Mike Doocy at a Toys for Tots event.
Around the same time, Fox 4 premiered the sports show Free 4 All in the 10:30 p.m. slot Sunday through Friday. The program, hosted by Mike Doocy and Samantha Gannon, regularly beats competing late-night programs.
KDFW is also a key player in Fox Television Stations' program testing strategy. It aired The Wendy Williams Show, TMZ Live and 25 Words or Less in limited runs before they went national.
Saunders has managed KDFW through some frightful challenges. In October, as many as 10 tornadoes whipped through the market. It being a Sunday, chief meteorologist Dan Henry was not scheduled to work, but turned up anyway because that's the way things go at the station. We were ready to make sure viewers knew what was going on, Saunders said.
Station leadership prepares for most any disaster, including tornadoes. But no one anticipated what happened in September 2018, when a troubled man rammed his truck into station headquarters. Michael Fry repeatedly smashed his pickup into the KDFW building around 6 a.m. that Wednesday, then exited his vehicle and began ranting.
Fry was apprehended by police. The building sustained considerable damage, but KDFW stayed on the air throughout. Saunders got the staff together for a reassuring meeting. She was very calm, very professional, very caring, news director Robin Whitmeyer said. She didn't get riled up and didn't get emotional.
Saunders was struck by how the newsroom stayed focused on breaking this big, and a bit too local, story. They really wanted to keep doing the broadcast, and they did, she said.
Jack Abernethy, Fox Television Stations CEO, said a general manager has no one in the area to lean on when trouble strikes. Things happen and you have to lead, he said. Kathy was a calming influence.
Looking Ahead
Saunders is preparing for the future by keeping the station connected to the next generation of viewers. Fox 4 has a whopping 1.5 million Facebook followers, while WFAA has 930,000, KXAS has 852,000 and KTVT has 496,000. She has pushed for a high-energy, digital approach to content delivery. If it's important enough to have on the air, it had better be on digital also, said Saunders.
Abernethy noted KDFW's extremely successful weather app, called Fox 4 WAPP.
Outside of work, Saunders enjoys golf and decorating but said she's hardly a master of either. I can't seem to get my handicap down, she said, and described herself as a frustrated interior designer.
There's nothing frustrating about her work at KDFW. Abernethy said Fox's expertly run Dallas-Fort Worth operation makes his job easy. I don't have to worry about Kathy at all, he said. General managers like her make my job irrelevant.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
The An Evening with Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour brings one of rock's most iconic bands back to the stage. These performances seamlessly blend live foota...
30/09/2026
Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...
30/09/2026
Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...
30/09/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...
30/09/2026
PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...
30/09/2026
IBC2026 Show Report
David Kirk September 29, 2026
0 Comments
The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
30/09/2026
How to Shop Well Now starts Monday at 9.35pm
on RT One and RT Player
On the...
30/09/2026
Building on nearly a decade of co-engineering, CoreWeave has built NVIDIA compute, networking and software into a cloud purpose-built for AI that's still re...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
GM of the Year, Markets 1-25: Kathy Saunders, KDFW, Dallas-Fort Worth
