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WFAA

WFAA

WFAA-TV, "WFAA 8" is the ABC affiliate serving the Dallas/Fort Worth DMA with its transmitter located in Cedar Hill. It is the flagship station of the Belo Corporation, which also owns The Dallas Morning News.

History

WFAA signed on as DuMont affiliate KBTV on September 17, 1949. It was the first TV station in Dallas and the second TV station in the Metroplex behind WBAP-TV (now KXAS). The station became WFAA (after sister radio station WFAA-AM) on March 21, 1950, not long after the station was purchased by Belo in the midst of a FCC television license freeze from 1948 to 1952. It became a dual affiliate of ABC and NBC in 1951 before becoming a full ABC affiliate in 1957. WFAA was the first station to break the news that President Kennedy was shot to death on November 22, 1963. The station conducted the first live television interview with Abraham Zapruder, who shot the famous Zapruder film, about an hour and a half after the President's death. WFAA and its live remote unit fed much coverage of the assassination and its aftermath to the ABC network over the next four days. The shocking and unexpected shooting of accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters, however, was not broadcast live (as on NBC) or on tape (as on CBS a minute later) by WFAA/ABC as their live truck was positioned elsewhere at the time. ABC was thus only able to show delayed newsreel footage of the historic event. WFAA dominated the Metroplex ratings for local news from the mid 1970's until the late 1990's, with talent such as Tracy Rowlett, Iola Johnson, John Criswell, Chip Moody, John McCaa, Gloria Campos, Scott Sams, Verne Lundquist, Dale Hansen, and Troy Dungan. WFAA became the first TV station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to broadcast in HDTV in February 1997. The station is the only ABC affiliate to broadcast HDTV in 1080i format; other ABC affiliates broadcast in 720p.

References


- Shannon, Mike (January, 2004). [http://www.knus99.com/tvlist.html Dallas-Fort Worth TV Station History. The History of Dallas-Fort Worth Radio and Television].

External links


- [http://www.wfaa.com WFAA-TV Website]
- Category:ABC network affiliates

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company. Corporate headquarters are in New York, while programming offices are in Burbank, California, adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) and the Walt Disney Company corporate headquarters. The formal name of the holding company is ABC, Inc, although the company still uses on some on-air copyrights American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., which also was the holding company's name until 1985. It is the last of the Big Three networks to still make on-air use of ether its original name or a variant of it.

History

Creating ABC

From the organization of the first true radio networks in the late 1920s, broadcasting in the United States was dominated by two companies, CBS and RCA's NBC. Prior to NBC's 1926 formation, RCA had acquired AT&T's New York station WEAF (later WNBC, now WFAN). With WEAF came a loosely-organized system feeding programming to other stations in the northeastern U.S. RCA also took control of a second such group, fed by Westinghouse's Newark station WJZ (now WABC (AM), New York.) These were the foundations of RCA's two distinct programming services, the NBC "Red" and NBC "Blue" networks. After years of study the FCC in 1940 issued a "Report on Chain Broadcasting." Finding that two corporate owners (and the co-operatively owned Mutual Broadcasting System) dominated American broadcasting, this report proposed "divorcement," requiring the sale by RCA of one of its chains. NBC Red was the larger radio network, carrying the leading entertainment and music programs. In addition, many Red affiliates were high-powered, clear-channel stations, heard nationwide. NBC Blue offered most of the company's news and cultural programs, many of them "sustaining" or un-sponsored. Among other findings, the FCC claimed RCA used NBC Blue to suppress competition against NBC Red. Since the F.C.C. did not regulate or license networks directly but had influence only by means of its hold over individual stations, it said, "No license shall be issued to a standard broadcast station affiliated with a network which maintains more than one network." NBC argued this indirect style of regulation was illegal and appealed to the courts, but the F.C.C. was upheld, so the Blue network had to be sold. The task of selling of NBC Blue was given to Mark Woods; throughout 1942 and 1943, NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their assets. A price of $8 million was put on the assets of the Blue group, and Woods shopped the Blue package around to potential buyers. One such, investment bank Dillon, Read made an offer of $7.5 million, but Woods and RCA chief David Sarnoff held firm at $8 million. What the Blue package contained was: leases on land-lines and on studio facilities in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles; contracts with talent and with about sixty affiliates; the trademark and "good will" associated with the Blue name; and licenses for three stations (WJZ in New York, San Francisco's KGO, and WENR in Chicago - really a half-station, since WENR shared time and a frequency with "Prairie Farmer" station WLS.) Edward Noble, owner of Life Savers candy and owner of the Rexall Drug chain, was interested. The asking price of $8 million would prove to be the selling price. In order to complete the station-license transfer, Noble had to sell a New York station he owned, and F.C.C. hearings were required. Another stumbling block was Noble's intention to keep Mark Woods on as president, which led to the suggestion that Woods would continue to work with (and for) his former employers. This had the potential to derail the sale. During the hearings Woods was asked if the new network would sell time to the AFofL; Woods responded "No". When Noble was questioned on similar points, Noble hid behind the NAB code to avoid answering. Frustrated, the chairman advised Noble to do some rethinking, which apparently he did, because on October 12, 1943 the sale was approved. The new network sold air time to organized labor. Known until mid-1944 as "The Blue Network," the company was re-christened American Broadcasting Company. This set off a flurry of re-naming; to avoid confusion, CBS changed the call-letters of its New York flagship from WABC to WCBS; seeing a trend, RCA re-named its New York flagship as WNBC. In 1953, ABC's New York flagship WJZ took on the abandoned call-letters WABC. The new ABC radio network began slowly; with few "hit" shows, it had to build an audience. Noble sprang for more stations, among them Detroit's WXYZ; one of the founding stations of the Mutual network, WXYZ was where The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston, Sky King and other popular daily serials originated. With this purchase, ABC instantly acquired a bloc of established daily shows. Noble also bought KECA (now KABC) in Los Angeles, to give the network a Hollywood production base. Counter-programming became an ABC specialty, for example, placing a raucous quiz-show like Stop the Music against more thoughtful fare on NBC and CBS. ABC also abolished a long-standing ban on pre-recorded programming; advances in tape-recording brought back from conquered Germany meant that the audio quality of tape could not be distinguished from "live" broadcasts. As a result, several high-rated stars who wanted freedom from rigid schedules, among them Bing Crosby, moved to ABC. Though still rated third, by the late 1940s ABC had begun to close in on the better-established networks.

Enter Leonard Goldenson

Faced with huge expenses in building a radio network, ABC was in no position to take on the additional costs demanded by a television network. To secure a place at the table, though, in 1947 ABC submitted requests for licenses in the five cities where it owned radio stations; by coincidence, all five applications were for "Channel 7." On April 19, 1948 the ABC television network went on the air. For the next several years, ABC was a television network mostly in name. Except for the largest markets, most cities had only one or two stations. The FCC froze applications for new stations in 1948 while it sorted out the thousands of applicants, and re-thought the technical and allocation standards set down in 1938. What was meant to be a six-month freeze lasted until 1952, and until that time only 101 stations were licensed to broadcast. For a late-comer like ABC, this meant being relegated as a secondary affiliate in many markets. By 1952, it had only fourteen full-time affiliates, of which five were company-owned. Further, without the high-powered radio names that propelled NBC and CBS, ABC and fellow start-up DuMont commanded little affiliate loyalty. Divorced from Paramount Pictures at the end of 1949 by Supreme Court order, United Paramount Theaters was a company with plenty of money and nowhere to spend it. Cash- and real estate-rich, UPT head Leonard Goldenson immediately set out to find investment opportunities. Barred from the film business, Goldenson saw broadcasting as a possibility, and approached Noble about buying ABC. Since the transfer of station licenses was again involved, the F.C.C. set hearings. At the heart of this was the question of the Paramount Pictures-UPT divorce: were they truly separate? And what role did Paramount's long-time investment in DuMont Laboratories, parent of the television network, play? After a year of deliberation the FCC approved the purchase by UPT in a 5–2 split decision on February 9, 1953. Speaking in favor of the deal, one commissioner pointed out that UPT had the cash to turn ABC into a viable, competitive third network. Shortly after the ABC–UPT merger, Goldenson approached DuMont with a merger offer. Though it had been a pioneer in television broadcasting and was especially creative in programming, DuMont was in financial trouble. Under Goldenson's proposal, DuMont would get $5 million in cash; guaranteed advertising time for DuMont television receivers: the merged network would be called "ABC-DuMont" for at least five years; and DuMont staff would have a secure future. However, DuMont's nervous minority shareholder Paramount Pictures vetoed the sale, afraid of reviving anti-trust charges. By 1956, the DuMont network had shut down.

The 1960s

After its acquisition by UPT, ABC at last had the means to offer a full-time television network service. By mid-1953 Leonard Goldenson had begun a two-front campaign, calling on his old pals at the Hollywood studios (he had been head of the mighty Paramount theater chain since 1938) to convince them to move into programming. And he began wooing station owners to convince them that a refurbished ABC was about to burst forth. In some markets, like Seattle, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, he convinced long-time NBC and CBS affiliates to move to ABC. His two-part campaign paid off when the "new" ABC hit the air in October, 1954. Among the shows that brought in record audiences was "Disneyland," produced-by and starring Walt Disney. MGM, Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century-Fox were also present that first season. Within two years, Warners was producing ten hours of programming for ABC each week, mostly interchangeable detective and western series. While ABC continued to languish in third place in national ratings, it often topped local ratings in the larger markets. With the arrival of Hollywood's slickly-produced series, with their emphasis on those old standbys sex and violence, ABC began to catch on with younger, urban viewers. As the network gained in the ratings, it became an attractive property, and over the next few years ABC approached, or was approached-by GE, Howard Hughes, Litton Industries, GTE, and ITT. ABC and ITT agreed to a merger in late 1965, but this deal was derailed by FCC and Department of Justice questions about ITT's foreign ownership influencing ABC's autonomy and journalistic integrity. ITT's management promised that ABC's autonomy would be preserved; while the merger was approved by the F.C.C, the Justice Department was not convinced, and the deal was called off on January 1, 1968. As had happened at NBC and CBS, from the mid-1950s ABC's radio audience gravitated to television. By the early 1960s, the radio network schedule consisted of a few long-running serials, Lawrence Welk's musical hour (simulcast from television), and Don McNeill's daily "Breakfast Club" variety show. ABC made a last-ditch effort to retain the radio audience by filling the schedule with talk-shows, but gave in after a few years. In 1968, ABC's remaining programming service was split in four parts, offering customized news and features for pop-music-, news-, or talk-oriented formats. Later, that plan was further broadened to offer seven formats, and ABC returned to programming by offering its more popular local talk shows to national audiences. During this time of expansion, ABC revised its corporate name to American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.

Success at Last

Despite its relatively small size, ABC found increasing success with television programming aimed at the emerging "Baby Boomer" culture. Producer Roone Arledge helped ABC's fortunes with innovations in sports programming, creating Wide World of Sports and Monday Night Football. By doing so he helped to make sport into a multi-billion-dollar industry, and was rewarded by being made head of ABC News and Sports. By the early 1970s, ABC was showing signs of overtaking CBS and NBC. Broadcasting in color from the mid-1960s, ABC started using the new science of demographics to tweak its programming and ad sales. ABC invested heavily in shows with wide appeal, especially situation comedies, but also offered big-budget, extended-length miniseries, among them QB VII, and Rich Man, Poor Man. The most successful, Roots, based on Alex Haley's novel, became one of the biggest hits in television history. Combined with ratings for its regular weekly series, Roots propelled ABC to a first-place finish in the national Nielsen ratings for the 1976–1977 season— this was a first in the then thirty-year history of the network. Since 1984, the entire family of ESPN networks and franchises have been owned by ABC (80%) and the Hearst Corporation (20%). ABC's dominance carried into the early 1980s. But by 1985, veteran shows like The Love Boat had lost their steam; a resurgent NBC was leading in the ratings. ABC relied on that staple of programming, the situation comedy. During this period ABC seemed to have lost the momentum that once propelled it; there was little offered that was innovative or compelling. Like his counterpart at CBS, William S. Paley, founding-father Goldenson had withdrawn to the sidelines. ABC's ratings and the earnings thus generated reflected this loss of drive. So it was not a total surprise when in 1985 ABC was taken over by media company Capital Cities Communications; the corporate name was changed to Capital Cities/ABC. In 1984-85, ABC began the transition from coaxial cable/microwave delivery to satellite delivery via AT&T's Telstar 301. ABC maintained a West Coast feed network on Telstar 302, and in 1991 scrambled feeds on both satellites with the Leitch system. Currently, with the Leitch system abandoned, ABC operates clear feeds on Intelsat Americas 5 and Intelsat Americas 6, in addition to digital feeds on both satellites.

Acquisition by Disney

In 1996, The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC, and renamed the broadcasting group ABC, Inc., although the network continues to also use American Broadcasting Companies, such as on TV productions it owns. ABC's relationship with Disney dates back to 1953, when Leonard Goldenson pledged enough money so that the "Disneyland" theme park could be completed. ABC continued to hold Disney notes and stock until 1960, and also had first call on the "Disneyland" television series in 1954. With this new relationship came an attempt at cross-promotion, with attractions based on ABC shows at Disney parks and an annual soap festival at Walt Disney World. The fomer president of ABC, Inc., Robert Iger, now heads Disney. Despite intense micro-managing on the part of Disney management, the flagship television network was slow to turn around. In 1999, the network was able to experience a brief resurgence with the hit game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. However, many analysts said that WWTBAM became overxposed, appearing on the network sometimes five or six nights during a week. ABC's ratings fell dramatically as competitors introduced their own game shows and the public grew tired of the format. In 2004, ABC was able to find its niche in dramas such as Desperate Housewives and Lost, which were both popular among viewers and critically acclaimed. Currently ABC is the United States' second-most watched network. Borrowing a proven Disney formula, there have been attempts to broaden the ABC brand name. The short-lived ABC Cable News began in 1995; unable to compete with CNN, it shut down in 1997. Undaunted, in 2004 ABC launched a news channel called ABC News Now. Its aim is to provide round-the-clock news on cable, the internet and mobile phones. A 2003 Nielsen estimate found that ABC could be seen in 96.75% of all homes in the United States, reaching 103,179,600 households. ABC has 10 VHF and UHF owned-and-operated television stations and 191 affiliated stations in the U.S. and U.S. possessions. Since the 1950s, ABC has split "live" production between east- and west-coast facilities; ABC Television Center West in Hollywood, (once the Vitagraph film studios) accommodates sets for the daily soap operas; and the ABC Television Center East, once clustered around a former stable on West 66th Street, and now split between several soundstages in the same New York neighborhood. (ABC's corporate headquarters and news studios are located on the north side of West 66th, while its soap facilities are across the street and the stage for The View are further west on 66th near the Hudson River.) ABC's west coast corporate offices are located in Burbank, CA adjacent to the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank) and the Walt Disney Company corporate headquarters. On the radio side, ABC radio stations have become more conservative. After passing up the rights to syndicate Rush Limbaugh, ABC Radio Networks now syndicates conservative talk show hosts such as Sean Hannity, John Batchelor, Larry Elder, and Mark Davis. Radio & Records Magazine early in 2005 said that Disney/ABC would sell its radio stations and radio-network operations. For major media conglomerates, this has become a chess game which allows them to swap stations in order to end with more television affiliates. Speculation is that the buyer for the ABC radio networks is Westwood One, a Viacom unit that in recent years has taken over distribution of the remains of the NBC, Mutual and CBS radio networks. Thus in sixty years the radio business comes more-or-less full circle, but now with one owner instead of two.

ABC identity

Viacom.]] Before its early color transmissions, the ABC identity was a lowercase 'abc' inside a lower case 'A'. That logo was known as the "ABC Circle A." The logo was modified in the fall of 1962 when ABC started using the current "ABC Circle" logo (designed by Paul Rand) with ultra-modern (for its time) lower case 'abc' inside. The typeface used is a simple geometric design inspired by the Bauhaus school of the 1920s; its simplicity makes it easy to duplicate, something ABC has taken advantage of many times over the years (especially before the advent of computer graphics). It does not correspond to a particular font; however, several common geometric typefaces (including Avant Garde and Horatio) are close, and a recently developed typeface is inspired by it. A variation of ABC's logo is used by Brazilian TV network SBT.

ABC1

Launched September 27, 2004, ABC1 is a British digital channel on Freeview's digital terrestrial service (except Wales), owned and operated by ABC Inc. Its current schedule is a selection of past and present American shows, mostly from ABC, and is offered 24 hours a day on the digital satellite and digital cable platforms, and from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the digital terrestrial platform, Freeview.

See also


- ABC News
- ABC Sports
- List of programs broadcast by ABC
- List of United States broadcast television networks
- List of ABC slogans
- List of ABC television affiliates
- :Category:ABC network shows
- Circle 7 logo

Notes on Sources


- Barnouw, Erik. The Golden Web: A History of Broadcasting in the United States, 1933-1953. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968.
- Goldenson, Leonard, and Marvin J. Wolf. Beating the Odds: The Untold Story Behind the Rise of ABC. New York: Scribners, 1991.
- Kisseloff, Jeff, The Box: An Oral History of Television, 1920-1961. New York: Viking Press, 1988.
- Sampson, Anthony. The Sovereign State of ITT. New York: Stein and Day, 1973.
- Sobel, Robert. ITT. New York: Truman Talley - Times Books, 1982.

External links


- [http://www.abc.go.com ABC website]
- [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/silvermanfr/silvermanfr.htm A bio of Former President Fred Silverman]
- [http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/international/us_abc.html Screen captures of ABC logos past and present, as well as footage of vintage promos] Category:ABC television network Category:United States television networks Category:Walt Disney Company subsidiaries ja:American Broadcasting Company

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city within the State of Texas, ninth in the United States, and together with Fort Worth and the Mid-Cities form the largest metropolitan economic area in the south-central United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Dallas had a total population of 1.1 million (est. as of July 1, 2005 at 1,314,893). Dallas is also the county seat of Dallas County. A small portion of the city also extends into the neighboring counties of Collin County, Denton County, Kaufman County, and Rockwall County. Dallas is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division and is the main cultural and economic center of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census, and is colloquially referred to as the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex or simply as "DFW". As of the 2000 census, the Metroplex had a population of about 5.1 million making it the fifth largest United States metropolitan area and one of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the world. The (NCTCOG)The North Central Texas Council of Governments estimate, puts the metropolitan area population at about 6,013,650 million for January 2005. Dallas was named a "Gamma World City" by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC). The metro area is the largest concentration of corporate headquarters in the United States. The area is also served by the world's third busiest airport.

History

See also: Historical events of Dallas, Texas

Early settlers

The first European to visit the Dallas area was probably Athanase de Mezieres, in 1778. De Mezieres, a Frenchman then in the service of the King of Spain, probably crossed the West Fork of the Trinity River near present-day Fort Worth, having followed the western edge of the Eastern Cross Timbers from the Tawakoni Village on the Brazos River near present Waco. He then proceeded north to the Red River. De Mezieres wrote; "It is worthy to note that from the Brazos River on which the Tuacanas are established, and until one reaches the river which bathes the village of the Taovayzes (Red River), one sees on the right a forest that the natives appropriately call the Grand Forest. ...it is very dense, but not very wide. It seems to be there as a guide to even the most inexperienced, and to give refuge in this dangerous region to those who, few in number and lacking in courage, wish to go from one village to another." His biographer, Bolton, was convinced de Mezieres was describing the Eastern Cross Timbers and the route would have him crossing the West Fork of the Trinity River between the present Fort Worth and Arlington.

A city emerges

The city of Dallas was founded by John Neely Bryan in 1841 after first surveying the area in 1839. Bryan, who shared Sam Houston's insight into the wisdom of Indian customs, must also have realized that these Caddo indian trails intersected at one of the few natural fords for hundreds of miles along the wide Trinity floodplain. At what became known as "Bryan's Bluff" the river, which was an impassable barrier of mud and water between late fall and early spring, narrowed like an hourglass where it crossed a ridge of Austin chalk, providing a hard rock ford that became the natural N-S route between Republic of Texas settlements to the south and those of the expanding USA to the north. The N-S route and the ford at Bryan's Bluff became more important when the US annexed Texas in 1845. Dallas County was established in 1846 and was named after George Mifflin Dallas, who was the eleventh United States Vice President at the time. However, the origin of the city's name is debatable; Bryan stated only that it was named "after my friend Dallas". Dallas was so called by its residents at least as early as 1843 and there are at least five theories as to the origin of the city's name:
- Named after George Mifflin Dallas;
- Named after George Mifflin Dallas' brother Alexander James Dallas, a U.S. Navy commodore who was stationed in the Gulf of Mexico
- Named after George and sailor Alexander's father, Alexander James Dallas, who was the United States Secretary of the Treasury around the end of the War of 1812;
- Named in a town-naming contest in 1842;
- Named after the friend of founder John Neely Bryan's son, who later stated that his father had said he had named the town "after my friend Dallas" (a person whose identity is not certain). Dallas was formally incorporated as a town in 1856, and in 1871 became a city. In 1855, a group of European artists and musicians set up a utopian community west of Dallas called La Reunion. When that venture collapsed in 1857, many of the artists moved to Dallas where they established the base of the artist culture that exists today in the Deep Ellum neighborhood near downtown. In the 1970s, Reunion Arena and Reunion Tower (a trademark of the skyline) were named in honor of the La Reunion colony. Dallas was a fairly insignificant place until after the American Civil War. In 1871, railroads were beginning to approach the area and Dallas city leaders did not intend to be left out. They paid the Houston and Central Texas Railroad $5,000 to shift its route 20 miles (32 km) to the west and build its north-south tracks through Dallas, rather than through Corsicana as planned. A year later, Dallas leaders could not pay off the Texas and Pacific Railroad and so tricked it into running its east-west line though Dallas by having a rider attached to a state law which required the railroad to build its tracks through Browder Springs—which turned out to be just south of Main Street. The major north-south and east-west Texas railroad routes intersected in Dallas in 1873, thus ensuring its future as a commercial center.

The 20th century

Dallas quickly became the center of trade in cotton, grain, and even buffalo. As it entered the 20th century, Dallas transformed from an agricultural center to a center of banking, insurance, and other businesses. In 1930, oil was discovered 100 miles (160 km) east of Dallas and the city quickly became the financial center for the oil industry in Texas and Oklahoma. Then in 1958 the integrated-circuit computer chip was invented in Dallas by Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments.During the 1950s and 1960s, Dallas became the nation's third-largest technology center, with the growth of such companies as Ling-Tempco-Vought (LTV Corporationqv) and Texas Instruments.In 1957 two developers, Trammell Crow and John M. Stemmons, opened a Home Furnishings Mart that grew into the Dallas Market Center, the largest wholesale trade complex in the world. In the 70s and 80s, Dallas underwent the building boom which was produced a distinctive contemporary profile for the downtown area and a prominent skyline, influenced by nationally acclaimed architects. By the 1980s, when the oil industry mostly relocated to Houston, Dallas was beginning to benefit from a burgeoning technology boom (driven by the growing computer and telecom industries), while continuing to be a center of banking and business. In the 1990s, Dallas became known as Texas' Silicon Valley, or the "Silicon Prairie." 1990s 1990s A Downtown Renaissance is taking place with the Uptown portion of Dallas just north of Downtown being one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. With a population of 10,000 people expected to live in Downtown by 2010, a once desolate area is coming to life. Leading the way is the 500+ millon dollar Victory project. With phase one under way and phase two just starting, the area is bustling with construction. The Arts District in Downtown is expected to become another major point for growth, as the Dallas Performing Arts construction projects get underway.

Geography and climate

1990s of light on the right (east), Fort Worth the smaller on the left (west). Blurriness over parts of the image is caused by clouds. Courtesy NASA.]] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 997.1 km² (385.0 mi²). 887.2 km² (342.5 mi²) of it is land and 110.0 km² (42.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 11.03% water. These statistics are only for the city of Dallas proper. In fact, Dallas is a small part of the much larger urbanized area called the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. About one in every four Texans lives in the DFW metroplex. Dallas, and its surrounding area, is mostly flat and lies at an elevation ranging from 450 to 550 feet (140 to 170 m). The western edge of the "Austin Chalk" formation, a limestone escarpment, rises 200 feet (60 m) and runs roughly north-south through Dallas County. The uplift is particularly noticeable in the neighborhood of Oak Cliff and the cities of Cockrell Hill and Cedar Hill. The Trinity River is a major Texas waterway that passes from the northwest right by the southern portion of downtown Dallas as it heads southeast to Houston. The river is flanked on both sides with a 50 foot (15 m) earthen levee to keep that part of the city from flooding. Several bridges traverse the river connecting southern Dallas to downtown Dallas. Businesses and businessmen, like Ross Perot, Jr., have pushed in recent years to build a multi-million-dollar, landmark bridge over the river and convert that section of the river into a park area with nearby commercial and retail services somewhat similar to the River Walk in San Antonio or Townlake in Austin. Some proponents claim this development would bring more life, commerce, revenue and lower crime to downtown Dallas and poorer, southern Dallas. Some critics charge the project is a façade to serve special financial interests of businessmen. Residents barely approved a bond proposal in 1998 to fund the Trinity River Project and work has progressed slowly towards implementing it. Ron Kirk, Dallas' first African American mayor, championed the project during his term as mayor as he did the new American Airlines Center in downtown. His successor, mayor Laura Miller—sometimes referred to as Dallas' first reform mayor—won the vacancy left by Kirk when he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate. Miller won in part based on her platform she would focus on the city's basic needs like roads and other infrastructure and city employees' pay; services some claimed were neglected at the cost of special projects like the American Airlines Center. White Rock Lake is Dallas's other significant water feature. The lake and surrounding park is a popular destination in the Lakewood/Casa Linda neighborhoods for boaters, joggers, bikers, skaters and for related activities. The lake also boasts the 66 acre (270,000 m²) Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden on its shore. Bachman Lake, just northwest of Love Field, is a smaller lake and surrounding park that is also used for recreation. Dallas lies near the southern end of the Tornado Alley that runs through the prairie lands of the midwest. In the spring, cool fronts moving from Canada collide with warm, humid air streaming in from the Gulf Coast. When these fronts meet over Dallas, severe storms are generated with spectacular lightning shows, torrents of rain, large hail and, at times, tornadoes.

Geology

Gulf Coast North Texas sits near the edge of the North American craton of Precambrian age. The oldest rocks in Texas date from the Mesoproterozoic, about 1600 million years old. The greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex sits on gently tilted sediments. The region west of Weatherford, Texas consists of Pennsylvanian sediments that tilt a few degrees west. These sediments were deformed when Gondwana collided with Laurasia to form Pangea about 300 million years ago (Ma). A great mountain range formed, the Marathon-Ouachita-Appalachian-Variscan cordillera. This collapsed during the Triassic and Jurassic to form the Atlantic Ocean-Gulf of Mexico basin. Sea level rose as the supercontinent Pangea broke up. The Pennsylvanian mountains of DFW were eroded for about 190 million years until the mountains were worn down. The DFW metroplex sprawls across a 100km wide N-S trending belt of Cretaceous sediments. Fort Worth in the west is neatly built on Early Cretaceous (Comanche Series) and Dallas in the east is built on Late Cretaceous (Gulf Series) sediments. DFW lay on the beach about 110 Ma, during early Cretaceous time. The water kept rising for another 30-50 million years, so that by the time the coccolithophorid Austin chalk was deposited, the "Octopus Garden" that became DFW lay 100m or more below the sea surface. The inexorable rise in sealevel was only interrupted by tectonic rumblings in southern Arkansas and Oklahoma, shedding copious amounts of Woodbine Sandstone to the south. These sandstones underlie the cities of Denton, Grapevine, and Arlington, Texas. The Cretaceous sediments dip a degree or so the east, so the Cretaceous sediments get younger towards the east. Sediments deposited during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, when the dinosaurs were killed, lie near the town of Terrell, at the eastern edge of the DFW metroplex. People enjoy searching for fossils in the rocks around Dallas. Remnants of dinosaurs and Late Cretaceous marine reptiles such as Mosasaur are found.Evidently,one species of Mosasaur was named after the city:Dallasaurus Dallasaurus The Trinity River has been important in shaping the DFW metroplex. Dallas was situated at the best ford, downstream from where the Elm Fork joins the main stream, where the river flows SE over the chalk. This provided a place where travellers need only cross the river once, at a place with relatively firm landings and bottoms. This was the best place to cross the Trinity from the earliest days, best for fordings, ferries, and bridges. During the days of the Republic of Texas, the DFW metroplex was mostly uninhabited by Europeans, but settlers began to find their way N in the 1840's. The route north naturally followed the low hills and gentle ridges of Austin chalk hills to the river ford that soon became Dallas. The future site of Dallas was selected by Bryan as the place for his trading post to overlook the ferry that he operated at the crossing. Dallas was also affected subtly by much younger geologic formations related to an older, more vigorous Trinity River. Changing Pleistocene-Holocene climate had two effects on the Trinity River: It caused downcutting (few people know that there is a 100m-deep buried canyon beneath the Trinity in Dallas) and a wetter climate caused much more water to flow in the river. The greater river flow generated great sedimentary terraces. From time to time these terrace deposits reveal bones of extinct giant mammals, such as Mastodons and Mammoths. The Pleistocene terraces affected the development of Dallas, providing a rich alluvial soil and a perched aquifer, very useful indeed during the early years. Downtown Dallas is built on a series of these terraces, rising subtly eastward from the Trinity river. The DFW meroplex had an additional, if subtle, geologic advantage. The Trinity is not good for navigation by boats but is great for drinking. Trinity River water is better than either of the larger rivers to the north and south, the Red River and the Brazos River. The larger rivers are longer and flow over salt-bearing Permian sediments, well west of the Trinity headwaters. The Trinity is consequently sweeter water than either the larger Brazos or Red rivers. Life was better near sweet water, and this simple fact helped DFW prosper relative to settlements on the larger rivers to the north and south. Because the Trinity is not suitable for navigation, Dallas could not have grown to be a large city until the railroad arrived, which happened early in Dallas' history, in the early 1870's. Dallas is thus truly a modern city, because it could not have grown so large until mechanical transportation systems made the Trinity disadvantage in river navigation insignificant.

Climate

Dallas gets about 30 inches (760 mm) of rain per year, much of which is delivered in the spring time. The climate of Dallas is classified a humid subtropical climate, yet this part of Texas also tends to get hot, dry winds from the north and west in the summer. In the winter, the winds are cool, which can cause the region to fall below freezing occasionally. A few inches of snow for a day or two falls about once each winter, and about every other winter the cool air from the north and the humid air from the south lead to freezing rain, which usually causes the city to come to a screeching halt for a day or two if the roads and highways become dangerously slick. Regardless, winters are relatively mild compared to the Texas Panhandle and other states to the north. Dallas winters are occasionally interspersed with Indian summers. Spring and fall and the pleasant, moderate temperatures accompanying those seasons are somewhat short-lived in Dallas. However short the season is, residents and visitors appreciate the beauty of the vibrant wildflowers (such as the bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush and other flora) which bloom in spring and are planted around the highways throughout Texas. In the spring the weather can also be quite volatile and change quickly in a matter of minutes. The cliché about volatile climates popular in various parts of the US—"if you don't like the weather, wait a little while and it'll change"—applies well to Dallas' spring weather. Many consider autumn, around late September and October, to be the best time to visit the Metroplex. Yet many events are also scheduled for the more volatile season of spring. The USDA rates the city of Dallas as being part of Zone 8. Ongoing comparisons are made between Dallas' summer weather and Houston's. Texans generally agree Houston is significantly more humid and Dallas is slightly hotter, although given Houston's humidity it may have a higher heat index than Dallas.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 1,188,580 people, 451,833 households, and 266,581 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,339.7/km² (3,469.9/mi²). There are 484,117 housing units at an average density of 545.7/km² (1,413.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 50.83% White, 25.91% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 2.70% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 17.24% from other races, and 2.72% from two or more races. 35.55% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. Hispanics outnumbered African-Americans for the first time in the 2000 census as the largest minority group in Dallas. Many newly-arrived Hispanics have settled in poorer neighborhoods like Oak Cliff that were once predominately African American. While Hispanics have moved in, many African Americans have migrated further south to cities like Cedar Hill or DeSoto that were predominately White communities until recently. DeSoto There are 451,833 households out of which 30.3% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.8% are married couples living together, 14.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% are non-families. 32.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.58 and the average family size is 3.37. In the city the population is spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 35.3% from 25 to 44, 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 30 years. For every 100 females there are 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 100.5 males. The median income for a household in the city is $37,628, and the median income for a family is $40,921. Males have a median income of $31,149 versus $28,235 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,183. 17.8% of the population and 14.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 25.1% of those under the age of 18 and 13.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Economy

See also: List of major companies in Dallas/Ft.Worth List of major companies in Dallas/Ft.Worth List of major companies in Dallas/Ft.Worth Since the Dallas/Fort Worth area is home to over 400 corporate headquarters today, the area is the largest corporate headquarters in the United States compared to any other metro. The area is sometimes called "Texas's Silicon Valley". Also, there are more than 40,000 telecommunication employees in the "Telecom Corridor" housing such companies as Southwestern Bell, AT&T, Alcatel, Ericsson, Fujitsu, MCI, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Rockwell, and Sprint. Central Dallas is supported by more than 100 miles (160 km) of fiber optic cable. According to the Dallas Women's Covenant, there are more than 81,000 women-owned firms in metropolitan Dallas. Although the Telecom industry was hit hard in the latest recession, most businesses in Dallas performed better on average than other regional economies. A number of companies are based in the Dallas city limits, including: AMR Corporation (parent company of American Airlines), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, Radio Shack, and Pier 1 Imports are based in Fort Worth. id Software is based in Mesquite. ExxonMobil, Michael's Stores, and Zale Corporation are headquartered in Irving. Electronic Data Systems, Frito Lay, Dr Pepper and JCPenney are headquartered in Plano. FUNimation is headquartered in North Richland Hills. Educational Products, Inc. is headquartered in Carrollton. Sabre Holdings, the owner of the Sabre System, is headquartered in Southlake. Halliburton Energy Services was once based in Dallas, but moved to Houston in 2003.

People and culture

See also: People of Dallas, Texas, Facts on Dallas, Texas Facts on Dallas, Texas] Dallasites are said to consider themselves more sophisticated than those in other parts of Texas, especailly those from Fort Worth. Because of the economic prowess of the region, many who live there had come from other U.S. states or countries worldwide. Dallasites eat out about four times every week, which is the third highest rate in the country. Dallas has two times the number of restaurants per person than New York City. Dallasites are very fond of their local sports teams especially "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys-- five time Super Bowl champions-- are well loved by locals, even during losing seasons, and even if another local team is a leader in its sport. Sports calendars and other memorabilia are very common, and on Sundays people tend to watch sports games on television. Major U.S Networks (i.e CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX) have flagship transmitters in the city which helps the network broadcast well, especially if there is something wrong with electricity in the New York Area it can still be broadcast because of these transmitters. This was especially used during the 2003 North America blackout. One drawback is that the city of Dallas has the highest crime rate among cities of 1,000,000 people or more (as of 2005, only nine cities in the United States have such a population. Detroit, Michigan has a higher crime rate, but it, after losing population, dropped out of the 1,000,000+ ranking and Dallas was pushed to the top.) Police Chief Terrell Bolton was fired by then—city manager Ted Benavides, and was replaced by David Kunkle, who was tasked with helping the city lose this designation. Because Dallas and Houston are the two major economic centers of Texas, they enjoy a friendly rivalry. Selected characteristics of them are often compared. One major comparison is the populations of the two cities. Even though on a world-scale, they are about equal, Houston tends to boast because of a higher, if less dense, municipal population (the city encompasses most of its metropolitan area), and Dallas tends to boast because of a higher metropolitan population (the city of Dallas is bounded by suburbs, so much of the new growth occurs outside of Dallas proper.)

Crime

The overall crime rate in Dallas has been ranked as being 1st in the country for large cities† from 1998 to 2003. Despite the fact that most of the city's neighborhoods are relatively immune to most violent crime, areas surrounding the city's expressways and some run-down apartment complexes have very high rates of violent crime. The violent crime rate in Dallas has been rated as the highest in the nation† since 1998. In 1995, there were 276 murders. The usual murder total for Dallas ranges from 240-245, with a record 407 murders back in 1992. In 2004, there were 248 murders in Dallas, for a murder rate of 20.2 per 100,000. †These numbers reflect only United States cities with populations over 1 million. To see a list of these cities, go [http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763098.html here]. Before Detroit's drop below 1 million inhabitants, its crime rate was higher than Dallas'. Many cities, including Baltimore, Denver, Atlanta, San Francisco, etc are below 1 million in population (while their metropolitan population is massive), and certainly, there are higher crime rates in some sub-1 million-population cities. The numbers in this article then, may or may not reflect the actual relative "safety" of the city compared to other major cities.

Religion

Dallas is located in the "Bible Belt", and there is a large Protestant influence on the community. Methodist and Baptist churches are prominent in many neighborhoods and anchor the city's two major private universities. The Cathedral Guadalupe Catholic Church oversees the second largest membership in the country. There is a vibrant Mormon community, and many members of the Jewish faith have long contributed to the city. Dallas also has a large Muslim community. Dallas is also home to the Cathedral of Hope, the largest GLBT congregation in the world.

Shopping

Dallas has more shopping centers per capita than any United States city and metro. There are several malls scattered around the Dallas/Ft.Worth Metroplex. Shopping malls in the area include Galleria Dallas (Dallas), Grapevine Mills (Grapevine), NorthPark Center (Dallas), Stonebriar Centre (Frisco), The Shops At Willow Bend (Plano), and Vista Ridge Mall (Lewisville).

Architectural Structures[http://dallasmetropolis.com]

Districts and communities

See also: Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex

Old East Dallas-Lakewood-MStreets

The collection of old-fashioned neighborhoods lying between Downtown and White Rock Lake. Most homes were built in the early 1900s to 1950s. There are a large number of Historic and Conservation Districts reflecting some prodigious numbers of Craftsman, Prairie-Four Squares, Tudors, Spanish and Mediterranean Eclectic and Early Ranch homes, many of native Austin Stone. The homes range from two-bedroom bungalows to massive estates on acerage. There are also a fair number of duplexes, four-plexes and very small apartment complexes. Some of the older homes are being torn-down in favor of much larger, more expensive homes. Real Estate appreciation in the East Dallas area has almost equaled parts of California and formerly run-down areas are now more expensive than most Dallas suburbs. There are many unique shopping areas with funky shops, bars cafes and restaurants -- most are orginal and not chains nor franchises. There are two exemplary and three recognized schools in the area. Woodrow Wilson High (circa 1928) is probably Dallas' best known school and one of its most beautiful. Affluent East Dallasites still support the public schools in this part of DISD.

Lower Greenville

The area stretching along Greenville Avenue south of Mockingbird Lane is referred to as "Lower Greenville" by Dallas locals. This section of the city is characterized by numerous bars, restaurants, concert venues, and tattoo parlors. Like Deep Ellum, the city's primary nightlife district, Lower Greenville is an extremely popular nighttime destination for singles and couples. The Lower Greenville "entertainment district" is located in the middle of a number of unique residential area that includes many older and even historic homes. These neighborhoods include Lower Greenville, [http://www.vpna.org/ Vickery Place], Belmont Addition, [http://www.belmontna.org/ Belmont], Greenland Hills and Hudson Heights. The residential streets have a variety of legal and enforced parking restrictions, and the businesses do not have enough parking for all their patrons. The best way to get around is by taxi from the major hotels or public transit - the [http://www.dart.org/ Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)] Light Rail's Mockingbird Station is just minutes away.

Oak Lawn

Oak Lawn is the neighborhood bordering Uptown and Turtle Creek which runs adjacent to Oak Lawn avenue from Lemmon to Maple avenues and encompasses the Cedar Springs area as well as many residential neighborhoods. Oak lawn is one of the wealthier parts of Dallas, with many professionals and urban types living there in upscale condos, apartments and duplexes. Oak Lawn is known for its good restaurants, as well as its many bars and clubs. The heart of Oak Lawn is Cedar Springs Road, which is the primary gay area of Dallas (but not the only one). Cedar Springs has a number of gay bars, clubs, and a large percentage of gay residents.

Koreatown

A sizeable Koreatown can be found in Dallas, though this mostly commercial area of the city has not been officially designated as such. The Koreatown is located near Interstate Highway 35, centering on the intersection of Royal Lane and Harry Hines Blvd. This area in the northwest part of the city is characterized by a large number of Korean-owned businesses serving the city's sizeable Korean American community. Very few Korean Americans actually reside in the Dallas Koreatown, despite the concentration of Korean American commercial enterprises there, but rather live elsewhere in the two cities or in their many suburbs. As a result of this, there are relatively few Korean churches, often considered the social centers of Korean American communities, in the Koreatown area. Instead, one can find a large number of Korean restaurants, cafes, Korean-style karaoke bars (noraebang) featuring song selections in Korean and English, bars serving soju and fried chicken, Korean grocery stores (including the large Komart grocery store on Royal Lane), gift shops featuring popular Asian cartoon paraphernalia (including an outlet store for the Korean chain Morning Glory), and discount retail stores. The influx of these Korean-owned businesses into the area within the past two decades has been credited with revitalizing a once-deteriorating Dallas neighborhood, previously characterized by adult entertainment centers and prostitution. Some remnants of this past can still be seen in the area today. In addition to Koreatown, smaller concentrations of Korean business can be found in the Dallas suburbs of Garland (most notably at the intersection of Walnut Hill Road and Plano Road) and Richardson (more notable for its large Chinese and Vietnamese American shopping centers along Greenville Avenue between Arapaho and Belt Line), Irving , and the Ft. Worth suburb of Arlington, among others.

Deep Ellum

Deep Ellum is an area just east of downtown between Interstate 45 and Abrams Street which has been historically occupied with counter-culture venues including a variety of bars and clubs featuring regular music acts and resturants. Deep Ellum is widely regarded as the center of local music in Dallas, venues such as Trees, The Curtain Club, and The Gypsy Tearoom showcase live local music almost every day of the week. Despite its reputation as a dangerous, unpredictable area Deep Ellum is actually a close knit neighborhood with many of the locals claiming residence for tens of years. Only during the weekend when thousands of people pour into Deep Ellum for the nightlife does the neighborhood become the wild west. Although a recent rise in crime has hindered businesses in the area, Deep Ellum continues to be a popular gathering place for the city's young bar-hopping and clubbing crowd.

Exposition

Exposition Avenue is located East of downtown between Deep Ellum and Fair park. Similar to Deep Ellum, Exposition consists of various bars, venues, and resturants and is a popular nighttime destination. However, Exposition is widely regarded as more laid back and mature then Deep Ellum with many of the Exposition locals prefering their neighborhood stay free of the crowds and commotion in nearby Deep Ellum.

Oak Cliff

Oak Cliff is an old part of the city that was originally considered a "suburb" from 1887 until 1911. For most of its history, Oak Cliff had a middle to upper-middle class white population, but changed drastically in the 1960s due to changes in the city's ethnic and racial fabric (integration). In the 1970s, Oak Cliff became predominantly black due to white flight. In the 1980s, Mexican immigrants began to pour into Oak Cliff, and now it is a unique mixture of Black and Mexican homes and businesses. In the early 2000s, Mayor Laura Miller sought to "clean up" Oak Cliff and force residents to give up their goats, chickens, and pigs (among other farm animals), but ultimately this initiative failed. The community is colloquially known as The Cliff in contemporary jargon. On November 22, 1963, after assassinating John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald took a bus to Oak Cliff. There he murdered Officer J.D. Tippet, and then hid in the Texas Theater on Jefferson Boulevard, and was captured there.

Education

Colleges and universities

The Dallas area is home to several institutions of higher learning including:
- Art Institute of Dallas
- Dallas Baptist University
- Dallas Christian College
- Dallas Theological Seminary
- DeVry University, Dallas
- El Centro College
- Mountain View College
- Paul Quinn College
- Richland College
- Southern Methodist University
- University of Dallas
- University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
- University of North Texas at Dallas
- University of North Texas (Denton)

Public schools

Most of Dallas is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. Other parts of Dallas extend into other districts, including Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Duncanville, Garland, Highland Park, Mesquite, Plano, Richardson, and Wilmer-Hutchins (which has closed for the 2005-2006 year; WHISD students are in Dallas ISD for that year). A governmental agency called Dallas County Schools provides transportations services and other services to the ISDs in Dallas County.

Sports

See also: U.S. cities with teams from four major sports U.S. cities with teams from four major sports Dallas is home to the Dallas Desperados (Arena Football League), Dallas Mavericks (National Basketball Association), and Dallas Stars (National Hockey League). All three teams play at the American Airlines Center. The Major League Soccer team F.C. Dallas, formerly the Dallas Burn, used to play in the Cotton Bowl but moved to the recently constructed Pizza Hut Park in Frisco in 2005. The Dallas Sidekicks, a team of the Major Indoor Soccer League, plays in Reunion Arena. Nearby Irving is home to the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League while Arlington is home to the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. Other teams in the Dallas area include the Frisco RoughRiders of Minor League Baseball in Frisco. The Dallas Diamonds, a Women's Professional Football League Women's American football team, plays in North Richland Hills. McKinney is home to the Dallas Revolution, an Independent Women's Football League Women's American football team while the Dallas Fury of the National Women's Basketball League plays at Hebron High School in Carrollton.

Transportation

Carrollton. It is the primary hub of American Airlines which is headquartered just outside the airport in Fort Worth.]]

Airports

Dallas is served by two commercial airports: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (known as DFW International) and Dallas Love Field. In addition, Dallas Executive Airport (formerly Redbird Airport), is a general aviation airport located within the city limits, and Addison Airport is another general aviation airport located just outside the city limits in the suburb of Addison. Two more general aviation airports are located in the outer suburb of McKinney, and on the west side of the Metroplex, two general aviation airports are located in Fort Worth. McKinney DFW International Airport is located in the suburbs north of and equidistant to downtown Fort Worth and downtown Dallas. In terms of size, DFW is the largest airport in the state, the second largest in the United States, and third largest in the world. In terms of traffic, DFW is the busiest in the state, fourth busiest in the United States, and sixth busiest in the world. DFW is also home base to American Airlines, the world's largest airline. Love Field is located within the city limits of Dallas, 6 miles (10 km) northwest of downtown, and is headquarters to Southwest Airlines. Under the Federal "Wright Amendment" and "Shelby Amendment" laws, no large jet air service is allowed from Dallas Love Field to any point beyond Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. As such, Southwest and Continental Express are the only major airlines flying out of that airport. Ongoing efforts to relax or abandon these restrictions, such as Southwest Airlines campaign to "[http://www.setlovefree.com/ Set Love Free]"; however, almost no efforts have succeeded thus far, although Missouri was added to the list of states direct flights are allowed to as of December 2005. Southwest Airlines announced service to Kansas City and St. Louis. American Airlines is also adding service from Love Field to Missouri. (see Love Field Airport for a history of the Wright Amendment).

Trains and buses

Love Field Airport Love Field Airport Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is the Dallas area public transportation authority, providing buses, rail, and HOV lanes. DART began operating the first light rail system in the Southwest United States in 1996 and continues to expand its coverage. Currently, two light rail lines are in service. The red line goes through Oak Cliff, Downtown, Uptown, North Dallas, Richardson, and Plano. The blue line goes through South Dallas, Downtown, Uptown, North Dallas, and Garland. The red and blue lines are conjoined in between 8th & Corinth Station in Oak Cliff and Mockingbird Station in North Dallas. The two lines service Cityplace Station, the only subway station in the Southwest. Two more lines will be in service by the end of the decade bringing the light rail transit mileage to at least 93, the orange and purple. This will connect southeast Dallas to far north Carrollton and LBJ Freeway to DFW International Airport; both via Dallas Love Field. The yellow line will meet Denton County's future commuter rail system. Further ambitions include expanding the commuter rail network in the region to over 250 miles; expanding the DART light rail network to over 150 miles with a downtown subway included; expanding the M-Line streetcar; starting a modern streetcar line in Fort Worth; utilizing the elevated Las Colinas Automated Personal Transit system with DART rail connections. The DART light rail system remained the only light rail system in Texas until Houston opened its starter light rail system (one line running less than 10 miles) in 2004. Fort Worth's smaller public transit system connects with Dallas' via a commuter rail line, the Trinity Railway Express, connecting downtown Dallas's Union Station with downtown Fort Worth's T&P Station and several points in between. The system of light rail transit, especially through downtown, has skyrocketed land values and has sparked a residential living boom in Downtown. Although the system is increasingly popular, most people in the Metroplex still choose to drive their vehicles rather than take public transportation.

Freeways and tollways

See also: List of Dallas freeways List of Dallas freeways

Sister cities

Dallas has six sister cities, as designated by [http://www.sister-cities.org/ Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)]: Brno (Czech Republic), Dijon (France), Monterrey (Mexico), Riga (Latvia), Kirkuk (Iraq), Saratov (Russia), and Taipei (Taiwan). Dallas also maintains a friendship city relationship with Sendai (Japan), although it is not recognized by Sister Cities International.

See also


- List of mayors of Dallas, Texas
- List of movies set in Dallas
- List of newspapers in Dallas
- List of radio stations in Texas
- List of television stations in Texas

Further reading

#Herbert E. Bolton, "Athanase de Mezieres and the Louisiana-Texas Frontier 1768-1780," Cleveland: Arthur H Clark Company, 1914. #John William Rogers, "The Lusty Texans of Dallas " E P Dutton, 1951

External links


- [http://www.dallascityhall.com/ Official City Website]
- [http://www.dallascvb.com/visitors/ Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau]
- [http://www.dallastexas.biz DallasTexas.biz] Dallas Hotel & Flight Travel Portal
- [http://www.wildtexas.com/parks/results.php?nearby_cities=Dallas Dallas Area Parks]
- [http://www.dallashistory.org/ Dallas Historical Society (including message board)]
- [http://texashistory.unt.edu/browse/contributor/DHS/ Dallas Historical Society photographs hosted by the Portal to Texas History]
- [http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2004/dallas/ Dallas at the Tipping Point] A highly critical, independent analysis of Dallas, and a roadmap to working its way out of its problems.
- [http://dallasmetropolis.com/ Dallas Fort Worth Metropolis]
- [http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/ Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum]
- [http://dallaslibrary.org/ Dallas Public Library]
- [http://dallasisd.org/ Dallas Independent School District]
- [http://www.dart.org/ Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)]
- [http://www.ntta.org/ North Texas Tollway Authority]
- [http://www.dallaschildrens.org/ Dallas Children's Museum]
- [http://www.meyersonsymphonycenter.com/ Meyerson Symphony Center]
- [http://www.dm-art.org/ Dallas Museum of Art]
- [http://www.thecontemporary.net/ The Dallas Center for Contemporary Art]
- [http://www.xvisionx.com/index.html?sub=dallas&ref=wiki Dallas Picture Gallery
- (Rights Protected)]
- [http://www.dallaspolice.net/ Dallas Police]
- [http://www.dallasfarmersmarket.org/ Dallas Farmers Market]
- [http://www.dgs.org/Geology%20of%20Dallas%20County.html Geology of Dallas]
- [http://www.dallaspaleo.org/ Dallas Paleontological Society]
- [http://www.turtlecreek.org/ The Turtle Creek Chorale]
- [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/DD/hdd1.html The Handbook of Texas Online: Dallas, Texas] Category:Cities in Texas Category:Collin County, Texas

Designated market area

A media market, broadcast market, media region or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers or Internet content. They can coincide with metropolitan areas, though rural regions with few significant population centers can also be designated as markets. Conversely, very large metropolitan areas can sometimes be subdivided into multiple segments. While it is human nature to try to classify things strictly, these regions overlap, meaning that people residing on the edge of one media market may be able to receive content from other nearby markets as well. They are widely used in ratings, which are compiled in the United States by Nielsen Media Research (television) and Arbitron (radio). Markets are identified by the largest city, which is usually located in the center. However, geography and the fact that some metropolitan areas have large cities separated by some distance can make markets have unusual shapes and result in two, three, or more names being used to identify a single region. In North America, radio markets are generally a bit smaller than their television counterparts, as broadcast power restrictions are stricter for radio than TV, and TV reaches further via cable. AM band and FM band radio ratings are sometimes separated, as are broadcast and cable television. Market researchers also subdivide ratings demographically between different age groups, genders, and ethnic backgrounds; as well as psychographically between income levels and other non-physical factors. This information is used by advertisers to determine how to reach a specific audience. In countries such as the United Kingdom, a government body defines the media markets; in countries such as the United States, media regions are defined by a privately held institution, without government status.

United States

Television

A Designated Market Area (DMA) is a group of counties in the United States that are covered by a specific group of television stations. The term was coined by Nielsen Media Research, and they control the trademark on it. There are 210 DMAs in the United States. See also List of television stations in North America by media market.

Radio

Arbitron also maintains similar areas for radio stations, each is called an area of dominant influence (ADI). There are 286 ADI's in the United States.

Canada

Canada also has a similar system, run by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM).

External link


- [http://www.nielsenmedia.com/DMAs.html Nielsen's list of DMAs]

See also


- marketing Category:broadcasting Category:advertising

Belo Corporation

Belo (pronounced "BEE-low") is a Dallas, Texas-based media company that owns 20 television stations, four daily newspapers and two regional cable television news channels. The company was previously known as A.H. Belo after one of the early owners of the company, Alfred Horatio Belo. The current and long-time head of the company is Robert Decherd. The company traces its roots back to 1842 with the introduction of The Daily News in Galveston, Texas, and its flagship, The Dallas Morning News, has been publishing since 1885. The name A.H. Belo Corporation was applied to the company in 1926. The name was shortened to Belo Corp. in 2002. The company is the oldest continually-operated corporation in the state of Texas. On July 8, 2005, Belo announced its newest acquisition, WUPL-TV, the UPN affiliate in New Orleans from CBS/Viacom. The addition of WUPL creates a duopoly in New Orleans with Belo's market-leading CBS affiliate, WWL-TV, strengthening Belo's presence in the market. Belo currently has five duopoly operations in the United States.

Belo's companies and publications

Newspapers


- The Business Press (Riverside, California)
- The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas)
  - Al Día (Spanish language newspaper in Dallas)
  - Quick (a smaller, free daily produced by Dallas Morning News staff)
- Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Texas)
- The Difference Desert Daily (Riverside, California)
- La Prensa en Linea (Riverside, California)
- The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, California)
- The Providence Journal (Providence, Rhode Island)
- Texas Almanac

Television stations

(Note:
- indicates part of a duopoly) ABC Stations
- KVUE - Austin, Texas
- WFAA - Dallas, Texas
- WHAS - Louisville, Kentucky
- WVEC - Hampton/Norfolk, Virginia CBS Stations
- KENS - San Antonio, Texas
-
- KHOU - Houston, Texas
- KMOV - St. Louis, Missouri
- KREM - Spokane, Washington
-
- WWL - New Orleans, Louisiana
- FOX Station
- KMSB - Tucson, Arizona
- Independent Stations
- KONG - Seattle/Tacoma, Washington
-
- KTVK - Phoenix, Arizona
- NBC Stations
- KGW - Portland, Oregon
- KING-TV - Seattle/Tacoma, Washington
-
- KTVB - Boise, Idaho
- WCNC - Charlotte, North Carolina UPN Stations
- KBEJ - San Antonio, Texas
-
- KTTU - Tucson, Arizona
-
- WUPL - New Orleans, Louisiana
- WB Station
- KASW - Phoenix, Arizona
-
- KSKN - Spokane, Washington
-

Cable networks


- NWCN (NorthWest Cable News) - Northwest U.S region
- TXCN (Texas Cable News) - Texas
- 24/7 - Boise, ID
- LNC - Virginia
- NewsWatch 15 - Louisiana
- Mas Arizona - Spanish language, Phoenix, AZ
- AZ NewsChannel - Phoenix, AZ

Online presence

In addition, Belo operates websites for each of its properties. The sites were formerly part of a separate company, known as Belo Interactive. In late 2004, the company began the process of reintegrating the sites in to sister media properties. One of its most infamous investments was in the failed CueCat and its parent company, Digital Convergence. Belo integrated its media properties to be able to use the device, but it never took off.

External links


- [http://www.belo.com/ Belo.com]
- [http://www.belointeractive.com/ BeloInteractive.com] Category:Dallas, Texas Category:Dallas/Ft. Worth-based companies Category:Media companies of the United States

The Dallas Morning News

The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area. The Dallas Morning News first began publishing on October 1, 1885 with a circulation of around 5,000 subscribers. Today, [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/042205dnbussubpoena.35330c3a.html]481,000 copies are circulated daily and 661,000 copies are circulated on Sunday. It is currently the 10th largest newspaper in terms of circulation in the United States. Belo Corp owns the papers, both of which are headquarted in downtown Dallas. "Street teams" for the paper have been promoting the company's new publication, Quick, to pedestrians. Quick is a free weekday daily with abbreviated news primarily catering to twenty to thirty year olds. Quick was created in response partly due to lagging circulation and readership numbers of the newspaper (but also to head off a rival publication, the A.M. Journal Express) and was part of an effort to increase overall readership by eventually converting Quick readers into Morning News readers. The Dallas Morning News has also had an ongoing problem with its circulation numbers, inflating them to keep advertiser revenue high. In the mid-1980s, the paper was sued by the rival Dallas Times Herald, charging that the News was overstating circulation increases. In 2004, long after the Times Herald went out of business, The Dallas Morning News was again caught in a circulation accounting scandal for underreporting circulation decreases to keep advertising revenue up, overstating Sunday circulation by 11.9% and daily circulation by 5.1%, part of a nationwide decline in newspaper readership. The Morning News was eventually found out and promised to pay advertisers US$23 million in restitution. The scandal worsened parent company Belo's financial troubles and in late 2004, Belo laid off 250 workers, including 150 at the Morning News.

Reference


- Gwynne, S.C. (January 2005). The Dallas Morning Blues. Texas Monthly.

External link


- [http://www.dallasnews.com The Dallas Morning News] Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Morning News, The ja:ダラス・モーニングニュース

DuMont Television Network

The DuMont Television Network was an American television network, beginning operation in 1946. Parent company DuMont Laboratories, a broadcasting-equipment and set manufacturer, had begun experimental broadcasts in 1938. Founded by Dr. Allen B. DuMont, generally considered one of the inventors of television, DuMont Laboratories was incorporated in 1935; Dr. DuMont and his staff were responsible for many early technical innovations, and the company's sets, offered from 1938, were said to be superior to those of rival RCA. In 1946, CBS and NBC had not resumed their pre-war experimental efforts. ABC had only begun its radio network, and had no television plans. A minority shareholder in DuMont Laboratories was Paramount Pictures, which had advanced $400,000 in 1938 for a 40% share in the company. Paramount had television interests of its own, having launched experimental stations in Los Angeles in 1939 and Chicago in 1940. This would come back to haunt DuMont later. When network service began in 1946, DuMont owned and operated three stations: WABD (for Allen B. DuMont) in New York City (now WNYW- FOX 5 New York), WDTV in Pittsburgh (now KDKA-TV), and WTTG in Washington, (named for Dr. Thomas T. Goldsmith, DuMont's head of research, and Dr. DuMont's best friend.)

Early Station-to-Station Links

Prior to its beginning as a network, DuMont had conducted experimental hookups, using coaxial cable, between its laboratories in Passaic, New Jersey, and its New York and Washington stations. While regular network service didn't begin until 1946, the "official" beginning of the network was said to be on August 9, 1945, with the announcement of the U.S.'s dropping of an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. NBC and CBS had also experimented with station-to-station hookups prior to World War II.

Programming

With no history of radio programming to draw on, and always strapped for cash, DuMont was an innovative and creative network. Without the radio revenues which supported mighty NBC and CBS, DuMont programmers had to rely on their wits and on connections in New York's theatrical community to provide original programs still remembered fifty-plus years later. The first broadcasts came from DuMont's Madison Avenue headquarters, but it soon found additional space (including a fully-functioning theater) in the New York branch of Wanamaker's department store. Still later, a lease on the Adelphi theater on Fifty-fourth street gave the network a site for variety shows. Among some of DuMont's better-remembered programs:
- Mary Kay and Johnny, the first television situation comedy
- Faraway Hill, the first network-televised soap opera
- Cavalcade of Stars, a variety show hosted initially by Jackie Gleason
- Life is Worth Living, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen's devotional program
- Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour
- Broadway Open House, a late-night variety and talk show hosted by Morey Amsterdam
- The Arthur Murray Party, a dance program
- With This Ring, a panel show on marriage
- Live coverage of boxing and professional wrestling In addition, DuMont also offered
- Captain Video, the hugely popular children's science fiction series
- Rocky King, Inside Detective, a private eye series starring Roscoe Karns.
- The Plainclothesman, a camera's-eye-view detective series
- Big Town. Although DuMont's programming pre-dated videotape, many of DuMont offerings were caught on kinescopes, films shot directly from live television screens. These kinescopes were said to be stored in an ABC-network warehouse until the 1970s. Actress Edie Adams, the wife of comedian Ernie Kovacs, both regular performers on early television, testified in 1996 before a panel of the Library of Congress on the preservation of television and video. Adams claimed that so little value was given to these films that in the early 1970s the kinescopes were removed from ABC's warehouse and dumped into Upper New York Bay.

Halted at the Start

DuMont began with one basic disadvantage; unlike NBC and CBS, it did not have a radio network from which to draw revenue. Also, early television licenses were granted to established radio broadcasters, and many long-time relationships with radio networks carried over to the new medium. As CBS and NBC gained their footing, they began to offer programming that drew on their radio backgrounds, bringing over the most popular radio stars; thus early television stations, asked to choose an affiliation with CBS, offering a Jack Benny, a Lucille Ball or an Ed Sullivan, over DuMont, with an unknown Jackie Gleason or Bishop Sheen, took the easier route. In smaller markets, with a limited number of stations, DuMont and ABC were often relegated to secondary status, so their programs got clearance only if the primary network was off the air. DuMont aspired to grow beyond its three stations, applying for licenses in Philadelphia and Cincinnati; this would have given the network five VHF stations, the maximum allowed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the time. However, DuMont was hampered by minority owner Paramount's two stations, KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and WBKB-TV (now WBBM-TV) in Chicago. Although these stations never carried DuMont programming, the FCC ruled that Paramount's two licenses were in theory DuMont owned and operated stations, which effectively placed DuMont at the five-station cap. Adding to DuMont's troubles was the FCC's 1948 "freeze" on television-license applications. This was done to sort out the thousands of applications that had come streaming in, but also to rethink the allocation and technical standards laid down prior to World War II. It became clear soon after the war that 12 channels (channel 1 had been removed from commercial use) were not nearly enough for national television service. What was to be a six-month freeze lasted until 1952, when the FCC opened the UHF spectrum. However, the FCC didn't require television manufacturers to include UHF capability. In order to see UHF stations, most people had to buy an expensive converter. Even then, UHF signals were just barely viewable. Tied to this was a decision to restrict VHF allocations in medium- and smaller-sized markets. Television sets weren't required to have all-channel tuning until 1964. Forced to rely on UHF to expand, DuMont saw one station after another go dark due to abysmal ratings. For instance, DuMont bought a small, distressed UHF station in Kansas City in 1954, but ran it for just two months before shutting it down at a considerable loss. The FCC's Dr. Hyman Goldin said in 1960, "If there had been four VHF outlets in the top markets, there's no question DuMont would have lived and would have eventually turned the corner in terms of profitability. I have no doubt in my mind of that at all."

The End

DuMont only survived the early 1950s because of WDTV in Pittsburgh, the nation's sixth-largest market at the time. WDTV's only competition came from UHF stations (no other commercial VHF station signed on until 1957), giving it a de facto monopoly on television in Pittsburgh. Since WDTV carried secondary affiliations with the other three networks, DuMont used this as a bargaining chip to get its programs cleared in o