Fox's Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas, duopoly will move to a new location in the suburb of Irving, Texas, the station announced Aug. 2, 2024.
KDFW and KDFI will exit downtown Dallas, moving to 2203 Royal Lane northwest of downtown.
“I commend Fox Corporation and Fox Television Stations for their investment in our city. KDFW is a valuable institution in our region, and we are thrilled to have the station here,” said Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer. “This project once again demonstrates Irving’s winning formula. Through the Irving Economic Development Partnership, we work collaboratively with partners to bring economic development projects like this to our city with a speed-to-market approach and access to a workforce that businesses demand.”
The stations, which are also known as Fox 4 and More 27 on air, will occupy 50,000 square feet across two floors in a purpose-built broadcast facility scheduled to break ground later in 2024. Construction is expected to take about two years to finish, so the move would likely hit sometime in late 2026.
The parcel for the new building sits next to Texas State Highway 114, a major thoroughfare into downtown Dallas.
Fox employs about 170 people at the stations, and those roles will all be moved to Irving.
The two stations currently operate out of a two-story building at 400 North Griffin Street in downtown Dallas. The station’s transmitter and other gear are mounted on the red and white tower atop the building.
The new broadcast facility will include new studio and technical spaces and a new newsroom. Offices and workspaces for sales, marketing and other teams are also planned. The station says it is not building a new tower at the site, though it’s not immediately clear where it will place its transmitter.
KDFW’s move out of downtown Dallas will mean that only ABC affiliate WFAA will remain in Dallas. CBS’s KTVT and NBC’s KXAS are both based in Ft. Worth.
Notably, however, Irving is more central to both cities in the metroplex.
While not confirmed, it is likely that KDFW’s move means that station will finally replace its 17-year-old news set.
The set debuted back in September 2006 and was part of a series of similar sets that went in at Fox-owned stations across the country around the same time. While the station could conceivably move the set to the new building, the set is largely lacking any current storytelling tools such as LED video walls.
The station has updated it over the years, including debuting a new duratrans in 2021.
Image courtesy KDFW.