KFJX

KFJX was founded in 2003 as the Fox affiliate for the Pittsburg, Kansas/Joplin, Missouri market. It is owned by Saga Communications' Surtsey Media subsidiary, and is a sister station to Saga-owned KOAM-TV. KFJX was launched primarily to bring a Fox affiliate to the area, since the closest Fox affiliates were located in Kansas City, Springfield, and Tulsa. KFJX may have also been launched in response to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group KODE-TV/KSNF duopoly, which began in 2004.

On May 8, 2009, a severe storm rolled through the Joplin area and damaged the antenna of KFJX.

In June of 2010, the DirecTV satellite system added Joplin locals to their channel line-up. KFJX and Sister station KOAM were unable to come to an agreement with DirecTV to have stations carried.

Digital television
Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [1], the station did not receive a companion channel for a digitaltelevision station and would have originally had to make a "flash cut," turning off its analog transmitter and turning on its digital transmitter. Instead, on February 17, 2009, KFJX began broadcasting a digital signal on channel 13, which was the former digital assignment of KOAM, after receiving FCC permission to do so. Until the new June 12, 2009 digital conversion deadline, KFJX continued to broadcast its analog signal on Channel 14 before signing it off permanently.

Newscasts
The station airs a nightly 9:00 p.m. newscast, produced by KOAM, that debuted on April 5, 2004, and expanded to include a weekend edition in the fall of 2005. On June 1, 2010, the weekday edition of Fox 14 News at Nine expanded to an hour.

Fox 14 News at Nine (9 to 10 P.M.) Weeknights


 * Anchor:
 * Mike Olmstead
 * Weather:
 * Doug Heady
 * Sports:
 * Steve Slivka

Weekends


 * Anchor:
 * Tracy Walker
 * Weather:
 * Brian Davis
 * Sports:
 * Trey Daerr

''KFJX features additional news personnel from KOAM. See that article for a complete listing.''


 * Former On Air Staff:
 * Micheal Hayslip-Anchor Weeknights