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NBC5/KXAS (WBAP) Television News Archive

Page Contents 3 minute read.

About

UNT Special Collections holds the complete news archive of NBC 5/KXAS (formerly WBAP), the oldest television news station in Texas. Amon G. Carter, operator of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and NBC affiliated radio station WBAP, constructed the Fort Worth television station that would run WBAP-TV. The first broadcast of the NBC affiliated news station was on September 27,

  1. It was the first television station in Texas and the only television station in the entire southwest region of the country.

For over 65 years, the news station (renamed NBC 5/KXAS in 1974 following its sale to LIN broadcasting) continued to broadcast programming from their original location on “Broadcast Hill” in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2012, the station began construction of a new $16 million facility centrally located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and in early 2014 the station began broadcasting from their new location. News programming at NBC 5/KXAS has grown over the years from a daily 15-minute news reel in the 1950’s to multiple daily news broadcasts by the 1970’s. The station continued to be a leader in local television news by becoming the first station in Texas to feature all-color news film in 1966,and was the first station in the country to produce a monthly “news magazine” featuring in-depth, documentary style reporting.

The NBC 5/KXAS Television News Collection contains historic broadcast footage, scripts, advertisements, still photography, and research files dating from 1950 through 2012. Although much of the footage in the Archive has not been seen since its original air date, nearly 175,000 original broadcast news segments, and over 100,000 news scripts have been digitized and are available online. Additional footage is added to the digital collection continuously.

Locating Footage

Digitized materials from the NBC 5/KXAS Archive can be viewed on The Portal to Texas History.

To celebrate the 70th Anniversary of NBC 5/KXAS, Special Collections created the Celebrating 70 Years of KXAS digital exhibit.

For in-depth information on conducting research and locating specific footage within the collection, please see the Research FAQ.

Additional Information

Licensing and Reuse

Film and video footage from the NBC 5/KXAS archive has been licensed for used in hundreds of national and international programs, including:

  • “Oklahoma City,” American Experience on PBS
  • “W,” American Experience on PBS
  • “The Bush Years: Family, Duty, Power,” documentary series, CNN
  • “BOSS: The Black Experience in Business,” PBS, produced by Emmy award winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson
  • “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” a documentary feature produced by Cameron Crowe
  • “The Last of the Von Erichs,” VICE Media
  • “Waco: A British Tragedy,” documentary series, ITVX
  • “Cocaine Bear: The True Story,” documentary feature, Peacock
  • “Selena and Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them,” documentary series, Peacock
  • “Chimp Crazy,” documentary series, HBO
  • “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time,” documentary series, National Geographic
  • The Kingdom (Kansas City Chiefs), documentary series, ESPN
  • “Hazardous History with Henry Winkler,” documentary series, The History Channel
  • "Unbelievable Encounters with Dan Aykroyd,” documentary series, A&E
  • “Soccer Meets American,” documentary series, Apple TV

Browse the Collection

Browse frequently requested topics and videos with the NBC 5 collection:

Support the Collection

Access to the NBC 5/KXAS Archive is extremely limited due to the fragile condition of the film and video. We need your help to raise the funds necessary to clean, repair, and digitize this important piece of North Texas history. It costs approximately $7,500 to digitize and permanently preserve one month of film. Please consider a tax-deductible gift today to assist in meeting our goal. To donate, please utilize the online donation form.

Film & Video

News Scripts and Business Files

Photographs

NBC 5/KXAS News Morgue Records

[Richard Greene WBAP/Ft. Worth Star-Telegram Collection]

Doyle Vinson Collection