WDAF manager leaving to run two Florida stations

WDAF-TV general manager Stan Knott had a great season. Now he's going to Disney World. Fox Television on Monday named Knott the vice president and general manager of its newly formed station duopoly in Orlando. He'll run WOFL-TV, a Fox affiliate, and WRBW-TV, a UPN affiliate. Fox, which also owns WDAF, acquired WOFL in a recent station swap with Meredith Corp. Knott, who joined WDAF in 1998, leaves Kansas City with his station achieving some of its highest ratings since becoming a Fox affiliate. And thanks to WDAF's 49 hours per week of local newscasts - believed to be the most of any station in the country - "Fox 4" is reaping the rewards with its large local ad inventory. Industry insiders believe that WDAF will challenge KMBC this year as the highest-billing station in Kansas City. No replacement for Knott has been named. Orlando is the fastest-growing area in the nation, with an estimated 5,000 new residents arriving each month. It is the 20th-largest TV market, with $221 million in spot revenues in 2000, according to Mediaweek. Kansas City is the 31st-largest TV market, with about two-thirds of the ad revenue of Orlando. Knott will have his work cut out for him. WOFL runs a weak fifth in local news, and often finishes in sixth behind "UPN 65," its new sister station. In April, Fox traded a station in Portland, Ore., to Meredith - which also owns KCTV - in exchange for WOFL and a station in Ocala, Fla. Add up all those deals and Fox is over the government limit for station ownership. Using the formula devised by regulators, its signals now reach 39 percent of the United States. The federal limit is 35 percent. The station cap was the premise for a staff meeting last summer at WDAF. Knot announced that Fox was selling WDAF to a private investor group to get back under the 35 percent limit. Fox never officially confirmed that news. After an appeals court questioned the government's right to cap station ownership, the sale rumor went away. To reach Aaron Barnhart, call (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com.