Fox affil lays on

I guess FOX TV Stations chief Dennis Swanson's famed playbook -- the one blamed for the recent layoffs at its KC affiliate -- didn't account for the fact that this is a Chiefs town. Either that or his boss, Roger Ailes, was rewarding yours truly for showing up at his session at press tour last week. Yeah, that's it.

FOX 4 SPORTS TEAM

(Kansas City, Mo.) –WDAF TV FOX 4 announces the return of Jason Lamb, as sports reporter and weekend sports anchor. Lamb is a native of Great Bend, Kansas, and a 1995 graduate of the University of Kansas. Lamb was hired by FOX 4 in 2002, and was a key member of the sports team until a recent station lay-off. “The opportunity presented itself to re-staff our sports department. We are extremely pleased to announce that Jason Lamb has returned as an on-air member of the sports team and we couldn’t be happier,” said Cheryl McDonald, FOX 4 Vice President and General Manager.

The hiring comes just in time as FOX 4 added a 4th Chiefs football game to its 2006 broadcast schedule of NFL football. FOX 4 will air the first, inaugural, primetime, Thanksgiving Day NFL game, when the Kansas City Chiefs host the Denver Broncos at 7PM. The Chiefs/Broncos game may be the most important game of the year for both teams. “The Chiefs/Broncos game is a huge game for Kansas City and we are extremely excited to broadcast the game on FOX 4. The Broncos and the Chiefs are projected to place first and second in the AFC West, so this game could be a championship showdown” said Frank Boal, FOX 4 Sports Director.

FOX 4 will also air three additional Chiefs games in 2006. On Thursday, August 17 (7 p.m. CT), new Kansas City head coach Herm Edwards shows the Chiefs around his old stomping grounds of the Meadowlands when they travel to New York to take on the New York Giants in a pre-season game. Sunday, October 1 (NOON), the action is at Arrowhead as the Chiefs try and pick apart the San Francisco 49ers. Then, Sunday, October 29 (NOON), the Seattle Seahawks bring their best to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs.

  In 1949, WDAF-TV became the first television station to broadcast in Kansas City. With 49 hours of news every week, FOX 4 is continuing its tradition of working for the community throughout its next fifty years. One of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, Fox Television Stations, Inc. consists of 35 stations in 26 markets covering nearly 45% of U.S. television homes.