KADN

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KADN
city =
station_
station_slogan = We've Got You Covered
station_branding = Fox 15 (General)
Fox News Lafayette (Newscast)
analog = 15 (UHF)
digital = 16 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = Fox
network =
founded =
airdate = February 1980 [The "Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook" says February 28, while the "Television and Cable Factbook" says February 27.]
location = Lafayette, Louisiana
callsign_meaning = when said quickly, sounds like "Acadian"
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Communications Corporation of America
licensee = Comcorp of Louisiana License Corporation
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = independent (1980-1986)
effective_radiated_power = 2510 kW (analog)
800 kW (digital)
HAAT = 360 m (analog)
359 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 33261
coordinates = coord|30|21|44.9|N|92|12|53.3|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.kadn.com/ www.kadn.com]

KADN ("Fox 15") is the Fox affiliate in Lafayette, Louisiana.

History

Channel 15 in Lafayette was originally home to KLNI-TV, which operated as an NBC affiliate in the early 1970s. With KATC-TV and KLFY already operating, the Lafayette market was considered too small at the time to support three TV stations. After suffering financial difficulties for the few years it was on the air, KLNI had shut down by the late 1970s, leaving WBRZ (and later WRBT, now WVLA) from Baton Rouge and KPLC from Lake Charles as Lafayette's de facto NBC affiliates. The allocation for channel 15 in Lafayette as a commercial TV station remained after the demise of KLNI and went unused until KADN signed on.

KADN, the current incarnation of channel 15, began broadcasting as "TV15, Acadiana's Alternative" in February 1980 as an independent station, offering mainly movies, old sitcoms, children's programming, and local sports. Another name it called itself was "The Movie Station." Movie blocks were given titles such as "Cinema 15," "Nightowl Theater" and "Primetime Theater."

KADN was innovative in creating its own original programming, esp. in the music genre. Shows such as "The Larry Brasso Show" (country music), "Cypress with Warren Storm" (swamp pop) and the long-running "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler" (Cajun French music) were a Saturday mainstay during the station's early years. The latter produced so many episodes, that reruns aired weekday mornings under the title "Bon Temps Rouler Encore." A music video hour aired daily called "Acadiana Music Box" around the same time MTV was catching on.

Also in the early years, KADN had its own news department, first with just five minute newsbreaks called "Capsule News 15" and then its own 5pm daily newscast called "Acadiana in Review." After just a couple of years, it was realized that it was not financially feasible to compete with KLFY and KATC in news, so the news department was eliminated.

Shortly after KADN signed on the air, KLFY preempted an episode of the popular prime-time drama series Dallas to run a Billy Graham televangelical special. This caused then-owner Charles Chatelain to seek to run the episode that KLFY was going to miss on his station. At that time, an arrangement was made for channel 15 to officially become a CBS secondary affiliate, picking up a microwave relay of WAFB in Baton Rouge for network programming. KADN then began airing all of CBS's programming that KLFY dropped for one reason or another, especially the morning daytime offerings from 9am-10am (KADN would re-air those shows in the afternoon.) The arrangement lasted until 2005, with preempted CBS programming running in the later years on sister station KLAF-LP.

KADN joined the Fox network upon its debut in 1986.

Today

KADN serves as the flagship station for the Lafayette, LA-based Communications Corporation of America (ComCorp) chain of TV stations. ComCorp began operating KADN in 1997 through a leased marketing agreement with original owner Charles Chatelain until purchasing the station outright in late 2004. After being located on cable channel 8 since signon, KADN moved to channel 6 on August 15, 2006 as part of a lineup restructuring of the Cox Communications Greater Lafayette system. [http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/NEWS01/607130314/1002]

In June 2006, owner ComCorp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ComCorp said in a press release viewers and staff would see no changes at the station.

The programming of sister station KLAF-LP was added to KADN-DT's signal on channel 15.2 in August 2007. This began a period of transition in which all four translators that made up KLAF were shut off.

In early 2008, KADN became the first station in the Lafayette market to air HD programming outside of network-provided offerings with syndicated Two and a Half Men airing in 720p HD. Further, on February 29, 2008, KADN began airing promotional materials throughout the day in 720p HD and identifying on the HD signal as "Fox 15 HD."

Fox News Louisiana

On March 26, 2007, KADN began running on-air promos teasing a 9:00 pm newscast with the tagline "At 9 it's news, by 10 it's history."

"Fox News Louisiana" is produced by Baton Rouge Fox affiliate WGMB; the first 20 minutes of the program are taped earlier and geared specifically towards the Acadiana audience, with stories by Lafayette-based reporters, plus a local forecast. KADN joins the live broadcast for the final two segments, which include national news, world news and a statewide sportscast. The newscast, in 2008, has since been retitled "Fox News Lafayette".

On August 20, 2007, KADN debuted "Fox News Louisiana AM", a 7AM to 9AM newscast. Like the evening news, certain segments are taped and include stories by the Lafayette-based reporting staff, while others are aired live.

Technical information

*Frequency: Channel 15
*Radius: 60 miles (Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Jeff Davis, Lafayette, St Mary, and St Martin parishes)
*Start of Operation: March 1980
*Transmitter Location: Church Point, LA (30° 21' 44.00" N Latitude, 92° 12' 53.00" W Longitude)
*Transmitter Power: 2510 kW

Logo History

External links

* [http://www.kadn.com/ Fox 15 Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/fox15tv Fox 15 on Myspace]
*TVQ|KADN
*BIA|KADN|TV|TV

References