for newsgathering and drafted plans to open a bureau in Fort Worth. However, on May 10, 1986, shortly after News Corporation assumed control of the station following the completion of its merger with Metromedia, Schonbak announced Channel 33's news department would shut down, stating to staff that the move was his decision; in an August 1986 article that he wrote for D Magazine, former anchor Quin Mathews (who joined KRLD from KDFW in 1984, and was later hired by WFAA as its morning and midday anchor after Channel 33's news department folded) questioned whether the move was solely that of Schonbak or a directive by News Corporation management, noting that Schonbak had given Fox executives five different options for the news department to improve revenue and ratings, all of which were considered by the board to be unacceptable. Art Chapman in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram found the newscast lacked any elements to distinguish it from the other offerings in the market and blamed the time slot. As a Fox owned-and-operated station In May 1985, Metromedia reached an agreement to sell KRLD-TV and its five sister independent stations–WNEW-TV (now WNYW) in New York City, KTTV in Los Angeles, WFLD-TV in Chicago, WTTG in Washington, D.C., and KRIV in Houston – to News Corporation for $2.55 billion. Metromedia sold its radio stations, including KRLD, to Carl Brazell in a $285 million transaction completed in early 1986. That October, News Corporation–which had purchased a 50% interest in 20th Century Fox corporate parent TCF Holdings for $250 million in March 1985–announced its intentions to create a fourth television network that would use the resources of 20th Century Fox Television to both produce and distribute programming, intending for it to compete with ABC, CBS and NBC,. The company formally announced the launch of the new network, the Fox Broadcasting Company, on May 7, 1986, with the former Metromedia stations serving as its nuclei. The purchase of the Metromedia stations was approved by the FCC and finalized on March 6, 1986, with News Corporation creating a new broadcasting unit, the Fox Television Stations, to oversee the six television stations. Concurrent with the completion of the Metromedia stations' acquisition by News Corporation, the station's call letters were changed to KDAF. Even before the Fox network launched on October 6, 1986, the new ownership put its stamp on channel 33 by axing the news department after two years