and laying off its 24 staff; it was performing poorly in the ratings, and Metromedia's commitment to news did not transfer after the station was sold to Fox. Although it was now part of a network, channel 33 was still generally an independent station, as Fox's initial programming consisted solely of a late-night talk show, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers. In 1993, Fox became a seven-night-a-week network for the first time. "Fox 33" had momentum: the network had pulled off a coup by obtaining television rights to the National Football Conference of the NFL, including the Dallas Cowboys. As a result of the network's growth and the station's increasing revenues, and accelerated by the football rights, Fox selected Lisa Gregorisch, who had been news director at the company's KSTU in Salt Lake City, to lead the development of what would be channel 33's second local news service, to start August 1, 1994. Former KSTU news director Lisa Gregorisch began hiring a "dream team" of reporters, editors, producers and photographers which would have staffed this news operation, which she stated in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram "could have 'shaken up this news market like never before'." Renaissance Broadcasting ownership and WB affiliation The football deal, however, also led Fox to pursue a strategy of upgrading its stations in major markets to increase the network's profile. Fox strategized to strengthen its affiliate portfolio by recruiting more VHF stations, especially those located in markets with an NFC franchise; at the time, Fox's stations were mostly UHF outlets that had limited to no prior history as major network affiliates. On May 23, 1994, News Corporation—as part of a deal that included its acquisition of a 20% equity interest in the latter company—signed a long-term affiliation agreement with New World Communications, in which Fox would affiliate with heritage "Big Three" network stations that New World either owned outright or was in the process of purchasing in twelve markets once their existing respective affiliation contracts expired. The deal included four stations that New World would buy from Argyle Television Holdings for $717 million, including Dallas CBS affiliate KDFW-TV. Although the network already owned KDAF, Fox sought the opportunity to affiliate with a stronger VHF station with an established news operation in what was then the nation's seventh-largest market. Fox would put two stations up for sale—KDAF and WATL in Atlanta, which was in