Channel 29 in Dallas-Fort Worth is becoming KFAA 29 — and it’s where you can watch 70 Dallas Mavericks games for free this season.
DALLAS — The WFAA sister station KMPX (Ch. 29) is officially being rebranded as KFAA 29.
The channel, owned by WFAA parent company TEGNA, had been previously branded as Estrella TV, a Spanish-language channel. Starting at 7 a.m. on Oct. 20, when KFAA officially takes over the Ch. 29.1 signal, the Spanish-language content currently airing there will move to Ch. 29.2.
The rebranding of Ch. 29 to KFAA comes as the next step in WFAA and TEGNA’s new multi-year agreement to broadcast Dallas Mavericks games. The station will be home to all 70 non-nationally-televised Dallas Mavericks games this season. At least 15 of those will also be simulcast on WFAA’s Ch. 8.
So far, the following simulcast games for both WFAA and KFAA have been announced: Oct. 31, Nov. 19, Dec. 3, Dec. 19, Jan. 23, Jan. 27 and Jan. 2 9. The remaining simulcast games will be announced at a later date. Ch. 8 will also broadcast five other Mavericks games as part ABC’s exclusive national NBA schedule. Those will come on Dec. 25, Jan. 25, Feb. 23, Mar. 9 and Mar. 16.
The action gets started on Saturday, Oct. 26, when the Mavericks play the Phoenix Suns on KFAA at 9 p.m. Dallas will then play the Utah Jazz on Monday, Oct. 28, and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, Oct. 29, both also exclusively on KFAA.
In addition to airing on KFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth, Mavericks games will also air on TEGNA’s Texas stations in Waco (KCEN and KAGS), Tyler (KYTX), Midland-Odessa (KWES), Abilene (KXVA) and San Angelo (KIDY). On Thursday, TEGNA and the Mavericks also revealed eight more Texas markets that will be broadcasting games as part of the new deal:
- Amarillo, Texas – KFDA 10.2 (Independent – Gray)
- El Paso, Texas – KDBC 4.2 (MyNetworkTV – Sinclair)
- Harlingen-Brownsville, Texas – KGBT 4.1 (MyNetworkTV – Nexstar)
- Laredo, Texas – KXNU 10.2 (Gray Sports – Gray)
- Lubbock, Texas – KMYL 14.1 (MyNetworkTV – Gray)
- Sherman, Texas – KXII 12.2 (MyNetworkTV – Gray)
- Shreveport, La. & Texarkana, Texas – KSHV 45.1 (MyNetworkTV – Nexstar)
- Wichita Falls, Texas & Lawton, Okla. – KJBO 3.2 (MyNetworkTV – Nexstar)
The deal between TEGNA and the Mavericks means that fans won’t have to pay a dime to watch the team play this year as long as they have a TV with antenna capabilities or have a television provider that includes KFAA in its offering.
As of Thursday, October 17, KFAA is available on the following providers in Dallas-Fort Worth:
- AT&T U-verse TV
- Charter Spectrum
- DIRECTV
- DISH
- Fubo
- Frontier Fiber (Keller)
- GEUS
- Grande Communications/Astound Broadband
- OneSource Communications
- Optimum
Additional providers may be added to this list in the coming days and weeks. Fans interested in using an antenna to watch the Mavericks for free can find information on where to purchase an antenna and how to set it up on their televisions in this article.
In addition to airing all local Mavericks games, including both pregame and postgame analysis, KFAA will also air replays of each game broadcast. Those replays will air immediately upon the conclusion of each live game’s postgame coverage, and then again at 9 a.m. the following morning.
The channel will also air regular broadcasts of the Locked On Mavericks podcast, part of the TEGNA-owned Locked On Podcast Network.
Also included in KFAA’s programming upon launch will be various shows from TEGNA’s Quest Network, including reality shows like “Storage Hunters,” “Hardcore Pawn” and “South Beach Tow.”
Additional sports programming is expected to be added to the station in the coming months.