KDFW was the third-rated news outlet in Dallas–Fort Worth prior to the switches. It saw immediate year-over-year declines in the viewership for its 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts; KDFW, which retained its 10 p.m. news in addition to a 9 p.m. news hour, saw notable late news declines because the prior newscast was a poorer lead-in than CBS entertainment programming. By 2000, KTVT had pulled into a dead heat with KDFW for third place. WDAF-TV, a third-rated station in local news in its last years as an NBC affiliate, remained in third but saw significant declines in news viewing in the aftermath of its switch and doubling of weekday news output. Its 10 p.m. news went from attracting 23 percent of TV viewers at that hour to 13 percent, and the station's new morning news attracted just over half the audience share of The Today Show, which it replaced. In prime time, however, WDAF largely outperformed the national average for Fox affiliates. WDAF maintained their NBC-era "Newschannel 4" branding until being renamed "Fox 4" in 1997 after Fox assumed ownership. It was still in third place at the end of the decade. KTVI also remained a third-rated news outlet in St. Louis. It did not introduce a 9 p.m. newscast until August 1997 and remained third in its market by 2000.
