Dallas–Fort Worth

The Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area, with a population of more than 6.8 million, ranks sixth among the top-ten media markets in the United States and is distinctive for its growing Spanish-language community. The region is a business and technology center, home to several corporate headquarters including global oil titan Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Dallas began as a Trinity River trading post founded in 1841 by John Neely Bryan. Other than its affluent “Big D” image and the stereotypes generated by the late-twentieth-century television show Dallas, the city is perhaps most famous for being the site of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Thirty miles to the west, Fort Worth grew from its 1849 founding as a U.S. Army fort into “Cowtown,” so named for its once-huge cattle stockyards. Today, Fort Worth is an urban center with a vibrant downtown entertainment district and renowned art museums. It is home to AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, and RadioShack Corporation, among other companies.

Two large newspapers publish in the area: The Dallas Morning News, ranked as either the eleventhor twelfth-largest U.S. daily in 2007 with a daily circulation of more than 373,000, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which ranked among the top-45 2007 daily newspapers, with more than 210,000 in daily circulation.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to four major professional sports teams. Newspaper, television, radio, and Internet sports coverage focuses largely on these four. Big 12 Conference college sports also garner coverage, including the annual University of Texas-University of Oklahoma football rivalry at Dallas's Cotton Bowl.

There are many colleges and universities in the region.