Which TV newsrooms stand out most in Texas? More than 270 people working in the industry recently weighed in, and one Dallas station came out ahead of the pack.

WFAA received the most votes among Texas stations in an informal survey of current TV news professionals conducted by Josh Helmuth, a morning news anchor at KRDO in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Houston’s KPRC 2 also earned recognition elsewhere in the survey, receiving at least two votes when respondents were asked to name the best TV stations in the country.

Helmuth published the findings as part of his 2026 State of TV News: What Insiders Really Think survey, which asked reporters, anchors, news managers, producers, photographers, web producers and others working in television news about the stations and ownership groups they admire most.

“I’m not surprised that WFAA had the most votes for top station,” Helmuth told Chron. “It’s a legacy station with a remarkable history.”

WFAA also had the strongest national showing of any Texas station. It tied Raleigh, N.C.’s WRAL for No. 4 in the country with 27 votes. Minneapolis’ KARE 11 topped the national ranking with 41 votes. KXAN, ABC13 and KPRC did not crack the national top 10, but each received multiple votes.

Helmuth said he launched the anonymous survey because he wanted a clearer picture of what people working in local TV news think of the industry in 2026.

“I was simply curious about what those in TV news thought about the current landscape in 2026,” he said. “If a survey like mine had been done, I hadn’t seen it.”

He distributed the survey publicly through social media and colleagues’ networks. Helmuth cautioned that the results are intended as a pulse check rather than a scientific ranking, and larger companies may have had more employees represented among respondents.

“It’s not perfect, nor was that the expectation,” Helmuth said. “But it’s a decent sample size.”

The survey also asked respondents about station ownership. Hearst, Chron’s parent company, received 94 votes as the best ownership group to work for.

The answers shifted sharply when respondents were asked which companies they would caution colleagues about. Nexstar received 158 mentions, followed by Sinclair with 120 and Scripps with 55.

Helmuth said those responses came as local TV news grapples with layoffs, consolidation, stagnant salaries, changing viewing habits and new concerns surrounding artificial intelligence.