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KWFS (AM)

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Coordinates: 33°57′38″N 98°33′42″W / 33.96056°N 98.56167°W / 33.96056; -98.56167
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KWFS
Broadcast areaWichita Falls metropolitan area
Frequency1290 kHz
BrandingNewsTalk 1290
Programming
FormatNews/Talk
AffiliationsFox News Radio
Ownership
Owner
KBZS, KNIN-FM, KWFS-FM
History
FoundedDecember 23, 1946 (launch of KTRN on FM)
First air date
January 23, 1949 (1949-01-23)
Former call signs
  • KTRN (1949–1985)
  • KLLF (1985–1995)
Call sign meaning
"Wichita Falls"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID6639
ClassD
Power
  • 5,000 watts day
  • 73 watts night
Translator(s)96.3 MHz K242DG (Wichita Falls)
Links
Public license information
WebsiteNewsTalk1290.com

KWFS (branded as NewsTalk 1290) is a radio station serving the Wichita Falls area with a news/talk radio format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1290 kHz and is owned by Townsquare Media, with studios on Kell Boulevard in Wichita Falls.

KWFS is the oldest radio station still remaining in Wichita Falls. It was the third established in the city, but the first two outlets (on 620 and 990 kHz) were moved in to the Dallas–Fort Worth area in the 1990s.

History

Foundation of KTRN on FM

As early as 1944, the city's two daily newspapers, the Wichita Daily Times and Record News, began planning to build a radio station. However, they sought not to build an AM radio station but to start an FM outlet. An application for a station on 46.5 MHz was filed on March 29 in the name of publisher Rhea Howard;[2] a conditional grant was issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on January 9, 1946.[3]

Final approval for a station on 97.7 MHz was granted June 1, 1946, for what the newspapers hoped to be the first FM radio station in Texas. Construction began on a new studio on Seventh Street and a transmitter building in the Westover Hills area by summer, and the new FM station took the call letters KTRN, for the Times and Record News.[4] KTRN was beaten to air by KTHT-FM in Houston, which began August 22,[5] Ultimately, KTRN went on air December 23, 1946, an early Christmas gift to Wichita Falls.[6] The day before, it made a test broadcast of Handel's Messiah as a test of its remote control equipment.[7] The station initially operated with a temporary power of 250 watts,[7] but it upgraded to 3,800 watts on 97.3 MHz in September 1947.[8] April of that year saw the station obtain affiliation with the Mutual Broadcasting System.[9]

On the AM band

While KTRN was busy bringing FM to North Texas, on November 30, 1944,[10] the Texoma Broadcasting Company, part of the Harte-Hanks chain, applied to the FCC to build a new AM station at 970 kHz,[11] later modified to 1290. After a hearing, the new AM station was approved on January 16, 1948.[10] In April, the Times Publishing Company and Texoma Broadcasting Company proposed a merger of their radio interests; KTRN would take over the construction permit for the AM station, KTEN, which in turn would drop the FM permit it held.[12]

With 5,000 watts and 1,000 watts day from a different site in the City View area, KTRN's AM service debuted on January 23, 1949. A two-hour variety show attended by 4,000 people[13] was held in the Municipal Auditorium to commemorate the occasion,[14] The expansion to AM turned out to be more of a migration, as the station surrendered its FM license on June 2, 1949, citing "two years of constant losses".[15]

The year that followed the launch of KTRN on the AM dial led to a flurry of growth, including the relocation of the studios to a new building on Scott Street and a growth in the number of employees from seven to 17.[13] KTRN even examined television and filed an application in 1951;[16] KTRN merged its application with KWFT, but it then pulled out of the merger when it felt that the FCC was not acting quickly enough to approve the proposed joint station; it had apparently been pushed back by another application being filed for channel 6.[17]

In 1955, the newspapers sold KTRN to a new Texoma Broadcasting Company headed by Boyd Kelley, who had previously been a part-owner.[18] The Kelley family and Robert A. Harmon sold five years later to Broadcasting Associates, Inc., a company majority controlled by Sammons Enterprises, and in 1961, the licensee name was changed to T & O Broadcasting Company.[10]

Christian format and news/talk

In 1985, KTRN became KLLF and adopted a Christian radio format, the first such station in the city. This evolved to news/talk/sports by the early 1990s, with the last religious programming being dropped in 1994,[19] and KLLF became KWFS in 1995, sharing the base designation with KWFS-FM.[20]

Clear Channel Communications acquired the Holberg cluster for $6.5 million in 2000.[21] It then divested its small-market stations

Programming

KWFS programming consists primarily of national conservative talk shows. A former affiliate of The Rush Limbaugh Show, KWFS and three other Townsquare talk stations in West Texas chose The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show as its replacement in 2021.[22]

One local and one regional show feature on the station's weekday lineup: Mike Hendren's Wake Up Call program in morning drive and the Chad Hasty Show, which is heard on other Townsquare talk stations in the region.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KWFS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Applications" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 3, 1944. p. 68 – via World Radio History.
  3. ^ Timmons, B. N. (January 10, 1946). "Times Publishing Co. Granted Permission For Radio Station". Wichita Falls Record News. Wichita Falls, Texas. p. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Contract Let on KTRN Transmitter Building". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. June 2, 1946. p. 6. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "First FM Radio Station In Texas In Operation". Wichita Falls Record News. Wichita Falls, Texas. United Press. August 23, 1946. p. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Radio Station KTRN Dedicated In Brief Program". Wichita Falls Record News. Wichita Falls, Texas. December 24, 1946. p. 1, 2. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "Times Opens City's First FM Radio Station Monday". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. December 23, 1946. p. 1, 2. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Station KTRN Gets Increase In Range". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. September 22, 1947. p. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Announcing, Monday, April 7th, By Special Arrangement..." Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. April 6, 1947. p. 9. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b c FCC History Cards for KWFS
  11. ^ "New Radio Station For City Is Sought". Times Record News. Wichita Falls, Texas. December 28, 1944. p. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Merger Requested By Radio Interests Here". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. April 16, 1948. p. 6. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "KTRN Shows Wide Growth, Popularity After Year as Standard AM Station". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. January 23, 1950. p. 5. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "At 2 P. M. Sunday in Memorial Auditorium: Public Invited to Attend Two-Hour Variety Show". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. January 23, 1949. p. 40. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "FM Deletions" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 6, 1949. p. 73 – via World Radio History.
  16. ^ "KTRN Files Application For Television Station". Wichita Daily Times. Wichita Falls, Texas. April 30, 1951. p. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "New Application Will Delay Another Video Station in This City". Wichita Falls Record News. Wichita Falls, Texas. December 24, 1952. p. 1, 7. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "KTRN Is Under New Ownership". Wichita Falls Record News. Wichita Falls, Texas. January 27, 1955. p. 1, 2. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). M Street Journal. August 24, 1994. p. 2 – via World Radio History.
  20. ^ "Call Letter Changes" (PDF). M Street Journal. March 15, 1995. p. 4 – via World Radio History.
  21. ^ "Elsewhere" (PDF). M Street Journal. July 12, 2000. p. 8 – via World Radio History.
  22. ^ Venta, Lance (June 20, 2021). "Number Of Rush Limbaugh Affiliates Decide On Replacement Shows". RadioInsight. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  23. ^ "Shows". NewsTalk 1290. Retrieved November 4, 2021.

33°57′38″N 98°33′42″W / 33.96056°N 98.56167°W / 33.96056; -98.56167


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