KTBG

KTBG (90.9 FM) is a listener supported radio station in Kansas City, Missouri. The station is currently owned by Public Television 19, Inc., the holding company for the area's PBS member television station, KCPT. Known as "The Bridge," it airs an adult album alternative format. The sale of KTBG to PT19 was announced in April 2013, and after FCC approval, the actual transfer occurred Tuesday, December 17, 2013 immediately after KTBG’s 7pm broadcast of “All Things Considered.”News Release, December 18, 2013

The station's programming can also be heard on a low-powered translator on 104.9 FM in Osage Beach.

History

KTBG signed on in the early 1980s as KCMW, airing National Public Radio and jazz programming under the ownership of the University of Central Missouri. In August 2001, the station adopted its current call letters and switched to the current format. The first song after NPR's Morning Edition was "Some Bridges" by Jackson Browne.

Despite its 97,000-watt signal, KTBG only provides grade B coverage of Kansas City itself, and is marginal at best on the Kansas side of the market. It operates from a 443-foot tower on the Johnson/Lafayette County line. However, the station has applied for a construction permit for a directional 1,165-foot tower in Lafayette County. While this would reduce power to 90,000 watts, the tower would provide city-grade coverage of Kansas City itself, and grade B coverage of the Kansas side of the market.