KWKC

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KWKC
KWKC-AM logo.jpg
CityAbilene, Texas, US
Frequency1340 kHz
BrandingKWKC 1340
Programming
FormatNews/Talk
AffiliationsNational news by CBS Radio News[1]
Ownership
OwnerCanfin Enterprises
KZQQ, KKHR
History
First air date
June 19, 1948 (1948-06-19)
Former call signs
KORQ (1984[2]–1993)
KYYD (1993–1999)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID73682
ClassC
Power1,000 watts
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websiteradioabilene.com/kwkc-1340/

KWKC (1340 AM) is a news/talk radio station in Abilene, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Canfin Enterprises and originates from studios on Cypress Street in downtown and a transmitter on the city's south side.

KWKC is the second-oldest radio station in Abilene, beginning operations in 1948. It has broadcast its present talk format since 1998.

History[]

On December 30, 1947, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit to the Citizens Broadcasting Company for a new 250-watt radio station in Abilene.[3] The decision ended a year of fighting between Citizens Broadcasting and a competing applicant, the Abilene Broadcasting Company. Citizens got the nod because it had more local residents in its composition and because one Abilene Broadcasting shareholder, Gene Cagle, was involved with the Texas State Network, affiliated with KRBC, then the city's only station.[4]

KWKC began operating on June 19, 1948, from studios at 25th and Butternut streets; it was an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System.[5] Four years later, Citizens announced its intention to file for a construction permit for a television station; at the time, just one VHF channel was allocated to the city, channel 9.[6] However, KRBC also filed, which posed the prospect of Abilene waiting years for television. The FCC was processing television station applications in a priority order based on city, and Abilene was 89th in line.[7] Citizens opted to withdraw its bid and leave KRBC uncontested such that television could come faster to the city; it also petitioned for another channel to be assigned.[7]

After upgrading to 1,000 watts in 1963,[3] KWKC had applied for an FM station when it started in 1948 but abandoned the construction permit.[8] In 1964, Citizens was approved to build a station at 105.1 MHz, which signed on as KWKC-FM on January 1, 1965.[9] Later that year, Citizens sold KWKC-AM-FM to Steve Gose Enterprises of Wichita Falls for $400,000.[10] Nearly immediately, Gose made a second filing for a KWKC-aligned television station, this time on UHF channel 32.[11]

By February 1968, however, Gose had experienced financial reverses and declared bankruptcy, seeking permission to sell off his radio holdings, the KWKC stations and KNTO-FM in Wichita Falls.[12] An offer for the AM station only was made by Ben Barnes, then the Texas Speaker of the House, alongside state representative Ralph Wayne and two Austin broadcasters.[13] The bankruptcy court accepted the offer;[14] Texas Communications, Inc., was approved as the buyer by the FCC in March 1969.[3]

KWKC, a country music station at the time, was sold in 1973 to Mithun Enterprises, which purchased its first broadcast property for $500,000.[15] Frontier Broadcasting, the subsidiary of Mithun that acquired the station, then filed to build another FM outlet in town.[16] The construction permit for this outlet was granted in March 1974[17] and went on air as KORQ (100.7 FM) on September 2.[18]

Adams-Shelton Communications of Amarillo acquired KWKC and KORQ in 1980.[19] The call letters of KWKC were changed to KORQ in late 1984, and the station adopted an adult contemporary format similar to that of KORQ-FM; the move got KWKC out of the country music game, with six stations in the format.[20] Adams-Shelton sold the stations to George Bakke, who in turn declared bankruptcy and sold its five stations for $4.9 million to Adcomm IV, Inc., in 1990.[21] Adcomm filed for bankruptcy two years later, with both stations being purchased by Bourdon Wooten.[22]

Wooten changed the AM to KYYD ("Kid AM"[23]) in 1993, briefly trying a children's format from Radio AAHS. The station even aired some local children's programming in the form of Planet Waycoo, which was an extension of the "Camp Waycoo" children's program that aired weekly on KTXS-TV.[24] In January 1994, citing a lack of advertiser support,[25] KYYD abandoned the format and switched to sports;[26] Wooten then sold off the FM to Dynamic Broadcasting in 1996,[27] having leased the station to Dave Martin and Dave Boyll the year before. Boyll operated KHXS (106.3 FM), an easy-listening station; the format moved to KYYD during the daytime hours after Boyll lost the ability to run the FM.[28][29]

KYYD switched to talk in 1998[30] and reclaimed its traditional KWKC call letters the next year, seeking to appeal to the audience that once had grown up with the station.[31] Present owner Canfin Enterprises purchased KWKC and KZQQ (1560 AM) for $850,000 in 2005.[32]

References[]

  1. ^ "CBS Radio News Affiliates". Archived from the original on 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
  2. ^ "Call Letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 19, 1984. p. 82.
  3. ^ a b c FCC History Cards for KWKC
  4. ^ McClendon, Sarah (November 14, 1947). "FCC Okays New Abilene Station". The Abilene Reporter-News (Morning ed.). pp. 1, 18. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "KWKC Goes On Air Today". The Abilene Reporter-News (Morning ed.). June 19, 1948. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "KWKC Plans Bid For TV Station". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). April 23, 1952. p. 1-B. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "KWKC's Withdrawal Clears Track for TV: KRBC Only VHF Applicant Here". The Abilene Reporter-News. April 5, 1953. pp. 1-A, 4-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  8. ^ "KRBCFM Granted Permanent License". The Abilene Reporter-News (Morning ed.). August 4, 1948. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "KWKC To Begin FM Broadcasting". The Abilene Reporter-News (Morning ed.). December 31, 1964. p. 11-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  10. ^ Pouns, Joe B. (September 10, 1965). "Station KWKC Sale Announced". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). pp. 1-A, 2-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  11. ^ "$96,951 TV Station Approval Sought". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). September 12, 1965. p. 6-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  12. ^ "Gose Seeks Okay to Sell Station KWKC". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). February 8, 1968. p. 1-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ben Barnes, Partners Offer To Buy KWKC". The Abilene Reporter-News. June 9, 1968. p. 1-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  14. ^ "Barnes Group's Purchase Of Station KWKC Set". The Abilene Reporter-News. July 27, 1968. p. 1-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  15. ^ "Station Purchase Awaits FCC Okay". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). March 21, 1973. p. 2-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  16. ^ "Third FM Station Awaits FCC Okay". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). August 16, 1973. p. 1-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  17. ^ "New FM Station Due in 4 Months". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). March 22, 1974. p. 1-B. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  18. ^ "New FM Station Goes on Airwaves". The Abilene Reporter-News (Evening ed.). September 3, 1974. p. 3-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  19. ^ Enriquez, Darryl (September 23, 1980). "KWKC, KORQ Bought By Amarillo Company". The Abilene Reporter-News (Morning ed.). p. 8-A. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  20. ^ Zobrist, Brenda (November 17, 1984). "KWKC changes name, music format". Abilene Reporter-News. p. 3-A.
  21. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. February 2, 1990. p. 8.
  22. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. August 18, 1992. p. 7.
  23. ^ Jaklewicz, Greg (January 10, 1993). "Airwaves alive". Abilene Reporter-News. p. 1F.
  24. ^ Lackey, Carol (November 15, 1993). "Radio station for KYYDs: Planet Waycoo is added to educational programming". Abilene Reporter-News. p. 6B.
  25. ^ "Kids out, sports in at KYYD-AM". Abilene Reporter-News. December 22, 1993. p. 6D.
  26. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). M Street Journal. February 9, 1994. p. 2.
  27. ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. September 30, 1996. p. 44.
  28. ^ Whitaker, Bill (November 11, 1996). "Radio station official determined to keep 'taking it easy'". Abilene Reporter-News. p. 1B. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  29. ^ Williamson, Doug (January 20, 1995). "CD 103, SportsRadio 1340 change hands, keep same formats". The Abilene Reporter-News. p. 5B. Archived from the original on October 17, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  30. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). M Street Journal. April 15, 1998. p. 2.
  31. ^ Bethel, Brian (March 3, 1999). "Radio station KYYD changes its call letters". The Abilene Reporter-News. p. 2B.
  32. ^ "Deals". Broadcasting & Cable. January 23, 2005.

External links[]


Coordinates: 32°25′14″N 99°43′54″W / 32.42056°N 99.73167°W / 32.42056; -99.73167

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