The Dallas/Fort Worth Radio Dial: April 7 1987
"Magic 102.9" KMGC, KLUV, "Y95" KHYI, "the Eagle" KEGL, "Kiss 106" KTKS, KVIL, "Cozy" KQZY, "Z107" KDLZ, "K104" KKDA-FM, KZPS, "Q102" KTXQ, "K-Zoo" KZEW, "K-Oldie" KLDD, KSCS, "K-Plex" KPLX, WBAP
In the 1980s, one of the few ways to hear radio in other markets would be to trade cassettes with other radiophiles. However, there were a couple of enterprises, like California Airchecks, that would bundle and sell airchecks via monthly subscriptions aimed at radio programmers to see how other stations in their format or in other markets were programmed. The monthly cassettes would be either a market profile featuring audio of most of the big stations in a single market or format profiles of stations in the same format from different markets. Of course, with the Internet and streaming, today, the necessity of a cassette tape in the mail to hear how other stations are programmed is a less powerful selling point than it was back then.
Having lived in D/FW most of my life, many, many years ago, another aircheck collector sent me some of the old D/FW market compilations. One of them is from airchecks compiled on April 7 1987. To celebrate that 37th anniversary and the fact Dallas/Fort Worth was designated as the 4th largest radio market, overtaking San Francisco, this past week by Nielsen in their revised market ratings, let’s take a tour of the D/FW radio dial back then…only with my witty commentary, some bonus audio mixed in, and some obscure radio history you never knew you needed to know…
Before we get going, some context for the time.
Ownership Caps: The FCC had ownership caps that limited any owner to owning only 1 FM and 1 AM in a radio market. On top of that, the FCC had a national cap of how many stations an owner could own in total across the country. As such, unlike today, all the FMs were separately owned and programmed. Only AM/FM combos — KLDD 570/KPLX 99.5 and WBAP 820/KSCS 96.3 in this market survey — existed at the time.
D/FW Fun Facts: Metro Numbers. Before the proliferation first of fax machines and then later cell phones necessitating the need to add several area code overlays to the area, D/FW had two area codes — 214 covered Dallas and points eastward and 817 covered Fort Worth and points westward. However, calling between them were long-distance phone calls — at a time when long-distance phone calls were expensive as this was long before the mobile phone and cell phone plans that made domestic long distance calls not any different than local calls.
For D/FW radio stations, they had “metro numbers” — basically the same 7-digit subscriber number for both the 214 and 787 area codes. In D/FW, the prefix was 787, followed by a 1, which allowed each station to have a number based off frequency for the remaining digits, i.e. KEGL 97.1 had 787-1971 and KMGC 102.9 had 787-1029. Since area code overlays didn’t exist yet and you only had to dial the 7 digit number for local numbers, rather than 10 digits today, that meant someone living in the 817 area code just had to dial 787-1971 to call KEGL and someone living in the 214 area code did the same and it was, thus, a local call to both. Some of the audio references calling the “metro” line.
Part 1
KMGC 102.9, KLUV 98.7, KHYI 94.9, KEGL 97.1, KTKS 106.1, KVIL-FM 103.7, KQZY 105.3, KDLZ 107.5
Part 2
KKDA-FM 104.5, KZPS 92.5, KTXQ 102.1, KZEW 97.9, KLDD 570, KSCS 96.3, KPLX 99.5, WBAP 820
AC KMGC 102.9 Dallas-Fort Worth “KMGC, Magic 102.9FM”
KVIL was the long-time AC powerhouse in Dallas/Fort Worth. KMGC’s counter was a less personality-driven, less talk, “lite rock/light jazz” take on the format. KMGC began life in 1977 and was rebranded May 13 1991 as KDMX “Mix 102.9” after sale to Nationwide Communications, matching the branding of its new successful sister down Interstate 45 in Houston, hot AC KHMX 96.5 “Mix 96.5.” Unlike KHMX, despite the “Mix” handle, KDMX remained a more traditional AC and later evolved to hot AC by the mid-1990s and then to modern AC in the late 1990s before evolving back to hot AC. It has remained hot AC since then. It rebranded as “102-9 Now” in May 2012, but returned to the “Mix 102-9” handle last June, which it remains today.
Today, it is now co-owned as part of a cluster owned by iHeart that includes talk KFXR 1190, KZPS 92.5, KEGL 97.1, KDGE 102.1, and KHKS 106.1.
On the aircheck, the “Magic At Work” contest required sending in your Social Security Number, which is pretty amazing to hear today when identify theft is a problem.
Radio Fun Facts: Inappropriate Contesting. Back in the day, radio ratings were measured by ratings company Arbitron (now Nielsen) sending diaries to a sample of listeners in the market to write down when and to which station they listened to. On this market aircheck, that leads to this KMGC reminder:
“If someone should ask what radio station you’re listening to, we’re Magic 102.9FM, but, remember, when you write it, it’s KMGC. The official Magic call letters are KMGC.”
That seems like something that might be getting close to crossing a line. Is it possible for a station to cross the line? Yes, it is. Here is some bonus audio from KEGL 97.1 the following year.
Bonus audio: KEGL, 1988
The first legal ID includes the not-so-subtle sound of someone with a pencil writing down the KEGL call letters, not much off from the KMGC approach. And then there is the second legal ID from later in the year:
“KEGL. When somebody asks you what radio station you listen to, remember, KEGL is the answer that pays cash. KEGL Fort Worth-Dallas."
Arbitron had rules on “inappropriate contesting” — and the paying cash part was a red line for them. As punishment, Arbitron would separate out any station it found violated the rules and put them “below the line” — below all the other radio stations in the ratings report — to call out that ratings may be skewed for the station due to the offending contesting. KEGL fell below the line in the Spring 1989 ratings report as a result of it.
Classic Hits KLUV 98.7 Dallas-Fort Worth “K-Love, 98.7 KLUV”
“K-Love” dates back to 1981, originally as gold-based AC KLVU that moved to oldies (classic hits) at the end of 1985. The KLUV calls belonged to a pair of stations in rural Haynesville LA (1580 and 105.5) along the Louisiana/Arkansas border. The owners of KLVU made a deal with them to exchange call letters, enabling 98.7 to take the KLUV calls January 26 1984. The AM/FM combo in Louisiana no longer exists as the licenses were surrendered back to the FCC in the 1990s. That was just the first time someone paid for those calls…
For decades, classic hits in the market meant “K-Loving the oldies” on KLUV. For the last decade in particular, “K-Love” for most of the rest of the US means the national contemporary Christian “K-Love” format operated by Educational Media Foundation, now on more than 100 full power FMs and low power FM translators across the country, and adding more stations each month. When EMF entered D/FW — via purchase of rimshot KYDA 101.7 — it couldn’t clear K-Love since KLUV owned the “K-Love” brand in market. As such, KYDA cleared EMF’s worship network, Air 1. With current owner Audacy on the verge of its forthcoming chapter 11 bankruptcy, Audacy sold the KLUV intellectual property as part of a deal with EMF leading KLUV to rebrand as KSPF “98.7 the Spot” last summer. EMF has parked the KLUV call letters it now controls for future use on an unbuilt station licensed to Huron SD. While EMF awaits an opportunity to get the K-Love format on a full-market signal, with the “K-Love” name now theirs to use in the market, K-Love now airs, no doubt for the time being, on the HD2 of KYDA.
Steve Eberhart is the DJ for this audio. Today, KSPF is part of Audacy’s cluster of adult hits KJKK 100.3 “100.3 Jack FM,” KVIL 103.7, KRLD-FM 105.3, KMVK 107.5, and news/talk KRLD 1080 “News Radio 1080.”
Radio Fun Facts: Oldies are older today. At this point in 1987, KLUV was pretty typical of playing songs primarily from the 1960s and 1970s as the majority of the library…meaning songs were primarily 10-25 years old. If a programmer followed the same rules today, a classic hits station today would be primarily late 1990s, 2000s, and early 2010s music. KSPF, however, is largely 1980s-heavy with some 1990s material, as are most of its classic hits siblings in other markets.
Top 40 KHYI 94.9 Arlington-Fort Worth-Dallas “Y95”
KHYI burst on the scene in the previous year, after flipping from contemporary Christian KLTY in September 1986. It made the two-way CHR format battle between KEGL 97.1 and KTKS 106.1 into a three-way competition, with KTKS the ultimate loser; more on that below. When it came on the air, Y95 initially had more dance and R&B product than the rock-leaning KEGL and more mainstream KTKS. It also featured some aggressive and over-the-top imaging, including a “Y95, get out the way wimp!” liner that used to run near the top of the hour each hour; a less in your face version of it moved to the bottom of the hour, as heard on this market survey. By this point, it had shifted to a more mainstream CHR playlist, even tossing in the occasional 1970s classic rock track now and then.
Y95 shifted to dance top 40 “Power 95” in April 1991 before ditching the “Power” handle and temporarily reverting back to mainstream top 40 “94.9” in September. That was short-lived as KHYI became KODZ “Oldies 94.9” in October 1991. KODZ was most notable for legendary DJ Wolfman Jack doing the morning shift for the launch and coming in to do some weekend shifts. KODZ, too, was not long-lived, as a year later in October 1992, KODZ became classic country KSNN “Sunny 95.” KSNN flipped to all-news in February 1996, with calls to KEWS after that. However, on October 12 1996, the tower housing sister station country KYNG 105.3 collapsed, killing three. As a result, the more popular “Young Country” format temporarily moved to 94.9 until the 105.3 facility could be restored. When news programming was returned, the format was largely over as it went to simulcasting CNN Headline News until a sale sent it to Salem, which resulted in the talk and religious programming of KDFX 1190 being moved to KEWS as KWRD-FM “100.7 the Word” in January 1997. The KLTY calls had been resurrected on the 100.7 rimshot facility and on December 22 2000, now co-owned KWRD-FM and KLTY swapped intellectual property, returning the KLTY calls and contemporary Christian format to 94.9 that was the the predecessor to Y95.
During its first year, the Y95 DJ line up was ever-changing. “Rockin’” Robin Flores is the DJ for the Y95 audio on this market profile.
Today, KLTY and KWRD-FM are part of Salem’s D/FW cluster that also include conservative talk KSKY 660 “660 the Answer” and Spanish-language religious KTNO 620.
Related: Aircheck of Y95, February 3 1989
Top 40-Rock KEGL 97.1 Fort Worth-Dallas “All Hit 97.1 KEGL, the Eagle”
As a high school student at the time, this was my station. KEGL came along in 1981, changing from top 40 KFJZ-FM to top 40-rock “Eagle 97.” That early KEGL was very MTV-esque in playlist and used the “Rock of the 80s” slogan that got used on some rock and modern rock stations in the early 1980s in some markets. In fact, here is some bonus audio with evening DJ Drew Pierce from December 1982 where KEGL “rocks the Metroplex.” If anyone has more early or mid-1980s KEGL airchecks, let me know as I would love to hear it.
Bonus audio: KEGL, December 1982
Fast forward to this market profile in 1987, with Moby in the mornings, Kidd Kraddick in PM drive, a rock-skewing CHR playlist that would toss in a 1970s classic from the likes of Foreigner or Boston, and kick-ass contests like Porsche give aways (referenced in the audio above under KMGC), I was a KEGL P1. In fact, as bonus audio from two months later, here is my “Eagle Free Flight” from June 1987. At the time, for the weekday noon (well, 11:55AM) “Eagle Free Flight of back-to-back rock and roll hits” music sweep, listeners could mail in — via letter to a PO box — their list of songs to play for the entire music sweep. I’m proud to say, I am totally not embarrassed by my teenage self…ain’t nothing wrong with Lou Gramm, Heart, Billy Squier, Boston, Don Henley, Foreigner, and Eddie Money.
Bonus audio: KEGL, June 1987
Stations today do not typically mention their rivals on air very much, but there is something fun when rival stations are competitive and engage in battle. KEGL and Y95 had a pretty good rivalry. From the July 4th weekend in 1988, here’s some bonus audio of KEGL DJ Kidd Kraddick’s “You Give Love A Bad Name” parody of Y95, entitled “You Give Radio A Bad Name.” It particularly jabs the station (“Disco 95”) and Y95’s “Morning Guys” morning show pretty well.
Bonus audio: KEGL, July 1988
JD Ryan is the DJ for this D/FW April 1987 market survey. He would later go do late nights at Y95 as heard in a post earlier this year.
KEGL evolved from a rock-leaning CHR to mainstream top 40 in late 1989. Following letting go the airstaff and a weekend stunting playing tunes from the band The Eagles, KEGL re-turned to top 40-rock “97.1 the Eagle” on June 15 1992. In hindsight, it might not have been the smartest move; it left D/FW without a mainstream top 40 outlet and that would be filled on November 1 when smooth jazz KOAI 106.1 flipped back to top 40 as KHKS “106.1 Kiss FM.” With Kidd Kraddick in mornings, unlike the previous incarnation of Kiss, KHKS would be a huge success, and the soon-to-be nationally syndicated morning show still bearing Kraddick’s name is still on the air today. KEGL fully shifted to AOR July 24 1993, retaining the “97.1 the Eagle” handle.
The rock format would end on May 18 2004 when KEGL flipped to soft AC “Sunny 97-1.” It flipped to Spanish oldies “La Preciosa” in August 2005. On December 1 2007, KEGL flipped to all-Christmas music and the rock “97-1 the Eagle” format returned on December 18. The second rock incarnation had another good run, ending September 2022, when KEGL became sports/hot talk “97-1 the Freak,” it’s present format.
Top 40 KTKS 106.1 Denton-Dallas-Fort Worth “Kiss 106FM”
“Hot Hits 106.1 Kiss FM” signed on in September 1984, becoming the third CHR combatant in the format with KAFM 92.5 “92 1/2 KAFM, This Week’s Hits” and KEGL. It would be KAFM that would bow out in the spring of 1986; more on that below under KZPS. Y95 signing on later in the year made it a three-way battle again. KTKS would be the one that folded. Not long after this aircheck, KTKS moved to AC and then changed to new age/smooth jazz KOAI “106.1 the Oasis” in September. As noted above, KOAI gave way to the second incarnation of Kiss as KHKS in November 1992.
If the part about flipping to an AC doesn’t ring familiar, it may be you looked up KTKS’ history online and that part is typically not mentioned. In fact, KTKS denied making a format change. From the June 20 1987 edition of Billboard:
“Out in Dallas, KTKS PD Kevin Metheny complains of "55 journalists calling out of the woodwork" to sound out format change rumors. The top 40 PD denies rumors of an AC move and says any changes reflect longtime plans to reposition the outlet against its two top 40 competitors.”
If only there was some geeky teenager who lived in Dallas and recorded radio stations around that time to settle this? Why there was…and here are the receipts:
Bonus audio: KTKS, July 4-August 1987
Despite the short time span, there are actually two post-top 40 format changes. First, at the start of the summer of 1987, KTKS took a new jingle package and moved “Kiss 106FM” to a duller-than-dull lite rock playlist and an evening “love songs” show at night. Despite the comments to the trade magazines, “not too hard, not too light” and soft rock nights has pretty much taken you out of the top 40 format. It backed off that fairly quickly by moving to a brighter AC format (more along the lines of what a hot AC is today), returning to the original jingle package at its 1984 launch as well as returning to the “106.1 Kiss FM” version of its handle at its launch, sans the “Hot Hits” branding in favor of “the Fresh One” and “the Rhythm of the ‘80s.”
AC KVIL-FM 103.7 Highland Park-Dallas-Fort Worth
Jack Schell is the DJ for the April 1987 audio. I certainly was not in the demo that KVIL targeted and reigned supreme in, but even I could recognize the greatness of KVIL and its legendary standing as a personality-driven AC recognized in the industry well outside the market.
If one needed an example of what “stationality” is, KVIL embodied its market; it was D/FW. Listening to KVIL, you were plugged into anything and everything happening in the market as the DJs conveyed the sense they knew every backstreet Tex-Mex or BBQ diner in town, who had been shopping at NorthPark Center, and what the hot topics were at city hall. In a odd sense, the only station since KVIL’s peak that fully embodied that strong connection with the community was the 1990s-2000s era of sports/guy talk KTCK 1310 “Sports Radio 1310 the Ticket.”
Technically, the KVIL calls still live on the 103.7 frequency, but they exist there only for the FCC-required legal ID — and to prevent those call letters and its powerful brand from being scooped up elsewhere in the market. The calls were removed from on-air reference, outside the legal ID, on August 1 2016, when KVIL shifted to top 40 as “103-7, More Hits, Less Commercials.” KVIL rebranded again to “Amp 103-7, D/FW’s New Hit Music” soon after on January 18 2017. Amp only made it to November, when it flipped to modern rock “Alt 103-7,” it’s present day format.
Radio Fun Facts: KVIL, the flagship. As mentioned in the audio, KVIL became the flagship to the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. In the 1990s, KVIL would become the flagship for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, moving to FM after being on KRLD 1080. It certainly is not uncommon these days for sports teams to find FM homes as their flagship station, but that was less common back then, especially for an AC-formatted outlet.
Soft AC KQZY 105.3 Dallas-Fort Worth “Cozy 105.3FM KQZY”
Not the world’s most interesting station, KQZY’s soft AC format was an evolution from its easy listening days. KQZY shifted to a brighter AC format in September 1989 as “Star 105.3,” with the calls changing to KRSR the following year. KRSR was most notable for having several celebrities popping on to do guest DJ stints. KRSR flipped to “Young Country 105.3” in January 1992. More about KYNG and later formats from the RTWBT edition published a few days ago.
R&B KDLZ 107.5 Fort Worth-Dallas “Z107 KDLZ”
Baron Beacon is the DJ for this aircheck. The 107.5 frequency was the FM off-shoot of KNOK 970, and the two were once known as “The Black Rocker.” The KDLZ calls and “Z107” branding came in 1985. Z107 was an also-ran to R&B leader KKDA-FM 104.5 “K104.” Not helping was, that as a class C1 rather than full C, KDLZ had lesser facilities than the other commercial FMs. It wasn’t until 1998 until its transmitter moved from Fort Worth to the D/FW market antenna farm in Cedar Hill to enable wider market coverage.
Around Christmastime 1988, the new owners of easy listening KMEZ-FM 100.3 flipped it to R&B-dance KJMZ “100.3 Jamz.” The KMEZ intellectual property moved to 107.5 as “Easy 107.5.” KMEZ 1480 Dallas followed along as well … moving from simulcasting 100.3 to simulcasting 107.5. KMEZ-FM would evolve to soft AC and flip to rock AC KCDU “CD107.5” in July 1991. The rock AC format (“soft classic rock” — a mix of AAA, soft rock, and easy classic rock) had emerged as a new format from WMMO 98.9 Orlando. CD107.5 ended when 107.5 picked up another stray…when smooth jazz KOAI 106.1 flipped back to top 40 on November 1 1992, KCDU picked up the format the following day and KOAI calls soon after. KOAI ended its run as “Smooth Jazz 107-5 the Oasis” in October 2006 when it became rhythmic AC KMVK “Movin’ 107-5.” English-language programming ended in February 2009 when it became “Mega 107.5.” Presently, KMVK is regional Mexican “La Grande.”
R&B KKDA-FM 104.5 Dallas-Fort Worth “K104”
Scottie West is the DJ for this K104 PM drive audio.
K104 is another D/FW legend, with the K104 handle and R&B format dating back to the mid-1970s. Outside a brief stint with disco and a brief branding in the early 1990s as “Hot 104,” KKDA-FM is closing in on five decades as K104.
It also remains under the same local ownership. Sister KKDA 730 was sold off in 2013, and today KKDA-FM is co-owned with adult R&B KRNB 105.7.
Classic Hits KZPS 92.5 Dallas-Fort Worth “Classic Hits 92.5”
Ryan West and Stubie Doak are the DJs for this afternoon shift.
As noted above, top 40 KAFM became the victim of the three-way battle between KAFM, KEGL, and KTKS. In February 1986, it rebranded as “Z92.5, Your Power Station, Feel The Energy.” Z92.5’s first call letters were KZPW, taking effect February 12. If you were a radio station in the market already using call letters KZEW, well, KZPW might seem a little close. On February 20, KZPW changed calls to KZPS, which it remains today.
Z92.5 was pretty much a mess. It originally kept the top 40 format, moved to adult top 40, then introduced jazz (referred to “enerjazz” on air to fuse “jazz” with the “Feel The Energy” slogan), then AC with jazz, and finally giving up and flipping to classic rock/oldies with jazz at night as “Classic Hits 92.5 KZPS” by the end of that year. The jazz would later go, which gets us to this time of the D/FW April 1987 survey. KZPS would shift to classic rock “Classic Rock 92.5 KZPS” in 1990.
On April 23 2007, KZPS flipped to classic rock-Americana “Lone Star 92-5” with Willie Nelson as the voice for the liners. Almost as novel as the format was that it did away with traditional commercials and went to sponsorship reads by the DJs, not unlike something you would hear on a non-commercial classical outlet. It was a much more classic/southern-fried rock heavy format than what KIKK-FM 95.7 Houston had tried several years earlier (which I fondly revisited a few weeks ago). I found “Lone Star” pretty awesome, but few others did, so it was soon back to classic rock, but keeping the “Lone Star 92-5” handle, which it still retains today. As the anniversary of that April 23 format change is coming up, that could very well be a “Radio This Week Back Then” candidate for edition 14 in a few weeks….
AOR KTXQ 102.1 Fort Worth-Dallas “Q102, Texas Best Rock & Roll”
Sally Diamond is the DJ for this audio.
The rock format on 102.1 dated back to the mid-1970s under its previous KFWD call letters. The Q102 handle and the KTXQ calls came in 1978. KFWD/KTXQ had a long rivalry with KZEW 97.9.
The rock format would end in August 1998 when KTXQ flipped to rhythmic/”jammin’ oldies “Magic 102.” In November 2000, KTXQ and modern rock KDGE 94.5 swapped intellectual property and programming…sending jammin’ oldies to the rim-shot 94.5 facility and “the Edge” moved to the bigger 102.1 signal.
In November 2016, after running a loop of Semisonic’s “Closing Time,” KDGE became “Star 102.1,” with Christmas music until December 26, when the present day AC format began.
Radio Fun Facts: We’re Not That Edge, Eh. During the “Closing Time” stunting, KDGE listeners blitzed the social media of what they assumed was KDGE, but what was instead CFNY 102.1 “102.1 the Edge” Toronto with their complaints. CFNY was not amused…even posting a North America map to show where Dallas and Toronto were.
AOR KZEW 97.9 Dallas-Fort Worth “98 K-Zoo”
Tempe Lindsey was the DJ for the April market aircheck. See the RTWBT from a couple of days ago for the background of the 97.9 frequency.
Oldies KLDD 570 Dallas-Fort Worth “AM57 K-Oldie”
KLDD was the AM sister to KZEW. In 1983, WFAA changed to classic rock KRQX “K-Rocks,” considered to be the first AOR gold outlet in the US. It changed to oldies KLDD in late January 1987, a couple of months before this aircheck. When KZEW ended and became soft AC KKWM-FM “Warm 97.9,” KLDD would follow along and simulcast the format. It was spun off and became the new home to KLIF 1190 Dallas’ talk programming in late 1990. KLIF originally was general talk, but would evolve to all-conservative talk, which it remains today.
Presently, it is owned by Cumulus and part of a cluster that includes news/talk WBAP 820/WBAP-FM 93.3, sports KTCK 1310/KTCK-FM 96.7 “the Ticket,” country KSCS 96.3, and country KPLX 99.5 “99-5 the Wolf.”
Country KSCS 96.3 Fort Worth-Dallas
KSCS’ history is pretty straightforward and simpler than most of the D/FW FM stations. Originally WBAP-FM, the offshoot of WBAP, the KSCS calls and current country format date back to 1973. You must be doing OK if you haven’t had a call letter or format change in over 50 years.
Until coming under common ownership, KSCS spent about three decades with KPLX 99.5 as its rival that brought out the best of both of them. The battle really heated up when long-time KPLX morning man Terry Dorsey jumped over to KSCS. More below…
Country KPLX 99.5 Fort Worth-Dallas “99.5 K-Plex”
KPLX entered the country format in 1980 and would spar with KSCS until becoming co-owned. KPLX was named after the region’s name as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. In the late 1980s/early 1990s, it ran a cheesy TV campaign featuring country artists “flexing their plex.” With 105.3 flipping to hot country KYNG “Young Country 105.3” in 1992, the country format became more crowded. On July 24 1998, KPLX relaunched as “99-5 the Wolf, Texas Country.” With actor Barry Corbin doing the voiceover work, the Wolf howl, and the “Wolf credo”…
“Respect the elders
Teach the young
Cooperate with the pack
Play when you can
Hunt when you must
Rest in between
Share your affections
Voice your feelings
Leave your mark
This is Texas Country 99-5 the Wolf”
…KPLX launched a powerful brand that outshined the “Young Country” brand. Thus, KYNG ended in 2000, as was revisted here a few days ago. KPLX is still “99-5 the Wolf” today, though less focused on Texas country.
Country WBAP 820 Fort Worth-Dallas
WBAP’s full-service country format dates back to 1970, when the odd time-sharing arrangement with WFAA ended. Until then, WBAP and WFAA shared the 570 and 820 frequencies, flipping between them each day, i.e. when WBAP was on 820, WFAA was on 570 and when WFAA would switch to 820, WBAP would go to 570. In October 1993, WBAP flipped to its present day news/talk format.
As always, the logos and other intellectual property belong to the stations. The recordings were made from over the air broadcasts.
Just fantastic stuff you’ve documented here. I stumbled across ONTHEAIR while searching for any audio of the Eagle from the 80’s when it was a CHS station. Obviously the Kidd Kraddick era. Also searching for more Y95 and Q102 audio,tapes, etc from the mid to late 80’s. Again great stuff.
Hi Chip I’m listening to the eagle 97 audio from 1982 I think it may be from 1983 actually because Beat it wasn’t released until 83 same with the Berlin song