Does anyone know if there was an urban station on 102.1 in Muskogee during the 90's? Also does anyone know of a station that was supposed to be an urban formatted station known as KREU 92.3 in Roland?
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102.1 Muskogee?
- Thread starter radiolife34
- Start date
Bill Payne bought that signal and later moved it way south & east so Cox could take 102.3 to 50 KW. I assume money changed hands, but I have no proof of that.
Bill Payne was also the one who sold 103.3 to Cox Tulsa for what I'm sure was a pretty penny. Was 102.1 tied up in the deal? Again, I dunno, but certainly it's plausible... although I think Cox Tulsa got 102.3 much later... so maybe not.
Seems like I remember 102.3 out of Sand Springs having their signal scrambled in southeast Tulsa by 102.1 broadcasting a similar urban format... some of the 102.1 guys were even ex-102.3 guys I think, and some went all the way back to Power 1550, KBLK ("RadioVision"). Staff from all three sticks have resurfaced at Hot 1340 most recently.
Oddly, the FCC website doesn't list previous calls... so this is considered a "new" signal? I can't remember the Wagoner signal's calls... I remember they weren't doing them every hour like they were supposed to!
My other big memory was listening to 102.1 & hearing them play Prince's "Erotic City." No edits. The F-word over and over in the chorus. Apparently other stations elsewhere have gotten away with playing it... that's not normal around here!
(I'd found a place in WEST Tulsa where I could park & they came in clear as a bell... move 50 feet either direction & it was gone, but in that one spot, it was clearer than it was in Broken Arrow!)
More info on 102.1's status is available from the FCC here:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?state=&call=KEOK&city=&arn=&serv=&vac=&freq=0.0&fre2=107.9&facid=&class=&dkt=&list=0&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9
The station's official website (along with links to other Payne properties) is here:
http://www.lakescountryradio.com/
Bill Payne was also the one who sold 103.3 to Cox Tulsa for what I'm sure was a pretty penny. Was 102.1 tied up in the deal? Again, I dunno, but certainly it's plausible... although I think Cox Tulsa got 102.3 much later... so maybe not.
Seems like I remember 102.3 out of Sand Springs having their signal scrambled in southeast Tulsa by 102.1 broadcasting a similar urban format... some of the 102.1 guys were even ex-102.3 guys I think, and some went all the way back to Power 1550, KBLK ("RadioVision"). Staff from all three sticks have resurfaced at Hot 1340 most recently.
Oddly, the FCC website doesn't list previous calls... so this is considered a "new" signal? I can't remember the Wagoner signal's calls... I remember they weren't doing them every hour like they were supposed to!
My other big memory was listening to 102.1 & hearing them play Prince's "Erotic City." No edits. The F-word over and over in the chorus. Apparently other stations elsewhere have gotten away with playing it... that's not normal around here!
(I'd found a place in WEST Tulsa where I could park & they came in clear as a bell... move 50 feet either direction & it was gone, but in that one spot, it was clearer than it was in Broken Arrow!)
More info on 102.1's status is available from the FCC here:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?state=&call=KEOK&city=&arn=&serv=&vac=&freq=0.0&fre2=107.9&facid=&class=&dkt=&list=0&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9
The station's official website (along with links to other Payne properties) is here:
http://www.lakescountryradio.com/
Thanks for the info guys. I live in southeastern Oklahoma and there are no urban formatted radio stations out here. I can pick up the occasional signal from 103.5 or the Dallas/Fort Wooth area but that is not good enough for me. I would prefer to have something local. A friend told me about the stations mentioned above, but I have never heard of them. I have been to rural areas of Texas and some other states to find that there are "plenty" of stations with this particular format. And some of them are in areas that have a small percentage of minority groups (meaning that race doesn't mean anything). So I wonder why is it that no one is willing to touch the urban/urban ac format in Oklahoma?
NightAire said:Bill Payne bought that signal and later moved it way south & east so Cox could take 102.3 to 50 KW. I assume money changed hands, but I have no proof of that.
Bill Payne was also the one who sold 103.3 to Cox Tulsa for what I'm sure was a pretty penny. Was 102.1 tied up in the deal? Again, I dunno, but certainly it's plausible... although I think Cox Tulsa got 102.3 much later... so maybe not.
This isn't really related to the topic at hand, but I remember when Payne sold 103.3 to Cox and just moved the KTFX calls and basic format (though I think 103.3 was more of a contemporary country format and 102.3 became a Classic Country format) to 102.3 only to sell it to Cox later. And I just remembered that 102.3 simulcasted KRMG-AM for a time before becoming Rock 102.3.
Sorry, it just amazes me when I remember minor details these days because I can't remember crap anymore.
NightAire, you're looking at the wrong 102.1. The 102.1 you're seeing is KEOK from Tahlequah, which was previously at 101.7. You need to look for 101.7, which I believe is KTFX.
When the station was in Wagoner, the calls were KBIX-FM. KBIX 1490 got the original CP for the station but sold it before it got on-air either to Fred Weinberg (KTRT) or someone who LMA'ed it to him. When KBIX-FM first signed on, it was a simulcast of KTRT. That would've been when I was teaching ESL next door to KTRT in '91 or '92. I was talking with the staff at KTRT and found out they would be signing on 102.1 at midnight as a simulcast one evening.
The KTRT simulcast didn't last long, and 102 Jamz replaced it. I don't know who staffed it or who was operating it as urban radio isn't normally my cup-of-tea. Whatever happened, it was off-air for awhile and signed on as "Cruisin' 102," which aired Jones oldies. It eventually picked up one of the rock feeds as "K-Rock 102," but that only lasted a couple of years.
Bill Payne bought KRQZ, possibly out of bankruptcy, and changed its COL to Warner, thus moving it further from Tulsa and enabling him to upgrade 102.3. He took the KTFX calls and format and moved them to 102.1. I don't know exactly where the KEOK/KTFX swap came in, but I remember it happened after 102.3 was upgraded.
As for 103.3, I seem to remember New City paid $7 million.
When the station was in Wagoner, the calls were KBIX-FM. KBIX 1490 got the original CP for the station but sold it before it got on-air either to Fred Weinberg (KTRT) or someone who LMA'ed it to him. When KBIX-FM first signed on, it was a simulcast of KTRT. That would've been when I was teaching ESL next door to KTRT in '91 or '92. I was talking with the staff at KTRT and found out they would be signing on 102.1 at midnight as a simulcast one evening.
The KTRT simulcast didn't last long, and 102 Jamz replaced it. I don't know who staffed it or who was operating it as urban radio isn't normally my cup-of-tea. Whatever happened, it was off-air for awhile and signed on as "Cruisin' 102," which aired Jones oldies. It eventually picked up one of the rock feeds as "K-Rock 102," but that only lasted a couple of years.
Bill Payne bought KRQZ, possibly out of bankruptcy, and changed its COL to Warner, thus moving it further from Tulsa and enabling him to upgrade 102.3. He took the KTFX calls and format and moved them to 102.1. I don't know exactly where the KEOK/KTFX swap came in, but I remember it happened after 102.3 was upgraded.
As for 103.3, I seem to remember New City paid $7 million.
J
JimmyJames
Guest
I vaguely remember a building somewhere in Tulsa with K-Fox lettering on it..
Wasn't 102.3 a modern rocker ages ago under the KTOW calls?
Wasn't 102.3 a modern rocker ages ago under the KTOW calls?
103.3 operated for some length of time, I think, from a building just east of Admiral & Memorial. Driving eastbound on I-244 it always looked like it was a million miles above the highway!
102.3 WAS progressive at one point.
As I recall, 1340 went first. I think the AM was LMA'd rather than owned by Tim Barraza (sp?), but I couldn't guarantee that. Tim owned the club SRO at the same time, and to a degree based the station on the club's success. 1340 had been owned by (again, I THINK) Roy Clark and a few others... something like that... when it was "Countrypolitan." Somebody else will remember better what local country celeb(s) owned 1340.
I think the FM (102.3) was a new stick, but I'm not 100% sure on that one. After the success of 1340, they added the FM... which, of course pretty much dumped the AM audience over to FM.
It was a very hip little set of stations, hard to pick up in a lot of Tulsa but where you got it, it felt cutting edge. Problem was, it was hard to sell, especially with low or no numbers.
Eventually they would bring in Sister Mary Beard to program the AM black gospel, and Tony Barrow to program the FM urban contemporary. 102.3 was, to a degree, the final nail in the coffin of Power 1550... similar to the way 105.3 would later be the final nail in the coffin for 102.3. Both stations were already on their last legs, but in each case the new station closed the deal, as it were.
I remember being there when it was urban, and we were NOT allowed into most of the building. There were offices which looked untouched since the 70s and a good sized recording studio. Rumor was the progressive staff HAD been allowed to used the recording studios, but somebody did something and the door was locked... PERMANENTLY.
Occasionally the owners would come through and I suppose throw parties for their friends in the studio. I want to say the performance area had video games and pinball along the outside walls, but I can't guarantee that memory.
Also, please don't ask how I would have seen the recording booth. I'd have to explain the night the door from our part of the station to the rest of the station was left unlocked. I'd have to tell you about the other DJ who went with me, & the fear (even at 2AM!) that the owners might show back up to lock the door. We never met them, but the rumors made us terrified of their alleged temper! I'd have to tell you about the cart from the progressive era still in the cart player in the recording booth that I so BADLY wanted to take and listen to but was too terrified somebody would figure out someone had gotten in, dust for fingerprints... and kill us... slowly...
I also remember the winter days when the call would come from Tony, letting me know there was no need to come in... the antenna had iced up and we'd be off until it thawed. Apparently 102.3 had NO domes, no heaters, no nothing to keep the antenna clear. Even though the power wasn't impressive, it was way the heck on top of a hill at the top of a tall tower on top of that. It would freeze at the drop of the hat. That was the first "seasonal" radio gig I ever had!
Anybody remember the legal ID? "Broadcasting from the top-topTOP of one of the tallest towers in the state / at the maximum power allowed by law / this is K-K-K-KTOW-FM Sand Springs / Tulsa / Mix 102.3!"
I asked Tony about the "tallest tower" and "maximum power" claims.
He said we were taller than 50% of the towers in the state, therefore it was "one of the tallest." He also explained we were licensed for (I think) 6 KW, and we were OPERATING at 6 KW... that was the maximum power allowed by law! Ah... OK. ;D
102.3 WAS progressive at one point.
As I recall, 1340 went first. I think the AM was LMA'd rather than owned by Tim Barraza (sp?), but I couldn't guarantee that. Tim owned the club SRO at the same time, and to a degree based the station on the club's success. 1340 had been owned by (again, I THINK) Roy Clark and a few others... something like that... when it was "Countrypolitan." Somebody else will remember better what local country celeb(s) owned 1340.
I think the FM (102.3) was a new stick, but I'm not 100% sure on that one. After the success of 1340, they added the FM... which, of course pretty much dumped the AM audience over to FM.
It was a very hip little set of stations, hard to pick up in a lot of Tulsa but where you got it, it felt cutting edge. Problem was, it was hard to sell, especially with low or no numbers.
Eventually they would bring in Sister Mary Beard to program the AM black gospel, and Tony Barrow to program the FM urban contemporary. 102.3 was, to a degree, the final nail in the coffin of Power 1550... similar to the way 105.3 would later be the final nail in the coffin for 102.3. Both stations were already on their last legs, but in each case the new station closed the deal, as it were.
I remember being there when it was urban, and we were NOT allowed into most of the building. There were offices which looked untouched since the 70s and a good sized recording studio. Rumor was the progressive staff HAD been allowed to used the recording studios, but somebody did something and the door was locked... PERMANENTLY.
Occasionally the owners would come through and I suppose throw parties for their friends in the studio. I want to say the performance area had video games and pinball along the outside walls, but I can't guarantee that memory.
Also, please don't ask how I would have seen the recording booth. I'd have to explain the night the door from our part of the station to the rest of the station was left unlocked. I'd have to tell you about the other DJ who went with me, & the fear (even at 2AM!) that the owners might show back up to lock the door. We never met them, but the rumors made us terrified of their alleged temper! I'd have to tell you about the cart from the progressive era still in the cart player in the recording booth that I so BADLY wanted to take and listen to but was too terrified somebody would figure out someone had gotten in, dust for fingerprints... and kill us... slowly...
I also remember the winter days when the call would come from Tony, letting me know there was no need to come in... the antenna had iced up and we'd be off until it thawed. Apparently 102.3 had NO domes, no heaters, no nothing to keep the antenna clear. Even though the power wasn't impressive, it was way the heck on top of a hill at the top of a tall tower on top of that. It would freeze at the drop of the hat. That was the first "seasonal" radio gig I ever had!
Anybody remember the legal ID? "Broadcasting from the top-topTOP of one of the tallest towers in the state / at the maximum power allowed by law / this is K-K-K-KTOW-FM Sand Springs / Tulsa / Mix 102.3!"
I asked Tony about the "tallest tower" and "maximum power" claims.
He said we were taller than 50% of the towers in the state, therefore it was "one of the tallest." He also explained we were licensed for (I think) 6 KW, and we were OPERATING at 6 KW... that was the maximum power allowed by law! Ah... OK. ;D
NightAire said:103.3 operated for some length of time, I think, from a building just east of Admiral & Memorial. Driving eastbound on I-244 it always looked like it was a million miles above the highway!
The exact address was 8107 E Admiral. It was located between McDonald's and the golf course/strip club that shared the same lot!
102.3 WAS progressive at one point.
The progressive rock format was the first format on 102.3. I believe it signed on in '89.
As I recall, 1340 went first. I think the AM was LMA'd rather than owned by Tim Barraza (sp?), but I couldn't guarantee that. Tim owned the club SRO at the same time, and to a degree based the station on the club's success. 1340 had been owned by (again, I THINK) Roy Clark and a few others... something like that... when it was "Countrypolitan." Somebody else will remember better what local country celeb(s) owned 1340.
I believe you're correct that Roy Clark owned 1340 at one time. He, however, was not who owned it during its progressive days. The family that owned Cust-O-Fab in Sand Springs bought the station from Clark in the mid-80's as a toy for their son, who was blind. It stayed country for a little while, and everyone at Cust-O-Fab was mandated to listen to it! I don't know much about the management structure of the station when it was progressive. It may have been an LMA (or the precursor to the LMA), though.
I think the FM (102.3) was a new stick, but I'm not 100% sure on that one. After the success of 1340, they added the FM... which, of course pretty much dumped the AM audience over to FM.
Yes, it was. Whether it was initially granted to Cust-O-Fab or whether they bought it, I'm not sure. I'm thinking it was a grant, though, as their son was disabled and, thus, would have received extra points from the FCC in comparative hearings.
It was a very hip little set of stations, hard to pick up in a lot of Tulsa but where you got it, it felt cutting edge. Problem was, it was hard to sell, especially with low or no numbers.
I remember how they used to always say they were losing money! Without a good car radio, the FM started picket fencing at about Harvard. The AM did okay for what it was and covered a larger area than the FM. It did, however, sound like AM, as you might have expected!
Eventually they would bring in Sister Mary Beard to program the AM black gospel, and Tony Barrow to program the FM urban contemporary. 102.3 was, to a degree, the final nail in the coffin of Power 1550... similar to the way 105.3 would later be the final nail in the coffin for 102.3. Both stations were already on their last legs, but in each case the new station closed the deal, as it were.
In January '91, KTOW-FM went from progressive to urban as Mix 102.3. Most of the staff came from Power 1550, which returned to being KXOJ (AM) a few weeks later. The story I'd heard was that it was basically a planned demise. Donnie's, which later became American Beauty Products, was leasing 1550 from KXOJ and found out the lease wouldn't be renewed. The staff was informed of this decision, got together, and took over 102.3. However, it wasn't the exact same management structure. You could still see the "Power 1550 KBLK" logo on the American Beauty Products building more than 15 years after Power 1550 signed off! The last time I went by there (Memorial Day weekend), the logo was finally gone, and it looks like ABP may be gone as well.
KTOW (AM), by the way, remained progressive for a few months. I wasn't a regular KTOW listener at the time, but I remember it being progressive in May '91 and religious by mid-June.
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