A Liberal/Moderate Talk Station

[CaptMarvel]

Okay, this is going to sound just plain odd. I remember for a time there was a Progessive/Liberal/Moderate Talk Radio station on the FM Dial (?) in Houston that was not KTFP (Pacfica) or KTRU (Rice Radio).

I remember the line up consisting of Don Imus, Dana Steele (the former K101 DJ whose listeners on both stations were called "Steeleworkers"), Kim Kommando (I think) & then Roger Gray. The time line for this was after Gray was let go from 950 KPRC when Dan Patrick first wanted to make the station all conservative talk radio.

I remember listening to this station or did I just plain hallucinate it? I remember it being on the FM dial and not for too long.

--James

 

[Mediafrog+]

You are thinking of "97 Talk" which was on 97.1 from early 1997 to mid 1998. Call was KRTK, later changed to KKTL.

 

[ChuckTiller]

97TALK-FM (KRTK, KKTL)was considered a moderate radio station. It was not liberal or conservative. There were elements of both. Don Imus was on the air in morning drive followed by Dayna Steele. Her program was mainly entertainment. Hunter and Jones followed. Hunter was a conservative and Jones was a liberal. That was a fun show. Roger Gray (Program Director) was on the air in afternoon drive. The overnight fare was from WOR. Dr Joy Browne and Bob Grant were on the air in those night time periods. I was a producer/announcer there in 1997 until it's end in the fall of 1998. Kim Kommando was a regular Saturday afternoon feature.

 

[TexasTuner]

97TALK-FM (KRTK, KKTL)was considered a moderate radio station. It was not liberal or conservative. There were elements of both. Don Imus was on the air in morning drive followed by Dayna Steele. Her program was mainly entertainment. Hunter and Jones followed. Hunter was a conservative and Jones was a liberal. That was a fun show. Roger Gray (Program Director) was on the air in afternoon drive. The overnight fare was from WOR. Dr Joy Browne and Bob Grant were on the air in those night time periods. I was a producer/announcer there in 1997 until it's end in the fall of 1998. Kim Kommando was a regular Saturday afternoon feature.

And one of the few independently owned and operated FMs in the market. It was originally owned by Mike Stude's KRTS, and operated as a satellite of KRTS, covering the northern parts of the metro that KRTS didn't. Preferred Media bought it (a group of local investors) and turned it into FM talk. Great idea, fair execution, but (IMHO) they spent way too much money, paid huge salaries and didn't have the signal to penetrate the market properly (although the station did have a fairly large audience in Bryan/College Station and Beaumont!). They got into financial trouble fast, later selling out to Jacor (and the rest is history). The original investors either got all their money back and made a small profit, everyone else who came in later lost money, or so I was told.

Quite a shame...it could've been a contender, but cash flow (or the lack thereof) killed it.

 

[Mediafrog+]

And one of the few independently owned and operated FMs in the market. It was originally owned by Mike Stude's KRTS, and operated as a satellite of KRTS, covering the northern parts of the metro that KRTS didn't. Preferred Media bought it (a group of local investors) and turned it into FM talk.

The 97.1 signal went on the air in December, 1992 as KRTK, a simulcast of KRTS. Both stations went dark in June 1995. When 97.1 returned a couple of months later it became KEYH-FM, simulcasting the Ranchera format of 850 AM. Didn't last long, becoming "K-Onda 97.1" KOND, more of a Spanish language pop format, IIRC. That didn't last either, giving way to "Nortena 97.1." At the end of 1996 that was dropped and the station stunted with album sides until the talk format was launched in early 1997, with the return of the KRTK calls, later changed to KKTL. When the talk format died, the station became a simulcast of KTBZ and later KLDE (when each was on 107.5.) When Cox took over, it was relaunched as "Hot 97.1 (KTHT) in the Fall of 2000, later becoming "Country Legends 97.1 in January 2003.

 

[CaptMarvel]

Thanks so much for everyone's response! I am glad I was not hallucinating this!

 

[rogergray]

As one of the guys who started the whole thing, I just wanted to toss in a couple of thoughts. Yeah, we learned a lot with KKTL, unfortunately, one of them being who not to put in charge, but that is another story. The comment about too much money being spent is sadly right on. But that was an argument some of us lost. I would have rented space in a strip mall and operated on cafeteria tables until cash flow allowed otherwise, and our CP for a taller tower was financed, but that fight was futile. It was also fatal.

On the upside, Imus in the Morning and our show in the afternoon worked. The others, not so much. We went from zip to mid-pack in the market 25-54 with no promotion and a lousy signal. My on-air partner was the very funny Mike Vance, who is still one of the cleverest people I know and is woefully under-appreciated in his own home town.

Pros like Fran Epstein, Chuck Tiller and Steve Gay could have made this thing happen, but of the five founding partners, there was one we shouldn't have had, and that spelled doom. It's a good lesson for anyone in business. If you don't know a potential partner well, back off until you do. Otherwise, it was fun, we all made a little money and learned a bunch.

 

[rogergray]

Oh, one correction. The sale to Jacor was finalized in the fall of 1999, so we made it through a couple of years. And to the list of things I ended my last post with, let me add scary as hell.