Houston FM Radio Stations - circa 1990

[TXCalradio]

Remember in 1990 when radio in Houston was awesome?

88.7 KUHF (Classical/Jazz)
89.3 KSBJ (Christian)
90.1 KPFT (Americana)
90.9 KTSU (College/Jazz)
91.7 KTRU (College)
92.1 KRTS (Classical)
92.9 KKBQ (Top 40)
93.7 KLTR (Adult Contemporary)
94.5 KLDE (Oldies)
95.7 KIKK (Country)
96.5 KHMX (Hot AC)
97.9 KFMK (AC/Oldies)
99.1 KODA (Adult Contemporary)
100.3 KILT (Country)
101.1 KLOL (Album Rock)
102.1 KMJQ (Urban)
102.9 KQUE (MOR/Standards)
104.1 KRBE (Top 40)
105.7 KHCB (Christian)
106.5 KQQK (Spanish)
106.9 KZJS (New Jazz)
107.5 KZFX (Classic Rock)

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Remember in 1990 when radio in Houston was awesome?

88.7 KUHF (Classical/Jazz)
89.3 KSBJ (Christian)
90.1 KPFT (Americana)
90.9 KTSU (College/Jazz)
91.7 KTRU (College)
92.1 KRTS (Classical)
92.9 KKBQ (Top 40)
93.7 KLTR (Adult Contemporary)
94.5 KLDE (Oldies)
95.7 KIKK (Country)
96.5 KHMX (Hot AC)
97.9 KFMK (AC/Oldies)
99.1 KODA (Adult Contemporary)
100.3 KILT (Country)
101.1 KLOL (Album Rock)
102.1 KMJQ (Urban)
102.9 KQUE (MOR/Standards)
104.1 KRBE (Top 40)
105.7 KHCB (Christian)
106.5 KQQK (Spanish)
106.9 KZJS (New Jazz)
107.5 KZFX (Classic Rock)

I am despairing that we will never again have good radio over the air in Houston. Too focus-grouped, corporate dominated, pre-conceived notions of what people want. A dreary mix of bad 80's music, vulgar-lyric top 40, foreign language babble, boring talk, even more boring sports, and country. I seldom listen to anything that isn't on HD-2, satellite, or streaming.

Even 20 years ago, many great stations were already gone - KILT-AM top-40 from the McLendon era, for example. I still remember the day the music died (well - went country) and I quit listening to KILT for good.

 

[TXCalradio]

I agree 100 % with everything you mentioned. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Mediafrog+]

foreign language babble

Without the "foreign language babble" as you call it, many stations would have gone dark years ago. Those stations broadcasting in a language other than English are serving audiences that find such programming useful, enjoyable, and important. And, since a number of those stations have now been around for many years, they must be having a degree of success with their programming.

And now I am going to call you out, and I don't care if it gets kicked to the "Take It Outside" boards. I am personally tired and offended by your endless criticism of any languages and formats other than English. You proudly (and constantly) brag that you "don't speak foreign." Such bigoted and xenophobic attitudes are why so many people in this world regard Americans as self-centered, arrogant, and stupid. You also speak a lot about your Christian beliefs, but look down your nose at anyone who is different. Keep in mind that many of the people "speaking foreign language babble" are American citizens.

You seem to be lost in the past, growling at everyone to "get off my lawn." Well it's not the 1950's or 60's any more. Get over it. Demographics have changed, business has changed, listeners have changed, music has changed, radio has changed.

Welcome to 2013 and beyond.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

And now I am going to call you out, and I don't care if it gets kicked to the "Take It Outside" boards. I am personally tired and offended by your endless criticism of any languages and formats other than English. You proudly (and constantly) brag that you "don't speak foreign." Such bigoted and xenophobic attitudes are why so many people in this world regard Americans as self-centered, arrogant, and stupid. You also speak a lot about your Christian beliefs, but look down your nose at anyone who is different. Keep in mind that many of the people "speaking foreign language babble" are American citizens.

Foreign on the radio obviously serves someone, and that is a good thing. The proliferation of foreign language radio is way out of proportion to the demographics of the area. When the percentage of foreign language radio stations exceeds the percentage of non-English speaking people, something is out of balance. Lest you think I single out foreign language stations, just listen to abuse I heap on country music, talk, and sports stations. Even "contemporary" Christian stations, even though I am a Christian believer. So I am definitely an equal opportunity criticizer. I do single out KEYH, because they slop their sidebands all over KONO, a station playing a format I actually want to hear. When a new station comes on the air - why do they default to Spanish, or Chinese, or some other language? We got a huge format hole here - putting an oldies station on the air here would be like a license to print money. All it would take is someone who understands the format, and has the desire to make money. It has a lot better chance of making money than further dividing up one of the ethinic formats in the area and serving a yet smaller piece of the ethic "pie".

How is saying "I don't speak foreign" bigoted? It is a statement of the fact that I, personally, don't speak a foreign language. It is generic so I don't single out a particular ethnicity.

 

[bturner]

I will say this much, if I had to choose between playing oldies or leasing time to a foreign language broadcaster, the foreign language broadcaster would win every time.

The foreign language broadcaster typically has studios and offices in their 'neighborhood', pays to get the signal to me and does everything the FCC expects a responsible broadcaster to do plus they give the station a check every month. The station is more profitable and very much stress-free to operate. One of my clients managed to get George Bush, Sr. on the air and Hillary Clinton. I was impressed and thought that said alot about my client. I think this same broadcaster managed to raise $2 million for tsunami relief after that big New Years Day tsunami in 2004. They did at least 5 hours of Public Affairs a week, all in prime hours, not at 6am Suunday morning.

I love oldies too but I wince at maintaining the format, dealing with the talent, sales people and the bottom line. I'd much prefer collect 1 check a month from a foreign language broadcaster that is offering full-service radio to their community while they deal with format, talent and sales.

Simply put, the foreign language broadcaster is a very attractive option, especially for AM stations in major metros where any music format you invest in will be stolen by a hungry FM if you start showing up with any ratings.

To compare, pick your option: buy a convenience store and work it every day or buy a strip center and lease it to waiting tenants who finish out the shell to their liking at their cost and who write you a check each month while they do all the work of runniing their business? If the strip center commands the rent from day one to pay the bills but the convenience store might take 2 years runing at a loss before you see profit which would you choose? And once you start turning a profit, a major chain convenience store moves in across the street. This comparison is very much the same as I faced. I took the easier route.

 

[willdav713]

Remember in 1990 when radio in Houston was awesome?

88.7 KUHF (Classical/Jazz)
89.3 KSBJ (Christian)
90.1 KPFT (Americana)
90.9 KTSU (College/Jazz)
91.7 KTRU (College)
92.1 KRTS (Classical)
92.9 KKBQ (Top 40)
93.7 KLTR (Adult Contemporary)
94.5 KLDE (Oldies)
95.7 KIKK (Country)
96.5 KHMX (Hot AC)
97.9 KFMK (AC/Oldies)
99.1 KODA (Adult Contemporary)
100.3 KILT (Country)
101.1 KLOL (Album Rock)
102.1 KMJQ (Urban)
102.9 KQUE (MOR/Standards)
104.1 KRBE (Top 40)
105.7 KHCB (Christian)
106.5 KQQK (Spanish)
106.9 KZJS (New Jazz)
107.5 KZFX (Classic Rock)

You forgot KHYS 98.5 Contemporary Dance Hits signed on in Houston in Sept. 1988, and KJOJ 103.3 Christian which signed on that year (1990). KQUE was listed as Easy Listening in one newspaper's TV Guide, and Adult Contemporary in another. KHMX was listed as Adult Pop Rock in one newspaper, and Adult Contemporary;rock in another. Also forgot 107.9 KWIC Country, KIKR 93.3 Country, and KMIA 104.9 Spanish Contemporary I remember hearing pop hits down in Lake Jackson on that station. KMIA was the rival to KQQK at that time.

 

[yragha]

Was 107.9 KWIC really country once? I recall them being classic rock.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I will say this much, if I had to choose between playing oldies or leasing time to a foreign language broadcaster, the foreign language broadcaster would win every time.

The foreign language broadcaster typically has studios and offices in their 'neighborhood', pays to get the signal to me and does everything the FCC expects a responsible broadcaster to do plus they give the station a check every month. The station is more profitable and very much stress-free to operate. One of my clients managed to get George Bush, Sr. on the air and Hillary Clinton. I was impressed and thought that said alot about my client. I think this same broadcaster managed to raise $2 million for tsunami relief after that big New Years Day tsunami in 2004. They did at least 5 hours of Public Affairs a week, all in prime hours, not at 6am Suunday morning.

I love oldies too but I wince at maintaining the format, dealing with the talent, sales people and the bottom line. I'd much prefer collect 1 check a month from a foreign language broadcaster that is offering full-service radio to their community while they deal with format, talent and sales.

Simply put, the foreign language broadcaster is a very attractive option, especially for AM stations in major metros where any music format you invest in will be stolen by a hungry FM if you start showing up with any ratings.

To compare, pick your option: buy a convenience store and work it every day or buy a strip center and lease it to waiting tenants who finish out the shell to their liking at their cost and who write you a check each month while they do all the work of runniing their business? If the strip center commands the rent from day one to pay the bills but the convenience store might take 2 years runing at a loss before you see profit which would you choose? And once you start turning a profit, a major chain convenience store moves in across the street. This comparison is very much the same as I faced. I took the easier route.

I really can't judge you for making decisions that make sense to you as a programmer. Obviously, the business end and bottom line have to be your focus, if you can't pay the bills you end up selling out to somebody who can.

I think you might have swung more to the business end than I would. I did radio for the love of radio. Dealing with format issues, personnel issues, marketing issues was part of the game, and part of my love for radio. I was passionate about the format I did, about making sure the listeners got exactly what would make them the happiest, making sure my announcers were as happy as they could be and loved their jobs - had the same love for radio I did. It sounds like your foreign programmers have this same love for radio. I applaud them for that. For me, the frequency is dark, but for somebody else it is their favorite station. Probably - diversity isn't a priority for me. It is something that happens as I try to be color blind and give everybody a chance. They make an effort to get along with me, I get along with them.

Heck - I'll give the example. Doesn't matter any more. I programmed Christian Rock music. NOT wimpy CCM. Real Christian rock. As such I dealt with teenage announcers who had drama. I dealt with (a few) irate listeners who hated the format. I dealt with an owner who was diabetic and had insulin mood swings. I had a Mormon announcer. I had a Jehovah witness announcer. So that was awkward on a Christian station to say the least. I had an announcer in an abusive relationship. I had equipment failures, often times having to fix the exciter or some other piece of equipment. The guy before me had to climb the 350 foot tower and scape carbon off of an antenna bay after a lightning strike. I re-outfitted a badly obsolete studio. And the whole time - I had the time of my life, enjoying every single minute. And our love of the station and the show came through on the air with amazing ratings. We did two world premieres. We had live artists performing in the studio. We sponsored concerts. Pretty good for what is a little brokered religious station the rest of the week. That - is radio. NOT a check coming in once a month. If every station were programmed with the love we had for radio, the ratings would come. It was obvious we were invested in our show, our station, and our listeners. People can tell the difference between that and corporate radio. Maybe REAL radio is a thing of the past. Maybe programmers who actually care are as extinct as dinosaurs. Maybe it is all about money and nothing else these days. But - radio is bleeding listeners to other outlets like Pandora, satellite, and streaming. Could the lack of life and enthusiasm possibly be a part of that?

 

[bturner]

Your comments bring up so many fond memories for me as well. You see, I was on air, then programming, then sales and finally working for an owner that looked for the easiest way to make money off his investment...a finance guy, not a radio person although he came to love radio for radio even though his 'finance side' kept him from diving off the high board into the deep end.

If money or investment was not a facor, there's a long list of stuff I'd like to try but that's not the case.

I was behind the microphone for years and in programming where I quickly learned the key to a great station was giving the talent enough rope to excel and make it fun and enough of a parameter to be consistent. It all started for me in first grade announcing records to a pencil and wound up as a part 15 I started in 6th grade (lots of cashing in soft drink bottles). I kept it going until I started earning a paycheck in radio. To simply say I love radio is an understatement. Needless to say, I think radio is digging a bigger hole, but I'm just one person that wants to dig out against the odds.

 

[TXCalradio]

Remember in 1990 when radio in Houston was awesome?

88.7 KUHF (Classical/Jazz)
89.3 KSBJ (Christian)
90.1 KPFT (Americana)
90.9 KTSU (College/Jazz)
91.7 KTRU (College)
92.1 KRTS (Classical)
92.9 KKBQ (Top 40)
93.7 KLTR (Adult Contemporary)
94.5 KLDE (Oldies)
95.7 KIKK (Country)
96.5 KHMX (Hot AC)
97.9 KFMK (AC/Oldies)
99.1 KODA (Adult Contemporary)
100.3 KILT (Country)
101.1 KLOL (Album Rock)
102.1 KMJQ (Urban)
102.9 KQUE (MOR/Standards)
104.1 KRBE (Top 40)
105.7 KHCB (Christian)
106.5 KQQK (Spanish)
106.9 KZJS (New Jazz)
107.5 KZFX (Classic Rock)

You forgot KHYS 98.5 Contemporary Dance Hits signed on in Houston in Sept. 1988, and KJOJ 103.3 Christian which signed on that year (1990). KQUE was listed as Easy Listening in one newspaper's TV Guide, and Adult Contemporary in another. KHMX was listed as Adult Pop Rock in one newspaper, and Adult Contemporary;rock in another. Also forgot 107.9 KWIC Country, KIKR 93.3 Country, and KMIA 104.9 Spanish Contemporary I remember hearing pop hits down in Lake Jackson on that station. KMIA was the rival to KQQK at that time.

Ahh, I intentionally left the rim-shot stations who belong in Beaumont off the list. I think you meant KYKR-FM 93.3 , yes they were a country at that time.
KWIC-FM 107.9 was a rock formatted station.

 

[bturner]

104.9 KMIA was in Richmond/Rosenburg...close enough for Houston to me.

When I got to town 107.9 was stunting and was yet to go Tejano while KMIA was Tejano. That was mid-July 1993.

 

[rageradio]

Was't 104.9, KFRD before that?

I remember when 107.9 was stunting in '93. They were running a loop that played only 2 songs and I remember one of them being Two Princes by The Spin Doctors. There was a voiceover that was announcing the new station coming soon. For the longest time i could remember what it said... I dont anymore :-/ Wish I had gotten some tape of it

 

[yragha]

Was't 104.9, KFRD before that?

I remember when 107.9 was stunting in '93. They were running a loop that played only 2 songs and I remember one of them being Two Princes by The Spin Doctors. There was a voiceover that was announcing the new station coming soon. For the longest time i could remember what it said... I dont anymore :-/ Wish I had gotten some tape of it

Gosh I miss K-Gulf 103.3, KFRD Country 105 and X97 KIOX and before that on 1270AM.

 

[willdav713]

Was't 104.9, KFRD before that?

I remember when 107.9 was stunting in '93. They were running a loop that played only 2 songs and I remember one of them being Two Princes by The Spin Doctors. There was a voiceover that was announcing the new station coming soon. For the longest time i could remember what it said... I dont anymore :-/ Wish I had gotten some tape of it

I know it was playing Spanish pop in 1991. KMIA used to be KFRD up until the late 80's as a Country station. I remember 107.9 playing the Eagles, America, ZZ Top, and CSN they were AOR with Classic Rock cuts mixed in. I see where I confused the Country in the lineup.

Wasn't it a one time KXTJ "Tejano 108" also operated KXTN "Tejano 107.5" in San Antonio?

 

[willdav713]

Remember in 1990 when radio in Houston was awesome?

88.7 KUHF (Classical/Jazz)
89.3 KSBJ (Christian)
90.1 KPFT (Americana)
90.9 KTSU (College/Jazz)
91.7 KTRU (College)
92.1 KRTS (Classical)
92.9 KKBQ (Top 40)
93.7 KLTR (Adult Contemporary)
94.5 KLDE (Oldies)
95.7 KIKK (Country)
96.5 KHMX (Hot AC)
97.9 KFMK (AC/Oldies)
99.1 KODA (Adult Contemporary)
100.3 KILT (Country)
101.1 KLOL (Album Rock)
102.1 KMJQ (Urban)
102.9 KQUE (MOR/Standards)
104.1 KRBE (Top 40)
105.7 KHCB (Christian)
106.5 KQQK (Spanish)
106.9 KZJS (New Jazz)
107.5 KZFX (Classic Rock)

You forgot KHYS 98.5 Contemporary Dance Hits signed on in Houston in Sept. 1988, and KJOJ 103.3 Christian which signed on that year (1990). KQUE was listed as Easy Listening in one newspaper's TV Guide, and Adult Contemporary in another. KHMX was listed as Adult Pop Rock in one newspaper, and Adult Contemporary;rock in another. Also forgot 107.9 KWIC Country, KIKR 93.3 Country, and KMIA 104.9 Spanish Contemporary I remember hearing pop hits down in Lake Jackson on that station. KMIA was the rival to KQQK at that time.

Ahh, I intentionally left the rim-shot stations who belong in Beaumont off the list. I think you meant KYKR-FM 93.3 , yes they were a country at that time.
KWIC-FM 107.9 was a rock formatted station.

I could hear "Kiss 98.5" loud and clear on my Grandfathers Console Magnavox Stereo in South West Houston.

107.9 could be picked up in a 1990 Toyota Camry driving the Katy Freeway from Beltway 8 and I-10.

Purposely leaving out the rimshots? you should have left out 106.9 it's in Conroe which can not be heard all over like with 107.5, or 104.1

I could also sometimes pick up Q94 back then.

 

[purpledevil]

Was't 104.9, KFRD before that?

I remember when 107.9 was stunting in '93. They were running a loop that played only 2 songs and I remember one of them being Two Princes by The Spin Doctors. There was a voiceover that was announcing the new station coming soon. For the longest time i could remember what it said... I dont anymore :-/ Wish I had gotten some tape of it

Two Princes was played over and over. There wasn't a second song. The next day it was country stunting with "Friends In Low Places" by Garth Brooks. The following day it was a Tejano song that I don't know, but they played the one song the entire day. I remember the Garth Brooks stunting was done by a voiceover guy with a heavy Mexican accent. It stuck in my mind because hearing him say " best dawg gone music" was pretty funny to me back then.

I know I recorded it, Rage. I know I have the Spin Doctors stunt on tape from when KWIC signed on the new stick, but finding it in my endless stacks of cassette tapes after 20 years would be a heck of an effort. I'll see if I can find it one day soon.

 

[bturner]

The day I rolled into town from Kerrville, 107.9 was stunting with an urban song. I think I was paying close attention to traffic because in a few minutes I remember thinking these songs sound the same. Then I figured out they were playing the same song over and over. As I recall it was something different every day.

 

[kendro]

"We've retained an industry leading consultant and he has some exciting ideas for the station.".."We've implemented a few changes going forward and we feel they will help move the station in a more positive direction." All phrases from the 1990's.

Radio now serves a much different audience than it once did. There were dozens of things the human engagement factor in radio brought the listener. That mostly went away in the 90's for the American English speaker. Most of the aforementioned "foreign language" stations still have a real human engagement factor. They engage their listeners. Sorry to say that most middle class English speakers of all races use other music outlets.