JIMMY SWAGGART

[OldChicago]

I hear that JIMMY SWAGGART owned a station here at one time. Which station did he own?

Old Chicago

 

[TooMuchCoffee]

I think it was KJOJ.

 

[Kent]

"106.9 KJOJ Conroe. Houston's 24-hour, 100,000 watt Joy of Jesus!"

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I hear that JIMMY SWAGGART owned a station here at one time. Which station did he own?

Old Chicago

I remember the station's stunting tag line - "Can a radio station get saved?". Apparently not. Not when its owner was a hypocrite and horrific witness for the faith.

 

[Mediafrog+]

Swaggart also owned KWJS 94.9 in DFW in the late 70's to mid 80's. There were some other stations as well.

He also had the original CP in the mid 70's for the 98.7 frequency in Amarillo, but another religious FM got on the air first and Swaggart sold the CP to one of the local AM's (the station went on the air as AOR KYTX in 1978.)

 

[Kent]

Swaggart also owned KWJS 94.9 in DFW in the late 70's to mid 80's. There were some other stations as well.

At one time, he had quite the empire. He bought KWKI 93.3 "Quickie 93" in Kansas City and took it religion in the early 80's. "You're listening to all-Christian programming on KWKI 93.3 Kansas City. I bet you think we're joking. Keep listening!"

I believe he bought the old KXOL 1360, moved KWJS there and sold 94.9 for big money when his empire started to crumble. He sold KJOJ 106.9 to US Radio (Ragan Henry), who flipped it to smooth jazz as KJZS, several years later. However, as part of the deal, Henry had to flip his country KGLF "Gulf 103.3" to religion, and it became KJOJ.

He also had the original CP in the mid 70's for the 98.7 frequency in Amarillo, but another religious FM got on the air first and Swaggart sold the CP to one of the local AM's (the station went on the air as AOR KYTX in 1978.)

I believe he sold it to Broadcast Associates, who sold their stations to Mel Tillis. KYTX became KMML, which stood for "M-Mel" because he was a stutterer, and went country shortly afterward. Broadcast Associates was one of those companies like Storz that believed FM was a fad and would never catch on.

By the way, Mel always points when he stutters. Doctors call this a "secondary behavior," which is common in stutters. Mel used to call it "the rhythm method!" (True story!)

 

[Mediafrog+]

He sold KJOJ 106.9 to US Radio (Ragan Henry), who flipped it to smooth jazz as KJZS, several years later. However, as part of the deal, Henry had to flip his country KGLF "Gulf 103.3" to religion, and it became KJOJ.

KJOJ 106.9 began a simulcast with 103.3 about a year before the flip to KJZS. Afterwards the religious format remained on 103.3, and the KJOJ call was moved there as well. A simulcast on 880 began around that time, with the KJOJ call on both frequencies.

I don't recall Ragan Henry having any ownership stake in KGLF.

 

[Kent]

KJOJ 106.9 began a simulcast with 103.3 about a year before the flip to KJZS. Afterwards the religious format remained on 103.3, and the KJOJ call was moved there as well. A simulcast on 880 began around that time, with the KJOJ call on both frequencies.

I wasn't aware it was that long, but, yes, there was a simulcast between 106.9 and 103.3. The simulcast on 880 began within 6 months of KJOJ going to 103.3 exclusively. 103.3 didn't have the coverage of the northern part of Houston that 106.9 had. I remember "Kicker" being on 880 after KJOJ went to 103.3 exclusively, but it didn't last long.

I don't recall Ragan Henry having any ownership stake in KGLF.

Before ownership rules forced a divestiture, Clear Channel got 103.3 as part of the deal to buy US Radio (excluding the stations Henry's wife owned with him). There was a time when Ragan Henry had both 106.9 and 103.3. I suppose he could've bought 103.3 at the same time he bought 106.9, though that isn't the way I remember it. I suppose my memory could be a little fuzzier than I think it is as that deal happened about 23 years ago! He sold 106.9 a few years before he sold his company to Clear Channel.

 

[willdav713]

KJOJ 106.9 began a simulcast with 103.3 about a year before the flip to KJZS. Afterwards the religious format remained on 103.3, and the KJOJ call was moved there as well. A simulcast on 880 began around that time, with the KJOJ call on both frequencies.

I wasn't aware it was that long, but, yes, there was a simulcast between 106.9 and 103.3. The simulcast on 880 began within 6 months of KJOJ going to 103.3 exclusively. 103.3 didn't have the coverage of the northern part of Houston that 106.9 had. I remember "Kicker" being on 880 after KJOJ went to 103.3 exclusively, but it didn't last long.

I don't recall Ragan Henry having any ownership stake in KGLF.

Before ownership rules forced a divestiture, Clear Channel got 103.3 as part of the deal to buy US Radio (excluding the stations Henry's wife owned with him). There was a time when Ragan Henry had both 106.9 and 103.3. I suppose he could've bought 103.3 at the same time he bought 106.9, though that isn't the way I remember it. I suppose my memory could be a little fuzzier than I think it is as that deal happened about 23 years ago! He sold 106.9 a few years before he sold his company to Clear Channel.

And when it was bought by Clear Channel, It flipped to a simulcast of KHYS Smooth FM 98.5 as NAC/Jazz. 1 year prior they bought out Noble Brodcasting's KYOK/KMJQ.

There was a YouTube aircheck of KJOJ on 106.9 (1987?)
OJ - June 30, 1987 Christian Community Callender


Entertainment, 7m 22s. Published: 29 Sep, 2009

KJOJ FM 107 Houston - June 30, 1987 PART 5 of 5 Houston's Joy of Jesus, 107, KJOJ Conroe, Houston. Back on June 30th, 1987, about 12:30am, I recorded the Christian Community Callender on KJOJ. Contained here are a few airchecks, songs, and the Christian Community Callender. In the early 1980s the fr...

Also, KZFX Lake Jackson 107.5 was Modern Religious shows ownership by Shamrock Communications (same people who owned Austin's 98.9 at one time.) According to the Radio Broadcasting Yearbook of 1987.

It lists KGLF, not on air yet, target date unknown, under the ownership of Freeport Broadcasting.

 

[Kent]

Also, KZFX Lake Jackson 107.5 was Modern Religious shows ownership by Shamrock Communications (same people who owned Austin's 98.9 at one time.) According to the Radio Broadcasting Yearbook of 1987.

The Shamrock Communications that owned 107.5 wasn't the same as the one that owned Austin's 98.9. The Shamrock that owned 107.5 in Houston (and 102.9 in Dallas) was owned by Roy Disney. The one that had 98.9 in Austin was owned by Bill Lynette and was more commonly known as "Times-Shamrock." Disney's Shamrock was one of the biggest broadcasters, both in terms of number of stations and in revenue, until it sold to Chancellor Communications in the early to mid-90's. Times-Shamrock only had stations in Austin, Tulsa, Scranton-Wilkes Barre and Milwaukee. I'm not aware of them ever having anything else. WQFM (now WLDB) in Milwaukee was their crown jewel, which they still own a stake in through the Milwaukee Radio Alliance, and they were in the news recently for starting a four station cluster from scratch in Reno.

While 107.5 was religious for quite a number of years, I don't believe it was under the KZFX calls or under Shamrock's ownership. Broadcasting Cable Yearbook has a history of updating formats a few years late. The religious format moved to 1180 almost as soon as Shamrock bought 107.5.

It lists KGLF, not on air yet, target date unknown, under the ownership of Freeport Broadcasting.

It's possible that Henry bought 103.3 upon or shortly after buying KJOJ 106.9. The deal to sell 106.9 required Henry to keep the format. The rules to allow multiple ownership on the same band in the same market didn't happen until August 1992. 103.3 and 106.9 didn't overlap and, thus, were considered different markets. It was definitely something Swaggart didn't think of.

 

[Mediafrog+]

While 107.5 was religious for quite a number of years, I don't believe it was under the KZFX calls or under Shamrock's ownership. Broadcasting Cable Yearbook has a history of updating formats a few years late. The religious format moved to 1180 almost as soon as Shamrock bought 107.5.

KZFX never had a religious format; that was under the previous KGOL call. IIRC KGOL was owned by some religious college/organization which sold it in 1985 to a short term owner that did the big signal upgrade to the 2000' tower. As soon as the new tower went on the air in August 1986 the station was sold to Shamrock, calls changed to KZFX, and the format flipped to Classic Rock.

I also recall the original intention was to use the KHFX call, which turned out to be unavailable.

 

[rageradio]

Wow so Shamrock had 107.5 throughout KZFX's run into the early years of The Buzz? Never knew that.

 

[Kent]

Wow so Shamrock had 107.5 throughout KZFX's run into the early years of The Buzz? Never knew that.

That sounds correct. Shamrock launched KRQT and changed its name to KTBZ "The Buzz" shortly afterward. After Shamrock was gobbled up by Chancellor, KTBZ was swapped to Secret Communications for their Denver properties. Secret, then, turned around and swapped it to Nationwide as part of a three party, three market deal. Nationwide traded KISW Seattle to Secret for KTBZ, and Secret swapped KISW to Entercom for its Pittsburgh stations. Ultimately, KTBZ and the Pittsburgh stations ended up in Clear Channel's hands after several different mergers!