KVLL (1970's-1990's)
Can anyone of my neighbors over in the Triangle provide the back story to this deleted facility? What really happened to it? The FM apparently upgraded and moved to Diboll, including a COL change to Wells, back in 2003, and now lives on as "My 94-7" in Lufkin. 1490 looks to have been bought and sold by Clear Channel within a span of 4 months back in 1999. Then continued on a couple of more years as KVLL under the direction of a Stargazer Broadcasting, finally becoming KWUD in '01, under ownership of a Jimmy Ray Carroll. Did it just not survive the two hurricanes, Rita and Ike, that blew through east Texas during the mid 2000's? Did it suffer the same fate as KTON or KIOX, with bad stewardship causing the deletion? The database shows it went silent off and on from just after Rita hit the area in '05, with the last filing for the facility being made in '13. It was deleted in 2014.
I was a little surprised to find this post after doing a search for Don Stevenson. I figured I could add some insight. I'm not a radio enthusiast but can provide some general information on what was going on with KVLL during the 70s, 80s, and 90s as far as station management. Don was my dad and KVLL was a major part of our family's lifeblood for decades. I remember he worked his tail off making the rounds through Tyler County working remotes of pageants, ball games, parades....anything that was an event in the county. He was very extroverted and talked to everyone...definitely in his lane and was always very busy.
The station was on a cleared area south of Woodville off Highway 287 on Spring Valley Road....with a nice view of the lumber company. The transmitter, tower, and station were all at the same location. I'm not sure when the station first aired, but I imagine it was early 70s or earlier. My dad had been working there prior to the year I was born in 1975. He and Kenneth Bond (from Livingston and now deceased) co-owned the station with my Dad as general manager. In the early 70s I think it was either top 40 or top 40/country mix. At some point in the early/mid 70s a new building was constructed closer to Spring Valley Road and further from the transmitter (the old building was right next to it). The format had shifted to country, Astro/Cowboys ballgames, swap shop, local high school sports, and events by this time. There was a playlist system that consisted of dots (red, yellow, blue, green) and a box of index cards. My dad would go through the top 40 list every week and update the index cards and that was the rotation for music.
I started working there around 1988...when I was 13. Started out running the station on Sunday afternoons dropping in the commercials for the networked Sunday afternoon games and big band show that was on cassette called Wax Works I think. I didn't have to talk on the air or anything, but after a year or so, I started doing weather breaks. Around 1988 or 1989 the new building burned down. It's a shame because the building was decent and well designed for a station like KVLL. Within the year a trailer replaced the building and that's what we used. I continued to DJ there until I left Woodville in 1993. By that time I was working every night, spinning vinyl, doing weather, swap shop, cutting commercials.....everything a radio station worker would do. I think of this as the tail end of the old era of radio....before the switch to digital and pre-selected music.
I can remember a few folks that worked at the station over the years....but many of them have passed on. Vicki Thompson (moved to Alaska) managed news in the 80s. CD Woodrom was a DJ and also sort of a tech that always managed issues with the transmitter....very good fellow. I knew him most of my childhood. Kenneth Bond I met a few times over the years, but he mostly resided in Livingston and left the day to day stuff to my dad. David Sindle (maybe I'm misspelling his last name) was a key personality with the radio station for almost 10 or 15 years. He was a younger guy that worked nearly every afternoon....I usually took over the closing shift from 5pm - 10pm after him. I think he stayed on with KVLL right after high school....well into his late 20s and early 30s. He was in a very bad car accident sometime in the mid 90s and passed away.
That is all I can remember for now....other than a lot of funny anecdotes regarding stuff that happened at the station over the years. I left the station and Woodville in 1993 and my parents moved from the community in the late 90s. My dad would have been able to talk to you all day about the station, but passed away suddenly in 2014. I'm not sure what else would help or what specifically you are looking for, but am happy to help. If there is anything specific, I will try to answer as best I can. Good luck with your research.
Also....regarding the signal. There were a few times I would get calls in the evenings from Beaumont and as far away as Houston....usually girls wanting to talk or go on a date. I actually drove up and met one in Houston once. I remember in the early 90s we got a letter from England or Germany and a lady had said that she received our signal and we figured it was due to atmospheric bounce or something (I'm sure there's a more scientific explanation). She relayed specifics of the formating, personalities, and the shows....it was pretty cool.
