Longview - Old KLUE site to get new lease on life

[gbranch]

According to the 11/25 edition of the LNJ:

http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/_11252006__InternationalTV.html

looks like Houston based International Broadcasting Network is acquiring the old KLUE 1280 tower and studios on Signal Hill Dr. in Longview. IBN operated TBN affiliate KLGV-LP previously in Longview on channel 10, before they were bumped off by KLTV-DT. The new KLGV-LP will transmit from the 330' KLUE tower on channel 36, and the 3,000 sq ft studio building will be renovated.

The KLUE tower has been a fixture in south Longview for at least 40 years. Even though 1280 went dark more than 10 years ago, the abandoned tower and studio building remained. I drove up to Signal Hill about 7 years ago. The building was falling apart, and there was all manner of junk scattered around. There was even a drug related homicide at the site back in the late 90's.

There is lot of East Texas radio history related to this site. There are probably people on this board who worked at KLUE back in the day, and I spent much of my youth listening to 1280 back in the 70's.

A bit of irony here - KLUE is most famous for it's Beatles bonfire in 1966 after Lennon's "We're bigger than Jesus" comment. The day after the bonfire, the tower was hit by lightning, damaging the transmitter and sending the news director to the hospital. That same tower will once again be transmitting the word of Jesus, just a little differently this time.

 

[Chuck]

I'm glad to hear that someone is going to clean it up. I considered the location for our 101.9 Longview translator, but passed on it when I did a site survey. The place is a shambles, and I interrupted what looked like a drug deal when I drove up. The coverage form the location ought to be pretty good though, so I hope the new owners have a lot of success with it.

 

[nuzguy]

There certainly is a lot of history to the Signal Hill location. Several of the people who helped make history at the location are now dead, but there's a story all its own that'll ring around forever. A few who could talk, won't; others will when the time is right.

 

[dx7]

Just curious -- why did KLUE go dark in the first place?

 

[gbranch]

If I remember my history right...

The original 1280 was KLTI and was operated by LeTourneau Institue (now University). The station was bought by Rusty Reynolds sometime in the mid 60's and switched to top 40 KLUE. Reynolds also started 105.7 KYKX in the late 60's. The Top 40 incarnation of KLUE went off sometime in the early 80's. It switched to a country format, then went through several calls, formats, and owners until it went dark around 1995. The signal was always hampered by it's daytime only status, although I think that they tried a few watt nightime signal for a while, but it didn't help. I believe I remember hearing that the last owners were somehow involved in the drug trade, and the station finally went dark when someone broke into the studios and stole some of the uninsured equipment.

Some of the calls on 1280 after KLUE included KARW, KAAW, and KLGV. A few years ago, someone applied with the FCC to return a station to 1280, but nothing ever came of it.

 

[billyg]

I heard lots of stories.. One of the DJ's in the late 80's committed suicide, and they got churches upset by putting on a live fortune card reader. KLGV also tried simulcasting with KDOK 1330 in Tyler when it was standards, but I remember that only lasted a few weeks.

The station was taken over by people who changed the format to Urban and Black Gospel, and had a little success before they shut it down. But DJ's forgot to lower the power (around 35 watts) and ran full 1K at night. The Opitmod AM died so 1280 was overmodulating all the time and rang up a bunch of FCC fines. A real mess.

I heard last year the site was going to be cleared to build more retirement condos...guess not! I'm glad somebody's now taking it over and doing something with that classic freestanding tower, even if its TV.

 

[jd]

If I remember my history right...

I think you're pretty much on target with KLUE history, but I'd bet that KKUS's Tom Perryman (a classmate of Marconi!) could probably fill in a few blanks. I do seem to recall, though, that Tony Bridge (who owned KLUE AM/FM, along with KMHT AM/FM in Marshall) didn't sell the Longview stations until the early '70's. There was a discussion here once about Rusty Reynolds switching KLUE-FM to KYKX in 1972, making it the first (or one of the first) FM country stations in the nation. I'm not sure that claim is right, but the date sounds familiar. (Reynolds was still a GM in Fort Worth until 1970 or later; his partner, Dick Osburn managed KAMC 94.9 in Arlington at least through 1973, from what I can gather.)

Back to 1280, I'm not sure when KLTI (AM) came along, but there was a KLTI-FM listed as being on the air in 1950. The station was said to be running 10,000 watts at 105.9, but I'm not sure it remained on the air through that decade. The point is, whether AM, FM or both the tower at Signal Hill (or at least the site) may go back a lot more than 40 years!

 

[LABreeze]

I heard lots of stories.. One of the DJ's in the late 80's committed suicide, and they got churches upset by putting on a live fortune card reader. KLGV also tried simulcasting with KDOK 1330 in Tyler when it was standards, but I remember that only lasted a few weeks.

The station was taken over by people who changed the format to Urban and Black Gospel, and had a little success before they shut it down. But DJ's forgot to lower the power (around 35 watts) and ran full 1K at night. The Opitmod AM died so 1280 was overmodulating all the time and rang up a bunch of FCC fines. A real mess.

I heard last year the site was going to be cleared to build more retirement condos...guess not! I'm glad somebody's now taking it over and doing something with that classic freestanding tower, even if its TV.

The person you need to blame on is a woman who not only rang up a bunch of fines from the FCC, but owed us money and screwed others in the process. Four people (me in that number) who has worked there KNEW radio and we knew what we were doing, too. In fact, that station was the first one I programmed (when it was urban) until the fall of '93 a certain a-hole made a hostle move of becoming PD and I was reduced to assistant. It was a good station while it lasted. But long after, I've moved on. Also, the same woman that owed us money is also in hiding.......somewhere in Center, Texas.

 

[nuzguy]

Yes, she did do a great deal of damage to the frequency. The other posts also added a lot of truth to the downward spiraling tide of events. A true tragedy leading to the demise of 1280 KHz.

 

[C414B]

I and I interrupted what looked like a drug deal when I drove up.

Judging from the satellite view on Google Maps, I can't imagine the place being in a state of disrepair and drug deals going down without the neighbors complaining. It looks like it's out in the open a good deal, which tells me the drug dealers have some heap big onions for doing what they do/did there.

Or did I see the wrong place????

 

[Chuck]

I and I interrupted what looked like a drug deal when I drove up.

Judging from the satellite view on Google Maps, I can't imagine the place being in a state of disrepair and drug deals going down without the neighbors complaining. It looks like it's out in the open a good deal, which tells me the drug dealers have some heap big onions for doing what they do/did there.

Or did I see the wrong place????

It is across the street from some very seedy looking apartments, just off of south loop 281 and Estes Parkway. It is not a pretty neighborhood. The area around the site is very much in disrepair. There is trash and junk all over the place. The road that leads back to it goes uphill and curves a bit, which means it can't be seen easily form the main road. It is a great place for clandestine activity.

I drove past a few years ago to look at the site. There were a couple of cars parked near the gate and two people outside of them, doing something that they did not seem to want me to see. I don’t know for sure what it was, but I did not hang around to find out if they were going to say "Howdy" or not.

Hopefully the new owners will clean it up. That would be a good thing for the neighborhood, which deserves better.

 

[C414B]

I and I interrupted what looked like a drug deal when I drove up.

Judging from the satellite view on Google Maps, I can't imagine the place being in a state of disrepair and drug deals going down without the neighbors complaining. It looks like it's out in the open a good deal, which tells me the drug dealers have some heap big onions for doing what they do/did there.

Or did I see the wrong place????

It is across the street from some very seedy looking apartments, just off of south loop 281 and Estes Parkway. It is not a pretty neighborhood. The area around the site is very much in disrepair. There is trash and junk all over the place. The road that leads back to it goes uphill and curves a bit, which means it can't be seen easily form the main road. It is a great place for clandestine activity.

I drove past a few years ago to look at the site. There were a couple of cars parked near the gate and two people outside of them, doing something that they did not seem to want me to see. I don’t know for sure what it was, but I did not hang around to find out if they were going to say "Howdy" or not.

Hopefully the new owners will clean it up. That would be a good thing for the neighborhood, which deserves better.

Hmmm.....guess that's what they DON'T show you in those satellite photos.

Here's to neighborhood improvement!

 

[glenivey]

There's a lot of good info here on the history of the old KLUE site on Signal Hill, but a few minor corrections: Rusty Reynolds/Dick Osborne bought KHER-FM (formerly KLUE-FM) from Tony Bridge in 1974 and in June 1974 renamed it KYKX; Rusty never owned KLUE 1280. The first standalone country station in Texas that I know of was KWGN (later KWGO after selling call letters) in Abernathy. Tony Bridge sold KLUE 1280 to Mac & Bud McLarty in 1980. They sold within a couple of years. Mac would later become President Clinton's first Chief of Staff. Don't kow what happened to KLUE later, but my impression was that it sadly went down fast after Tony sold it.

The Beatles burning may have indeed prompted the first known lightning strike on the free-standing tower, but it was not the last! We got hit a lot during the 13 years I was there. By the way when i took over operations at KLUE I broke the Beatles ban without realizing what a big deal it had been.

Glen Ivey