the oldest stations in austin

[captex]

i kind of certain the stations on the air air (not sure)
was KNOW, KWNX( (WAS KTAE), KVET-AM, KLBJ-AM ( WAS KTBC-AM), KJCE (WAS KOKE-AM), KIXL (WAS KTAB). the other stations i don't know am or fm. in austin,tx and surrounding area, and not sure what year they came on. you thoughts thanks.

 

[grantchester]

There were KHFI 98.1, KTBC 93.7, and KOKE FM 95, When KASE 100.7 came on in the mid 60's.
KRMH 103.7 came on about '70 or so, from San Marcos. 94 was a move -in from Luling in the late '80s, about the time 93.3 moved down from Killeen. 96.7 was licensed to Georgetown.
99 came from Lampassas. 105.7 was allocated to Round Rock, but waited 10 years before Steve Hicks paid off the competing filers and put it on in the late 90's. I may be off, but that's what I recall. KUT might have been one of the first FM's in the market. I think they signed on in the late 40's.

 

[Mediafrog+]

KFON 1490 can lay claim as Austin's oldest radio station, having started in the 1920's as KUT. The call change to KNOW came in the very late 20's or early 30's (I am doing this from memory, guess I need to do some digging.)

KLBJ 590 went on the air (as KTBC) in 1939. I believe the original frequency was 1120, later 1150, after the NARBA reorganization. It moved to 590 around 1944.

All the other AM's are post-WWII. KVET 1300 went on in the late 40's, and what is now KJCE 1370 was on by the early 50's. 970 came on in 1959 as KASE (not related to the current FM.)

As for FM, the current KVET-FM 98.1 is the lineal descendent of the original KHFI-FM 98.3 which went on in 1956 as Austin's first FM. KAZZ 95.5 launched shortly after that. KUT-FM went on 90.7 around 1958, and KTBC-FM 93.7 hit the air around 1961. As far as personal memories go, I recall listening to the first day of broadcasting of the following: KMFA 89.5 in January, 1967; KASE 100.7 in the summer of 1969, KRMH (now KBPA) in June, 1971, and KGTN-FM (now the current KHFI) in 1972.

 

[hrhwebmaster]

KFON 1490 can lay claim as Austin's oldest radio station, having started in the 1920's as KUT. The call change to KNOW came in the very late 20's or early 30's (I am doing this from memory, guess I need to do some digging.)


All the other AM's are post-WWII. KVET 1300 went on in the late 40's, and what is now KJCE 1370 was on by the early 50's. 970 came on in 1959 as KASE (not related to the current FM.)

The license for KFON can be traced to that issued for KGDR San Antonio in December, 1926. It was moved in to Austin around the end of 1929 and given the call letters KUT, to replace an earlier KUT which had gone silent.

Jesse Jones, aka Mr. Houston (Houston Chronicle, Rice Hotel, etc., etc., etc.) had taken control of the Chronicle from its founder and wanted a radio station to expand his influence over Houston. He convinced the Federal Radio Commission to allow him to purchase the defunct KUT (which had been originally licensed to the University of Texas as WCM in March, 1922) and move it to Houston and rename it KTRH. However the FRC did not want to leave Austin without a radio station so they required Jones to put one on the air to replace the one he was moving out. Jones purchased the defunct or dying San Antonio station and moved it to Austin, establishing it on 1500 kilocycles with 100 watts. (Jones wanted the more powerful KUT transmitter for KTRH).

The new KUT was actually licensed to the Rice Hotel of Houston for several years before being sold to Scripps Howard who changed the calls to KNOW (ca. 1934, as I recall). Moving radio stations from one city to another was not unheard of but always very rare. The most famous example is Westinghouse's KYW which started out in Chicago and wound up in Philadelphia decades later after at least one intermediate stop in another city. Still considered the same license by the FCC.

The KVET calls were because the founders were WWII vets; they included John Connally and at least one other prominent Austin pol (in later days) as I recall.

 

[Doctor_Technical]

HRH - this is wonderful stuff, thank you so much.

You are probably thinking of Rep. Jake Pickle as the other KVET founder/"pol", although it appears to have been an all-star cast including a former US Treasury Secretary, a US Ambassador and others. I see where the prior owner to Clear Channel was a former Austin mayor.

It's been a year since I lived in Austin, but I suspect that Sam and Bob's shrine to KVET still covers the walls of the south-most dining room of Hill's Cafe on South Congress. Lots of cool pix.

 

[hrhwebmaster]

HRH - this is wonderful stuff, thank you so much.

You are probably thinking of Rep. Jake Pickle as the other KVET founder/"pol", although it appears to have been an all-star cast including a former US Treasury Secretary, a US Ambassador and others. I see where the prior owner to Clear Channel was a former Austin mayor.

It's been a year since I lived in Austin, but I suspect that Sam and Bob's shrine to KVET still covers the walls of the south-most dining room of Hill's Cafe on South Congress. Lots of cool pix.

Pickle it was - I almost put that name in there but I had seen him several times in the Nighthawk on the Drag during my days in Austin and wasn't sure he was old enough to have been a WWII vet. I see there's a Wikipedia article on KVET-AM; Kellam and Deason both wound up at KTBC.

I went to Hill's a couple of years ago while in Austin but didn't see the memorial - I'll look for it next time.

 

[Doctor_Technical]

You have to walk past the kitchen, it's a meeting room. Have a chicken-fried steak for me.

 

[w9wi]

The most famous example is Westinghouse's KYW which started out in Chicago and wound up in Philadelphia decades later after at least one intermediate stop in another city.

For what little it's worth, the other city was Cleveland. The KYW calls went to Philly, then detoured to Cleveland, then went back to Philly. But I think the calls were all that made the Ohio detour - I'm pretty sure the frequency and license went straight from Chicago to Philadelphia and stayed there.

 

[MMtP]

All the other AM's are post-WWII. KVET 1300 went on in the late 40's

970 came on in 1959 as KASE (not related to the current FM.)

Lessee - KVET-AM 1300 started broadcasting October '46...
...and I do believe that some time in the 60's, KASE-AM 970 was re-dubbed KHFI-AM (owned along with 98.3 KHFI-FM and KHFI-TV 42)

1990 - KHFI-FM calls moved to 96.7; 98.3 re-christened KVET-FM and then moved to 98.1
1973 - KHFI-TV moved to 36, changed calls to KTVV, 1987 changed to KXAN

 

[radioeye]

Just wanted to add that WCM (1922) was the first station in Austin to be operated by the University of Texas, it operated on several frequencies and later changed calls to KUT. The English brothers brought were the first commercial operators in Austin. Pioneer Broadcasting made the claim that WCM KUT KNOW were all related.

 

[Mediafrog+]

...and I do believe that some time in the 60's, KASE-AM 970 was re-dubbed KHFI-AM (owned along with 98.3 KHFI-FM and KHFI-TV 42)

970 was KHFI 1964-69, and KTAP 1969-74. Been KIXL since '74.

1990 - KHFI-FM calls moved to 96.7; 98.3 re-christened KVET-FM and then moved to 98.1

The move to 98.1 (along with a huge power increase) happened when it was still KHFI-FM. The LMA (and later sale) to KVET came a few months after the move, quite a shocker at the time. The current KHFI is not related to the original, other than it picked up the discarded format of 98.1.
[/quote]

 

[hrhwebmaster]

Just wanted to add that WCM (1922) was the first station in Austin to be operated by the University of Texas, it operated on several frequencies and later changed calls to KUT. The English brothers brought were the first commercial operators in Austin. Pioneer Broadcasting made the claim that WCM KUT KNOW were all related.

First BROADCASTING station --- the university had been involved in wireless experimentation since at least 1911 and had an amateur station, 5JA, before WWI which was re-activated after the war (civilian use of wireless was prohibited during the war). WCM was not always licensed to UT; for a time, it was operated by the Texas Markets and Warehouse Department. The station was frequently used by state officials for 'statewide' broadcasts. When it was licensed back to UT in 1925 it took the calls KUT. After the government mandated crystal control to stay on frequency university officials decided broadcasting was getting too expensive and sold it to the English brothers who proceeded to go bankrupt and sell it to Jesse Jones.

Doctor_Technical - will do. Good CFS.

w9wi - I thought it was Cleveland but couldn't remember where I'd read about it. I worked for Group W for a time and an old timer was telling me a little about the history but at the time it went in one ear and out the other.

 

[radioeye]

Just wanted to add that WCM (1922) was the first station in Austin to be operated by the University of Texas, it operated on several frequencies and later changed calls to KUT. The English brothers brought were the first commercial operators in Austin. Pioneer Broadcasting made the claim that WCM KUT KNOW were all related.

First BROADCASTING station --- the university had been involved in wireless experimentation since at least 1911 and had an amateur station, 5JA, before WWI which was re-activated after the war (civilian use of wireless was prohibited during the war). WCM was not always licensed to UT; for a time, it was operated by the Texas Markets and Warehouse Department. The station was frequently used by state officials for 'statewide' broadcasts. When it was licensed back to UT in 1925 it took the calls KUT. After the government mandated crystal control to stay on frequency university officials decided broadcasting was getting too expensive and sold it to the English brothers who proceeded to go bankrupt and sell it to Jesse Jones.

Doctor_Technical - will do. Good CFS.

w9wi - I thought it was Cleveland but couldn't remember where I'd read about it. I worked for Group W for a time and an old timer was telling me a little about the history but at the time it went in one ear and out the other.

Not to be picky.....

WCM Austin, TX 03/22/1922 -07/20/1925=deleted (replaced by KUT, see 10/30/1925
KUT AUSTIN, TX. New station, supplants WCM (see 12/16/1929)12/16/1929
KUT AUSTIN, TX. Station became KTRH-Houston, KUT call given to x-KDGR, which moved from San Antonio to Austin (see 1/26/1932)
KUT AUSTIN, TX Became KNOW (now KFON -- see 8/21/1958)

This comes from http://earlyradiohistory.us/3roll.htm

I wasn't around to personally attest to the accuracy of the history.... But it is interesting. My assumption is that this tracks three letter calls, and the hi-jacking of those calls by clever individuals, including UT for KUT-FM.

 

[hrhwebmaster]

Thanks for posting this radioeye; I've used Thomas White's material extensively and must've looked at that list before but didn't notice WCM/KUT. I'm just now getting around to looking into this.

I don't know where White gets the 7/20/25 date. According to the monthly Radio Service Bulletins on the FCC website, WCM was deleted in October, 1925, the same month KUT was added as a new station. Those bulletins list changes of call letters, ownership, frequency and power in a different section than new stations so it's interesting that KUT is listed as a new station, not a change of calls and ownership from WCM. If that's true, KTRH doesn't trace it's history to WCM, March, 1922, but only to KUT, October, 1925.

Shroeder in Texas Signs On says WCM was 'relicensed to the University of Texas' in 1925 as KUT but again that's not what the on-line bulletin says.

Both White and Shroeder have probably seen the original files while all I've had access to so far are the monthly bulletins, so perhaps they've seen something that's not reflected in the bulletin. I'm going to email Whte.