Waco's KWTX-FM Turns 55

[Deleted member 108832]

A decent write-up on Mike McGuff's site was written to mark the occasion.

My earliest memories of 97.5 have always been of it as a Top 40. WACO-FM, as I recollect, was the Beautiful Music station in Central Texas in my childhood. Maybe I've just mixed up the two.

97.5 KWTX-FM Waco turns 55

Houston media blog covering TV, radio, newspapers for H-Town and Texas.

mikemcguff.blogspot.com

 

[Ryan Williams]

A decent write-up on Mike McGuff's site was written to mark the occasion.

My earliest memories of 97.5 have always been of it as a Top 40. WACO-FM, as I recollect, was the Beautiful Music station in Central Texas in my childhood. Maybe I've just mixed up the two.

97.5 KWTX-FM Waco turns 55

Houston media blog covering TV, radio, newspapers for H-Town and Texas.

mikemcguff.blogspot.com

You probably have a few years on me, but I cannot remember a time when WACO was not Country and KWTX was not Top 40. I can remember when they were separately owned before then Gulfstar went on a buying spree. When I first started paying attention they were always 1 and 2 in the book.

Just checked and it looks like WACO flipped to country in 1990.

They were trying at one point to move KWTX to Lakeway or Lago Vista near Austin a couple decades ago along with a bunch of other moves in a docket.

This is a total aside, but interestingly WACO and KWTX-FM are the LP-1 and LP-2 EAS monitoring assignments for their region, even though they share both an office/studio, main tower, and auxiliary tower. I'm not sure it makes much sense from a resiliency standpoint, but those are the only two FM signals that reliability cover both Waco and Killeen-Temple, despite many if not most claiming "Waco-Temple-Killeen" in their IDs and imaging.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

You probably have a few years on me, but I cannot remember a time when WACO was not Country and KWTX was not Top 40. I can remember when they were separately owned before then Gulfstar went on a buying spree. When I first started paying attention they were always 1 and 2 in the book.

I'll hit the double nickel on Jan. 11th, and remember 97.5 and 99.9 as far back as 1979/80 or so. I caught the radio bug early on, and drove the grown folks absolutely crazy with it. WACO 1460 was still at home, still playing country, and not pretending to be a Dallas station yet. 99.9 was KHOO, either as B/EZ or an instrumental-only Adult Contemporary during this period and stayed that way for awhile. 99.9 went back to the WACO-FM calls in 1987, corresponding with a relaunch to an AC format that you'd typically hear in the last 30+ years, meaning there were now vocals. That lasted until '90, when it reverted to country for the third time (it was, for a time, country as K-HOO, according to the old guard). The second, standalone country incarnation (at 100 FM) is before my time, as is the simulcast WACO AM/FM that went on for years before 99.9 broke away.

Just checked and it looks like WACO flipped to country in 1990.

👍

They were trying at one point to move KWTX to Lakeway or Lago Vista near Austin a couple decades ago along with a bunch of other moves in a docket.

Didn't that involve something like 20 stations being moved around? I had long forgotten that was proposed, Ryan.

This is a total aside, but interestingly WACO and KWTX-FM are the LP-1 and LP-2 EAS monitoring assignments for their region, even though they share both an office/studio, main tower, and auxiliary tower. I'm not sure it makes much sense from a resiliency standpoint, but those are the only two FM signals that reliability cover both Waco and Killeen-Temple, despite many if not most claiming "Waco-Temple-Killeen" in their IDs and imaging.

That certainly is redundant. Ours is officially KNUE for Tyler and KYKX for Longview, now, even though our tornado alert system still screams at us Tylerites to immediately tune in AM 600 KTBB for pertinent emergency information.

Somebody really should update that.

 

[Huff]

KWTX-FM was Beautful Music from sign on until August 1982... first moving to AC then segueing to Top 40 during the mid 80s.
WACO-FM was Beatiful Music until 1973 when it flipped to Country as KHOO. In 1979, KHOO and WACO (AM) swapped formats, with Country going to the AM and the FM becoming AC. The Country format returned to 99.9, along with the WACO-FM calls, in 1990.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

KWTX-FM was Beautful Music from sign on until August 1982... first moving to AC then segueing to Top 40 during the mid 80s.

KWTX must've been one pretty aggressive AC then, Chris. It is the station I first heard "Eye of the Tiger" on, coming from the speakers of Visible Changes in the Penney's wing of Richland Mall.

WACO-FM was Beatiful Music until 1973 when it flipped to Country as KHOO. In 1979, KHOO and WACO (AM) swapped formats, with Country going to the AM and the FM becoming AC. The Country format returned to 99.9, along with the WACO-FM calls, in 1990.

I admit that the memories are fading, but I sure don't remember any swaps, nor 1460 as B/EZ, and we went to Waco a lot.

 

[Huff]

WACO-AM was not B/EZ, it was Pop/Adult (AC) before 1979.
I was not in Waco in 1982, but I can promise you I don't just go by conjecture... I've done all the research from contemporary and trade sources.

Waco Tribune Herald, 8/5/82, Pg. 13:

 

[Huff]

WACO AM and KHOO, before and after the Labor Day 1979 swap:

 

[Kent]

WACO-FM was Beatiful Music until 1973 when it flipped to Country as KHOO. In 1979, KHOO and WACO (AM) swapped formats, with Country going to the AM and the FM becoming AC. The Country format returned to 99.9, along with the WACO-FM calls, in 1990.

Don't forget that it took the KTKS calls 106.1 in Dallas discarded and was Top-40 "Kiss" for about a year before flipping to WACO-FM and country in 1990.

It's kind of funny to think about now, but Waco was a real CHR heaven in 1989. In addition to KTKS and KWTX-FM, KRXX 92.9 ran a CHR derivative, too. Plus, good car radios and home stereos provided access to KHYI 94.9 "Y95" and KEGL 97.1 out of Dallas. If you had the right setup, KBTS 93.3 out of Austin was also an option.

 

[TexasTom]

Don't forget that it took the KTKS calls 106.1 in Dallas discarded and was Top-40 "Kiss" for about a year before flipping to WACO-FM and country in 1990.

It's kind of funny to think about now, but Waco was a real CHR heaven in 1989. In addition to KTKS and KWTX-FM, KRXX 92.9 ran a CHR derivative, too. Plus, good car radios and home stereos provided access to KHYI 94.9 "Y95" and KEGL 97.1 out of Dallas. If you had the right setup, KBTS 93.3 out of Austin was also an option.

Didn't 92.9 at least briefly carry Satellite Music Networks' "The Heat" CHR format? I know that I remember hearing it driving through Waco in 1989. Don't think it lasted for very long, though.

 

[Huff]

Yes, then KRXX was satellite-delivered CHR from Sep. 1987 (when it was still on 96.7), through its move to 92.9 in 1989 until changing to AC KEYR in March 1990.

 

[Kent]

Didn't 92.9 at least briefly carry Satellite Music Networks' "The Heat" CHR format? I know that I remember hearing it driving through Waco in 1989. Don't think it lasted for very long, though.

I don’t remember, but Huff is usually correct. The M Street Directory editions from ‘89 and ‘90 show it as satellite CHR, though Transtar operated a satellite CHR service at the time, too.

I rarely listened to 92.9 on the Dallas to San Antonio run. I seem to remember it didn’t have a very good signal, even on Chrysler radios, which were among the best in the industry at the time. I remember, however, being really disappointed in the Summer of ‘90 when I tuned to 99.9 and found WACO-FM instead of KTKS. Almost seems like it called itself “KISS 99” despite being closer to 100 on the dial. I preferred KTKS to KWTX-FM (and KHFI to KBTS and KSAQ over KITY and KTFM).

 

[Huff]

It was KTKS' flip to WACO that prompted KRXX's flip. I also forgot they had a translator on 92.1 to get better coverage in Waco proper.

 

[Ryan Williams]

It was KTKS' flip to WACO that prompted KRXX's flip. I also forgot they had a translator on 92.1 to get better coverage in Waco proper.
View attachment 10985

Great pull. I do not remember the KRXX days but I do remember it's time as KEYY "Key 92".

Former station owner Van Goodall, mentioned in this article, actually still works in the M&M cluster as a board op/network engineer for Baylor sporting events on KRZI.

Another fun fact, the writer, Carl Hoover, is still at the Trib covering the entertainment beat, although he doesn't write about radio very often these days. Many moves and format flips have happened with zero coverage. There are never any general ratings columns anymore.

The only radio articles that appear in the Waco Tribune-Herald anymore are about local NPR affiliate KWBU, which is clearly Carl's personal favorite. He writes about them multiple times per year including pushing their pledge drives on the paper's pages and promoting their "power morning" fundraising days and financial hardships. Despite KWBU being a relatively minor player in Waco, I bet if you looked at the last 5-10 years there are more stories about KWBU than all other local radio combined. Maybe more than all other local radio and tv combined. It's kind of embarrassing.

 

[Ryan Williams]

The only radio articles that appear in the Waco Tribune-Herald anymore are about local NPR affiliate KWBU, which is clearly Carl's personal favorite. He writes about them multiple times per year including pushing their pledge drives on the paper's pages and promoting their "power morning" fundraising days and financial hardships. Despite KWBU being a relatively minor player in Waco, I bet if you looked at the last 5-10 years there are more stories about KWBU than all other local radio combined. Maybe more than all other local radio and tv combined. It's kind of embarrassing.

Since I wrote this just over two weeks ago, Carl Hoover at the Waco Tribune-Herald has written about KWBU twice:

On the 19th: Waco public radio station names new CEO as Riley announces retirement

Yesterday: Waco public radio station KWBU nears year-end goal, prepares for CEO transition

The story about the leadership transition may or may not be newsworthy. But I'm pretty sure a story that is really just a reminder for readers to donate is not. This happens once or twice per year (search the Trib's archive).

Also, KWBU is a Class A FM with a relatively small audience. The endless stories seem a little excessive, especially considering no other media outlets in town gets much of any coverage at all.

Around Waco in 2025 there has been multiple format flips, new market entrants including one by a former NFL player, two unique LPFM launches with one by a major local employer, etc. I can't recall any mention of any this in the Trib.

 

[Dick's History]

WACO-AM was not B/EZ, it was Pop/Adult (AC) before 1979.
I was not in Waco in 1982, but I can promise you I don't just go by conjecture... I've done all the research from contemporary and trade sources.

Waco Tribune Herald, 8/5/82, Pg. 13:

View attachment 10966

Interesting just how many GMs and PDs during the 1980s stated for publication that Beautiful Music was "dying across the nation". As far as LP sales were concerned that genre had pretty much dried up by the end of the 60s except for Paul Mauriat, Roger Williams, Ferrante and Teicher, and a number of 70s hit singles. In part because enthusiasts were getting what they wanted on radio. Oil shortages of the mid 70s deleted recording company catalogue sales. But many of us listening were still in our 30s when we were told it was "dying". And many stations maintained double digit shares until the end. Granted mostly of older Americans.