What happened?

[WilmingtonRadio]

I used to spend a lot of time in SA when I was much younger...I'd spend summers with my cousins there in the early 70's. I used to love stations like KEXL and KTFM, when they were strictly AOR and almost considered underground. I know what happened to KEXL but what happened to KTFM? I haven't really spent any time in SA since 1978, so I don't know much about the market anymore. But I used to love KTFM. I thought it was such a great station. Now I hear it's not even around. Did it go under? Change its calls? What happened?

Also, who currently owns KTSA and it's current sister station if it still has one?

Anyone have any news? Thanks

 

[snoman]

It's really a very sad story, in which CBS/Infinity radio is the bad guy in the end. KTFM and KTSA were owned by Bernie Waterman for quite awhile. Waterman sold both stations to CBS/Infinity Radio for $90 Million. Toward it's latter years, KTFM was running what a lot of us would call "Churban" Music. However, it was a very unique format. They'd play some Mainstream CHR mixed in with Rhythmic CHR and old school R&B. However, with the growing influence of Hip/Hop & Rap into today's music, KTFM did not evolve with it. They are a prime example of needing to tweak a format, even when you are number one, because someone with something new and fresh can come along and knock you off your block. Waterman sold the station just in time, because Hispanic Broadcasting Company (now Univision) introduced KBBT into the market, which was a full-fledged Hip-Hop/Rap/Today's R&B format and it destroyed KTFM in the ratings. KTFM went through a period of several evolvements after that, until the ratings just got so bad that they pulled the plug on the format all together. It's changed calls and formats a couple of times since. It is now a "Jack" station.

Border Media Partners has resurrected the KTFM calls on a different frequency, but they don't use them except to ID the station, they go by the moniker "Jammin' " and they play Jammin' Oldies/Rhythmic AC. It's a good station, but it's not the same.

But KTFM is living proof to all Number One stations, the ride doesn't last forever. If you stay "status quo", sooner or later, someone fresh will come along and knock you off your pedestal. Unfortunately, they never recovered. A very sad end to a very successful station.

CBS Radio supposedly sold them. I got my head bit off by another poster, because I said "Infinity" (same difference, they just changed the name to CBS Radio) owned them, but the FCC Database still has them licensed to Texas CBS Radio Broadcasting, so they may have done the initial sale process and could be controlled by someone else now, but CBS Radio still owns them as far as the FCC is concerned and the date on that was March 11, 2007, and that is today.

I want to know when 92.9 KITY changed? And, what happened behind that? I lived in San Antonio in the early 80's and my family moved to Northeast Texas. I moved back in 1998 and it was Regional Mexican. Can anyone fill me in on the details surrounding the demise of my favorite Top 40 station when I was a kid in S.A.?

 

[WilmingtonRadio]

Thanks for the explanation. I remember hearing the name "Waterman Broadcasting" during the glory days of KTSA and KTFM back in the early 70's.

I really liked KTFM alot. I had a rainbow bumper sticker on my notebook my Freshman year in HS. KTSA was OK, but it was mostly top 40 bubblegum back then.

I think what's happened to radio is sad. Deregulation is mostly to blame, but not entirely. The corporations who gobbled up radio station not unlike some acid trippin' Pac Man are to blame. Sure, de-reg game them permission, but still what these corporations have done is nothing short of criminal.

I used to think that the ONLY way to salavage terrestrial radio is to bring it back to the single owner. One rich guy who just wanted to own a nice AM and FM. But I think that's just a fasle hope.

Just curious if anyone has heard that these stations are for sale? I've heard nothing...I was just wondering. I know that the right amount of money can make anything for sale, but I was curious.

 

[Bennieben55]

In case you are wondering jack and ktsa were recently bought by Border Media Partners. They will be moving ktsa as soon as the new studio is built. My friend Trey Ware said they will be moving sometime next month. The old ktfm/ktsa building on eisenhauer will be up for sale as soon as they move to the new facility.

 

[WilmingtonRadio]

Trey Ware? Would he be the son or grandson of the legendary SA jock, Ricky Ware?

I remember listening to Ricky Ware on KTSA, I guess and he'd talk about his son Ricky Ware jr (I think) form time to time. Maybe my memory banks are deceiving me, but I seem to remember they used to be involved in drag racing, maybe?

Is Ricky Ware still around?

I remember my cousins driving by the old KTSA station building decades ago. It was a dump. There was another building built in the same place later I think. I don't remember the street but iut wasn't far from I-35. And now they're getting a new building? Progress.

Whatever happend to Sonny Melendrez, Bruce Hathaway and Captain K? I used to listen to Logan Stewart but I'm sure he's gone to that great Control Room in the sky.

 

[Kent]

I want to know when 92.9 KITY changed? And, what happened behind that? I lived in San Antonio in the early 80's and my family moved to Northeast Texas. I moved back in 1998 and it was Regional Mexican. Can anyone fill me in on the details surrounding the demise of my favorite Top 40 station when I was a kid in S.A.?

KITY changed to KSRR-FM in, I believe, September 1990. KSRR-FM, of course, meant "Star 93," and the format really didn't ever work all that well. Power 93 fell victim to what so many other CHR's did around that time. Outside of mornings, it often beat KTFM and always gave it a run for its money. However, advertisers were starting to bail on the format nationwide. So, Star 93 was born and went pretty well straight into the tank. While there are a few isolated success stories of CHR's that flipped to hot AC, the Star 93 scenario seems the most typical.

The change from Star 93 to Spanish-language programming happened within the first 10 days of March 1993, but the groundwork for the change was set up several months earlier. Booth American/Genesis Broadcasting was in the process of merging with Broadcast Alchemy and becoming Secret Communications. In order to accomplish this, it sold off the Genesis portion of the company, which was all of its stations west of the Mississippi. 93.3 in Austin was sold to LBJ Broadcasting while KONO 860 went to the owners of the station it was LMA'ing (101.1), Gillespie Broadcasting, who sold it to Barger shortly afterward. I believe Secret kept KSFM a little longer but eventually divested it as well. Tichenor Media bought KSRR-FM for $3.8 million and was going to flip it to Tejano to compete against then number one KXTN 107.5. However, KXTN had been sold in late '92 by TK Communications, and the deal fell through. So, Tichenor stepped in and bought it, thus making KCOR and KSRR-FM sister stations to KXTN rather than competitors. The result was a flip of KSRR from hot AC to Spanish-AC as KROM "La Romantica," which lasted between two and three years before going regional Mexican as Estereo Latino 92.9.

By the way, Wilmington Radio, Trey Ware is indeed the son of Ricci Ware, and both are heard on KTSA 550. Sonny Melendrez is still around. He was most recently on KAHL 1310. Don't know if he's still there or not. In the early 90's, he set a record in San Antonio by signing a $500,000/year contract with KSMG Magic 105. Needless to say, he left KTFM for the money and lasted several years there before Cox finally opted against renewing his deal.

 

[snoman]

Ricci Ware is having some hearing problems or some sort of medical issue. Jeanne Jakle from the Express News talks about it in this column below...

http://www.mysanantonio.com/enterta...ckle/stories/MYSA030707.1P.jakle.15dcf8b.html

Sonny has a website as well. http://www.sonnyradio.com. He used to have his own internet radio station on there, but I don't know if it is still running or not?! I hadn't heard him on 1310 the last few times I've been home, but I mostly listen to KISS, when I'm there.

Thanks for the info on KITY. I had the black bumper sticker with the neon looking 92.9 on it, as well as the rainbow KTFM sticker, Wilmington was talking about.

 

[snoman]

Also, thanks for the information about the impending sale of "Jack" and KTSA. Border Media has really come on strong in the San Antonio/Austin area. Any word on whether they plan on keeping the "Jack" format on 102.7?

 

[WilmingtonRadio]

Thanks for all the updates..I appreciate it.

Like I said, I'd spend almost every summer with my cousins in San Antonio. My mother's family was from there and I'd head west down I-ten the minute school was out for summer. My cousin was really into radio as a kid and that got me into it, too. He had a transister radio with him at all times. Man, I guess I just dated myself with that admisstion.
My cousins had a pool which we lived in every summer and the radio would be on the entire time. Mostly on KTSA and KONO. He even had one strapped on his banana bike. Where ever we went, so did that radio. That's why I remember Bruce Hathaway and Ricci Ware. As we matured, so did our taste in music. We graduated to KTFM and KEXL. Then my Sophomore year of High School, I stopped going to SA as much. By my senior year, I never went back. My cousines and I grew up...much of the family moved away form SA, grandparents died and life went on but the memories were great.

in the late 60's, I can remember watching a cartoon show with a sea captain in a satin shirt. Sounds kind of gay, but that's what I remember. It showed old Popeye and Bugs Bunny cartoons. On weekends when we were younger, my grandfather would take us to Playland Park ( I remember that very well) and then when we were even younger, there was also some little amusement park he'd take us to near the museum and the big park with the zoo (sorry, I can't remember the name) then we'd finish the day with this incredible chocolate cake (it seemed like oen slice was 8 inches tall) and we'd have lemonade at a nearby restaurant named Earl's I think that was the name. That was like standard operating proceedure when we were kids. I know Playland Park is closed, but what about the other places?

I have great memories of San Antonio as a kid and radio was always a big part of it. Thanks for letting me remember.

 

[MINDonDAradio247]

Easy, KTFM sucked cause the Beat came in and murdered them in all aspects. Needless to say Infinity didnt do a stellar job recovering from such a loss in ratings. That was the beginning of the end of 102.7 I honestly have no clue why people praise that station so much on here. In my opinion, if it was such a good thing for this city and the radio community it would still be around today. I guess people cannot accept the fact that times changed and KTFM could not adapt. (Or adapted too much in this case) What I mean by that is that Infinity flipped the station every 6 months or so near the end. Which is never a good thing.

 

[snoman]

there was also some little amusement park he'd take us to near the museum and the big park with the zoo (sorry, I can't remember the name) then we'd finish the day with this incredible chocolate cake (it seemed like oen slice was 8 inches tall) and we'd have lemonade at a nearby restaurant named Earl's I think that was the name. That was like standard operating proceedure when we were kids. I know Playland Park is closed, but what about the other places?

I have great memories of San Antonio as a kid and radio was always a big part of it. Thanks for letting me remember.

Breckinridge Park/Zoo is the name of the Park/Zoo you are probably talking about, and Earl Abel's was the restaurant. Very sadly, Earl Abel's closed last year. I was sick about it. They are building condos there now. I heard they were going to reopen it somewhere else, but I haven't heard anymore details. It just wouldn't be the same anyway.

 

[WilmingtonRadio]

That's right, it was Earl Ables. It was torn down? To make room for condos??? Man, that's sad.

I understand progress. I understand change. but what about posterity? This is why I refuse to go to San Antonio anymore. Everything I remember as a kid is either gone or run down all to hell. Why be reminded of my own mortality!

 

[sdh483]

I want to know when 92.9 KITY changed? And, what happened behind that? I lived in San Antonio in the early 80's and my family moved to Northeast Texas. I moved back in 1998 and it was Regional Mexican. Can anyone fill me in on the details surrounding the demise of my favorite Top 40 station when I was a kid in S.A.?

KITY changed to KSRR-FM in, I believe, September 1990. KSRR-FM, of course, meant "Star 93," and the format really didn't ever work all that well. Power 93 fell victim to what so many other CHR's did around that time. Outside of mornings, it often beat KTFM and always gave it a run for its money. However, advertisers were starting to bail on the format nationwide. So, Star 93 was born and went pretty well straight into the tank. While there are a few isolated success stories of CHR's that flipped to hot AC, the Star 93 scenario seems the most typical.

The change from Star 93 to Spanish-language programming happened within the first 10 days of March 1993, but the groundwork for the change was set up several months earlier. Booth American/Genesis Broadcasting was in the process of merging with Broadcast Alchemy and becoming Secret Communications. In order to accomplish this, it sold off the Genesis portion of the company, which was all of its stations west of the Mississippi. 93.3 in Austin was sold to LBJ Broadcasting while KONO 860 went to the owners of the station it was LMA'ing (101.1), Gillespie Broadcasting, who sold it to Barger shortly afterward. I believe Secret kept KSFM a little longer but eventually divested it as well. Tichenor Media bought KSRR-FM for $3.8 million and was going to flip it to Tejano to compete against then number one KXTN 107.5. However, KXTN had been sold in late '92 by TK Communications, and the deal fell through. So, Tichenor stepped in and bought it, thus making KCOR and KSRR-FM sister stations to KXTN rather than competitors. The result was a flip of KSRR from hot AC to Spanish-AC as KROM "La Romantica," which lasted between two and three years before going regional Mexican as Estereo Latino 92.9.

By the way, Wilmington Radio, Trey Ware is indeed the son of Ricci Ware, and both are heard on KTSA 550. Sonny Melendrez is still around. He was most recently on KAHL 1310. Don't know if he's still there or not. In the early 90's, he set a record in San Antonio by signing a $500,000/year contract with KSMG Magic 105. Needless to say, he left KTFM for the money and lasted several years there before Cox finally opted against renewing his deal.

My boss, Ron James, was a DJ on KITY back in the late 80s and stuck around when they flipped to KSRR. We have a huge "Power 93" banner hanging in our warehouse, as well as some "Power 93" van magnets in the office. He was known as RJ Renyolds back then. I also stumbled upon his airchecks sitting in a box in the warehouse and took a listen to them when I came in early for work one day. I vaguley remembered the station but noticed that there were no jingle packages on the station at all, just music and DJ, and the occasional "lazer blast" sound in between songs.
I remember when they flipped to La romantica in the ealry 90s. "La romantica, effe emme, noventa y tres" hehe. My friend's dad owned a mexican resturant back then and would play La romantica.

 

[Kent]

I think you're right about Power 93 and jingles. I don't think it had many. I remember some of the liners, though. "Power 93, continuous music hour after hour after hour (fading) after hour after hour..." I don't remember KTFM and Q-96 having much in way of jingles either. Q was putting its toes more and more into alternative in 1990 with "Q-96, Killer Music," though it was still airing Casey's Top-40 at the time. "On the lunatic fringe of FM radio, KSAQ San Antonio, Q-96!" I enjoyed that station, but it never seemed to do much in the way of ratings. It did, however, serve as a pretty good springboard for Cruze in the afternoon. I believe he was the PD of the station and, last I heard, was programming WFNX in Boston. He has some other pretty impressive markets on his resume, too.

 

[Kent]

Also, thanks for the information about the impending sale of "Jack" and KTSA. Border Media has really come on strong in the San Antonio/Austin area. Any word on whether they plan on keeping the "Jack" format on 102.7?

The official word out of BMP is that no changes are planned. Take whatever you want away from that.

 

[daypart]

The official word out of BMP is that no changes are planned. Take whatever you want away from that.

There's no good reason to change either station. Jack was #1 in 25-54s in the last book. KTSA is one of SA's top billers. BMP bought stations that are outperforing what they already had in the SA portfolio.

 

[Kent]

I agree that there's no real reason to change either station. BMP really got a pretty good deal when you think of what they paid for the stations, especially versus what CBS/Infinity paid for them. Of course, I've seen stations that do very well get toasted because a new owner, manager, or program director comes in and decides to carry out his own mission, which is different from what the station is doing. BMP says it's not that kind of operator, and I hope they're telling the truth. I just always cringe when I hear a new owner come in and say they aren't planning any changes.

 

[BossJock1947]

there was also some little amusement park he'd take us to near the museum and the big park with the zoo (sorry, I can't remember the name) then we'd finish the day with this incredible chocolate cake (it seemed like oen slice was 8 inches tall) and we'd have lemonade at a nearby restaurant named Earl's I think that was the name. That was like standard operating proceedure when we were kids. I know Playland Park is closed, but what about the other places?

I have great memories of San Antonio as a kid and radio was always a big part of it. Thanks for letting me remember.

Breckinridge Park/Zoo is the name of the Park/Zoo you are probably talking about, and Earl Abel's was the restaurant. Very sadly, Earl Abel's closed last year. I was sick about it. They are building condos there now. I heard they were going to reopen it somewhere else, but I haven't heard anymore details. It just wouldn't be the same anyway.

Time marches on....

I left SA 1984...is Little Hipps still there?

 

[MINDonDAradio247]

Yes, good luck to BMP. I really hope they make something out of the 102.7 frequency. Does anyone think in the future BMP will either sell or move the stations to their building on IH-10?

 

[Bennieben55]

Jack is already at the I-10 building. Ktsa should be moving by next month according to Trey Ware. The old building on Eisenhauer Rd will probably be on the selling block soon after. For the fans of kity (power 93) Rick Da Stick is on Jammin 94.1 The new KTFM doing mornings. Everyone has an opinion about KTFM. If you liked it cool, if you hated it cool but we all know it will always be one of those stations that we all remember.