KFTK-FM (97.1MHz) is acommercial radio stationlicensed toFlorissant, Missouri, and serving theGreater St. Louis area. It airs atalk radioformat and is owned byAudacy, Inc. The studios are on Olive Street indowntown St. Louis.

KFTK-FM

Florissant, Missouri United States
Broadcast area	Greater St. Louis
Frequency	97.1MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	97.1 FM Talk
Programming
Format	Talk radio
Subchannels	HD2:Infinity Sports Network
Network	Fox News Radio
Affiliations	Compass Media Networks Premiere Networks Radio America Westwood One
Ownership
Owner	Audacy, Inc. (Audacy License, LLC)
Sister stations	KEZK-FM KMOX KMOX-FM KYKY WFUN-FM
History
First air date	April 15, 1977; 48 years ago (1977-04-15)
Former call signs	KSCF (1977–80) KCFM (1980–85) KLTH (1985–89) KHTK (1989–92) KXOK-FM (1992–2000) KFTK (2000–16)
Call sign meaning	"FM Talk"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	73890
Class	C1
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	171 meters (561 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	38°46′45.1″N90°43′43.4″W / 38.779194°N 90.728722°W /38.779194; -90.728722
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live (via Audacy)
Website	www.audacy.com/971talk

KFTK-FM is aClass C1 station. It has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000 watts, the maximum for most stations. Thetransmitter is on Magdalen Lane inO'Fallon.^[2] Besides a standardanalog transmission, KFTK-FM broadcasts usingHD Radio technology, carrying theInfinity Sports Network on its HD2digital subchannel. KFTK-FM is available online viaAudacy.com.

KFTK-FM specializes inconservative talk. It has mostly local shows on weekdays during the day, with Marc Cox in mornings, Annie Frey in early afternoons and Mark Reardon in late afternoons. The rest of the weekday schedule isnationally syndicated programs:Brian Kilmeade and Friends,Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla,The Dana Loesch Show,Coast to Coast AM withGeorge Noory andThis Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal.

Weekends focus on specialty topics, including money, health, guns and home improvement. Some shows are paidbrokered programming. Syndicated shows includeOur American Stories with Lee Habeeb,The Guy Benson Show andMarkley, Van Camp and Robbins. Most hours begin with an update fromFox News Radio.

The stationsigned on the air on April 15, 1977.^[3] Itscall sign was KSCF, which stood forSt. Charles andFlorissant. The station featured amiddle of the road/easy listening format. One of the original owners was Harlan "Grant" Horton, a longtime St. Louis broadcaster atKSD,WRTH,KMOX,KXOK andWEW. The sign on of 97.1 causedKADI-FM to move from its original frequency of 96.5 to 96.3 to accommodate the new radio station.

In 1980, after the KCFM call letters were dropped by 93.7, they were picked up by 97.1, and the station aired anadult contemporary format. Then in November 1985, the call letters were changed once again. They became KLTH "K-Lite 97", with asoft adult contemporary format. KLTH gradually segued into a format called "new adult contemporary" (NAC), a forerunner ofsmooth jazz. The station was re-branded as "Breeze 97".

On August 2, 1989, the station was sold once again. The new owners flipped the station toTop 40 as "Hot 97" with the call letters KHTK.^[4][5] The Top 40 format ended when then-rivalWKBQ was briefly under lease by the station's owner Saul Frischling of Pittsburgh. Both top 40 stations were merged at 106.5, with DJs from both stations moving to the new outlet.

On November 11, 1992, KHTK changed call letters to KXOK-FM, and flipped tourban AC as "Mix 97.1". In effect, theurban oldies format from the former KXOK (630 AM) was moved to FM.^[6][7] "Mix" would try to compete with the urban AC leader in St. Louis,KMJM-FM ("Majic 108"). KXOK AM and KXOK-FM would briefly simulcast until the AM station was taken off the air ahead of a sale to a religious broadcaster. The station carried the syndicatedTom Joyner Morning Show, which was heard in the market for many years across multiple stations.

In 1998, Frischling sold KXOK-FM to theSinclair Broadcast Group, which owned television stationKDNL-TV, along with radio stationsKPNT,WVRV,WIL-FM, andKIHT. In September of that year, the urban format was dropped, and the station began simulcasting KPNT.

On September 25, 1998, KXOK-FM beganstunting with a 48-hour loop of "Welcome to the Jungle" byGuns N' Roses. Two days later, KXOK-FM switched formats. It began playingclassic rock as "97 FM The Rock" while retaining the KXOK-FM call letters. To celebrateSt. Louis Cardinalsbaseball playerMark McGwire hitting 70 home runs, the station launched by playing 7,000 songs in a row without commercials or DJ interruption. The first song on "The Rock" was "There's Only One Way to Rock" bySammy Hagar.^[8]

Despite a less-than-optimal signal, the station enjoyed the most success seen on the frequency to that date playing classic rock. It was a competitor toEmmis Communications'KSHE, at times beating the veteran rock station in the overall ratings. KSHE aired the syndicatedBob and Tom Show in morningdrive time, while KXOK countered with local hosts (and KSHE alumni) Randy Raley and Mike Doran. Other KXOK DJs included Tom O'Keefe (middays), Jason Mack (afternoons), and Michelle Matthews (evenings). Overnights wereautomated. The station began with a standard classic rock format, playing rock hits from the 1960s and 70s. That evolved to playing a sizable amount of 1980shair bands. The station would also play occasional 1990s music from artists likePearl Jam,The Black Crowes, andCracker.

In the fall of 2000, Emmis Communications added to its St. Louis radio station cluster by purchasing properties from Sinclair Broadcasting, which wanted to focus on its television properties. The sale to Emmis led KXOK and KSHE to becomesister stations. Upon purchasing KXOK, and to avoid overlap with KSHE, KXOK changed formats. It became atalk radio station on October 16, 2000.^[9] The call letters changed to KFTK two days later.^[10]

Initially, the station focused on a female audience, in contrast to male-dominated talk stations already on the air in St. Louis. Syndicated personalities includedBob and Sheri, Dr.Joy Browne,Clark Howard,Dr. Laura,Phil Hendrie,Rhona at Night,Loveline, andJohn and Jeff, as well as local host Dave Glover. The station used the name "97.1 FM Talk". Failing to reach much of an audience, the station shifted toward more political talk in 2002, adding such syndicated hosts asDon Imus,Bill O'Reilly, andSean Hannity. The station briefly changed its name to "97-1 the Link...Real Life Radio", but soon returned to the "FM Talk" moniker.

The call sign was modified from KFTK to KFTK-FM on September 8, 2016.^[10] On September 15, 2016, KFTK-FM began simulcasting on WQQX (1490 AM), renamedKFTK, and FM translator station K254CR to improve the station's coverage in downtown St. Louis and the Illinois side of the market.^[11]

Emmis exited the St. Louis market in 2018. KFTK-FM andKNOU were sold to Entercom (now Audacy).^[12] The simulcast over KFTK 1490 ended on March 20, 2020, when the AM station's license was cancelled by theFCC.^[13] It was revealed that the AM station's ownership was ashell corporation. In reality, a convictedfelon owned it.^[14] FM translator K254CR was not affected, and was subsequently reassigned to simulcast KFTK-FM. That lasted until March 22, 2021, when K254CR began rebroadcasting AM sister stationKMOX.^[15]

In 2018, KFTK-FM endedThe Jaime Allman Show. Allman was accused of threatening gun-control advocateDavid Hogg on social media.^[16] In January 2024, KFTK-FM began syndicating a local program,The Josh Hammer Show.^[17]

• KXOK Radio Collection Finding Aid at theSt. Louis Public Library
• KXOK First Issue Letters Collection Finding Aid at theSt. Louis Public Library
• KXOK New Sound Manuscript Finding Aid at theSt. Louis Public Library

• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 73890 (KFTK) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• KFTK inNielsen Audio's FM station database