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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex |
| Frequency | 105.3MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | 105.3 The Fan |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports |
| Subchannels |
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| Network | Infinity Sports Network |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | January 1958 (1958-01) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Taken fromKRLD |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 1087 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 574.2 meters (1,884 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 32°35′02″N96°57′48″W / 32.58389°N 96.96333°W /32.58389; -96.96333 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (via Audacy) |
| Website | www |
KRLD-FM (105.3MHz, "105.3 The Fan") is a commercial radio stationlicensed toDallas, Texas, and serving theDallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. KRLD-FM is owned byAudacy, Inc., and airs asports radioformat. The station's studios and offices are located alongNorth Central Expressway inUptown Dallas, and thetransmitter site is inCedar Hill.
The station airs local sports talk shows most of the day and evening, and carriesnationally syndicated programming fromInfinity Sports Network during the late night and overnight hours. KRLD-FM is theflagship station of theDallas Cowboys Radio Network and theTexas Rangers Radio Network. Some early hours on weekends are paidbrokered programming. In the sports radio format, KRLD-FM's chief rival is Cumulus-ownedSportsradio 1310/96.7 The Ticket.
KRLD-FM broadcasts inHD Radio. It carries thenews/talk format of itssister station 1080KRLD on its HD 2 subchannel. Its HD 3 subchannel is devoted to coverage of theDallas Cowboysfootball team, with additional programming from theInfinity Sports Network (formerly CBS Sports Radio).
The station went on the air in January 1958 with aclassical music format, using thecall sign KSFM. In 1960, the station wentdark and then resurfaced with anautomatedbeautiful music format as KPSD, only tosign-off again by the end of the year. Century Broadcasting purchased the dark KPSD in 1962 and returned it to the air as KMAP, "The Sound of Success", featuring classical music and later,Broadway show tunes. In 1968, Century sold KMAP to Dawson Communications, which changed the call letters to KXXK and the format toMOR music.
KXXK became KOAX ("Coax") in 1971, returning to the beautiful music format. Through the 1970s and into the early 1980s, KOAX was one of the most popular FM stations in Dallas/Fort Worth, consistently scoring top 10 ratings. But by 1985, its ratings were falling, and KOAX changed its call sign to KQZY ("Cozy 105.3") that year, evolving the format from beautiful music tosoft adult contemporary. Personalities included, Chris Miller, Jack Murray, Ken Conrad, Bill Brown, Lisa Leigh, Nina Cunningham and Vickie Hunter. KQZY changed format tohot AC as "Star 105.3" in September 1989, taking the new call sign KRSR the following summer. "Star" featured such personalities as Bob Nelson, John McCarty, Teri Richardson, Mike Sheppard, Stoobie Doak and Scott Carpenter, who also served asprogram director. Ratings remained low, and on January 27, 1992, following a 2-day electronic countdown, Alliance Broadcasting (based inWalnut Creek, California) launched the first "Young Country" station on 105.3 FM with the station temporarily taking the call sign KRRM before becoming KYNG in February.[2][3] The format featured current-heavycountry music aimed toward a younger audience, and created "morning shows" all day that highlighted listener calls, frequent requests and fun disc jockey talk. It was all a part of owner Alliance's "Young Country" concept, repeated in othermedia markets around the country. Throughout the country format's tenure, its marketing brand was "Young Country 105.3, FM 105".
KYNG was one of four stations (the others beingKXTX-TV, and sister stationsKOAI andKRBV) that fell victim to the Cedar Hilltower collapse on October 12, 1996. Three workers were killed, and one worker was injured when a gust of wind caught the gin pole being used for construction of a new antenna for KXTX. After the collapse, the stations scrambled to get back on air and later ended up using an auxiliary site for many months, though at a much reduced power output. Because of this, KYNG's ratings plummeted.
After being acquired byInfinity Broadcasting (the forerunner toCBS Radio), KYNG changed format from country music to a combination ofhot talk andactive rock music on April 3, 2000. The final song on "Young Country" was "The Dance" byGarth Brooks.[4][5][6][7] The station's first moniker under the new format was "105.3 The Talk That Rocks". KYNG became the Dallasnetwork affiliate forThe Howard Stern Show; other personalities and programs during its initial launch includedEd Tyll, A.W. Pantoja, Jim Verdi, Martha Martinez,Russ Martin,Tom Leykis,Loveline, andJohn & Jeff. Three years later, in March 2003, the station took the new call sign KLLI, with "Live 105.3" as the new name and the slogan "The Alternative Talk Station". In late 2005, as part of the station's change in morning shows (due to Stern leaving CBS Radio to go toSirius Satellite Radio in early 2006), KLLI dropped the "Alternative Talk Station" slogan and started using the CBS Radio nationwide slogan for FM talk, "Free FM". In May 2007, as part of CBS Radio's phasing out of the Free FM name and slogan, KLLI dropped the "Free FM" slogan and was again simply known as "Live 105.3". By this time, the weekday lineup consisted of Chris Jagger, Pugs Moran & Kelly Mohr, Russ Martin, Tom Leykis, "Big" Dick Hunter, and Loveline.
On December 8, 2008, at 3 p.m., KLLI switched to asports talk format, branded as "105.3 The Fan". This change was not a complete overhaul as some hosts, notably morning host Jagger and some of his morning crew, survived the shift, while others, includingRuss Martin, were not retained.[8] On December 12, 2008, the call sign was changed to KRLD-FM to match sister stationKRLD (AM). Eventually, the programming became all sports. Some of the early shows included The Josh and Elf Show (hosted byJosh Lewin and Mark Elfenbein), RAGE (with Richie and Greggo Extravaganza, hosted by Richie Whitt andGreg Williams), and The Arnie Spanier Show.
On May 21, 2012, CBS Radio hinted at a possible format flip for either KRLD-FM orKMVK to "AMP Radio", much like its co-owned Los Angelescontemporary hit radio stationKAMP-FM, as CBS registered three web domains, but neither station changed to that format.[9]
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom (now known as Audacy).[10] The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on November 17.[11][12]
Months after on April 26, 2018, Entercom struck a new content deal withNBCUniversal-owned-and-operated stationsKXAS-TV (NBC) andKXTX-TV (Telemundo). The former will be partnered with this station to bring enhanced local sports news and scores to its audience.[13][14]
105.3 HD-2 was originally launched in 2005 as a Spanish version of their "Live/Free FM" format. In 2008, the HD-2 channel shifted to anindie rock-formatted playlist from internet radio stationThe Indie-Verse via a secured internet feed. In June 2009, The Indie-Verse was dumped in favor of the simulcast of KRLD NewsRadio 1080 AM. The reason was the newMicrosoftZune player's feature which allowed listeners to hear HD stations as well as MP3 files, but wouldn't be able to tune intoAM stations.[15]
105.3 HD-3 aired an all-"Dallas Cowboys Radio" format, which carried archived football games and talk shows about the Cowboys, with the overnight hours occupied by CBS Sports Radio.[16] As of 2023, "Dallas Cowboys Radio" has ceased operations. However,Infinity Sports Network (the former CBS Sports Radio) continues to air full-time on KRLD-FM HD3.
KRLD-FM is the flagship station forTexas Motor Speedway and carriesNASCAR Cup Series races.
KRLD-FM has been the flagship station for theDallas CowboysNational Football League team since the2009 season. The deal revived the long association the Cowboys had with KRLD (AM) in the 1970s and 1980s. It features regular appearances by team ownerJerry Jones and head coachMike McCarthy.[17]
TheTexas Rangers ofMajor League Baseball aired their games from Monday through Friday on 105.3 The Fan in the2009 and2010 seasons (the latter wastheir pennant-winning year).[18] Weekend games were still on KRLD NewsRadio 1080. After that season, the Rangers did not renew the contract. Games from 2011 to 2014 were on rival station103.3 ESPN in English and on 1540KZMP in Spanish, which continued with Spanish-language rights untilESPN Deportes Radio's demise, in which they were moved to another Spanish sports stationKFLC 1270 AM. Rangers games (including weekends) returned to 105.3 The Fan starting in the 2015 season.[19]
The call letters KRLD-FM were originally assigned to a Dallas station that began broadcasting March 21, 1948. As only the third FM station in Dallas, it broadcast on 92.5 MHz with 50 kW power. The licensee was KRLD Radio Corporation, which also owned 1080 KRLD.[20] The call letters were retired in 1972, when the station became KAFM (and today isKZPS). CBS Radio took the KRLD-FM call sign for 105.3 in 2008.
