 | |
| Broadcast area | Greater Houston |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 740kHz |
| Branding | Newsradio 740 KTRH |
| Programming | |
| Format | News/Talk |
| Network | ABC News Radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KBME,KODA,KPRC,KQBT,KTBZ-FM,KXYZ | |
| History | |
First air date | April 22, 1922; 102 years ago (1922-04-22) (inAustin, moved to Houston in 1929) |
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies |
|
Call sign meaning | The Rice Hotel |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 35674 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 29°57′57″N94°56′32″W / 29.96583°N 94.94222°W /29.96583; -94.94222 |
| Repeater(s) | 99.1 KODA-HD2 (Houston) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live (viaiHeartRadio) |
| Website | ktrh |
KTRH (740AM) is acommercialradio stationlicensed toHouston, Texas. It airs anews/talkradio format and is owned byiHeartMedia, Inc. Itsstudios are along theWest Loop Freeway (I-610) in the city'sUptown district. Thetransmitter site, a four-tower array, is in unincorporatedLiberty County, off Cox Road inDayton.[2] KTRH is one of the oldest radio stations in the United States, first licensed toAustin on April 22, 1922. Programming is also heard on co-ownedKODA'sHD 2subchannel at99.1MHz, and on theiHeartRadio platform. KTRH isSoutheast Texas' primary entry point station for theEmergency Alert System.
KTRH broadcasts with50,000 watts around the clock, the highest power permitted by theFederal Communications Commission for commercial AM stations. But because it transmits onAM 740, aCanadianclear channel frequency, the station uses adirectional antenna to protectClass A stationCFZM inToronto. During the day, the station provides at least secondary coverage to most southeast Texas, as far west asAustin andSan Antonio and as far north asCollege Station andLufkin, as well as much of southwesternLouisiana. At night, to protect CFZM, the station switches to a directional pattern with a significant null to the east, concentrating the signal in Houston, theGolden Triangle andVictoria.
The station was first licensed, with randomly assignedcall letters WCM on April 22, 1922; 102 years ago (April 22, 1922). It was started by theUniversity of Texas at Austin. (Initially call letters beginning with "W" were generally assigned to stations east of an irregular line formed by the western state borders from North Dakota south to Texas. Call signs beginning with "K" went only to stations in states west of that line. In January 1923, theMississippi River was established as the new boundary. After this date, stations in Texas began receiving call letters beginning with "K." This is why the earliest stations in Texas, such asWOAISan Antonio andWBAPFort Worth, still carry W call signs.)[3]
WCM was authorized to broadcast on both the "entertainment" wavelength of 360 meters (833kHz) and the "market and weather" wavelength of 485 meters (619kHz).[4][5] In November 1924 the station was relicensed to broadcast on1120kHz.[6] On October 30, 1925, the station was relicensed with the new call letters of KUT, now operating on1300kHz.[7] In early 1927 the station was assigned to1100kHz,[8] and a few months later was assigned to1290kHz.[9] On November 11, 1928, under the provisions of theFederal Radio Commission'sGeneral Order 40, the station moved back to1120kHz.[10]
The university ultimately decided that it could not afford the expense of operating a radio station,[11] and in early 1929 sold KUT to a group that planned to convert it from an educational to a commercial station.[12]
Jesse H. Jones, operator of theRice Hotel (now the Post Rice Lofts) in Houston, Texas and owner of theHouston Chronicle, took over the station to meet its competition, theHouston Post, which was the first of the local papers with a radio affiliation (KPRC).[13] In December 1929, the station's call letters were changed to KTRH (standing for The Rice Hotel), and its main studio was moved to Houston. (Simultaneously, station KGDR in San Antonio, Texas was renamed KUT and moved to Austin (nowKJFK).[14] In March 1930, the station began broadcasting from the Rice Hotel. KTRH aired shows from theColumbia Broadcasting System as part of its initial programming.[13]
In mid-1934 KTRH shifted to1330kHz,[15] which was followed late the next year by a move to1290kHz with5,000 watts in the daytime and1,000 watts at night.[16] On March 29, 1941, with the implementation of the provisions of theNorth American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), the stations on1290kHz were moved to1320kHz.[17] The next year KTRH moved to its current frequency of740kHz, and got a boost in power to50,000 watts.[18]
In 1947, Houston's first FM station was added,101.1MHz KTRH-FM.[19] The FM station mostlysimulcast KTRH's programming when few people had FM radios.
In the 1950s, as network programming moved from radio to TV, KTRH-AM-FM switched to afull servicemiddle of the road (MOR) format. In 1965, KTRH-AM-FM were acquired by the Rusk Corporation. Under Rusk ownership, KTRH-FM experimented withprogressive rock programs at night while simulcasting AM 740 in the daytime. In 1970, Rusk switched the FM station over to a full time rock format asKLOL.
FormerCBS Evening News anchorDan Rather worked for KTRH in the late 1950s as both anchor and reporter. In 1959, KTRH carried broadcasts of theHouston Buffsminor league baseball team. Rather was the main play by play announcer. TheGallup Poll's editor in chief Frank Newport was also a noted talk show host and news director at KTRH in the early 1980s.CBS Sports announcerJim Nantz worked at KTRH while attending theUniversity of Houston.
In 1993, Evergreen Media bought KTRH and KLOL for $49 million.[20] Evergreen Media was later merged into Chancellor Media, which in turn was bought by Clear Channel Communications, the forerunner to today's owner,iHeartMedia. In 1995, Clear Channel also acquired KTRH's chief talk radio competitor,AM 950KPRC. That means Clear Channel, and now iHeartMedia, has two talk radio stations in Houston, each airing slightly different programming. For a time, Houston-based syndicated hostMichael Berry had shows on both stations, airing at different times. Berry is now heard twice a day on KTRH, while KTRH morning host Jimmy Barrett is also heard on KPRC for an hour in the afternoon.
KTRH was the Houston affiliate forCBS Radio News, before switching toABC News Radio in 1997 and then toFox News Radio in 2003. In early 2016, KTRH switched back to ABC.[21] The Fox News affiliation moved to sister station KPRC.
iHeartMedia owns two news-talk radio stations in Houston. KTRH has more local hosts whileKPRC950 AM carries morenationally syndicated programs.
Weekdays on KTRH begin with Jimmy Barrett anchoringHouston's Morning News.The Michael Berry Show, a syndicated program based at KTRH, airs in late mornings and again in early evenings. Berry is followed byThe Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show andThe Sean Hannity Show (both syndicated via co-ownedPremiere Networks). Weeknights featureThe Will Cain Show (syndicated viaFox News Radio) andOur American Stories with Lee Habeeb, whileCoast to Coast AM withGeorge Noory (via Premiere) is heard overnight.
On weekends, shows on money, health, gardening, cars, home repair and the oil industry are heard. Syndicated programs includeThe Weekend with Michael Brown andSomewhere in Time with Art Bell. KTRH isaffiliated withABC News Radio. It has a news-sharing partnership withKPRC-TV 2, Houston'sNBC affiliate, and it gets forecasts fromThe Weather Channel.
For many years, KTRH was theflagship station for theHouston Astros Radio Network. With the 2013 season, the Astros' play-by-play rights switched tosports radio sister stationKBME790 AM. KTRH occasionally airs Astros'baseball games when KBME is carryingHouston Rockets'basketball games.
