KTBB-FM

KTBB-FM
Simulcasts with KTBB, Tyler
Broadcast areaTyler-Longview area
Frequency97.5 MHz
BrandingKTBB 97.5 FM
Programming
FormatNews-Talk
NetworkFox News Radio
AffiliationsCompass Media Networks
Premiere Networks
Westwood One
Ownership
Owner
  • Paul Gleiser
  • (ATW Media, LLC)
History
First air date
July 1, 1981; 43 years ago (July 1, 1981) (as 97.7 KWRW Rusk)
Former call signs
KWRW (1981–2015)
Former frequencies
97.7 MHz (1981–2015)
Call sign meaning
Thomas Booker Butler Publishing Company (original AM facility owner)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID17835
ClassC3
ERP13,000 watts
HAAT121 meters (397 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
32°20′14.00″N 95°02′41.00″W / 32.3372222°N 95.0447222°W / 32.3372222; -95.0447222
Repeater(s)600 KTBB (Tyler)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitektbb.com

KTBB-FM (97.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Troup, Texas, serving the Tyler-Longview market. It simulcasts a news/talk format with its sister station KTBB 600 AM. The stations are owned by Paul Gleiser, through licensee ATW Media, LLC.[2]

Studios for KTBB-AM-FM are co-located with KRWR in the Woodgate Centre office building at 1001 ESE Loop 323, at the intersection with New Copeland Road. The FM transmitter is on County Road 246 South in Tyler, Texas.[3]

Programming

On weekdays, KTBB-AM-FM features two hours of news in the morning and an hour of news and information in afternoon drive time. The remainder of the weekday schedule is syndicated conservative talk shows, including The Glenn Beck Program, Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla, The Sean Hannity Show, The Mark Levin Show, The Joe Pags Show, Coast to Coast AM with George Noory and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal.

Weekends feature programs about money, health, religion, real estate, fishing and hunting, guns, cars, farming, home repair, gardening, pets, and technology. Weekend syndicated programs include The Kim Komando Show, Brian Kilmeade and Friends, The Chris Plante Show, The Pet Show with Warren Eckstein, Real Estate Today, Gun Talk with Tom Gresham and Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb. Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio.

History

The station signed on the air on July 1, 1981; 43 years ago (July 1, 1981).[4] The original call sign was KWRW and the city of license was Rusk, Texas. At first, the station broadcast at 97.7 MHz and was owned by Texas State Representative Emmett Holman Whitehead. KWRW mostly simulcast its sister station, KTLU 1580 AM. They featured a full-service format with adult contemporary music, specialty shows, sports and news during the first six years of operation.

Because KTLU 1580 was a daytimer, KWRW was able to broadcast into the night when KTLU was off the air. The call letters, KWRW, were chosen by Representative and Mrs. Whitehead in honor of their daughter, Dr. Wendee R. Whitehead. KWRW was powered at 3,000 watts, transmitting from the KTLU tower in Rusk. In order to extend KWRW's signal beyond Cherokee County, Whitehead applied for and was granted an FM translator at 103.9 FM, licensed as K280CL Palestine, in 1985.

On January 15, 2009, KWRW changed formats from oldies to classic hits and rebranded as "Classic Hits 97.7".

KWRW and K280CL remained together for almost 20 years until Whitehead's death. That prompted the transfer of KWRW, the relay translator, and AM sister station KTLU to The Cherokeean Herald newspaper.

KWRW was purchased by Paul Gleiser in March 2015. As part of the purchase, a request to move the KWRW facility from Rusk to Troup was applied for and granted by the Federal Communications Commission. The current 97.5 Troup facility began broadcasting as KTBB-FM on May 15, 2015. K280CL subsequently moved from Palestine to Rusk and became the translator for KTLU 1580 AM.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTBB-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "KTBB-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KTBB-FM
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B-257, Broadcasting & Cable