KTIX

For the airport in Titusville, Florida, assigned ICAO code KTIX, see Space Coast Regional Airport.
KTIX
Frequency1240 kHz
Branding103.1 The Outlaw
Programming
FormatClassic country
Ownership
Owner
  • Elkhorn Media Group
  • (EMG2, LLC)
KCMB, KTEL, KUMA, KUMA-FM, KWHT, KWRL, KWVN-FM
History
First air date
May 1941 (as KWRC)[1]
Former call signs
KWRC (1941–1959)[1]
KKID (1959–1964)[2][3]
Technical information[4]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID643
ClassC
Power800 watts (unlimited)
Transmitter coordinates
45°41′06″N 118°51′17″W / 45.68500°N 118.85472°W / 45.68500; -118.85472
Translator(s)103.1 K276GF (Pendleton)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websiteelkhornmediagroup.com/columbia-basin/

KTIX (1240 AM, "103.1 The Outlaw") is a radio station licensed to serve Pendleton, Oregon, United States. The station, which began broadcasting as KWRC in May 1941, is currently owned by Randolph and Debra McKone's Elkhorn Media Group and the broadcast license is held by EMG2, LLC.

Programming

KTIX previously broadcast a 24-hour sports radio format as an affiliate of ESPN Radio from October 2002 through at least early 2018.[5][6] The station has since switched affiliation to Fox Sports Radio. In addition to its usual sports talk programming, KTIX broadcasts Major League Baseball games as an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners Radio Network,[7] National Basketball Association games as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers radio network,[8] National Football League games as a member of the Seattle Seahawks radio network,[9] and Oregon Ducks football as a member of the Oregon Sports Network.[10] KTIX also airs high school football games and other select sporting events featuring the Pendleton High School Buckaroos.[6]

Facilities

KTIX shares a studio building with sister stations KUMA (1290 AM), KUMA-FM (107.7 FM), and KWHT (103.5 FM).[11] This multi-station facility, located at the west end of Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, is also close to KTIX's new tower site.[11][12] The original tower, located on South Hill, served KTIX from 1941 to 2002.[13] That original tower was later re-erected east of Pendleton on Cabbage Hill for use by co-owned KUMA-FM.[13]

History

The beginning

This station began regular broadcast operations in May 1941 with 250 watts of power on 1240 kHz as KWRC under the ownership of the Western Radio Corporation.[14] KWRC was run by general manager V.P. Kenworthy who owned the Western Radio Corporation as part of the Kenworthy Stations Group.[14] V.P. Kenworthy would continue to own and operate KWRC until December 23, 1958, when the station was sold to WSC Broadcasting Company of Oregon, Inc.[2][15]

The KKID years

The new owners had the station's call letters changed to KKID in 1959[2] and by early 1961 had been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase its daytime signal strength to 1,000 watts while nighttime power remained at 250 watts.[16] On July 15, 1961, ownership of KKID passed from WSC Broadcasting Company of Oregon, Inc., to Roderick Sound, Inc.[3]

The KTIX era

The callsign was changed again in 1964, this time to the current KTIX.[3] Eastern Oregon Broadcasters, Inc., acquired KTIX on August 1, 1967, and flipped the station to a contemporary music format.[17] As a part of the Capps Broadcasting Group, this music format would endure on KTIX through the entire 1970s.[17] The station applied to the FCC to change the name of its licensee to Capps Broadcasting Group, Inc., to reflect the station's true ownership and this change was approved by the FCC on March 28, 1979.[18]

Just after switching back to a country music format in January 1980, Capps Broadcasting Group, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to AgPal Broadcasting, Inc.[1] AgPal Broadcasting was owned by Pendleton residents Cheryl and Jim McAnally plus Andy and JoAnn Harle.[1][19] The deal was approved by the FCC on May 15, 1981.[20]

The present

In September 1997, AgPal Broadcasting, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station back to Capps Broadcast Group through its KSRV, Inc., subsidiary. The deal was approved by the FCC on May 14, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on August 27, 1998.[21]

Effective November 1, 2017, Capps Broadcast Group sold KTIX and nine other broadcast properties to Elkhorn Media Group for $1.75 million.

Former on-air staff

  • Dave Donahue, a 2000 inductee into the Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame, got his first experience as a disc jockey in a country music format when he joined the KTIX airstaff in 1960.[22]
  • Terry Herd, host of the nationally syndicated Into the Blue and a four-time (1998, 2002, 2003, & 2004) winner of Broadcaster of the Year Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association, started his bluegrass radio program in May 1992 on KUMA then KTIX before going national.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Days Gone By 05-25-06". East Oregonian. May 25, 2006. Harle said the station will retain the country music format it has used for 18 months. The station, begun as KWRC, has been on the air since May 1941.
  2. ^ a b c "Directory of AM and FM Radio stations in the U.S.". 1960 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1960. p. A-213.
  3. ^ a b c "Directory of AM and FM Radio stations in the U.S.". 1964 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1964. p. B-127.
  4. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTIX". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  5. ^ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  6. ^ a b "Radio stations change their tune". East Oregonian. October 7, 2002. KTIX now features 24-hour ESPN sports programming while KUMA has an all talk format.
  7. ^ "Broadcast Affiliates". Mariners Baseball: The official site of the Seattle Mariners. March 2, 2009. Archived from the original on April 21, 2007.
  8. ^ "List of Stations". BLAZERS: The Official Site of the Portland Trail Blazers. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  9. ^ "Radio Network". Seattle Seahawks. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  10. ^ "OSN Radio Affiliates". GoDucks.com - The University of Oregon Official Athletics Web Site. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  11. ^ a b Fybush, Scott (July 18, 2008). "The Big Trip 2007, part XI: Eastern Oregon to Boise". Tower Site of the Week.
  12. ^ "Pendleton Sports Radio 1240 KTIX". Waymarking.com. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  13. ^ a b Odegard, Kyle (August 15, 2002). "Stations playing musical towers". East Oregonian. The old KTIX radio tower, which has been on the South Hill since 1941, was scheduled to be torn down today. KTIX was set to switch transmitting from the old 180-foot tower to a new one near the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport this morning[...]
  14. ^ a b "Directory of Standard Broadcasting Stations of the United States". 1944 Broadcasting-Telecasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1944. p. 144.
  15. ^ "Directory of AM and FM Radio Stations in the U.S.". 1958 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1958. p. A-351.
  16. ^ "Directory of AM and FM Radio stations in the U.S.". 1961-1962 Broadcasting Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1962. p. B-137.
  17. ^ a b "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada". Broadcasting Yearbook 1979. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 1979. p. C-182.
  18. ^ "Application Search Details (BP-RD1104IV)". FCC Media Bureau. March 28, 1979.
  19. ^ "Andrew Franklin "Andy" Harle". East Oregonian. March 22, 2003. Andrew Franklin "Andy" Harle, 55, former owner of Pendleton radio stations KTIX AM and KWHT FM, died Thursday, March 20, 2003 at Providence Hospital in Portland.
  20. ^ "Application Search Details (BAL-19800126ES)". FCC Media Bureau. May 15, 1981.
  21. ^ "Application Search Details (BAL-19970910EC)". FCC Media Bureau. August 27, 1998.
  22. ^ "Hall of Fame: Dave Donahue". Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2009.
  23. ^ "Former Pendleton resident wins bluegrass award again". East Oregonian. October 6, 2003. Herd began his national network radio syndication in 1992 on his kitchen table in Pendleton. The first broadcasts were aired on KUMA and later KTIX.
  24. ^ "Into the Blue: History". The Bluegrass Radio Network. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved April 1, 2009.