Wikipedia

KVET (AM)

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sammi Brie (talk | contribs) at 17:27, 6 May 2021 (comma fix). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

KVET (1300 kHz) is an Austin, Texas, radio station. It is owned by iHeartMedia, and carries a sports radio format with both local sports shows and programming from Fox Sports Radio.

KVET
Broadcast areaAustin-Round Rock metropolitan area
Frequency1300 kHz
BrandingAM 1300 / 103.1 The Zone
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatSports radio
AffiliationsFox Sports Radio
iHeartRadio
KTKR/San Antonio
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
October 13, 1946 (1946-10-13)
Call sign meaning
Station was established by veterans[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID35850
ClassB
Power5,000 watts (day)
1,000 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
30°22′30″N 97°42′58″W / 30.37500°N 97.71611°W / 30.37500; -97.71611
Translator(s)103.1 K276EL (Austin)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live (via iHeartRadio)
Websiteam1300thezone.iheart.com

KVET uses a directional antenna, broadcasting at 5,000 watts to the northwest over the Texas Hill Country during the daytime and 1,000 watts to the south over central Austin at night. The transmitter site is just a few miles north of downtown, on Metric Boulevard.[3] KVET shares studios and offices with four other sister stations in the Penn Field complex in the South Congress district (or "SoCo") of south central Austin, within walking distance of St. Edward's University.

History

 

Austin's third radio station

With the end of World War II, a group of ten Texas veterans[4] organized as the Austin Broadcasting Company and pooled their resources to start a radio station in Austin. After obtaining a construction permit on December 13, 1945,[5] they chose a call sign that includes the word "Vet." KVET AM 1300 signed on the air on October 1, 1946.[6] The owners included future Texas Governor John Connally and future Congressman Jake Pickle. KVET, Austin's third radio station, was a network affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System, carrying its schedule of dramas, comedies, news, talk, cooking shows, soap operas and big band broadcasts during the "Golden Age of Radio." Connally initially served as KVET's president and general manager.[7]

Unusual for its day, KVET also included programming for Austin's minority communities. Spanish language news and music was heard on "Noche de Fiesta". Music and news for African American listeners was heard on "The Elmer Akins Gospel Train." In the 1950s, even more diversity was added to the lineup when Lavada Durst introduced Austin to R&B and "Jive Talk" on KVET's nighttime "Dr. Hepcat Show." Noche de Fiesta and Dr. Hepcat were phased out in the 1960s, but the Gospel Train was on the air on KVET for many years after.

Connally sold his stake in the station to manager Willard Deason, among the founders of KVET, in 1955.[8]

The "Country Giant"

During most of the 1960s, KVET featured a full service middle of the road music format, with a strong emphasis on news and sports programming. The music of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Nat King Cole and Barbra Streisand, plus Paul Harvey commentary, the Joe Pyne show, and Houston Astros baseball were all part of the mix. In the middle of this time period, the FCC approved two major changes within 10 days of each other: a power increase to 5,000 watts[5] and the sale of the station to the KVET Broadcasting Company, headed by Austin businessman Roy Butler, for $5,000.[9] The sale came as the company was planning two large expansions. It had filed to build an FM radio station, and by the time of the Butler sale, the company held the construction permit for a television station on channel 24,[9] which it had held since 1963 but had not put on the air.[10] The former came on the air March 30, 1969, as KASE-FM.[11] The television station permit would be sold to McAlister Television Enterprises and then to a group in which former governor Allan Shivers was a member, and put on the air in 1971 as KVUE.[12]

KVET switched formats on April 14, 1969, to country music, and the "Country Giant" was born. "Noche de Fiesta" became a morning program on KASE-FM.[13] Popular celebrity DJs Arleigh Duff, Penny Reeves, Jerry Gee and Sammy Allred took KVET to the top of the local ratings during the 1970s.[14] In the 1980s, KVET aired country music, news and sports, including Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys football, but its ratings continued to slide as listeners moved to FM.[14]

From talk to sports

In September 1990, KVET began a simulcast on 98.1 FM, which had previously been the home of Top 40 KHFI-FM, which moved to 96.7; the arrangement was part of a then-rare local marketing agreement between the new owner of the 98.1 frequency, Spur Capital, and KVET.[15] The music mix was differentiated from KASE, which had become a country music station itself, by being more traditional than its stablemate.[16] The Sammy Allred and Bob Cole Morning Call-In Show began around the same time.

In 1995, after the FCC legalized broadcast duopolies, Butler purchased KVET-FM outright.[17] By that time, the AM was already being split off from the now-successful FM, slowly shifting to talk radio programming over the course of 1993 and 1994.[18] KVET was an ABC Information Network affiliate and also aired syndicated talk shows. By late 1994, the shift was complete with KVET and KVET-FM only simulcasting the morning show hosted by Sammy Allred and Bob Cole, but the talk station garnered poor ratings.[19]

At the end of 1997, Capstar Broadcasting—which would later merge into Clear Channel Communications, a forerunner of current owner iHeartMedia—purchased KVET, KVET-FM and KASE for $90 million.[20] Not included in the sale was the transmitter site for KVET, which to this day remains under Butler ownership; 2020 records assessed the land as being valued at $1,600,335.[21] Owing to the dominance of KLBJ in the news/talk format in Austin, plus the station's existing coverage of Texas Longhorns sports, Capstar opted to take the AM station in a new direction in October 1998. It fired a dozen staffers in its new acquisition and several hosts and switched KVET to a sports format.[22]

Industry trade website RadioInsight had initially reported on May 5, 2021 that iHeartMedia had surrendered KVET's license; a brief public notice at the FCC stated “License cancelled at licensee’s request by email from counsel on May 4, 2021” and the report hinted at a possibility Butler was selling the transmitter site.[21] This news had come several weeks after KASE-HD2—with a FM translator at 97.5 FM—was awarded flagship rights to Austin FC[23] and several months after the station's lone locally-based talk show was cancelled following a mass downsizing effort by iHeartMedia.[24] However, this cancellation notice was revealed the following day to be "an inadvertent typo by the FCC" confusing KVET with another as-yet-undisclosed radio station that had surrendered their license; KVET's license was subsequently restored.[21]

FM translator

In addition to a standard analog transmission, KVET programming can also be heard through Educational Media Foundation-owned Austin, Texas FM translator K276EL (103.1 FM) as well as the iHeartRadio platform.

Broadcast translator for KVET
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class Transmitter coordinates FCC info
K276EL 103.1 FM Austin, Texas 140611 250 364.8 m (1,197 ft) D 30°19′24″N 97°48′00″W / 30.32333°N 97.80000°W / 30.32333; -97.80000 LMS

Programming

KVET's programming as a sports talk station largely consists of national fare from Fox Sports Radio. Morning and afternoon shows are carried in conjunction with KTKR, the iHeartMedia sports talk station in San Antonio; the station is also the local affiliate for the John Clay Wolfe Show.[21]

Play-by-play rights include the radio networks of the Houston Texans and San Antonio Spurs.

References

  1. ^ "New Radio Station Makes Bow on Air". The Austin Statesman. October 1, 1946. p. 11. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KVET". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KVET-AM
  4. ^ "10 Vets Own KVET, Syers Informs Hollers". The Austin American. July 9, 1946. p. 5. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  5. ^ a b FCC History Cards for KVET
  6. ^ "KVET" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1947. p. 186. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "Veteran-Owned KVET, On Air Tuesday, Is Austin's Third". The Austin American. October 2, 1946. p. 10. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  8. ^ "Deason Asks FCC To Give Him KVET". The Austin Statesman. March 2, 1955. p. 14. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "FCC Approves Sale Of KVET to Butler". The Austin American. July 29, 1968. p. A46. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  10. ^ "Deason Delays On TV Plans". The Austin Statesman. November 6, 1964. p. 5. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "KASE...A New Sound on the FM Band". Austin American-Statesman. March 30, 1969. p. T4. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  12. ^ "Shivers, 3 Others Win FCC Okay To Control 2 Stations". The Austin American. June 12, 1970. p. 35. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Wendell, Wray (April 5, 1969). "Wray Wendell's Austin". Austin American-Statesman. p. 1. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Duncan, James (2004). "Austin" (PDF). An American Radio Trilogy, 1971–2004. Retrieved May 5, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  15. ^ "Austin radio stations mixing signals in rare deal". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Associated Press. September 7, 1990. p. 14.
  16. ^ Herndon, John (September 13, 1990). "Some bad news for listeners: Simulcasting only benefits broadcasters". Austin American-Statesman. p. Onward 17. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  17. ^ Golz, Earl; Herndon, John (February 10, 1995). "KVET Broadcasting purchases KVET-FM". Austin American-Statesman. p. D7. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  18. ^ Herndon, John (November 18, 1993). "New call-in show sports Jeff Ward". Austin American-Statesman. p. Onward 17. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  19. ^ Herndon, John (February 2, 1995). "Country still king of Austin airwaves in fall ratings". Austin American-Statesman. p. XL ent. 30. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  20. ^ Patterson, Rob (January 1, 1998). "A year of sailing the airwaves". Austin American-Statesman. p. XL ent. 20. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  21. ^ a b c d Venta, Lance (May 5, 2021). "KVET License Restored". RadioInsight.com. RadioInsight. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via RadioBB.
  22. ^ Patterson, Rob (October 3, 1998). "KVET goes to all-sports format; hosts and a dozen stafers fired". Austin American-Statesman. p. B1. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  23. ^ "Austin FC Announces Radio Partnership With iHeartMedia". News Radio 1200 WOAI. iHeartMedia. March 31, 2021. Archived from the original on April 1, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  24. ^ Carter, Kevin; Resnik, Steve (December 7, 2020). "iHeart Downsizing Continues". RAMP - Radio and Music Pros. RAMP Media, Inc. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KVET_(AM)&oldid=1021784593"