KFLB

KFLB-FM and KFLB (branded as Family Life Radio) are radio stations that serves the Midland–Odessa metropolitan area with Christian programming on 88.1 FM and 920 AM. The stations are owned by Family Life Broadcasting.

KFLB-FM/KFLB

City	FM: Stanton, Texas AM: Odessa, Texas
Broadcast area	Midland-Odessa
Frequency	88.1 FM (MHz) 920 AM (kHz)
Branding	Family Life Radio
Programming
Format	Christian
Affiliations	Family Life Radio
Ownership
Owner	Family Life Broadcasting (FM: Family Life Broadcasting, Inc AM: Family Life Broadcasting System)
History
First air date	AM: January 26, 1947 (as KECK)
Former call signs	FM: KFRI (2002–2009) KLVW (6/12–19/2009) AM: KENT (1/01/87-6/20/01) KYXX (12/2/76-1/01/87) KBZB (4/10/67–12/2/76) KECK (3/5/47–4/10/67)
Call sign meaning	Family Life Broadcasting
Technical information
Facility ID	FM: 92993 AM: 39900
Class	FM: C1 AM: B
ERP	FM: 100,000 watts AM: 1,000 watts (daytime) 500 watts (nighttime)
HAAT	FM: 139.3 meters
Transmitter coordinates	FM: 32°5′44″N 101°48′47″W AM: 31°49′14″N 102°25′42″W

History

KECK, KBZB and KYXX

KECK went on the air at noon on January 26, 1947.[1] It was owned by Ben Nedow's Ector County Broadcasting Company and broadcast as a daytime-only station with 1,000 watts, adding 500-watt nighttime service in 1950.[2] KECK brought NBC programs to Odessa and was the second new station for the city in as many Sundays (KOSA had gone on the air on January 19). The Nedows owned the station until 1965, three years after Ben's death, when High Sky Broadcasters acquired the frequency.[2] High Sky changed KECK's call letters to KBZB on April 10, 1967.[2] KBZB was sold in 1968 to the Atkins and Green Broadcasting Company, formed by two Odessa businessmen.[3] Mesa Broadcasting, owned by Randy Wayne of Brownwood, acquired the station in 1976 for $260,000 and relaunched it as KYXX with a country format.[4] KYXX and sister station KKYN in Plainview were sold to Keith Adams and Jim Shelton of Amarillo in 1979.[5] The format flip helped vault KYXX to the top of the Permian Basin radio ratings, where in 1981 it had a market share of 16.5 percent, but in 1982 it was supplanted by KUFO, an FM station.[6]

KENT

In 1986, Adams-Shelton sold KYXX to the Southwest Educational Media Foundation of Texas (SEMFOT), which took control on January 1, 1987. The new ownership, headed by a T. Kent Atkins, changed the call letters to KENT and instituted a middle-of-the-road Christian music format, augmented by syndicated programs from James Dobson, J. Vernon McGee, Warren Wiersbee and others; the station operated noncommercially, seeking support from listeners.[7] Two years later, KENT acquired the construction permit for noncommercial station KOFR at 90.5 MHz, which was owned by Family Radio, and brought it to air as KENT-FM, a simulcast of the AM station.

The signing on of KENT-FM and co-owned FM radio stations in Amarillo and Lubbock, however, would turn into a years-long legal headache for SEMFOT. Three years of investigation turned serious when the Federal Communications Commission asked its administrative law judge to impose the maximum $250,000 fine,[8] citing a record of false information provided to the FCC and saying that KENT-FM, Amarillo's KLMN (now K-LOVE transmitter KXLV) and Lubbock's KAMY (now a Family Life Radio transmitter) were built and operated without FCC authorization. The FCC also designated all SEMFOT stations' licenses for hearing.[9] That April, SEMFOT decided to sell all of its stations to Maranatha Radio for $600,000 in a minority distress sale.[10][11]

Maranatha sold six stations in Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana, all former SEMFOT properties, to Family Life Radio in 1998 for $1 million.[12] KENT-AM-FM became KFLB-AM-FM in 2001.

In 2009, Family Life Radio and the Educational Media Foundation engaged in a facility swap in which the original Family Life station, 90.5 FM, was traded to EMF for its 88.1 FM facility, then known as KFRI with the Air 1 network, and $175,000 in cash.[13] On June 19, the KFLB-FM call letters relocated to 88.1 MHz; 90.5 became K-LOVE transmitter KLVW, which had been on EMF's 88.7 frequency.

Translators

KFLB has a translator in Odessa, just outside of the signal contour of KFLB-FM; KFLB-FM has a translator of its own serving Big Spring.

Broadcast translators of KFLB-AM-FM

Call sign	Frequency (MHz)	City of license	Facility ID	ERP (W)	Height (m (ft))	Transmitter coordinates	FCC info
K269FG	101.7	Odessa	148509	250	113.2 m (371 ft)	31°51′45″N 102°25′0″W	FCC
K298BN	107.5	Big Spring	155684	115	172 m (564 ft)	32°13′17.76″N 101°27′33.35″W	FCC

References

1. "KECK Presents Initial Broadcast Here Today". Odessa American. January 26, 1947. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
2. FCC History Cards for KECK
3. "Odessans Obtain Radio Station". Odessa American. September 3, 1968. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
4. "Odessa Radio Station Sold". Odessa American. November 5, 1976. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
5. "Odessa radio station sold". Odessa American. September 12, 1979. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
6. Henderson, Rex. "KUFO flying high". Odessa American. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
7. "New radio station on air". Odessa American. January 3, 1987. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
8. Margolin, Josh (February 2, 1993). "Station owner faces FCC charges". Odessa American. Retrieved July 24, 2019. (Continued)
9. "The FCC fined T. Kent Atkins" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 25, 1993. p. 3. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
10. Margolin, Josh (April 21, 1993). "KENT owner to sell properties". Odessa American. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
11. Margolin, Josh (May 6, 1993). "KENT owner seeks to sell all of his stations". Odessa American. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
12. "Transaction Digest" (PDF). Radio Business Report. June 8, 1998. p. 19. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
13. Asset Exchange Agreement, FLR/EMF

External links

• Official website

• KFLB in the FCC's FM station database
• KFLB on Radio-Locator
• KFLB in Nielsen Audio's FM station database

• KFLB in the FCC's AM station database
• KFLB on Radio-Locator
• KFLB in Nielsen Audio's AM station database

• FCC History Cards for KECK