KTOK
KTOK (1000 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Oklahoma City and airs a talk radio format. It is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and licensed as Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses. The studios and offices are in the 50 Penn Place Building on the northwest side of Oklahoma City.
 | |
| City | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Oklahoma City Metroplex |
| Frequency | 1000 kHz (HD Radio via KXXY-FM-HD2) |
| Branding | NewsRadio 1000 KTOK |
| Slogan | Depend on it! |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk |
| Affiliations | Premiere Networks Fox News Radio Westwood One Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | iHeartMedia, Inc. (Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KBRU, KGHM, KJYO, KTST, KXXY-FM |
| History | |
| First air date | 1927 |
| Former call signs | KGFG (1927-1937) |
| Call sign meaning | K Talk OKlahoma. |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 11925 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,800 watts |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°21′29″N 97°27′48″W |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | ktok.iheart.com |
KTOK is powered at 5,800 watts, using a directional antenna at all times. Because AM 1000 is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A WMVP Chicago, KOMO Seattle and XEOY Mexico City, KTOK's nighttime signal must protect those stations. The transmitter is located in Moore, Oklahoma, off NE 25th Street.[1] KTOK programming is also heard on co-owned 96.1 KXXY's HD radio secondary channel and on the iHeartRadio app.
Programming
KTOK has two local talk shows each weekday, both hosted by Lee Matthews, 6 to 8 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of nationally syndicated conservative talk shows, mostly from co-owned Premiere Networks. They include Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, "Coast to Coast AM with George Noory" and "This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal."
Weekends feature programs on money, health, home repair, real estate and guns. Some weekend shows are paid brokered programming. Syndicated weekend hosts include Joe Pags, Bill Cunningham and "Somewhere in Time with Art Bell." Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio.
History
Early Years
KTOK was first licensed, with the sequentially assigned call letters, KGFG. It signed on the air on January 27, 1927, owned by the Full Gospel Church in Oklahoma City.[2] By the 1930s, the station was owned by the Oklahoma Broadcasting Company. It broadcast on 1370 kilocycles and was powered at 100 watts.[3] KGFG's studios were housed in the Cotton Exchange Building.
The call letters were changed to KTOK on February 17, 1937.[4] With WKY as an NBC Red Network station and KOMA carrying the CBS Radio Network, KTOK first became a network affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System. But by the 1940s, it had switched to the NBC Blue Network (later ABC).
1940s and 50s
In 1941, with the enactment of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA), KTOK moved to 1400 kHz.[5] The power increased to 250 watts. But management wanted to make KTOK's signal competitive with 930 WKY (5,000 watts) and 1520 KOMA (50,000 watts).
In the late 1940s, KTOK got permission from the Federal Communications Commission to move to 1000 kHz.[6] The power increased to 5,000 watts by day, 1,000 watts at night. The station also added an FM companion. KTOK-FM signed on in 1946 at 104.3 MHz, powered at 43,000 watts. It mostly simulcast the AM station. But management saw little hope in making KTOK-FM profitable and gave it up after several years.
By the 1950s, as network programming was moving from radio to television, KTOK switched to a full service, middle of the road (MOR) format of popular adult music, news and sports. As WKY and KOMA became youth-oriented Top 40 stations, KTOK began carrying sports from their former networks, NBC and CBS, including the World Series, championship fights and auto racing. An advertisement in the 1960 edition of the Broadcasting Yearbook said KTOK plays "toe-tapping music (no rock and roll) and all of the announcers are adults," to contrast KTOK with the youthful Top 40 disc jockeys on WKY and KOMA.[7]
1960s - 1980s
In the 1960s, the nighttime power increased to match the daytime power, 5,000 watts. But it had to use a complicated directional antenna system to make the higher nighttime power work, while still protecting other stations on AM 1000.
In 1978, KTOK was acquired by the Insilco Broadcasting Group, which also bought an FM station at 102.7, KZUE, which aired an adult contemporary music format.[8] (102.7 today is Top 40 - CHR KJYO.) KTOK became an affiliate of the ABC Information Radio Network.
KTOK gradually increased the talk programming and cut the MOR music programming. By the 1980s, it had become a talk station.
1990s - Today
KTOK and its FM station were acquired in 1992 by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications (the forerunner to current owner iHeartMedia).[9] At one time, the news staff numbered 12. iHeart moved its Oklahoma City operations to 50 Penn Place off Northwest Expressway and Interstate 44.
In the 2010s, the station got a slight power increase, going from 5,000 watts to 5,800 watts, day and night. It also got a simulcast on an HD Radio subchannel of co-owned 96.1 KXXY-FM.
Current and former on-air staff
Show hosts:
- Robert D. "Bob" Coker
- Carole Arnold
- Jerry Bohnen
- Carlton Cordell
- John Dale
- Jason Doyle (host of "Doyle in the Morning")
- Ken Gaines
- Sharon Gaines
- Mike Hutton
- Greg Merick (sportscaster)
- Mike McCarville (afternoon drive show)
- Lee Matthews (weekday mornings & afternoons)
- Greg "Eggman" Moore
- Steve Neumann
- Pam Pryor
- Bob Riggins
- Billie Rodely
- Rick Tasetano
- Mark Shannon (hosted "The Drive")
- B. J. Wexler (later hosted "KETA-TV" Movie Club)
- Jim Rupe
- Al Eshbach
News reporters and anchors:
- Mary Beth Henschel
- Tim Allen
- Phil Bacharach
- Bill Bateman
- Megan Bishop
- Jerry Bohnen
- Mike Cannon
- Stephanie Chase
- Bob Durgin
- Jon Dahlander
- Bob Davidson
- Trey Davis
- Jack Edens
- Mike Elder
- Brian Gan
- Carrie Hulsey
- Steve Jones
- Jackson Kane
- Karen Fuhrmann
- Gwin Faulconer-Lippert
- Rand Lavonn
- Laura Knoll (later with KGOU)
- Ken Johnson
- Beth Meyers
- Dan Mahoney
- Karen McCoy
- Bill Mondora
- Reid Mullins
- Derrick Nance
- Charles Newcomb
- Jim Palmer
- Jim "Captain" Perdue
- Jim Reagan
- Jocelyn Scott
- Bill Reker
- Randy Renner (sports director, formally a reporter at CBS affiliate KWTV-TV)
- Mike "Road King" Rogers
- Scott Rowland
- Cynthia Rozmaryn
- David Rucker
- Dawn Shelton
- Matt Skinner
- Linda Steele
- Larry Stein (later the County Assessor for Oklahoma County)
- Kim Walkingstick
- Nate Webb
- John Williams
- Calvin Wright
- Melissa Gandal
- Randy Pyburn
- John Wright
References
- "KTOK-AM 1000 kHz - Oklahoma City, OK". radio-locator.com.
- "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, January 31, 1927, page 3.
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1935 page 50
- FCC History Cards
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1942 page 168
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 246
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 page A-211
- Broadcasting Yearbook 1980 page C-184
- Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-361
External links
- KTOK in the FCC's AM station database
- KTOK on Radio-Locator
- KTOK in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for KTOK (covering KGFG / KTOK from 1927-1980)