KBDT (1160
kHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
AM radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
licensed
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
to
Highland Park,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and serving the
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The station is owned by Dallas Broadcasting, LLC, and is operated by 1160 Investments LLC. It broadcasts a
talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
format
Format may refer to:
Printing and visual media
* Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements
* Paper formats, or paper size standards
* Newspaper format, the size of the paper page
Computing
* File format, particular way that informatio ...
. Hourly newscasts are supplied by the co-owned
USA Radio Network
USA Radio Network is an American mass media company, specializing in long-form spoken word (talk radio) and radio newscasts, produced and distributed with a generally conservative focus.
USA Radio Network produces and distributes 24-hour news, n ...
. Talk show hosts include
Wayne Allyn Root
Wayne Allyn Root (born July 20, 1961) is an American conservative television and radio host, author, activist, conservative political commentator and conspiracy theorist. He is the host of two new television shows, daily at 7 PM ET on Lindell TV ...
, Mick Williams, Wyatt Cox, Charley Jones, Del Walmsley, Todd Starnes, and J. D. Wells.
By day, KBDT is powered at 35,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s. Because KBDT broadcasts on a United States
clear-channel
A clear-channel station is an AM broadcasting, AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The syste ...
frequency, it must reduce power at night to 1,000 watts to avoid interfering with the dominant station on
1160 AM,
Class A KSL Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
. KBDT uses a
directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...
at all times, employing separate six-
tower array
A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower a ...
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
sites for daytime and nighttime operations. The daytime transmitter is off County Road 3250 in
Paradise, Texas
Paradise is a city in Wise County, Texas, United States. The population was 475 in 2020.
According to tradition, the area was a cowboy's "paradise", hence the name.
In 1985, Blue Bell Ice Cream filmed a television commercial in Paradise, TX. T ...
, while the nighttime site is on Huffines Boulevard in
Lewisville.
History
KVIL AM
The station's first
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
license was granted 6-29-1960. The station was formerly on 1150 kHz as KVIL, owned by University Broadcasting. The original location of the studios was in the
Highland Park Village
Highland Park Village is an upscale shopping plaza located at the southwest corner of Mockingbird Lane and Preston Road in Highland Park, Texas and was the first self-contained shopping center in America. The Highland Park Village was declared a N ...
Shopping Center (hence the VIL
call letters
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
). The address was 4152 Mockingbird Lane at Preston Road, overlooking the Dallas Country Club golf course. At first, KVIL was a
daytimer
A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...
, powered at only 500 watts and required to
sign-off
A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonwealth countries exce ...
at night. It got a power boost to 1,000 watts a short time later, but still restricted to daytime-only status.
In 1961, FM
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
KVIL-FM officially signed on. In a large city like Dallas, the FCC would discourage AM and FM stations from
simulcast
Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
ing. However, due to KVIL's daytimer status, as well as the station's city of license being Highland Park, KVIL and KVIL-FM were able run the same programming for all the hours the AM station was on the air. In the 1960s, KVIL-AM-FM played
Top 40
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
hits. By the 1970s, the music became more adult-oriented, while the
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
s and station formatics remained youthful and contemporary.
KVIL-AM-FM was a highly rated
hot adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
station in the Dallas-Fort Worth radio market for much of the late 1970s and 1980s, often finishing at #1 in the
Arbitron ratings. While the FM station had most of the listeners, KVIL was available to people who did not have FM radios in their cars or offices and wanted to hear the station on AM.
Infinity buys KVIL
In 1987,
Infinity Broadcasting
Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Imus an ...
bought KVIL-AM-FM from Sconnix Broadcasting. The sale price was $82 million, the largest amount of money in radio history for an AM-FM combo up to that date.
"Infinity Buys KVIL for $82 Million Cash"
Radio & Records
''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...
April 3, 1987 page 1 Sconnix had acquired KVIL-AM-FM only the month before in an eight-station deal. Infinity president Mel Karmazin said his company wanted a station in Dallas and "the best there is KVIL." Infinity later was folded into CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
.
AM 1150 adopted the call sign KVIX and programmed a separate AC format from KVIL-FM for a short time after the sale to Infinity. Since nearly all listeners had FM radios by the 1990s, Infinity decided to sell the AM station.
South Asian programming
In October 1996, the station was sold to Marcos A. Rodriguez, who was its owner until August 2003. Rodriguez used it to carry foreign language programs as KDMM. Due to the popular Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i and India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n music and talk programs, KDMM became all-South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
n formatted. Initially, the station was 1,000 watts daytime only with a 6 tower directional array north of Irving for a number of years.
By the 1990s, it was able to get a grant of 5 watts of power for night-time operation, although it covered only a small part of the sprawling Metroplex after dark.
Motown music
In 2001, it changed call letters to KBIS, and ran an all-Motown format still on 1150 kHz. When the station moved to 1160 (now with 35,000 watts day and 1,000 watts at night from two different 6 tower sites), it was revamped as Magic 1160, adding other soul songs
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
to the playlist
A playlist is a list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player either sequentially or in a shuffled order. In its most general form, an audio playlist is simply a list of songs, but sometimes a loop. The term has sever ...
. The call letters switched to KMGS in June 2005, to represent the word "Magic."
Talk and business
On August 23, 2006, the call sign changed to KVCE, to make way for a Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
format, which began less than a month later. At that time, Texas Senator Dan Patrick Dan Patrick may refer to:
* Dan Patrick (ice hockey) (born 1938), Canadian ice hockey player
* Dan Patrick (politician) (born 1950), Lieutenant Governor of Texas and political and sports radio journalist
* Dan Patrick (sportscaster) (born 1956), Ame ...
owned the station and hosted a talk show on KVCE. Over time, the station began adding more financial and business shows to the schedule.
On September 25, 2015, the business talk format moved to KMKI, later KEXB, and now KTNO. After the move, KVCE ran a 30-second "barker" continuous recording, announcing "KVCE Highland Park. Looking for business talk in North Texas? We moved to 620 AM."
Christian radio
KVCE was acquired by Salem Media
Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to I ...
, the largest owner of Christian radio
Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk progra ...
stations in the U.S. It began airing religious shows from noted national preachers, as a simulcast of Salem's KWRD-FM
KWRD-FM (100.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Highland Village, Texas, and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by the Salem Media Group and broadcasts a Christian talk and teaching radio format. The call sign ...
. Salem sold the station in 2017.
On September 29, 2017, the station changed its call sign to KBDT. On November 1, 2017, 1160 Investments, LLC entered into an agreement with Dallas Broadcasting, LLC, and flipped the station to a conservative talk format. 1160 Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of the company which also owns the USA Radio Network
USA Radio Network is an American mass media company, specializing in long-form spoken word (talk radio) and radio newscasts, produced and distributed with a generally conservative focus.
USA Radio Network produces and distributes 24-hour news, n ...
, and some USA programming is produced from the studios in Dallas.
References
External links
Big D's Talk - official website
USA Radio Website
KBDT official Twitter account
DFW Radio Archives
DFW Radio/TV History
{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Texas
News and talk radio stations in the United States
BDT
Radio stations established in 1960
1960 establishments in Texas
BDT
Talk radio stations in the United States