KTFM

KTFM (94.1 FM, "San Antonio's Sports Star: ESPN AM 1250 and 94.1 FM") is a radio station serving the San Antonio area. The Alpha Media outlet operates with an effective radiated power of 10.5 kw and its city of license is Floresville, Texas. Its studios are located in Northeast San Antonio, and the transmitter site is in southeast Bexar County.

History

The station originally signed on the air at 6 a.m. on March 25, 1991, where it carried a Texas music format. The station was owned by longtime San Antonio-area broadcaster John Barger. It was meant to appeal to listeners of the former KFAN-FM (101.1), which met its demise the previous year when that signal was converted to a simulcast of KONO (860 AM; also operated by Barger through an LMA). Steve Coffman and Ron Houston, both formerly of KFAN, were the station's two initial air personalities. Initial program director Lee Woods billed the format as "certified South Texas country" and said that unlike KFAN, who included rock and reggae in their playlist, KRIO would only play country.

The country format was short-lived and lasted just a little over a year. On Tuesday, March 31, 1992, the station segued into a Tejano format, providing competition to established Tejano outlet KXTN (107.5 FM). Barger initially wanted to sign the station on with Tejano music, but was dissuaded by friends who felt that the format had not yet matured. Barger believed that KXTN's growth within the past year proved that the format had matured and the station was now ready for competition.

By September 1998, they would flip to Regional Mexican as KLEY ("La Ley 94.1"). On January 7, 2005, BMP would revive the KTFM calls after it acquired KLEY from Spanish Broadcasting System. (For many years, the KTFM call sign was at 102.7 FM under the name "FM 103 The New KTFM", "KTFM 103", "Hot 103 KTFM", and "102.7 KTFM", where it was first an automated pop station, then album rock, them various flavors of Top 40 (including an Urban AC-leaning version of Top 40 trying to top then-rival KSJL's numbers), then to a Rhythmic/Freestyle-leaning Top 40, and then back to rock. Today, 102.7 carries the adult hits "Jack FM" format and uses the call letters KJXK.)

When KTFM was revived, its name was "Jammin' 94.1", and its focus was on Rhythmic Oldies. As the station struggled in the ratings, KTFM shifted to a Rhythmic AC direction by adding more current product and putting less emphasis on older material to keep up with the changing musical taste along with the (mostly female) 25-44 and Hispanic demographics KTFM targets in the San Antonio radio market. By November 2008, KTFM began shifting to a rhythmic contemporary direction and was added to the BDS Top 40/Rhythmic reporting panel.

In February 2009, KTFM tweaked its format to Hot AC. By April 2010, BMP shifted KTFM to Top 40/CHR, with a heavy emphasis on Dance crossovers.

On January 7, 2016, at 9 a.m., following "Blondie & Nugget in the Morning" (on which the last song was "Here" by Alessia Cara), KTFM began stunting as "94.1 El Taco," giving away free tacos at various locations around San Antonio, playing the Parry Gipp novelty song "It's Raining Tacos" (a spoof of "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls) on a loop, and its website emitting a green lightning strike with the word "Energize." At 4 p.m. that same day, KJXK began stunting with country music, leading listeners and rivals to believe KTFM was moving back to 102.7; at the same time as KTFM's relaunch, the stunt on 102.7 was revealed to be a publicity stunt. At 5 p.m., KTFM transitioned back to Rhythmic Top 40 and relaunched as "Energy 94.1", with the first song being " Sorry" by Justin Bieber. The rebranding was done to emphasize its Rhythmic/Dance-focused presentation of current hits and club mixes featuring local talent, as well as distinguishing themselves from KBBT and KXXM whose ratings are higher than KTFM's, but does consistently well.

On February 23, 2016, "Blondie & Nugget in the Morning" were released from the station and replaced by the nationally syndicated radio show " Brooke & Jubal in the Morning". The show started airing on KTFM on March 1. On August 1, 2016, the nationally syndicated "Tino Chochino Radio" was added for weeknights.

On August 20, 2018, "The Dana Cortez Show", hosted by Dana Cortez and Anthony Almanzar, began airing on KTFM after transferring from Rhythmic CHR rival KBBT, as the show became syndicated by ABC Radio.

By July 2019, KTFM shifted back to a more mainstream Top 40/CHR.

On the morning of June 2, 2022, KTFM abruptly dropped the Top 40/CHR format and began simulcasting sister sports talk station KZDC as "San Antonio's Sports Star", adding a full-signaled simulcast to the station after it was already picked up on FM translator K277CX (103.3 FM). Sports Star afternoon host Jason Minnix was very complimentary of the move, describing KTFM's signal as "37 times bigger than what we had yesterday" and comparing it as "like going from Wolff Stadium to Jerry’s World." The change also takes KTFM out of the Top 40 battle between it and KXXM, giving KXXM a monopoly on the format in San Antonio. KXXM, at the time of the move, ranked seventh in the market with a 4.7 share, while KTFM was eighteenth at a 2.0.

KTFM-HD2

On February 10, 2015, KTFM launched an alternative rock format on its HD2 sub channel, branded as "103.3 The App", relayed on translator K277CX (103.3 FM) in Terrell Hills. The first song on "The App" was "Take Me to Church" by Hozier. The station was named "The App" because it heavily promoted listeners to download the station's mobile application from iTunes and/or Google Play due to the station's weak signal over San Antonio, in addition to the lack of HD radios. Throughout the month of February and March, "The App" started off with 10,000 songs in a row, with a blend of 90's and 2000's rock and alternative mixed with today's alternative, but tended to be more indie rock leaning. Eventually, the station began airing short commercial breaks and promoted concerts, such as the Maverick Music Festival and Vans Warped Tour, and bands such as Smashing Pumpkins, Awolnation, Falling in Reverse, and Breaking Benjamin. By late 2015, the App began hosting concerts in the Alamo Lounge, owned and operated by Alpha Media, with bands such as Jimmy Eat World, Saint Motel, Blue October, Nothing But Thieves, Colours, and several local rock bands. By late April 2015, The App added one live personality, DJ Mighty Iris, and until May 2016, more personalities have been added such as REZ, Sam (from KJXK), and even a morning show hosted by Tony Cortez from KTFM.

On April 21, 2017, at 5 p.m., after playing " Steady, As She Goes" by The Raconteurs, KTFM-HD2/K277CX flipped to classic hip-hop (a format that was dropped by KMYO two days earlier, as both KMYO and KZEP-FM (which aired a classic-leaning Rhythmic Top 40 format) flipped to Spanish Top 40/CHR) as "G103.3". The flip comes as the ratings for the alternative rock format failed to attract listeners, posting a 0.8 in the March 2017 Nielsen Audio book. The first song on "G" was " Hypnotize" by The Notorious B.I.G.

On June 1, 2020, KTFM-HD2/K277CX changed their format to hip hop, branded as "WE 103.3".

On February 1, 2022, KTFM-HD2 rebranded as "WE 94.5", switching its translator from K277CX to K233DB (94.5 FM).

KTFM-HD3

On June 9, 2022, KTFM launched a simulcast of Tejano-formatted KLEY-FM on its HD3 subchannel; the format is simulcasted on translator K277CX (103.3 FM).Tejano 95.7 Adds San Antonio Simulcast
Radioinsight - June 9, 2022

References

External links

*
*
*
*
*
*

{{Alpha Media

Sports radio stations in the United States
TFM
Radio stations established in 1991
Alpha Media radio stations
1991 establishments in Texas