KBXD
| City of license | Dallas, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex |
| Frequency | 1480 kHz |
| First air date | January 25, 1953 |
| Power | 50,000 watts (day) 1,900 watts (night) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 57375 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Callsign meaning | Paying homage to the old "K-BoX" radio station D = Dallas |
| Former callsigns | KLWO (Issued 2 13 1952) KGKO (5 16 1952–1958) KBOX (1958–1982) KMEZ (1982–1989) KDBN (1989–1991) KCMZ (1991–1993) KMRT (1993–1998) KDXX (1998–2002) KHCK (2002–2005) KNIT (2005–2012) |
| Owner | Mark Jorgenson (ACM JCE IV B LLC) |
KBXD (1480) is a Texas radio station licensed to serve the community of Dallas, Texas. The station, went on the air in 1953 as KGKO, is currently owned by Mark Jorgenson and the broadcast license is held by ACM JCE IV B LLC. The original call letters were KLWO but were changed before the station went on the air.
Contents
History
Wonderful K-Box
The station, now known as KBXD, signed on as KGKO in 1953, playing pop music and jazz. In 1958, KGKO changed calls to KBOX and adopted a Top 40 format to compete with Gordon McLendon's top-rated 1190 KLIF. Future WABC staple Dan Ingram was an early voice on KBOX. Within a year, the station, known variously as "Wonderful K-Box in Dallas," "Big Top Radio," and "Tiger Radio," had rocketed from the bottom of the ratings to a near-tie with KLIF, and remained highly rated through the coming decade. K-Box was the only radio station covering President John F. Kennedy's motorcade live when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963. (Although KLIF was widely acclaimed for its later coverage of the President's death and the ensuing events, it was not broadcasting live from the motorcade route.)
Group One Broadcasting of Texas acquired KBOX from Balaban Broadcasting in 1967 for $2 million.
KBOX goes country
KBOX had never been able to defeat KLIF in the Top 40 arena, and so on January 24, 1967, KBOX changed direction and went to a country format. The first song played on the new country KBOX was "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" by Buck Owens (a nod to the station's former "Tiger Radio" moniker).
KPCN-730 AM was the first country station in the area, having started in 1962, but broadcast during the daytime only. KBOX quickly became the ratings leader for country music in Dallas. In its first ratings book, they moved from a 10.0 share Q3 1966 to a 12.1 share in Q1 1967.
KBOX-AM had six years of solid ratings, posting a high of 14.4 in the Q3 1967 book. In 1972, WBAP began giving them stiff competition as a country-formatted 50 kilowatt powerhouse. WBAP gained listeners from KBOX.
In 1973, the Arbitron markets for Dallas and Fort Worth were combined into one book, to reflect the merging of the two cities into one metropolitan area. KBOX like other smaller stations were hurt by this redefinition. Some, like KBOX, did not even appear in the new ratings book. WBAP became the clear country winner at that point, as KBOX barely reached the Ft. Worth half of the newly defined market.
In April 1974, Group One applied for a nighttime power increase from 500 watts to 1 kilowatt and a move of the transmitter site to 32 52 15 N 96 42 54 W. The Federal Communications Commission approved it in February 1975. This gave them a less marginal signal, which is probably what allowed them to struggle into the 1980s, providing a decidedly more local service to the Dallas area. But by 1980, FM radio was growing in dominance and their ability to compete with a music format was waning.
On November 14, 1982, the KBOX call letters were dropped by Group One. KBOX became KMEZ and switched from its country format to a simulcast of the easy listening format of sister station KMEZ-FM (the former KBOX-FM and KTLC).
Into the 1990s and 2000s: more changes
In 1989, KMEZ broke away from the FM station to adopt a Business News/Talk format as KDBN. This was followed in 1991 by satellite-fed Adult Standards from the Unistar radio network (later Westwood One) as KCMZ.
Marcos A. Rodriguez purchased the station and changed the format to Banda with call sign KMRT (1993–1998). Marcos A. Rodriguez picked the calls to connote the retailer K-Mart and imply good value for advertisers. KMRT was the first radio station in America to air the Banda format all the time. It operated with an automated Audio Server delivery.
Eventually, the calls changed to KDXX (1998–2002), and KHCK (1998–2005), a simulcast of Tejano KHCK-FM "Kick FM" until the FM changed format to cumbia music as KFZO and the AM continued as a standalone Tejano station for a few months. The KNIT calls and a Southern Gospel format were adopted in March 2005, when it was briefly owned by Salem Communications.
In June 2007, the station joined the Spanish language sports network ESPN Deportes, and it was the first ESPN Deportes station to be managed and operated by ESPN.[1] KZMP picked up the ESPN Deportes format starting June 1, 2009, almost 2 years after the format was first aired in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The Deportes format was dropped in August 2009.
KBXD today
According to the FCC KBXD is licensed and silent since December 21, 2015.
"JCE's request states that Station KBXD (AM) went silent on December 17, 2014, pending the proposed modification of its facilities. The request includes the appropriate certification regarding Section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.' JCE's request is granted. Accordingly, Special Temporary Authority is granted to permit Station KBXD (AM) to remain silent not to exceed 180 days from the date of this letter. Notwithstanding the grant of this Special Temporary Authority, the broadcast license for Station KBXD will automatically expire as a matter of law if broadcast operations do not commence by 12:01 a.m., December 18, 2015. JCE is required to notify the Commission when broadcast operations resume. If JCE does not file the notification of resumption of operations in a timely manner, the license may be subject to cancellation pursuant to Section 312(g) of the Communications Act, as amended." - Lisa Scanlan, Assistant Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau [FCC]
In JCE's Notification of Suspension of Operations / Request for Silent STA of January 7, 2015 the following statement was called Exibit 1
"KBXD WAS FORCIBLY TAKEN OFF THE AIR BY SALEM RADIO PROPERTIES (SALEM), OWNERS OF KSKY AND KTNO AM, AND KLTY AND KWRD FM. JAMES CRYSTAL ENTERPRISES (JCE), LICENSEE OF KBXD, IS CURRENTLY UNDER BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION AND THE COURT HAS AUTHORIZED PAYMENT OF BACK RENT OWED TO SALEM. SALEM OWNS THE LAND WHERE THE KBXD TRANSMITTER SITE IS LOCATED, BUT JCE OWNS THE TRANSMITTING EQUIPMENT. SALEM HAS LOCKED JCE OUT OF THE TRANSMITTING SITE, RESULTING IN KBXD GOING SILENT AGAINST OUR WILL. WE ARE UNABLE TO SPECIFICALLY STATE WHEN KBXD WILL RESUME OPERATIONS."
The transmitting site has been acquired from Salem Radio Properties. A new transmitter has been acquired and the station returned to the air at 14:18 (2:18PM) December 8, 2015 but was transmitting with low power. The station went off the air and came back on the air on December 11 with higher power.
Another Notification of Suspension of Operations was filed December 21 of 2015 stating: THE STATION CEASED OPERATION ON 12/21/2015 IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THE REPLACEMENT OF THE STATION'S TRANSMITTER. THE LICENSEE ANTICIPATES RESUMING AUTHORIZED OPERATIONS WITHIN 30 DAYS. THE LICENSEE WILL FILE THE REQUISITE NOTIFICATION UPON RESUMPTION.
KBXD, along with co-owned stations WFLL, WFTL, and WMEN, was purchased out of bankruptcy by Mark Jorgenson's ACM JCE IV B LLC in a transaction that was consummated on August 6, 2015, at a purchase price of $5.5 million.
