KFNC

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KFNC-FM (97.5), known on-air as ESPN 97.5 The Ticket is a sports radio station in Houston, Texas, under ownership of Cumulus Media. The station's transmitter facility is located east of Houston in an area of Chambers County south of Winnie, Texas.

[edit] History

The 97.5 frequency was originally marketed to the Golden Triangle area, which consists of Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange, Texas, as country music station KAYD (known on-air as KD-97.5).

[edit] As KRWP

In December 2001, Cumulus entered the Houston market by purchasing the station and later relocating the station's transmitter from the Beaumont area to Devers, TX to include service into the Houston area. The station signed on with an Urban Contemporary format as Power 97.5 under the temporary calls KKTT but IDed as KRPW (the station was unable to get the callsign in time for sign on and acquired the KRWP sign weeks later) and also continued to serve Beaumont area. (KAYD has since moved to a different frequency). The station, renamed KRWP (PoWeR spelled backwards) had modest success in the early months of 2002. However, KRWP faced stiff competition from longtime Houston hip-hop stations KBXX and KPTY-FM as well as rhythmic CHR station KTHT (which was also somehow competing with sister urban station KTCX in Beaumont).

KRWP later skewed to an Urban Adult Contemporary format with the intent of challenging the market's heritage R&B station, KMJQ. However, KRWP never challenged KMJQ in the ratings due to the location of the transmitter, which resulted in a lack of decent coverage for the market. KRWP was transmitting from a site 50 miles east of Houston in Chambers County whereas the transmitter for KMJQ and almost every radio and television station serving Houston was based in northeast Fort Bend County east of Missouri City. The station was home to Doug Banks in the Mornings, even through the format altering until 2003.

[edit] Switch to rock (and later talk)

In late 2004, there were plans for KRWP to switch frequencies from 97.5 to 103.7 or otherwise have a simulcast with the objective of providing better coverage in Houston. At the same time, Houston's heritage rock station, KLOL, dumped its rock format after 34 years in favor of a Hurban (Hispanic Urban) format. In January 2005, under new management, KRWP inherited the former KLOL format of AOR rock and flipped to KIOL as Rock 97.5. The format change was headed by former KLOL personality Jim Pruett and program director/jock Pat Fant (who assumed market manager for Cumulus Houston as a result) in response to heavy outcry from misplaced KLOL listeners. When the 103.7 signal signed on in May of 2005, Cumulus moved KIOL to the new frequency and simulcast on 97.5 under the new calls KFNC for the next few weeks.

On the morning of May 24, 2005, at 6am, 97.5 broke the simulcast and launched Houston's third attempt at an FM news station, KFNC FM News Channel 97-5 (102.1 KLYX-- now KMJQ-- was the first in 1975 as an affiliate of NBC Radio's now-defunct 24 hour News & Information Service. 97.1 Was the second FM News/Talk station, which failed and is now a classic country station.) Adopting a News/Talk radio format, the station consisted of former KLOL morning personalities Jim Pruett and Brian Shannon (the voice of Eddie "The Boner" Sanchez), who reunited to host the afternoon talk show "Back Talk", which was later moved to mornings. Other KLOL alumni on board for the station's news department were Laurie Kendrick and Martha Martinez. Non-KLOL personalities included former KILT newsman Jim Carolla and former KPRC-TV sports director Craig Roberts.

KFNC went through format tweaks and house cleaning, and the FM News Channel moniker was dropped around spring of 2006 for Supertalk 97.5. However, the station's rating failed to keep the talk format afloat, and on the morning of December 22, 2006 after tearful goodbyes from Pruett and Shannon along with Kendrick, Martinez and news/traffic/producer Julie Takahashi, the talk format left the airwaves for its current sports format that officially launched in mid-January 2007. KFNC's on-air branding, ESPN 97.5 The Ticket, is similar to that of its sister AM sports station in Dallas, KTCK. It has become the Greater Houston FM radio affiliate for ESPN, which began moving its programming from Clear Channel's KBME-AM.

In 2007, Cumulus Media moved KFNC along with KIOL to its new Houston headquarters with sister station KRBE in the Chase Building at 9801 Westheimer Road in Houston, home to KRBE since the mid-80s.

[edit] Programming

KFNC serves as the Houston affiliate for ESPN, which has been looking to add FM radio affiliates to its nationwide radio network. Various ESPN Radio programs, most notably Mike & Mike in the Morning and The Herd with Colin Cowherd, air on KFNC's schedule.

To compete with KBME and the market's long-time leading sports station, KILT-AM, KFNC launched a local sports talk show in January 2007 titled The Bottom Line with Houston Chronicle sportswriter Jerome Solomon (who goes by "King Solomon" in his Chronicle articles).

Houston Rockets hall of famer Calvin Murphy hosts a two-hour sports talk show that airs weekdays from 5pm until 7pm. This is Murphy's first broadcasting job in Houston since his unceremonious departure in 2004 from his position as the Rockets' television analyst alongside longtime Rockets play-by-play announcer Bill Worrell.

[edit] Monday-Friday

• 5am-9am: Mike & Mike in the Morning
• 9am-12pm: The Herd with Colin Cowherd
• 12pm-2pm: Tirico and Van Pelt
• 2pm-3pm: The Scott Van Pelt Show
• 3pm-5pm: Put Up Your Dukes with Carl Dukes
• 5pm-7pm: Calvin Murphy
• 7pm-9pm: Various Local Programming
• 9pm-12am: Gamenight
• 12am-4am: Allnight with Jason Smith

[edit] Saturday

• 12am-5am: The V Show with Bob Valvano
• 5am-6am: Inside Golf
• 6am-7am: Smokin Joe's Driving Range with Joe Pogge
• 7am-8am: Saturday Raceday
• 8am-11am: A.M. Gameday
• 11am-12pm: The Sammy & Bob Show with Bob Mungle & Sammy Mahan
• 12pm-1pm: Energy Week with Alan Lammey
• 1pm-2pm: Texas Lending
• 2pm-5pm: Home Improvement Zone with David Yates
• 5pm-6pm: The Huddle
• 6pm-12am: Gamenight

[edit] Sunday

• 12am-5am: The V Show with Bob Valvano
• 5am-8am: Paid Programming
• 8am-9am: GameDay with John Kincade
• 9am-10am: HRT Investments (Real Estate U) w/Professor C & Marshall B
• 10am-11am: Hot Rod Talk with David Rahman & Randy Shannon
• 11am-12pm: GameDay with John Kincade
• 12pm-7pm: NFL on ESPN Radio with Sean Salisbury & Eric Allen
• 7pm-12am: Gamenight

[edit] Callsign & Moniker History

• KAYD -
• KAYD-FM - 10/06/1995 (KD 97)
• KKTT - 01/01/2002 (Power 97-5)
• KRWP - 01/18/2002 (Power 97-5)
• KIOL - 01/26/2005 (Rock 97.5)
• KFNC - 05/23/2005 (FM News Channel 97.5, Supertalk 97.5, ESPN 97.5 The Ticket)

[edit] External links

• ESPN 97.5 The Ticket Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KFNC
• Radio Locator information on KFNC
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KFNC