| City of license | Houston, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Houston |
| Branding | "KPFT 90.1" |
| Slogan | Radio For Peace |
| Frequency |
89.5 MHz in Galveston 89.7 Mhz in Huntsville 90.1 HD-2 Rice Radio 90.1 HD-3 Alternate programming |
| First air date | March 1, 1970 |
| Format | Public Radio |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 205 meters |
| Class | C1 |
| Facility ID | 51244 |
| Callsign meaning | K PaciFica Texas or possibly Peace For Texas |
| Affiliations | Pacifica Radio, PRI |
| Owner | Pacifica Radio |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.kpft.org |
KPFT is a listener-sponsored community radio station in Houston, Texas, which went on the air on March 1, 1970 as the fourth station in the Pacifica radio family. Larry Lee sold the idea to Pacifica to establish listener-supported radio in Houston as an alternative to main-stream broadcasting. The station frequently shows Progressive talk segments. Among the prominent persons who have been regulars on KPFT in the past were science educator David F. Duncan and humorist John Henry Faulk.
KPFT commenced broadcasting on the 90.1 FM frequency with the song "Here Comes the Sun" from the Abbey Road album by The Beatles.
Radio Maria Hispana (Houston) the local unit of Radio Maria USA, airs Spanish-language programming for the hispanic Catholic community on KPFT's subcarrier. Rice Radio broadcasts on KPFT's HD-2 channel and the alternate programming is now on the HD-3 channel.
The station's transmitter was bombed and destroyed on May 12, 1970, two months after going on the air. The new station was off the air for three weeks until repairs could be made. Five months later, on October 6, 1970, while the station was broadcasting Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant," the transmitter was bombed yet again and the damage was significantly more extensive.[1][2] The second bombing took KPFT off the air for three months. No other U.S. radio station or transmitter has been bombed.[3]
On January 21, 1971, KPFT management invited Guthrie to visit the Houston studios, where he performed "Alice's Restaurant" live as the station commenced transmitting yet again.
After months of inactivity by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police, Pacifica took the initiative to mount a media campaign designed to draw attention to the unsolved case and seek support for pressuring authorities to act. Federal agents ultimately arrested a member of the Ku Klux Klan, Jimmy Dale Hutto, and charged him with the KPFT bombings, as well as with plotting to blow up radio stations KPFA and KPFK. Hutto was convicted and imprisoned in 1971.
In the early morning hours on August 13, 2007, a bullet was fired into the studio, breaking a window and narrowly missing a woman's head. No one was injured. The shooting followed a week-long fundraising drive; since the shooting, one of the windows was covered with the KPFT banner and the front entrance locked.[4]
On July 16, 2008, a man demanded access to KPFT's studios. After being rebuffed, he punched out a window pane on the back door with a knife. The man was apprehended without resistance, and promptly arrested.[5]
On June 28, 2010, somebody cut the power lines to the station's transmitter, leaving the station only available online. Damages were reportedly approximately $10,000. Power was restored the following day and broadcasting resumed.
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