KVET (AM)

KVET
City Austin, Texas
Broadcast area Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area
Branding AM 1300 The Zone
Slogan "Austin's Sports Talk Leader"
Frequency 1300 kHz
First air date October 13, 1946
Format Sports
Power 5,000 watts (day)
1,000 watts (night)
Class B
Facility ID 35850
Callsign meaning K VETerans
Owner iHeartMedia, Inc.
(Capstar TX LLC)
Sister stations KASE-FM, KHFI-FM, KPEZ-FM, KVET-FM
Webcast Listen Live
Website 1300thezone.com

KVET (1300 AM), branded as "AM 1300 The Zone", is an Austin, Texas, radio station operating a Sports format. It is licensed to Austin, Texas, and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications until September 2014). KVET is directional with 5,000 watts to the northwest over the Texas Hill Country during the daytime and 1,000 watts to the south over central Austin at night from a transmitter site just a few miles north of downtown. It shares studios with four other sister stations in the Penn Field complex in the South Congress district (or "SoCo") of south central Austin within walking distance of St. Edward's University.

KVET can also be heard on iHeartRadio online (www.iheart.com) or cell phone application.

History

Shortly after the end of World War II, a group of young men pooled their resources to start a radio station in Austin, Texas. All of them were veterans of the conflict, hence K-VET AM 1300 signed on October 1, 1946. These men included future Texas Governor John Connally, future United States Representative Jake Pickle, future United States Ambassador to Australia Edward Clark, Jesse Kellam, and Willard Deason.[1]

As was common in the 1940s and 1950s, KVET offered "full service" radio, block programming of music, news, talk, cooking shows, even soap operas. KVET also included programming for Austin's minority community, which was uncommon at the time. Spanish language news and music on "Noche De Fiesta"; music and news for the African-American community on The Elmer Akins Gospel Train.

In the 1950s, even more diversity was added to the lineup when Lavada Durst introduced Austin to R&B and "Jive Talk" on KVET's nighttime Dr. Hepcat Show.

Noche de Fiesta and Dr. Hepcat Show were phased out in the 1960s, but The Elmer Akins Gospel Train is on the air on KVET[2] to this day.

During most of the 1960s, KVET featured the popular music of the day, plus a strong emphasis on news and sports block programming. The music of Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Dinah Shore, plus Paul Harvey commentary, the Joe Pyne show, and Houston Astros baseball were all part of the mix.

KVET switched formats on April 14, 1969 to country music, and the Country Giant was born. Jim Robinson, who at the time was public information officer for the Texas DPS and also a night DJ for KVET, played the last record of the old format on KVET under the air name Jay Williams, and at midnight when the format change occurred, played the first country record using the air name Jim Gary. Popular celebrity DJs including Arleigh Duff, Penny Reeves, Jim WW Travis, The Snipe Warden, Jerry Gee and Sammy Allred quickly took KVET to the top of the local ratings during the 1970s.

Despite increased competition, KVET continued to prosper in the 1980s by featuring a traditional mix of country music, news and sports, including Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys football.

In 1990, KVET began to also broadcast on 98.1 FM. With the new signal came the creation of the Sammy Allred and Bob Cole Morning Call-In Show. In the mid-1990s, KVET evolved to a talk station and to all-sports in 1998. KVET-FM continues to attract audiences with a blend of country music and personality.

Local Programming and On-Air Staff

Syndicated Programming

Weekends

Simulcast Programming

Programming that Originates at KVET-AM

Formerly Simulcast Programming

Current producers

Former on-air staff

This is a very incomplete list. Over the course of 70 years many have left their mark on the station.

Network affiliations

Former Network Affiliations

Station management

References

  1. ↑ Capstar Broadcasting Partners to Acquire Radio Stations KASE-FM and KVET-AM/FM
  2. ↑ 501 Not Implemented
  3. ↑ http://houston.astros.mlb.com/hou/schedule/radio_affiliates.jsp. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ http://www.houstontexans.com/gameday/broadcasting/broadcast-network.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Coordinates: 30°22′30″N 97°42′58″W / 30.37500°N 97.71611°W / 30.37500; -97.71611

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