KTTH

KTTH (770 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Bonneville International and airs a conservative talk radio format. The station's transmitter is on Vashon Island, while its studios are located in Seattle's Eastlake district.

KTTH
CitySeattle, Washington
Broadcast areaSeattle metropolitan area
Frequency770 kHz
Branding770 KTTH
SloganConservative. Talk Radio.
Programming
FormatTalk
AffiliationsPremiere Networks
Westwood One Network
Fox News Radio
Ownership
OwnerBonneville International
(Bonneville International Corporation)
KIRO, KIRO-FM
History
First air date
1925 (as KTCL)
Former call signs
KFQX (1924-1925)
KTCL (1925-1927)
KXA (1927-1986)
KRPM (1986-1991, 1995)
KULL (1991-1995)
KNWX (1995-2003)
Call sign meaning
K The TrutH
Technical information
Facility ID27023
ClassB
Power50,000 watts (day)
5,000 watts (night)
Translator(s)94.5 K233BU (Seattle)
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitektth.com

By day, KTTH broadcasts at 50,000 watts,[1] the maximum permitted for AM radio stations. But because AM 770 is a clear-channel frequency, it must reduce power to 5000 watts at night to avoid interfering with other stations. Programming is also heard on FM translator K233BU at 94.5 MHz.[2]

Programming

Bonneville owns two talk stations in Seattle. 97.3 KIRO-FM concentrates on mostly local shows while 770 KTTH airs mostly syndicated programming. On weekdays, KTTH has two local shows: The Todd Herman Show and The Jason Rantz Show. Host Michael Medved also does his program from the KTTH studios in the early afternoon; it had been syndicated on the Salem Radio Network from the mid-1990s until the network replaced Medved with Sebastian Gorka in 2019. Other syndicated programming includes Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, Guy Benson, and America's 1st News with Matt Ray. Several programs heard on KTTH moved from rival talk station 570 KVI. (At one point KTTH's slogan was temporarily changed to "Three letter radio is dead", referring to KVI's three-letter call sign.)

On weekends, KTTH airs shows on health, money, retirement, and real estate, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Most hours begin with world and national news from Fox News Radio.

History

Classical music

The station signed on in 1925.[3] From 1927 to 1986, it used the call sign KXA. During the 1960s and 70s, KXA had a classical music format. It competed with KING-FM 98.1 and KUOW-FM 94.9, which both aired classical music on the FM dial. As FM became more popular for listening to classical music, on October 1, 1980, the station changed to an oldies format and was known as "Old Gold 77 KXA".[4][5]

Oldies and country

Following a bankruptcy filing, the station switched from oldies to brokered Christian radio programming in 1983.[6] The station's license was transferred to new owners that same year, and on October 8, 1984, a format called "love songs" began, which was essentially a return to oldies.[7][8]

In 1986, following a sale to Highsmith Broadcasting, the station flipped to a simulcast of country music station KRPM-FM (now KBKS-FM) and changed its call letters to KRPM.[9][10] In 1991, the station changed call letters to KULL, returning again to oldies.[11] Country music returned in January 1995, as did the simulcast with KRPM.

Talk programming

In November 1995, a format swap was made with AM 1090, with 770 receiving the call letters KNWX and an all-news radio format. That was followed by a switch to business talk programming in 1998.

KTTH acquired its current call letters in 2003, along with a flip to conservative talk. KNWX moved to 1210 AM that same year and continued until 2004, when it was renamed KWMG (now KMIA).[12]

Sports

KTTH was the last flagship radio station of the Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) of the National Basketball Association, from 2006 to 2008.

KTTH also airs Seattle Mariners baseball games during NFL football season, when the Mariners' regular flagship station AM 710 KIRO airs a Seahawks football game. KTTH is a sister station to KIRO.

Starting in the 2011–2012 college sports season, KTTH began airing Washington State Cougars football and men's basketball but those moved to sister station KIRO in the 2012–2013 season, while KTTH began airing Seattle University Redhawks men's basketball. KTTH also carries Washington State Cougars football and men's basketball games that cannot air on KIRO due to conflicts with Seahawks and Mariners games.

References
  1. http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=ktth&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C
  2. http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=K233BU-FX
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-227
  4. Victor Stredicke, "Old Gold Rock Sound Heralds the New KXA," The Seattle Times, October 5, 1980, TV, p. 26.
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlINLFUErIo
  6. "KYYX Bankruptcy: O'Day files Chapter 11, but vows to keep station on the Wave," The Seattle Weekly, March 9, 1983, p. 5.
  7. "Legal Notices,"The Seattle Times, July 15, 1983, p. B20.
  8. The Seattle Times, October 8, 1984, p. D8.
  9. "Radio Station KXA is Sold," The Seattle Times, September 26, 1985, p. H8.
  10. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Mediatrix/Mediatrix-Seattle-1986.pdf
  11. "Bouncing Around the Bands," The Seattle Times, 26 July 1992, p. L4.
  12. http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/tv/article/Radio-Beat-Business-talk-will-soon-give-way-to-1160316.php

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.