KHTK
 | |
| City | Sacramento, California |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Sacramento metropolitan area |
| Branding | Sports 1140 KHTK |
| Frequency |
1140 kHz (AM) (also on HD Radio) |
| Repeater(s) | 105.1-HD3 KNCI |
| First air date | November 12, 1926 |
| Format | Sports |
| Language(s) | English (United States) |
| Power | 50,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 20352 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°23′34″N 121°11′51″W / 38.39278°N 121.19750°W |
| Callsign meaning | From the station's previous Hot TalK format |
| Former callsigns | KGDM (1926-?), KRAK (?-1994) |
| Affiliations |
Sacramento Kings CBS Sports Radio San Jose Sharks Oakland Raiders |
| Owner |
CBS Radio (CBS Radio Stations Inc.) |
| Sister stations |
Radio: KNCI, KYMX, KZZO, KSFM TV: KOVR, KMAX-TV |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | Official website |
KHTK (1140 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Sacramento, California. Owned and operated by CBS Radio, KHTK broadcasts a sports radio format as "KHTK Sports 1140" as an affiliate of the CBS Sports Radio network.
KHTK broadcasts a 50,000 watt HD Radio signal (the second Sacramento AM station, after KIID, to broadcast in HD), audible as far north as Redding, as far south as Monterey and into the suburbs of San Francisco.[1] KHTK programming is also simulcast on an HD subchannel of sister station KNCI (105.1-HD3).[2]
Its transmitter is located in Wilton, and its studios are in North Sacramento (just north of the American River).
KHTK serves as flagship station for Sacramento Kings basketball and Sacramento Mountain Lions and UC Davis Aggies football, as well as Sacramento's radio home for Oakland Athletics baseball, Oakland Raiders football and San Jose Sharks hockey.
KHTK emerged after long-time country giant KRAK switched formats in 1994, due to the declining AM music audience. KHTK started out with a talk radio format (as "Hot Talk 1140")[3] until converting to a full-time sports format, which was originally branded as "Sports 1140" before adopting "The Fan" branding in November 2011. On January 1, 2013, KHTK began to identify itself as "CBS Sports 1140." One of KHTK's initial sports hosts was Pro Football Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood, who co-hosted with Mike Remy, the station's former program director.
On July 31, 2008, the CBS Corporation announced that KHTK and its five sister stations in Sacramento were being put up for sale as part of the planned divestiture of radio stations outside the top-15 U.S. radio markets, although that has not come to pass. On July 1, 2013, 6 months after identifying as "CBS Sports 1140," KHTK switched its branding back to "KHTK Sports 1140", then to "Sports 1140 KHTK".
Programming Lineup
"Dave, Kate and Nate" airs from 6 am to 9 am. The popular nationally syndicated Los Angeles-based Jim Rome show airs from 9 am to 12 pm.
"The Lo-Down" with Damien Barling, Jason Ross and Ken Rudulph is heard from 12-3 pm.
The most tenured & popular show on the station is The Grant Napear Show with Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear, airing from 3-7 pm. Grant has been a staple of the station's programming since 1997. Jodi Bacon is the producer. KHTK carries the syndicated Scott Ferrall show "Ferrall on the Bench" from 7-11 pm. Other CBS Sports programming airs overnight.
Weekend programming includes CBS Sports Radio, Kings basketball, Raiders football, A's Baseball, Sharks Hockey and other available sporting events coverage.
History
KHTK first signed on the air on November 12, 1926.[4] It carried the call letters KGDM. The station was originally licensed to Hercules Broadcasting, licensed to Stockton, California, and operating at 1130 kHz with 1,000 watts of power. Initially it was a daytime-only station. Later at 1140 kHz with 5,000 W of power, it was authorized to broadcast full-time. By 1958, the station had changed its city of license to Sacramento, and moved to new facilities with 50,000 W of power. It flipped to a country music format, and adopted the call letters KRAK. Some of the early personalities included "Oakie Paul" Westmoreland, Walt Shaw, and Dick Baines.
With country music moving more into the mainstream during the 1970s, KRAK became one of the Sacramento area's most popular stations. Listeners were not only exposed to artists such as Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, but enjoyed two decades of on-air personality stability. Joey Mitchell worked the 6:00 - 10:00AM "Drive Time" and was named "Sacramento Radio Personality of the Year" several times. Rick Stewart could be heard middays between 10:00 - 2:00PM. Big Jim Hall covered the 2:00 - 6:00PM "Afternoon Drive." Hal Murray worked evenings. All had Top 40 backgrounds which led to a tighter, more upbeat format.
KRAK continued to broadcast into the 1990s, long after other music stations had switched to the FM band. KRAK-FM would eventually move ahead in the ratings, later becoming 105.1 KNCI through changes after purchase by CBS Radio and dial switching. Meanwhile, KRAK-AM became KHTK, first a talk station, later flipping to its current all-sports format. The call letters "KRAK" would make a brief return in the Sacramento media market as a country oldies station at AM 1470 before that station was sold to Radio Disney and is today KIID airing programming in Punjabi. Today the KRAK call letters are assigned to AM 910 in Victor Valley, California, also owned by CBS and airing the CBS Sports Radio Network.[5]
References
External links
- FCC History Cards for KHTK
- Query the FCC's AM station database for KHTK
- Radio-Locator Information on KHTK
- Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for KHTK