KTTS-FM
 | |
| City | Springfield, Missouri |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Springfield, Missouri |
| Frequency | 94.7 MHz |
| First air date | 1922 |
| Format | Country music |
| Audience share | 0.6, #32 (Fa'07, R&R[1]) |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 336.0 meters |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 62023 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°10′30.00″N 93°2′35.00″W / 37.1750000°N 93.0430556°W |
| Callsign meaning | Keep Tuned (or Talking) To Springfield |
| Affiliations | Fox News Radio |
| Owner |
E.W. Scripps Company (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC) |
| Sister stations | KSGF, KSGF-FM, KSPW, KZRQ |
| Webcast | http://www.ktts.com |
| Website | http://www.ktts.com |
KTTS-FM (94.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Springfield, Missouri, the station serves the Springfield area (market #140). The station places a strong emphasis on news programming and maintains the largest radio news operation in the state outside St. Louis.[2]
News department
KTTS is one of the few remaining FM stations in the nation to host a full-fledged, around-the-clock local news operation and is the only 24-hour news operation in Southwest Missouri. Newscasts can be heard every top of the hour, with news updates on the bottom of the hour between 5:00AM–10:00AM and 3:00PM–6:00PM. Don Louzader, Nancy Simpson, Jason Rima, Mike Morgan, Larry Wright, Joe Rios, Austin Robertson, Greg Brock, and Erika Brame are the news team at KTTS.
Programming
KTTS is known for its morning show with Summer Stevens and Rick Moore. With a slightly off-kilter look at the world, they deliver a mix of headlines, traffic, weather, and comic relief.
Curly Clark, who hosts the afternoon show from 2PM to 6PM, is the longest-running DJ in KTTS history. Clark has over 30 years of radio experience, and more than 25 years with KTTS. Affectionately known as the Queen of Country in Springfield, Curly has entertained country listeners longer than any other Springfield personality.
Mark Grantin is the mid-day host from 10-2pm. He is also the program director.
Cash Williams is the weeknight host from 6pm to 11pm.
Weekend hosts are Jay Cross, Sarah Brown, Colin and Rick Masters.
History
Granville Pearson Ward started the first radio station in the city, WIAI, which began broadcasting educational programming from Heer's Tower downtown in 1922. Store management shut the station down and Ward purchased the transmitter from Heer's and began broadcasting as KFUV in 1927. This station went off the air one year later, but Ward re-entered the radio market in 1942 with KTTS. The source for the call letters was "Keep Tuned (or Talking) To Springfield"
In 1948 the station became the first in Southwest Missouri to begin broadcasting on an FM signal (94.7). In March 1953, KTTS-TV, a CBS affiliate, was launched as the city's very first television station. During the 1960s the television station was sold and its call letters were changed to KOLR-TV. The KTTS of today was created by Great Empire Broadcasting in the early 1970s. According to (now former) station manager Curt Brown, KTTS aired an adult standards format until 1972 when the country formats were installed. KTTS aired more classic-type country, and KTTS-FM aired more modern country. In the late 1980s, KTTS' AM frequency traded frequencies with KGBX, moving KTTS from AM 1400 to AM 1260, which gave them a wider signal range, and gave KGBX the money to buy an FM allotment.
Today, AM 1400 is known as KGMY and owned by Clear Channel. In 1999, the AM 1260 call letters became KTTF, and then a short while later, KSGF, with the KTTS call sign remaining on the FM station. Today, the format of KSGF is concentrated on news and talk radio. KSGF and KTTS-FM are still affiliated by the Journal Broadcast Group ownership.
Journal Communications and The E.W. Scripps Company announced on July 30, 2014 that the two companies would merge to create a new broadcast company under the E.W. Scripps Company name that will own the two companies' broadcast properties, including KTTS-FM. The transaction is slated to be completed in 2015, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.[3]
Former on-air staff
Bob Barker, star of the TV show The Price Is Right, got his first job in media with KTTS in the 1940s. Barker lived in Springfield and graduated from Central High School; he worked for KTTS while attending Drury College (now University).
References
- ↑ "Springfield MO Market Ratings". Radio and Records.
- ↑ "KTTS-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ↑ "E.W. Scripps, Journal Merging Broadcast Ops". TVNewsCheck. July 30, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
External links
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KTTS
- Radio-Locator information on KTTS
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KTTS