ERP 28,870 watts Class C1 Frequency 100.5 MHz Format Active rock Branding ROCK 100.5 The KATT | HAAT 467 meters (1,532 ft) Facility ID 8797 City of license Oklahoma City Owner Cumulus Media | |
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Broadcast area Oklahoma City Metroplex First air date 1960 (as KJAK)
September 16, 1976 (as KATT) Area Oklahoma City metropolitan area Slogan Oklahoma's Pure Rock Station | ||
KATT-FM (100.5 FM, "ROCK 100.5 The KATT") is a Mainstream Rock radio station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are in Northwest Oklahoma City, and the transmitter is on the Northside.
History
The earliest known format of the station is country music when it went by the call letters KJAK under Jack Beasley's Big Chief Broadcasting Co. from 1960-1976. Before Beasley had the allocation, there was a 100.5 KIOO or K-100 which transmitted from the top of the Oklahoma Biltmore Hotel in downtown OKC, KIOO was started by the two brothers from Northern Kentucky, Steve and Ted Bushelman around 1957.
KLPR 1140 AM, originally started by Byron Ross in the 1940s, with the callsign that represented first letters of his parents' name, was a daytime AM country station in Oklahoma City that was owned by Jack Beasley in the 1960s. Jack, being a musician himself, had MANY ties to the industry. KLPR helped a number of country artists get their start, including Wanda Jackson and Conway Twitty. KLPR also owned a short-lived KLPR TV on channel 14(not to be confused with the former ch19 KLPR-TV that Byron Ross owned before Beasley's 14). KJAK was Jack's FM station at 100.5 FM which much later on became KATT-FM. When Beasley got older, he owner-financed a sale of the stations (1140 and 100.5) to Ed Sossen. Due to Sossen's financial issues and two suspicious fires, the stations were subject to a bank takeover. After the fires, Bill Lacy ran the stations as the GM for the debtor in possession of the stations while a new owner could be found. The format was changed to rock and soon the call sign was applied for, KATT (100.5). The station began broadcasting as KATT on September 16, 1976 with a rock format. The station received the official telegram from the FCC at Christmas 1976 authorizing the call sign change to KATT-FM when KATT-AM (now KRMP-AM) was established to simulcast the station. Transmissions facilities and studio facilities for KATT and 1140AM were at the AM tower in a small room in what was a former ch 14 TV transmitter building. The KATT became a nearly overnight success, filling a huge void for underground rock music. With huge ratings success, the KATT and 1140 AM quickly sold to Sun Broadcasting of Dallas, TX who paid 866,000 for the AM/FM combo properties. Bill Lacey exited at the sale time as the GM.
The former KATT transmitter site ( at the KLPR-KCNN-KPRW-KVSP 1140 tower) was located near I-240 and I-35.
KATT was named by Ira "Eye" Lipson, who also was the programming consultant to KATT, while serving as program director of KZEW The ZOO in Dallas. Barbara Marullo was the original program director. Air personalities in the early days included Stan Tacker, Traver Hulse, Jim Stafford (Jimbob), Linda (Gabby) Goldfarb, John Michael Scott (now deceased), David Bell (now deceased), Charlie Parker, and Danny Hopper. Stan, Traver, and Jim rotated AM drive duty until Gabby came on board. Then it was Jim & Gabby for about one year. John Michael Scott handled middays, David Bell was on in the evenings. Hopper was the first overnight man later followed by Parker.
The early days of KATT-FM saw a shift in radio listening for young adults in Oklahoma City, traditionally AM stations had attempted to catch the wave of progressive rock by featuring artists like Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan when necessary to show they were hip. The explosion of new music heralded acts like the Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, and Bob Seger on a regular basis. KOFM had played album cuts for years, but only scratched the surface of what a station dedicated to playing the large playlists of groups that only recently had begun receiving the airplay they deserved. The stations on air personalities renamed the old cow town Zoom City, and played long thematic sets of music that had not been heard. The concert calendar was filled with acts that got the support they needed to sell out the Myriad, Lloyd Noble arena, and the Fairgrounds on a regular basis. Gone were the days when hip people had to exchange tapes and records, the KATT was the soundtrack of a new generation.
Arbitron ratings went through the roof, and KATT stickers appeared on the rear windows of cars that crowded the parking lots of the Zoo Amphitheatre, and the old downtown Civic Center. There was even an animated television commercial on late night programs featuring the smiling form of the cartoon cat from the sticker finding his way along the highways of Oklahoma City.
The KATT now plays a wide range of rock music, both new rock and classic rock. Many other owners have owned KATT including Surrey, Greyhound, and Citadel. The current owner is Cumulus. In March 2008 KATT downgraded from a C at 100,000 watts ERP to a C1 at 30,000 watts ERP for the upgrade of WWLS-FM to 98.1 fm.