Broadcast area Greater Houston Language(s) English Class B City of license Houston Owner iHeartMedia Inc Branding KPRC 950 AM | First air date 1925 Power 5,000 watts Frequency 950 kHz Format Talk radio Area Greater Houston | |
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Audience share 0.3 (unchanged) (January 2017, Nielsen Audio[1]) Slogan Houston's More Stimulating Talk Radio | ||
KPRC (950 kHz) is an AM talk radio station in Houston, Texas, branded as "AM 950 KPRC". It is the oldest surviving radio station licensed in Houston. KPRC is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. The station's studios are located along the West Loop Freeway in the city's Uptown district, and the transmitter site is located in the Settegast neighborhood on the northeast side. KPRC broadcasts with 5000 watts around the clock.
Contents
Programming
The station airs local and nationally syndicated talk shows. Weekdays begin at 5 a.m. with The Walton & Johnson Show a conservative shock jock show which uses KPRC-AM as their flagship station, followed at 10 a.m. by Glenn Beck. At noon it's Michael Berry followed at 2 p.m. by Matt Patrick. (Patrick also hosts the morning show on co-owned KTRH.) At 5 p.m., KPRC carries Joe Pags, based at co-owned WOAI San Antonio. At 7 p.m., "Outlaw Dave" hosts a two-hour show. At 9 p.m. Ken Webster Jr hosts Pursuit of Happiness Radio, at 11 p.m. KPRC runs America Now with Meghan McCain and Robert Davi airs at 2 a.m.
Weekends feature shows on money, cars, beer, cigars, guns and home improvement. Some of the shows are paid Brokered programming. Computer expert Kim Komando is heard on Sunday evening. KPRC airs football and basketball games from the University of Houston. Most hours begin with national news from Fox News Radio.
The station previously aired a talk format branded as Talkradio 950 KPRC, with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, two syndicated shows that have moved to 740 KTRH. Until March 19, 2013, the station was branded The 950 - Radio Mojo, and aired a hot talk format.
History
In 1923, Ross Sterling Jr. took a course on broadcasting at the YMCA in Houston. His father, Ross Sterling Sr., met the instructor, Alfred P. Daniel (of now-discontinued radio station WCAK), and discussed starting a new radio station affiliated with the Houston Post. William P. Hobby, the president and publisher of the Post, asked Sterling to launch the radio station. Before a 500 watt transmitter ordered from the Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Co. arrived in Houston, Sterling Jr. died. Sterling Sr., mourning the loss of his son, put the still crated transmitter in storage. Over one year later, Daniel approached Sterling Sr. and asked about proceeding with the establishment of the radio station. Sterling Sr. agreed with the idea and moved forward with establishing the station. KPRC's first broadcast occurred on Saturday May 9, 1925, with Daniel as the station's first announcer and program director. The federal license granting permission for radio broadcasts on 920 kHz was issued on the 13th of May. Although the call letters appear to stand for Post Radio Company, they actually stand for Kotton Port Rail Center.
In 1927, it interrupted its scheduled programming to give out dispatches for the Houston Police Department.
In 1941, KPRC moved to its current frequency of 950 kHz under terms of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (or NARBA). On December 24, 1946, KPRC-FM (now 99.1 KODA) signed on the air. In 1950, the Hobbys purchased KLEE-TV Channel 2 and renamed it KPRC-TV. In 1983, after the Post was sold, the Hobby family's broadcast holdings were reorganized into H&C Communications. The Hobbys began to liquidate their broadcasting assets in 1993, selling KPRC radio to the Sunbelt Broadcasting Company, a local company that also bought 700 KSEV (but unrelated to the Nevada-based television station owner Sunbelt Communications Company). The Hobbys sold KPRC-TV to Post-Newsweek Stations the next year. Sunbelt, in turn, sold KPRC radio to its current owner, Clear Channel (renamed iHeartMedia), in 1995.