City Flower Mound, Texas First air date 1967 (as KDSQ) | Frequency 96.7 MHz | |
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Broadcast area Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex/Ardmore/Southern Oklahoma/Bowie/Gainesville Branding SportsRadio 1310 & 96.7 The Ticket Format Sports Talk
(KTCK simulcast) | ||
KTCK-FM (96.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve the community of Flower Mound, Texas. KTCK-FM, established in 1967 as KDSQ, is managed locally at 2221 East Lamar Blvd., Suite 300 in Arlington, and is currently owned by Cumulus Media. As of October 21, 2013, the station broadcasts a sports/talk radio format to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex area as a simulcast of sister station KTCK "The Ticket" (1310 AM).
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KDSQ/KSHN/Kick'm Country
The station first started out as KDSQ in 1967 in the Sherman-Denison area on 101.7 FM. Two years later, it changed its callsign to KSHN. Up until 1975, the format was unknown, then the call letters changed to KIKM-FM with a country music format during the day and Top 40 at night (simulcast from sister station KIKM), then to full-time Top 40 a couple years later. In 1983, the call sign changed to KZXL-FM, but two years later the previous call sign was re-established with a 24-hour country music format known as "Kick'm Country".
A decade later, KIKM-FM swapped frequencies with KDVE (also in Sherman), however the station went dark in 1997. During that time, the city of license was changed from Sherman to its current location in Flower Mound, Texas.
Memories 96.7 FM
A couple months later, the KNKI call letters were established, but the station did not sign on until November 1998, under the control of Disney/ABC Radio. After launching on November 23, 1998, as Memories 96.7 FM, playing oldies and easy listening music from the 1950s to the 1970s, it changed call signs to KMEO on December 28, 1998. During the overnight hours, KMEO would switch to a live "Memories"/"Unforgettable Favorites" (now merged with "Timeless") programming from ABC Radio. Previously live, local programming was briefly replaced by ABC Radio's corporate "Memories" satellite programming for a full 24 hours on June 26, 2003, until 5pm on June 27, 2003 when the "Memories" format was dropped.
96.7 The Texas Twister
96.7 The Twister (alternately "The Texas Twister") officially "touched down" at 5 pm on June 27, 2003. The last song heard on "Memories" was "Thanks For The Memories" by Bob Hope. This was followed by the first song on the "Twister", being "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" by Alan Jackson. This was the start of 20,000 songs in a row without commercial interruption. Initially jockless, The Twister started adding DJs in September 2003. Its playlist was composed of "today's modern country hits" mixed with Texas country music, thus adopting the slogan "The Most New Country In Texas". The call letters were not officially changed to KTYS until October 21, 2003. On June 12, 2007, 24 Disney/ABC Radio stations, including KTYS, merged into Citadel Broadcasting's portfolio. The KMEO call letters have been reassigned to an American Family Radio-affiliate station in Mertzon, Texas.
Platinum 96.7
On June 30, 2008, at 5:28 a.m., after five years as The Twister, the station ended its tenure as a country station in favor of returning to Oldies as Platinum 96.7. The last song on "The Twister" was "Kiss My Country Ass" by Rhett Akins, while the first song on "Platinum" being "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles. From there, it broadcast a diverse oldies format, as the playlist was taken directly from the remnants of the former ABC Radio's corporate "Memories" music library; thus, their slogan was "Forgotten Hits Re-Discovered." It also marked a return of a few former "Memories" personalities with Ron Chapman as the station's consultant. The callsign was changed to KPMZ on July 2, 2008 (referring to a PlatinuM record and paying homage to "Memories 96.7"). The "Texas Twister" format was moved to its sister station KSCS's HD-2 signal. KPMZ ceased transmitting its digital "HD Radio" signal in 2009. Because the license to broadcast digital "HD Radio" is perpetual, the station could resume digital broadcasts at any time.
WBAP simulcast
At Noon CT on March 12, 2010, after playing "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam, the station briefly reverted to its previous "Texas Twister" country music format. Two hours later, a stunt known as "Reagan Radio" began, exclusively featuring sound clips from former president Ronald Reagan. The station began simulcasting sister station WBAP on Monday, March 15. Although broadcasting on a rimshot frequency, the staff at WBAP claims that this station will provide "crystal-clear FM fidelity" for their listeners in 96.7's pre-determined coverage area. The station changed call signs to WBAP-FM effective March 19, 2010. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. With the simulcast in place, the station was responsible for activation of the North Texas Emergency Alert System (alongside sister stations WBAP-AM and KSCS) when hazardous weather alerts, disaster area declarations, and AMBER Alerts are issued.
KTCK/The Ticket simulcast
On October 7, 2013, Cumulus announced the discontinuation of the simulcast of WBAP on 96.7, and would be changed to a simulcast of KTCK (AM). Talk show host Mark Davis (formerly of WBAP, now on KSKY) took to Twitter with the news saying, "I'll always remember the March '10 debut." Later, Dan Bennet, the vice president/market manager of Cumulus has confirmed this move, citing they have "seen no ratings increase since adding the FM." Bennett added, "WBAP at 820 AM still covers 114 counties in the day and has been heard in up to 38 states at night and early morning before the sun comes up. WBAP at 820 is one of the biggest radio signals in America." The WBAP simulcast moved to KPLX 99.5 HD2, formerly The Ticket's radio spot. The format change took place on October 21. A callsign change to KTCK-FM took effect on October 27, 2013.