City Pendleton, Oregon Frequency 1240 kHz | Branding ESPN 1240 First air date May 1941 (as KWRC) | |
Slogan Pendleton's Sports Radio Translator(s) 103.1 K276GF (Pendleton) | ||
KTIX (1240 AM, "ESPN 1240") is a radio station licensed to serve Pendleton, Oregon, United States. The station, which began broadcasting as KWRC in May 1941, is currently owned by Capps Broadcast Group and the broadcast license is held by KSRV, Inc.
Contents
Programming
KTIX has broadcast a 24-hour sports radio format as an affiliate of ESPN Radio since October 2002. In addition to its usual sports talk programming, KTIX broadcasts Major League Baseball games as an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners Radio Network, National Basketball Association games as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers radio network, National Football League games as a member of the Seattle Seahawks radio network, and Oregon Ducks football as a member of the Oregon Sports Network. KTIX also airs high school football games and other select sporting events featuring the Pendleton High School Buckaroos.
Facilities
KTIX shares a studio building with sister stations KUMA (1290 AM), KUMA-FM (107.7 FM), and KWHT (103.5 FM). This multi-station facility, located at the west end of Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, is also close to KTIX's new tower site. The original tower, located on South Hill, served KTIX from 1941 to 2002. That original tower was later re-erected east of Pendleton on Cabbage Hill for use by co-owned KUMA-FM.
The beginning
This station began regular broadcast operations in May 1941 with 250 watts of power on 1240 kHz as KWRC under the ownership of the Western Radio Corporation. KWRC was run by general manager V.P. Kenworthy who owned the Western Radio Corporation as part of the Kenworthy Stations Group. V.P. Kenworthy would continue to own and operate KWRC until December 23, 1958, when the station was sold to WSC Broadcasting Company of Oregon, Inc.
The KKID years
The new owners had the station's call letters changed to KKID in 1959 and by early 1961 had been authorized by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase its daytime signal strength to 1,000 watts while nighttime power remained at 250 watts. On July 15, 1961, ownership of KKID passed from WSC Broadcasting Company of Oregon, Inc., to Roderick Sound, Inc.
The KTIX era
The callsign was changed again in 1964, this time to the current KTIX. Eastern Oregon Broadcasters, Inc., acquired KTIX on August 1, 1967, and flipped the station to a contemporary music format. As a part of the Capps Broadcasting Group, this music format would endure on KTIX through the entire 1970s. The station applied to the FCC to change the name of its licensee to Capps Broadcasting Group, Inc., to reflect the station's true ownership and this change was approved by the FCC on March 28, 1979.
Just after switching back to a country music format in January 1980, Capps Broadcasting Group, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to AgPal Broadcasting, Inc. AgPal Broadcasting was owned by Pendleton residents Cheryl and Jim McAnally plus Andy and JoAnn Harle. The deal was approved by the FCC on May 15, 1981.
The present
In September 1997, AgPal Broadcasting, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station back to Capps Broadcast Group through its KSRV, Inc., subsidiary. The deal was approved by the FCC on May 14, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on August 27, 1998.