View source for KTKT

{{short description|Radio station in Tucson, Arizona}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name               = KTKT
| logo               = KTKT.png
| city               = [[Tucson, Arizona]]
| country            = US
| area               = [[Tucson metropolitan area]]
| branding           = La Buena 94.3
| frequency          = 990 [[kilohertz|kHz]]
| translator         = {{Radio Relay|94.3|K232FD|Tortolita}}
| airdate            = {{start date and age|1949|12}}
| format             = [[Adult hits]]
| power              = {{ubl|10,000 watts (daytime)|490 watts (nighttime)}}
| class              = B
| facility_id        = 2744
| coordinates        = {{coord|32|15|19|N|111|0|32|W|region:US-AZ_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| callsign_meaning   = original owners Thomas J. Wallace, [[Art Linkletter]] and Tom Breneman
| former_frequencies = 1490 kHz (1948–56)
| owner              = [[Lotus Communications]]
| licensee           = Arizona Lotus Corp.
| sister_stations    = [[KCMT]], [[KFFN]], [[KFMA]], [[KLPX]], {{nowrap|[[KMXZ-FM]]}}
| webcast            =
| website            = {{url|labuena943.com}}
| language           = Spanish
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}
'''KTKT''' (990 [[AM broadcasting|AM]]) – branded ''La Buena 94.3'' – is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] Spanish language [[adult hits]] radio station licensed to serve [[Tucson, Arizona]]. Owned by [[Lotus Communications]], the covers the [[Tucson metropolitan area]] and [[Southern Arizona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=KTKT |title=KTKT Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref> The KTKT studios and transmitter are both located in northwest Tucson; in addition to a standard [[analog transmission]], KTKT is simulcast over low-power [[Tortolita, Arizona|Tortolita]] [[Broadcast relay station|translator]] K232FD (94.3 [[FM broadcasting|FM]]), and is available online.
==History==
===Early years===
In December 1949, KTKT first signed on at 1490 AM.<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1950/RADIO%20&%20TV%20AL-MT%20YB%201950%20B&W-11.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 p. 74]</ref> The station's [[construction permit]] was originally granted by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) to Thomas J. Wallace Sr., Tom Breneman Sr., and [[Art Linkletter]] in 1948; the two "T's" in KTKT were for the two Toms, and the K was part of Linkletter's last name. Linkletter himself would go on to become a popular network television personality in the 1950s and 60s. The station has kept the same [[call sign]] for its seven decades on the air.
After Breneman’s untimely death, Wallace came to Tucson from Los Angeles to run the station. Wallace had started his radio career in Chicago where he was the host of a popular [[children's radio]] show, ''Uncle Walter's Dog House''. He went on to produce other classic radio shows, including ''[[Blind Date (American game show)|Blind Date]]'' with [[Arlene Francis]], ''[[Kukla, Fran, and Ollie]]'' with [[Fran Allison]], and ''The [[Red Skelton]] Show''.
Because all the existing national radio networks already had [[network affiliate|affiliate]]s in Tucson, KTKT became an independent station, and its programming was mostly music. For a time, KTKT was an affiliate of the short-lived [[Liberty Broadcasting System]], formed around the play-by-play sportscasts of "The Old Scotsman", [[Gordon McLendon]].
Wallace built his station on Elm Street, just west of Miracle Mile, in two war surplus military buildings which were moved onto the site. In the early 1950s, Chuck Blore became one of Tucson's most popular personalities on KTKT with his six-hour afternoon program, ''Let's Play Records''. Blore was a creative radio personality, and went on to become one of radio's top programmers, starting Los Angeles' first [[contemporary hit radio|Top 40]] station, [[KFWB]], in 1958, and later owned one of the top commercial production companies in Hollywood.
===Adding an FM station===
In March 1954, the Wallaces put Tucson's first FM station on the air, [[KIIM-FM|KTKT-FM (99.5)]].<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1955/Radio-AL-MT-1955-BC-YB.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1955 p. 77]</ref>
Disappointed that classical music was not being heard in Tucson, Tom Wallace hired Jack Frakes, a drama teacher at [[Rincon High School]], as KTKT-FM's first announcer and classical music programmer. KTKT-FM later changed its call sign to KFMM, standing for "FM on the Mountain" in anticipation of a move to [[Mount Bigelow (Arizona)|Mount Bigelow]] that was never made. On Sundays, the two stations would [[simulcast]] to demonstrate something new: stereophonic sound on FM. The first stereo program in Tucson was on KTKT and KTKT-FM from 2 to 3 PM Sundays, played from the FM studio; the AM and FM stations broadcast separate audio channels.
===Frequency move===
Wallace made plans to move KTKT to a lower frequency which would give it a wider coverage area. He wanted to reach more Southern Arizona listeners who were moving to the suburbs. In 1958, KTKT moved to 990&nbsp;kHz, with 10,000 watts of power and a directional antenna system, but because 990 AM is a [[Clear-channel station|clear channel frequency]], it had to be a daytimer, only operating from sunrise to sunset. Engineer Nat Talpis supervised construction of two towers, located off West Grant Road near Silverbell, where the KTKT studios were located for many years.
Within minutes after KTKT signed off 1490 AM, a new station, [[KFFN|KAIR]] signed on and continued playing the music which the audience was used to hearing on 1490.<ref>[https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1958/Radio-AL-NE-1958-BC-YB.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1958 p. A-240]</ref> (In fact, KAIR had alleged that KTKT took too long to change frequencies.) [[Harold Peary]], known to network radio audiences as ''[[The Great Gildersleeve]]'', was one of the KAIR owners; while in Hollywood, he taped [[voice track]]s for his new station which were mailed to Tucson for broadcast. On its new home at 990, KTKT was nicknamed "Color Channel 99." Wallace formally transferred KTKT ownership to the new Copper State Broadcasting Corporation, though it remained in the hands of the Wallace family. Tom Sr. was the boss, Tom Jr. handled engineering, and George Wallace also was an executive.
===Top 40 music===
When the AM station's ratings declined, Wallace hired a young Frank Kalil to do the programming, moving KTKT to a [[contemporary hit radio|Top 40]] sound. Kalil programmed the new [[rock and roll]] "Color Radio" style music and news format which quickly moved daytimer KTKT into Tucson's number one spot, where it remained into the early 1980s. From 1956 to 1966, Frankie Kalil was considered the "voice" of Tucson radio.
KTKT once broadcast games of the [[Tucson Sidewinders]] and [[Tucson Toros]] [[Minor League Baseball|minor league baseball]] teams. In 1960, the Wallaces applied to begin operation at night with 1,000 watts.
===Changes in ownership===
Late in 1960, the family sold KTKT to the Leland Bisbee group. A new manager, Phil Richardson, took over, and financially the station began to prosper. The FM station was split off and purchased by Lee Little, owner of [[KTUC]], and later became top-rated [[country music]] station [[KIIM-FM]].  The Leland Bisbee group sold KTKT to [[Lotus Communications]] in 1972.
In late 1985, as contemporary music listening moved to FM, Lotus dropped KTKT's live Top 40 format, to carry the [[Transtar Radio Networks]]' [[Adult contemporary music|adult contemporary]] satellite feed from Los Angeles.
===All-news, sports talk and Spanish===
In the spring of 1989, KTKT dropped music altogether to become an [[all-news radio]] station, airing the audio feed of [[HLN (TV network)|CNN Headline News]].
In the early 1990s, KTKT was an affiliate of Sports Entertainment Network, a sports-oriented [[talk radio]] network (which underwent several ownership and name changes over the years and is now known as [[SportsMap|SportsMap Radio Network]]), but due to low ratings switched back to CNN Headline News by early 1994.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Eubank|first=Dave|date=February 4, 1994|title=SEN could find its way back into Tucson market|page=C6|work=[[Arizona Daily Star]]}}</ref> The station was also, for a time, the Tucson radio affiliate of the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]]. In 2001, the station became the Tucson radio affiliate of the [[Phoenix Suns]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Eubank|first=Dave|date=March 16, 2001|title=Winders, KCUB team up, Suns to remain on KTKT|page=C2|work=[[Arizona Daily Star]]}}</ref>
In November of 2004, KTKT dropped almost all sports and news programming to air a Spanish-language [[Norteño (music)|Norteño]] oldies format (that style being popular among many Latinos in Tucson).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hatfield|first=David|date=November 7, 2004|title=KTKT switches format to Mexican tunes of '60s, '70s|page=E3|work=Arizona Daily Star}}</ref> In 2005, KTKT dropped music and adopted the [[ESPN Deportes]] Spanish-language sports format not long after it launched nationally.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 23, 2005|title=KTKT switches to Spanish-language sports|page=E3|work=[[Arizona Daily Star]]}}</ref> but would later drop it to air Spanish-language [[adult hits]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.ktkt99.com/ KTKT Tribute website]
{{AM station data|2744|KTKT}}
* {{FCC-LMS-Facility|142429|K232FD}}
* {{FXL|K232FD}}
{{Tucson Radio}}
{{Lotus Communications}}
[[Category:Radio stations in Tucson, Arizona|TKT]]
[[Category:Spanish-language radio stations in Arizona|TKT]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1948]]
[[Category:1948 establishments in Arizona]]
[[Category:Lotus Communications stations]]