KLVH (97.1 FM "K-Love") is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Cleveland, Texas Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Greater Houston metropolitan area and Liberty County, Texas, Liberty County. Its population was 7,471 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History In 1854, a church and ...

, and serving the northern section of

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the Office of Management and Budget, United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–Pasadena–The Woodlands, is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical ...

. The station airs the programming of the

K-Love K-Love (stylized as K-LOVE) is an American Christian radio network. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry, it primarily broadcasts contemporary Christian music. As of June 2019, the network's progr ...

national radio network, which broadcasts a

Christian adult contemporary Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC, CAC, or Christian Adult Contemporary Airplay, is a form of radio-played contemporary Christian music, ranging from 1960s Jesus music and 1970s Christian soft rock music to predominately ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

, and is owned by the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...

. KLVH has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

site is off Route 222 at Bob McGowan Road in

Shepherd, Texas Shepherd is a city in San Jacinto County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,105 at the 2020 census. Historical information Texas Historical Marker #7672, erected in 1970, located west of FM 222 on SH 150 in Shepherd, gives a brief bac ...

, near

Sam Houston National Forest The Sam Houston National Forest, one of four National Forests in Texas, is located 50 miles north of Houston. The forest is administered together with the other three United States National Forests and two National Grasslands located entirely i ...

. That puts it about halfway between

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and

Lufkin, Texas Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas, United States and is the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and is west of the Texas- Louisiana state line. Its population is 34,143 as of 2020. Lufkin was founded in 188 ...

Station history

Classical KRTK

On January 17, 1993, the station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

as KRTK, and was owned by Texas Classical Radio, Inc.. KRTK originally

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

the

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

programming on

KRTS Marfa Public Radio is a network of public radio stations serving the Big Bend (Texas), Big Bend region of Far West Texas. Headquartered in Marfa, Texas. The station has been a member of National Public Radio since 2006. Marfa Public Radio broad ...

in Seabrook, to increase that station's coverage in northern sections of the Houston

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

. It was sold four years later after KRTS' request to increase power was approved by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC).

Regional Mexican KEYH-FM

In September 1995, 97.1 began simulcasting

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican music refers collectively to the regional subgenres of the country music of Mexico and its derivatives from the Southwestern United States. Each subgenre is representative of a certain region and its popularity also varies by ...

-formatted

KEYH KEYH (850 AM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas, under Special Temporary Authority from the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast at 100 watts from a temporary long-wire antenna, on a tower located in Northline, North Hous ...

as KEYH-FM. The simulcast ended a short time later, as KEYH-FM began to air its own Regional Mexican format as "Estereo 97", which later became "Que Onda 97" in March 1996. In January 1997, the station was bought by AMFM, Inc. for $10 million.

Talk, alternative and oldies

The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

switched to KKTL and flipped to news/talk as "Houston's Talk FM, 97 Talk", in September 1997. The following year,

Jacor Jacor Communications was a media corporation, existing between 1987 and 1999, which owned many radio stations in the United States. In 1998, Jacor was purchased by Clear Channel Communications, now iHeartMedia, for $2.8 billion. Jacor Communicat ...

bought KKTL for $14.7 million. In March 1999, after the talk format floundered, the station switched to a simulcast of

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

-formatted

KTBZ-FM KTBZ-FM (94.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Houston, Texas. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves Greater Houston. KTBZ-FM's studios are located in Uptown Houston, while the station's transmitter is located near Missouri City ...

"107-5 The Buzz". KKTL continued simulcasting 107.5 after KTBZ and KLDE ("Oldies 94.5") swapped frequencies in July 2000, making 97.1 an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

outlet. The swap was the result of an ownership trade-off in the AMFM/Jacor/ Clear Channel merger.

Hot 97.1

In August 2000, Cox acquired KKTL. On November 4, 2000, the station split from the KLDE simulcast and began stunting with a robotic text-to-speech countdown to Noon, using the same Microsoft Mary voice that KKHT used a month prior. At that time, KKTL flipped to

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

as KTHT, "Hot 97.1". The first song on "Hot" was " Party Up" by DMX.

Country Legends

On January 2, 2003, at Noon, after playing " Back That Thang Up" by Juvenile, KTHT flipped to a classic country format as "Country Legends 97.1". The first song on "Country Legends" was "

You Never Even Called Me by My Name "You Never Even Called Me by My Name" is a song written by Steve Goodman and John Prine. Prine requested to be uncredited on the song, as he thought it was a "goofy, novelty song" and did not want to "offend the country music community". Goodm ...

" by

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. He ini ...

. Core artists included

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

and

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

K-Love

In April 2023, it was announced that

Urban One Urban One, Inc. (formerly Radio One) is an American media conglomerate based in Silver Spring, Maryland. Founded in 1980 by Cathy Hughes, the company primarily operates media properties targeting African Americans. It is the largest African-Ame ...

would acquire the Houston radio cluster of

Cox Media Group CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company p ...

. This, at the time of the sale, would have resulted in Urban One being over FCC ownership limits, forcing the divestitures of two stations in the combined cluster; the stations to be sold were later determined by the two companies to be

KROI KROI (92.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station serving the Greater Houston market. It is licensed to Seabrook, Texas and owned by the Spanish Broadcasting System. The station's studios are located in Greenway Plaza and the transmitter i ...

and Cox's KTHT, which would be placed into the temporary Sugarland Station Trust divestiture trust, overseen by Scott Knoblauch. On July 26, 2023, it was announced that

, a Christian broadcaster that owns the

and

Air1 Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network. History On July 15, ...

radio networks, would purchase KTHT for $3.1 million. The sale closed on October 31, 2023, making the station a sister to Air1-affiliated

KHJK KHJK (103.7 FM) is a non-commercial radio station, licensed to LaPorte, Texas and serving both Greater Houston and the Golden Triangle ( Beaumont- Port Arthur-Orange). It is owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF). KHJK relays EMF's n ...

. The station changed its call sign to KLVH and, that evening at 6:00 PM, the first voice of Country Legends, Tom "Tubby" Lawler (who passed away in 2016), signed off Country Legends (via archival recording) by introducing its final song, " Some Memories Just Won't Die" by

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

. As the song ended, the audio feed for Country Legends faded into silence, followed a few seconds later by the K-Love audio feed. The Country Legends audio feed and programming continues on former sister station

KKBQ KKBQ (92.9 FM), branded as "93Q Country", is a commercial radio station with a country music format. KKBQ is licensed to Pasadena, Texas, serving the Greater Houston area. The station is owned by Urban One, and is part of a Houston radio cl ...

's HD-2 signal, which can also be streamed online.

References

External links

* * {{K-LOVE LVH Radio stations established in 1993 1993 establishments in Texas K-Love radio stations Contemporary Christian radio stations in the United States