KPRT (1590 AM) is an

Urban Gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prim ...

music formatted

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

that broadcasts from

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. It is owned by Carter Broadcast Group, owner of sister station and flagship

KPRS KPRS is an Urban contemporary radio station that broadcasts on the 103.3 MHz frequency licensed to Kansas City. The station's playlist consists of hip-hop, R&B, and gospel music. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), it is ...

("Hot 103 Jamz"). The station's studios are located in South Kansas City, and the transmitter is in the city's East Side.

History

KPRT began operations as KPRS in 1949. The Johnson County Broadcasting Group applied for a license for 1590 kHz on July 1, 1948. In 1949, they sought to move to 1550 kHz with 1,000 watts, but retracted the frequency change request. It would try again to change frequency & boost its power in 1951, to 1380 kHz with 1,000 watts.History cards from the F.C.C.; retrieved September 25, 2019.
/ref> Andrew "Skip" Carter began operating KPRS as the nation's first Black radio station west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

although it was still owned by former

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

governor, Alf Landon. KPRS/1590 debuted as a 500-watt daytimer with a playlist that consisted of R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

. In 1951, KPRS opened its first studio at 12th and Walnut street, Kansas City, Missouri. By 1952, Carter and Ed and Psyche Pate became business partners and purchased the station for $40,000 from the Johnson County Broadcasting Corporation. They moved KPRS to a new site at 2814 East 23rd Street in

. In 1969, the Carters had controlling interest in the station. In 1971, KPRS moved its programming to the 103.3 frequency on the FM dial and became KPRS-FM, ''"Hot 103 Jamz"'' and the 1590 frequency became KPRT, ''"Gospel 1590, The Gospel Source"'' an

urban gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prim ...

-formatted station. The studios and offices moved to the

Crown Center Crown Center is a shopping center and neighborhood located near Downtown Kansas City, Missouri between Gillham Road and Main Street to the east and west, and between OK/E 22nd St and E 27th St to the north and south. The shopping center is a ...

and the Carters moved to Florida to open a new corporate headquarters. Four years later in 1975, KPRS Broadcasting Corporation, later renamed Carter Broadcasting Group, became one of the first fully automated radio stations in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

. Now as KPRT, the station's playlist mostly consists of contemporary gospel music 24 hours a day.

Translator

In 2017 KPRT began rebroadcasting on FM translator K291CN.

References

External links

Official Gospel 1590 Website

FCC History Cards for KPRT
{{Kansas City Radio PRT Gospel radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1950 PRT