KTBL (1050 AM) is a commercial

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 to the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico, and serves the

Albuquerque metropolitan area The Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area, sometimes referred to as Tiguex (named after the Southern Tiwa), is a metropolitan area in central New Mexico centered on the city of Albuquerque. The metro comprises four counties: Bernalillo, Sa ...

. It is owned by Cumulus Media and its studios are located in Downtown Albuquerque and 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 ...

tower is located in South Valley, New Mexico. KTBL operates with 1,000

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 station airs an active rock format branded as "94.5 The Pit" with the use of FM translator K233CG broadcasting at 250 watts off Sandia Crest.

History

This station signed on in December 1987 as KNXX. The station featured a

big band music A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

format; however, it would be short lived due to operation costs, and went dark in July 1988. In April 1989, the station returned to the air as KMBA with a business talk format. In July 1993, with the talk format getting no ratings, it changed to KJBO with 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 ...

music format co-owned by radio personality Bobby Box called "Juke Box Oldies". Bobby Box would also be the morning announcer on KJBO. The music on the station would feature only American artists concentrating on music from 1954 to 1965. In October 1994, KJBO was sold to the owners of classical music station KHFM when the stations' principal owner Don Davis wanted to devote full attention to FM start-up KRZN (101.3 FM). The format would soon switch to news and information under new call letters KHFN. In March 1996, both KHFM (then on 96.3 FM) and KHFN were sold to

Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...

for $5.75 million. In October of that year, the call letters on 1050 were switched to KNML, and the station moved to a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

format branded as "The Sports Animal", which was moved from KRZY (1450 AM) after Citadel had divested the station to a Spanish language broadcaster. In 2000, Citadel acquired the stronger 610 AM signal for $5.4 million, while swapping 920 AM to Life Talk Broadcasting, and in April, had moved KNML to that signal. The former KNML at 1050 AM would pick up the KHTL call sign from 920 AM. KHTL previously aired a "

hot talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

" format on 920, but on 1050, it aired a business talk format. In February 2001, 1050 had picked up the call sign KTBL from 103.3 FM. KTBL had previously been a traditional country music format branded as "K-Bull"; on 1050 AM, it had aired a classic country music format with the "K-Bull" brand after 103.3 FM changed to an

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, ...

format.

Talk Business Life

In spring 2002, KTBL changed to a syndicated talk radio format. The talk format was mainly from a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

viewpoint. KTBL principally aired nationally syndicated shows from Westwood One, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of parent company Cumulus Media. KTBL also aired national news updates from Westwood One News (

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

before that) throughout the day. Shows featured over the years included

Don Imus John Donald Imus Jr. ( ; July 23, 1940 – December 27, 2019), also known as Imus, was an American radio personality, television show host, recording artist, and author. His radio show '' Imus in the Morning'' was aired on various stations and di ...

(mornings 2008-2018),

Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...

, Laura Ingraham,

Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942) known by his professional name Michael Savage, is an American author, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Nation'', a nationally ...

, and many others. Some shows would at times be shifted between KKOB and KTBL. The station was promoted as "KKOB's talk partner". Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.

The Pit

On February 18, 2020, KTBL began simulcasting on translator K233CG (94.5 FM), and flipped to active rock, branded as "94.5 The Pit".

References

External links

KTBL official website
* * {{coord, 34, 58, 46, N, 106, 44, 13, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Cumulus Media radio stations TBL Active rock radio stations in the United States