KWRD (AM)

KWRD
Simulcasts KYYK, Palestine
Henderson, Texas;
Broadcast area	Longview-Marshall area
Frequency	1470 kHz
Branding	E-Tex Radio Network
Programming
Format	Classic country; Texas Country
Affiliations	E-Tex Radio Network; Dallas Cowboys
Ownership
Owner	Tiffany, Kristi and Monte Spearman; (Zula Com, LLC);
Sister stations	KNET; KYYK; KCKL;
History
First air date	August 3, 1956
Call sign meaning	Wesley R. Dean (original majority owner)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	71519
Class	D
Power	5,000 watts daytime; 80 watts nighttime
Transmitter coordinates	32°10′55.00″N 94°47′49.00″W / 32.1819444°N 94.7969444°W
Translator(s)	98.5 K253CE (Henderson)
Repeater(s)	95.9 KCKL (Malakoff); 98.3 KYYK (Palestine)
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Website	Official website

KWRD (1470 AM) is a terrestrial American radio station, relayed by an FM translator and simulcast with sister stations KCKL and KYYK, broadcasting a hybrid classic country format, with an emphasis on Texas Country artists. It also features programming from the E-Tex Radio Network and co-owned High Plains Radio Network. Licensed to Henderson, Texas, United States, the station serves the Henderson-Longview-Marshall area. The station is owned by Tiffany, Kristi, and Monte Spearman, through licensee Zula Com, LLC.^[2]

History

KWRD was initially proposed by Wesley R. Dean, Wilton W. Freeman, and Lynn J. Roy in 1955. Requesting an application to construct a 500-watt daytime only facility under the name Wes Dean & Associates, a construction permit was granted by the Federal Communications Commission to build the facility, licensed to Henderson, Texas on November 23, 1955. Dean would purchase a complete turn-key RCA transmitter and studio facility for the station, which would be located at Texas State Highway 26 and Charles Street in Henderson. The single tower facility was built and granted a License to Cover on August 3, 1956. The station was assigned the callsign KWRD by request, with the call letters standing for the initials of Dean's name.

Wes Dean, who was a former local TV star at KTVE in Longview, Texas, went to Henderson in hopes of starting his own station, only to find that there was already one radio station in the city, KGRI AM 1000. KGRI was owned by country music star Jim Reeves.

Dean would end up owning the other Henderson licensed AM facility, 1000 KGRI, and FM facility 99.9 KGRI-FM during this time, having purchased both from Reeves' wife, Mary, and Reeves' partner Tom Perryman, after his death in 1964. Perryman and Jim's wife would go on to move to Murfreesboro, Tennessee and purchase WMTS-AM-FM.

The KGRI license was surrendered by the Dean family on May 31, 1985 in order to accommodate an out of state facility's upgrade on the same operating frequency. The former KGRI-FM facility is still licensed, now to Tatum and using the call sign KZQX.

Wes Dean & Associates, through his widow Helen Dean and son Chipper, would own KWRD until April 8, 1998, when it was sold to Witko Broadcasting.

Former Tyler City Councilman Jerry Russell sold the facility to Jerry and Wanda Hanszen, requesting a license transfer to Hanszen Broadcasting on July 27, 2012. The license transfer for KWRD was granted on September 7, 2012.

KWRD has maintained a Country format for most of its existence. Prior to the sale of KPXI, it broadcast sports programming, utilizing the national NBC Sports Radio format. After the sale, it returned to country, assuming the displaced classic country format of 100.7.

On January 3, 2023, a Transfer of Control was filed with the Federal Communications Commission to sell KWRD and its translator to Zula Com, LLC. Zula Com currently owns KYYK 98.3 FM and KNET 1450 AM/95.7 FM in Palestine, Texas, and is operated by the Spearman Family, owners of several radio stations around the State of Texas, as well as the High Plains Radio Network.

KWRD-FM

After Wesley R. Dean's death his son Chipper took over operation of KWRD and KGRI-FM. In the mid-1980s the owners of 100.7 in Dallas were looking at building a Christian FM. They wanted the KWRD call letters so that it would stand for "The Word". Dean sold them the rights to the KWRD-FM side of the call letters, and used the money to buy KWRD a new transmitter. It was at this point that 1470 KWRD was raised to 5,000 watts, and got authorization to run 90 watts at night.

Ownership changes

In the 1990s Chipper Dean lost interest in owning the stations and sold the AM to Witko Broadcasting (Dick Witkowsky). Dean sold KGRI-FM to Hunt Broadcasting of Colorado (Hunt wanted the station as they were moving 12 stations to move 2 into Dallas). The 99.9 was traded with KMOO in Mineola (as they were on 96.7 the frequency that the Hunts Sherman move-in was on). 99.9 was turned into 100.3 and the call letters changed to KXAL. Today KGRI-FM is 100.3 KZQX, a bigband, standards, mix station.

KWRD was owned by Witko for a short time and was sold to Jerry Russell of Kilgore. Russell also owned 690 KZEY Tyler, 1060 KOFY Gilmer and stations in several other small markets. During Russell's ownership the station went dark for over a year due to a burnt up plate transformer in the transmitter. While the station was off the air Russell entered into an LMA with an option to buy with Phillip Burr. Subsequently, KWRD was sold to Jerry T. Hanszen's Hanszen Broadcasting at a purchase price of $100,000. The purchase was consummated on August 5, 2012.

Under the Hanszen Family's operation of KWRD, 1470 once again turned it into a local family run station that is completely community focused.

On April 25, 2023, Tiffany, Kristi, and Monte Spearman, through licensee Zula Com, LLC, was granted a transfer of license for the station, and the associated FM translator, after purchasing the station from the Hanszen family. The purchase, at a price of $100,000, was consummated on May 18, 2023.

Programming

KWRD carries The Bob Griffin Radio Show, broadcast from KEEL (AM) in Shreveport, Louisiana, a program of travel reports, features, area personalities, and uplifting human interest stories, often with Christian testimonies.^[3]

References

^ "Facility Technical Data for KWRD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
^ "KWRD Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
^ "Who is Bob Griffin?". bobgriffinonline.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.

External links

AM 1470 KWRD
Facility details for Facility ID 71519 (KWRD) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
KWRD in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
Facility details for Facility ID 156943 (K253CE) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
K253CE at FCCdata.org

[1] "Facility Technical Data for KWRD". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.

[2] "KWRD Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.

[3] "Who is Bob Griffin?". bobgriffinonline.com. Retrieved June 12, 2014.

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v t e Country radio stations in the state of Texas
Stations	KABW – Baird KACQ – Lometa KACT – Andrews KACT-FM – Andrews KAGG – Madisonville KAJA – San Antonio KALP – Alpine KAML – Kenedy-Karnes City KAND – Corsicana KARX – Canyon KASE-FM – Austin KATP – Amarillo KATX – Eastland KAUM – Colorado City KAYD-FM - Silsbee KBCT – Waco KBCY – Tye KBEC – Waxahachie KBEY – Burnet KBHT - Bellmead KBQQ – Smiley KBST-FM – Big Spring KBUK – La Grange KCKL – Malakoff KCKM – Monahans KCLW – Hamilton KCTX-FM – Childress KCUN-LP - Livingston KCWM – Hondo KCYY – San Antonio KDCD – San Angelo KDDD-FM – Dumas KDHN – Dimmitt KDLK-FM – Del Rio KDNZ – Pecos KDRX – Laughlin Air Force Base KEAN-FM – Abilene KEKR - Mexia KEON – Ganado KERC – Kermit KEYE – Perryton KFLP-FM – Floydada KFST-FM – Fort Stockton KFTX – Kingsville KFWR – Jacksboro KFYN-FM – Detroit KGAS-FM – Carthage KGKL-FM – San Angelo KGNC-FM – Amarillo KHBR – Hillsboro KHDY – Clarksville KHEY-FM – El Paso KHFX – Cleburne KHKX – Odessa KHLB – Mason KHOS-FM – Sonora KIBQ – Austwell KIKT – Cooper KILT-FM – Houston KIMP – Mount Pleasant KIUN – Pecos KIVY-FM – Crockett KIXS – Victoria KJCS – Nacogdoches KKBQ – Pasadena KKCN – Ballinger KKLY – El Paso KKUS – Tyler KKYN-FM – Plainview KKYR-FM – Texarkana KKYX – San Antonio KLLL-FM – Lubbock KLSR-FM – Memphis KLUR – Wichita Falls KLXK – Breckenridge KMBL – Junction KMHT – Marshall KMIL – Cameron KMKT – Bells KMOO-FM – Mineola KMUL-FM – Muleshoe KMVL-FM – Madisonville KMWX – Abilene KNAF – Fredericksburg KNAF-FM – Fredericksburg KNAL - Port Lavaca KNEL-FM – Brady KNES – Fairfield KNFM – Midland KNUE – Tyler KNUZ – San Saba KOLI – Electra KOLJ – Quanah KOMX – Pampa KORA-FM – Bryan KORQ - Winters KOXE – Brownwood KOYN – Paris KPAN – Hereford KPAN-FM – Hereford KPET – Lamesa KPIR – Granbury KPLX – Fort Worth KPSO-FM – Falfurrias KPUR-FM - Claude KQBB – Center KQBQ – Meyersville KQBR – Lubbock KQTY-FM – Borger KRBL – Idalou KRMX – Marlin KRNH – Kerrville KRPT – Devine KRRG – Laredo KRUN – Ballinger KRVA-FM - Campbell KRVF – Kerens KRXT – Rockdale KRYS-FM – Corpus Christi KSAM-FM – Huntsville KSAQ – Charlotte KSCH – Sulphur Springs KSCN – Pittsburg KSCK-LP – Sterling City KSCS – Fort Worth KSEM – Seminole KSLI – Abilene KSNY-FM – Snyder KSSL – Post KSTA – Coleman KSTV-FM – Dublin KTEX – Mercedes KTFW-FM – Glen Rose KTHP – Hemphill KTKO – Beeville KTTX – Brenham KTTY - New Boston KTWL – Hempstead KTXM – Hallettsville KUFA – Hebbronville KUKA – Driscoll KULM-FM – Columbus KULP – El Campo KUSJ – Harker Heights KUZN – Centerville KVET-FM – Austin KVLG – La Grange KVMC – Colorado City KVMK – Wheelock KVRP-FM – Haskell KVST – Huntsville KVWC-FM - Vernon KWBC – College Station KWBF - Lubbock KWBY-FM - Ranger KWED – Seguin KWFS-FM – Wichita Falls KWPW - Robinson/Waco KWRD – Henderson KWYU – Christine KXDJ – Spearman KXEZ-Farmersville KXOX – Sweetwater KXXN - Iowa Park KYKK – Junction KYKM – Yoakum KYKR – Beaumont KYKS – Lufkin KYKX – Longview KYOX - Comanche KYXX – Ozona KYYK – Palestine KYYW – Abilene KZAH - Harper WACO-FM – Waco WTAW-FM - Buffalo
Defunct	KDLP-LP – Ace KOGT – Orange KRHC – Burnet KSEY-FM – Seymour KSTB – Crystal Beach KTON – Belton KUOL – San Marcos
See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Texas

v t e Daytime-only radio stations in Texas
Stations	KAGC - Bryan KBED - Nederland KBIB - Marion KBRN - Boerne KCHN - Brookshire KCTA - Corpus Christi KCTX - Childress KFJZ - Fort Worth KGGR - Dallas KHBR - Hillsboro KIJN - Farwell KIKK - Pasadena KJIM - Sherman KJON - Carrollton KMND - Midland KMXO - Merkel KQQB - Stockdale KROB - Robstown KSTA - Coleman KSTV - Stephenville KTEK - Alvin KTMR - Converse KSTN - Lockhart KVMC - Colorado City KVTT - Mineral Wells KWEL - Midland KWJB - Canton KWRD - Henderson KYND - Cypress KYOK - Conroe KZZB - Beaumont
Defunct	KARW - Longview KBYP - Shamrock KCLR - Ralls KEAS - Eastland KGRI - Henderson KLBW - New Boston KNDA - Odessa KOFY - Gilmer KULF - Bellville KXPL - El Paso
See also: Clear channel radio stations and Why AM Radio Stations Must Reduce Power, Change Operations, or Cease Operations at Night