WFAA - Radio

Radio

WFAA-AM was the radio counterpart to the TV station. It signed on June 26, 1922, and used the WFAA call letters through July 2, 1983. (Thereafter, it was known as "KRQX" until Belo sold it, along with sister station KZEW-FM {the former WFAA-FM,} on January 1, 1987.) WFAA-AM has a rich history of service to the Dallas area. Moving around the AM dial, as most stations did in the 1920s and 1930s, the station settled into a permanent stay at 570 AM by 1938, while splitting time with WBAP at their clear-channel frequency of 820. This was the longest timeshare agreement in the US, starting in 1929 and concluding on April 27, 1970. This was a somewhat bizarre situation that had the stations switching back and forth between frequencies of 570 and 820 at various times of the day. WBAP Radio would broadcast on 820 AM from midnight till six AM, then WFAA would take over until noon. WBAP grabbed the 820 signal back for a few hours, then WFAA would once again take over the frequency. WFAA had the signal during prime evening hours when the 50,000 watt signal could often be heard as far away as California in the west and New York in the east (there were many fewer stations on a night, reducing interference.)

WFAA-AM was the first network-affiliated station in Texas (initially with NBC beginning April 2, 1923; later with Texas Quality Network, then ABC and CBS thereafter,) the first US station to carry educational programs, the first to produce a serious radio drama series, the first to air a state championship football game, and the first to air presidential inaugural ceremonies. WFAA-AM was home to the long-running morning program, "The Early Birds", hosted by John Allen; "Hymns We Love", "Saturday Night Shindig", "The Big D Jamboree", "Murray Cox RFD", "Slo-and-Ezy", and later, "57 Nostalgia Place."

After many years of an entertainment/variety format, the station flipped to Middle of the Road in 1970, followed by Top 40. On Election Day 1976, the station made its final format change to News/Talk (as "Newstalk 570.")

WFAA-AM was initially located in a 9' x 9' tent on the roof of The Dallas Morning News; to the Morning News library thereafter; to the Baker Hotel on October 1, 1925; atop the Santa Fe Railroad Warehouse on Jackson St. from June 20, 1941 to April 4, 1961 (the building still has "WFAA" clearly painted along a panel on the top floor) and finally to Communications Center at Young and Record Streets.

Sister station WFAA-FM was the first FM to sign on in Texas, beginning October 5, 1946 as "KERA-FM" (no relation to the current radio and TV station known under the same call letters,) although its roots go back to an experimental FM station "W5X1C" that signed on October 15, 1945, and another experimental trial dating back to 1939. By 1947, it had moved from its original home at 94.3 FM to a preferred location in the center of the dial at 97.9 FM. With FM broadcasting in its infancy, WFAA-FM signed on and off the air for months and even two years at a time before settling on a permanent broadcast schedule by 1965. Initially a simulcast of the AM side, it programmed MOR and Beautiful Music until 1973, then flipped to album oriented rock (AOR) as KZEW-FM (known to listeners as The Zoo) on September 16, 1973. Featuring talent such as John LaBella and John Rody ("LaBella and Rody,") George Gimarc, Charley Jones, Dave Lee Austin, John B. Wells, Nancy Johnson, John Dew, John Dillon, Doc Morgan and Tempie Lindsey, the station's concept and programming were initially under the direction of Ira Lipson. The FM station shared studio locations with WFAA-AM on the second floor of the facility. The FM station is currently an urban-format radio station called KBFB-FM, 97.9 The Beat.