area dallas fort worth metroplex branding wbap news talk 820 am slogan the news and talk of texas the world is changing . are you listening current promotional campaign the 50 000 watt blowtorch of the great southwest . frequency 820 khz repeater s kplx 99.5 hd2 first air date may 2 1922 format news talk power 50 000 watts class a clear channel facility id 71200 transmitter coordinates 32 36 38 n 97 10 4 w 32.61056 n 97.16778 w 32.61056 ; 97.16778 main antenna 32 36 43 n 97 9 56 w 32.61194 n 97.16556 w 32.61194 ; 97.16556 auxiliary antenna callsign meaning we bring a program 1 2 affiliations westwood one premiere networks wfaa tv owner cumulus media radio license holdings llc sister stations kesn lma with disney klif klif fm kscs ktck ktck fm kplx webcast listen live via iheartradio listen live website wbap.com wbap 820 khz is an am news talk radio station licensed to fort worth texas and serving the dallas fort worth metroplex . wbap is owned by cumulus media and broadcasts with 50 000 watts from a transmitter site in the northwest corner of mansfield . it is a class a clear channel station using a non directional antenna . its nighttime signal can often be heard throughout the southern central and midwestern states and northern mexico while its daytime signal provides at least secondary coverage from oklahoma city to austin . the station s studios are located in the victory park district in dallas just north of downtown . wbap is one of the oldest radio stations in texas dating back to 1922 when stations in texas were still given call signs beginning with a w instead of a k. as of april 2016 wbap remains the top rated news talk station ahead of competitors kera 90.1 fm and krld newsradio 1080 am . 3 contents 1 station line up 2 emergency preparedness 3 station history 4 current programming 5 references 6 external links station line up edit wbap airs both local and nationally syndicated shows on weekdays . the day begins with the wbap morning news followed by chris salcedo mid mornings rick roberts in the afternoon and chris krok evenings . most syndicated shows come from the co owned westwood one network mark levin red eye radio and on weekends john batchelor bob brinker and larry kudlow . the hosts of red eye radio eric harley and gary mcnamara are based at wbap . from premiere networks wbap carries rush limbaugh . weekends include shows on money cars home improvement real estate and the outdoors . brokered programming also airs . most hours on weekdays start with local news at the top of the hour while nights and weekends westwood one news is heard . emergency preparedness edit wbap and sister station kscs are responsible for activation of the north texas emergency alert system when hazardous weather alerts disaster area declarations and child abductions are issued . 4 wbap is also the primary entry point for northern texas for the eas . station history edit wbap began broadcasting may 2 1922 at a wavelength of 360 meters about 833 khz 5 changing to 400 meters 750 khz in august 1922 . 6 the station shared time with dallas stations wfaa and wrr . it was the first station in the united states to have an audible logo signal similar to the nbc chimes the wbap cowbell . 2 according to president herbert hoover the station s call letters stood for we bring a program although in reality the call letters were assigned sequentially without any special meaning . 7 on may 15 1923 the federal radio commission expanded the broadcast band and wbap and wfaa moved to 630 khz . 8 another expansion moved wbap to 600 khz effective april 15 1927 and this frequency was shared with woai in san antonio . on november 11 1928 wbap moved to 800 khz and on june 1 1929 wfaa also moved to 800 khz sharing time and nbc red network affiliation with wbap . 8 station owner amon g. carter was unhappy with having to share time on 800 khz with wfaa . carter publishing purchased kgko wichita falls 570 khz and moved it to fort worth as an affiliate of the nbc blue network which became abc and more importantly as a second frequency to be used when 800 khz was not available . 9 the sale was approved by the federal communications commission september 24 1935 . 10 on march 29 1941 as a consequence of the treaty of havana wbap and wfaa moved one last time to 820 khz . 11 carter eventually sold half of kgko to a.h. belo owners of wfaa and on april 27 1947 kgko was replaced by a second shared frequency between wbap and wfaa . 12 13 on september 29 1948 wbap added a co owned tv station nbc network affiliate wbap tv channel 5 which today is kxas tv now owned by nbc . the dual frequency sharing arrangement between wbap and wfaa continued through the 1950s and 1960s with the stations switching frequencies several times a day . when wbap changed frequencies it signaled the change with a cowbell which became widely associated with the station . even though the stations swapped frequencies several times each day the network affiliations remained constant nbc network programming stayed on 820 khz and abc network programming stayed on 570 khz . this frequently proved confusing for announcers and listeners alike . on may 1 1970 the unique dual split frequency lives of wbap and wfaa ended when wbap paid 3.5 million to wfaa in exchange for sole occupancy of 820 khz and the nbc affiliation . wfaa took on 570 khz and the abc affiliation but with only 5 000 watts full time . 13 once the frequency sharing with wfaa ended in 1970 both stations were free to program musical formats and wbap began programming country music . it also gained the added benefit of 820 s clear channel signal ; previously wfaa controlled it during these prime nighttime hours . after a series of network affiliation changes in the late 1970s among wbap krld and wfaa wbap switched affiliations to abc . logo prior to adding a simulcast on 96.7 fm in 2010 wbap changed to a news talk format in october 1993 . 14 it was also the radio flagship radio station of the texas rangers . morning show host hal jay recently celebrated his 25 year anniversary with wbap by organizing a charity fund raising event for cook children s hospital hal jay s celebrity roast . among those who attended were baseball hall of famer nolan ryan and syndicated radio talk show host sean hannity . on june 12 2007 wbap was one of many disney abc radio stations sold to citadel broadcasting . that same year wbap transmitted ibiquity hd radio digital during the daytime and when not airing sports programming until abruptly ending the hd digital transmission in early december 2008 . because the license to broadcast digital hd radio is perpetual the station could resume digital broadcasts at any time . for many years wbap was the flagship station for dallas stars hockey team but relinquished the rights beginning in the 2009 2010 season as on january 16 2009 the dallas stars named ktck sportsradio 1310 the ticket as its new flagship station for the next 5 years . 15 ironically with cumulus media s recent acquisition of citadel wbap and ktck are now sister stations . among the moments of when wbap had the stars both stanley cup final runs were aired and wbap had the honor of calling game six of the 1999 stanley cup finals when the stars clinched the stanley cup over buffalo . wbap news talk 820 am & 96.7 fm ident used during simulcast with wbap fm . sister station kpmz later wbap fm now ktck fm started simulcasting wbap on 96.7 fm march 15 2010 . 16 although broadcasting on a rimshot signal management claimed that wbap fm provides crystal clear fm fidelity for their listeners within 96.7 s pre determined coverage area . on october 7 2013 cumulus announced the discontinuation of the wbap simulcast on 96.7 fm . it switched call letters to ktck fm as a simulcast of the sports radio programming on ktck am . dan bennet the vice president market manager of cumulus said he had seen no ratings increase since adding the fm . bennett added wbap at 820 am still covers 114 counties in the day and has been heard in up to 38 states at night and early morning before the sun comes up . wbap at 820 is one of the biggest radio signals in america . the wbap simulcast has moved to kplx 99.5 hd2 hd radio needed formerly the ticket s radio spot . 17 current programming edit the wbap kscs shared a broadcast facility in arlington texas before moving to studios in victory park in dallas . overnights are locally originated as wbap is the flagship station of the nationally syndicated red eye radio formerly midnight trucking radio network a trucking show that traces its roots to bill mack s overnight show back in 1969 . hosts eric harley and gary mcnamara are heard live locally weeknights with best of programs heard weekend overnights . weekends provide a combination of various local specialty programs along with a few nationally syndicated programs such as bob brinker and john batchelor . prior to citadel s takeover of the station in august 2007 talk show host mark davis s show was a full three hours 9 a.m. to noon . as a result limbaugh hannity and levin were all forced to air on a one hour tape delay . however with citadel s assumption of the station davis s show was both cut in length and shifted back by a half hour to carry the top rated talkers live . davis departed the station in march 2012 when a contract agreement could not be reached . in the fall of 2010 wbap began an agreement with texas christian university to air live play by play of tcu horned frogs football and tcu horned frogs men s basketball . the station carried every game of the undefeated football team in that first season . references edit call letter origins . radio history on the web . a b about wbap . wbap website . retrieved 2008 05 05 . dallas fort worth radio ratings radio online accessed april 5 2016 dallas fort worth local plan pdf . texas association of broadcasters . retrieved 2008 05 05 . schroeder richard 1998 . texas signs on the early days of radio and television . college station texas texas a & m university press . p. 32 . isbn 0 89096 813 6 . schroeder richard 1998 . texas signs on the early days of radio and television . college station texas texas a & m university press . p. 34 . isbn 0 89096 813 6 . schroeder richard 1998 . texas signs on the early days of radio and television . college station texas texas a & m university press . p. 31 . isbn 0 89096 813 6 . a b schroeder richard 1998 . texas signs on the early days of radio and television . college station texas texas a & m university press . p. 63 . isbn 0 89096 813 6 . schroeder richard 1998 . texas signs on the early days of radio and television . college station texas texas a & m university press . p. 66 . isbn 0 89096 813 6 . kgko shift to ft. worth ; two nbc outlets planned pdf . broadcasting . october 1 1935 . retrieved 4 november 2014 . schroeder richard 1998 . texas signs on