houston golden triangle branding espn houston 97.5 frequency 97.5 mhz also on hd radio first air date 1948 as kric 99.5 mhz format sports erp 100 000 watts haat 596 meters class c facility id 52407 transmitter coordinates 29 41 52 n 94 24 9 w 29.69778 n 94.40250 w 29.69778 ; 94.40250 callsign meaning k fm news channel previous format former callsigns see below affiliations espn radio owner gow media gow communications l.l.c. sister stations kgow webcast listen live website espn975.com kfnc is a sports radio station in houston texas . owned by gow media it is an affiliate of espn radio . the station s transmitter facility is located east of houston in an area of chambers county south of winnie texas and studios are located in uptown houston one block from the galleria . contents 1 history 1.1 as krwp 1.2 switch to rock and later talk 1.3 sports format 2 programming 3 callsign & moniker history 4 external links 5 references history edit the 97.5 frequency was originally marketed to the golden triangle area which consists of beaumont port arthur and orange texas as country music station kayd known on air as kd 97.5 . as krwp edit in december 2001 cumulus entered the houston market by purchasing the station and later relocating the station s transmitter from the beaumont area to devers tx to include service into the houston area . the station signed on with an urban contemporary format as power 97.5 under the temporary calls kktt but ided as krpw the station was unable to get the callsign in time for sign on and acquired the krwp sign weeks later and also continued to serve the beaumont area . kayd has since moved to a different frequency . the station renamed krwp power spelled backwards had modest success in the early months of 2002 . however krwp faced stiff competition from longtime houston hip hop stations kbxx and kpty fm as well as rhythmic chr station ktht which was also somehow competing with sister urban station ktcx in beaumont . krwp later skewed to an urban adult contemporary format with the intent of challenging the market s heritage r & b station kmjq . however krwp never challenged kmjq in the ratings due to the location of the transmitter which resulted in a lack of decent coverage for the market . krwp was transmitting from a site 50 miles east of houston in chambers county whereas the transmitter for kmjq and almost every radio and television station serving houston was based in northeast fort bend county east of missouri city . the station was home to doug banks in the mornings even through the format altering in 2003 . switch to rock and later talk edit in late 2004 there were plans for krwp to switch frequencies from 97.5 to 103.7 or otherwise have a simulcast with the objective of providing better coverage in houston . at the same time houston s heritage rock station klol dumped its rock format after 34 years in favor of a hurban hispanic urban format . in january 2005 under new management krwp inherited the former klol format of album oriented rock aor and flipped to kiol as rock 97.5 . the format change was headed by former klol personality jim pruett and program director jock pat fant who assumed market manager for cumulus houston as a result in response to heavy outcry from misplaced klol listeners . when the 103.7 signal signed on may 23 2005 cumulus began simulcasting kiol on the new frequency for the next 8 days . on may 31 2005 at 6am 97.5 broke the simulcast and launched houston s third attempt at an fm news station kfnc fm news channel 97 5 102.1 klyx now kmjq was the first in 1975 as an affiliate of nbc radio s now defunct 24 hour nbc news and information service . 97.1 was the second fm news talk station and is now classic country . adopting a news talk radio format the station consisted of former klol morning personalities jim pruett and brian shannon the voice of eddie the boner sanchez who reunited to host the afternoon talk show back talk which was later moved to mornings . other klol alumni on board for the station s news department were laurie kendrick and martha martinez . non klol personalities included former kilt newsman jim carolla former krbe and newsradio 740 staffer michael shiloh as morning host anchor . former newsradio 740 reporter and editor belinda babinec and former kprc tv sports director craig roberts . sports format edit kfnc went through format tweaks and house cleaning and the fm news channel moniker was dropped around spring of 2006 for supertalk 97.5 . however the station s ratings failed to keep the talk format afloat and on the morning of december 22 2006 after tearful goodbyes from pruett and shannon along with kendrick martinez and news traffic producer julie takahashi the talk format left the airwaves for its current sports format that officially launched in mid january 2007 . kfnc s on air branding espn 97.5 the ticket is similar to that of its sister am sports station in dallas ktck . it has become the greater houston fm radio affiliate for espn which began moving its programming from clear channel s kbme am . in 2007 cumulus media moved kfnc along with kiol to its new houston headquarters with sister station krbe in the chase building at 9801 westheimer road in houston home to krbe since the mid 80s . as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy filing the lenders took over the license of four cumulus media partners stations ; two in the kansas city metro area kchz and kmjk and the two rimshot signals in the houston metro khjk and kfnc in november 2011 . station broker larry patrick emerged as the majority owner of the stations and set out to sell the stations to recover the value for the lenders . while cumulus lost the licenses in bankruptcy they continued to program the stations under an lma . cumulus had the opportunity to buy the stations back but ultimately the highest bidder for kfnc was david gow owner of sports formatted am station kgow and the highest bidder for khjk was the educational media foundation a christian broadcaster . kfnc remained affiliated with espn radio following the sale to gow and no major programming changes occurred . programming edit kfnc serves as the houston affiliate for espn which has been looking to add fm radio affiliates to its nationwide radio network . various espn radio programs most notably mike & mike in the morning and the herd with colin cowherd air on kfnc s schedule . to compete with kbme and the market s long time leading sports station kilt am kfnc brought on long time houston sports guru carl dukes to host put up your dukes on weekday mid afternoons . dukes role expanded to drive time the drive 5 7pm with program director dave tepper and assistant program director julie takahashi . kfnc also brought in a mid day show the blitz weekdays 12 2pm with fred faour matt dean and jong lee in october 2009 . in may 2010 dean left for business school and was replaced by aj hoffman from austin s 1300 the zone . houston rockets basketball hall of fame hall of fame member calvin murphy used to host a two hour sports talk show that aired weekday evenings . this is murphy s first broadcasting job in houston since his unceremonious departure in 2004 from his position as the rockets television analyst alongside longtime rockets play by play announcer bill worrell . saturday mornings are filled with the extreme automobile ramblings of john clay wolfe . callsign & moniker history edit kayd kayd fm 10 06 1995 kd 97 kktt 01 01 2002 power 97 5 krwp 01 18 2002 power 97 5 kiol 01 26 2005 rock 97.5 kfnc 05 31 2005 fm news channel 97.5 supertalk 97.5 espn 97.5 the ticket external links edit official website query the fcc s fm station database for kfnc radio locator information on kfnc query nielsen audio s fm station database for kfnc references edit v t e radio stations in houston sugar land baytown by fm frequency 88.1 88.3 88.7 89.3 89.7 90.1 90.5 90.9 91.3 91.7 92.1 92.9 93.3 93.7 94.5 95.7 96.5 96.9 97.1 97.5 97.9 98.5 99.1 99.7 99.9 100.3 100.7 101.1 102.1 102.9 103.7 104.1 104.9 105.3 105.7 106.5 106.9 107.5 107.9 by am frequency 560 610 650 700 740 790 850 880 900 920 950 980 1010 1050 1070 1090 1110 1140 1180 1230 1320 1360 1380 1400 1430 1460 1480 1500 1520 1540 1560 1590 1610 1670 1680 digital radio 790 950 noaa weather radio frequency 162.400 houston 162.550 galveston by callsign kacc kafr kama fm kani kbme kbrz kbxx kchn kcoh keyh kfnc kftg kgbc kgg68 kglk kgol kgow khb40 khcb khcb fm khjk khmx khpt kikk kilt kilt fm kjic kjoz kkbq kkhh kkht fm klat klol kltn klvi klvl kmic kmjq knth koda kove fm kpft kprc kpvu kqbt kqbu fm kqqk kque krbe krcm kreh kroi ksbj ksev kshj kshn ktbz fm ktek ktht ktjm ktrh ktsu ktwl kuhf kulf kvst kwwj kxbj kxng kxyz kynd kyok kyst defunct kstb 101.5 fm satellite radio local traffic weather xm channel 226 sirius channel 154 nearby radio markets austin bay city freeport beaumont port arthur bryan college station corpus christi huntsville san antonio victoria see also list of radio stations in texas daytime only am radio station . v t e radio stations in the beaumont port arthur texas market by am frequency 560 740 790 850 990 1150 1250 1300 1340 1450 1510 1600 by fm frequency 88.1 88.5 89.7 90.5 91.3 92.5 93.3 94.1 94.7 95.1 96.9 97.5 98.1 98.5 99.9 100.7 101.7 102.5 103.3 103.7 104.5 104.9 105.3 106.1 107.9 noaa weather radio frequency 162.475 by callsign k234am k251al k277ag k285gd kayd fm kbed kbme kbpo kcol fm kdei keyh kfnc kghy khjk kikr kioc kkht fm kkmy klbt klls klvi kogt kole kqbu fm kqqk kqxy fm ksap lp kshn ktcx ktjm ktrh ktxb kvlu kxxf kykr kzft kzzb wxk28 nearby radio markets fort polk south houston galveston huntsville lake charles lufkin nacogdoches see also list of radio stations in texas v t e sports radio stations in the state of texas stations kbed nederland kbme houston kcle burleson kesn allen ketx livingston keys corpus christi kfnc beaumont kgow bellaire khey el paso kikk houston kikr beaumont kilt houston kjxj franklin kktk texarkana kkam lubbock klgo elgin kmnd midland knet palestine kono san antonio kopy alice kpur amarillo krew plainview krld fm dallas krod el paso krwr tyler krzi waco ksey seymour ksix corpus christi ksny snyder ktck dallas ktck fm flower mound ktkr san antonio ktlt anson ktrg hooks kttu fm new deal lubbock ktxx fm bee cave kvet austin kvns brownsville kxpn fm scotland kyzs tyler kzdc san antonio kzne college station kzqq abilene see also adult contemporary classic hits college country news talk npr oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in texas see also espn radio espn deportes radio fox sports radio cbs sports radio nbc sports radio yahoo sports radio sports byline usa v t e espn radio stations in the state of texas full time affiliates abilene kzqq austin klgo beaumont kikr burleson kcle dallas kesn el paso krod franklin kjxj hooks ktrg houston kfnc midland kmnd palestine knet san antonio kzdc seymour ksey tyler kyzs wichita falls kxpn fm part time affiliates abilene keyj beaumont kqhn galveston kgbc lubbock kfmx fm lubbock kkam midland kqrx san angelo kgkl temple ktem waco krzi see also list of espn radio affiliates see also adult contemporary classic hits college country news talk npr oldies religious rock sports