 |
| Little Rock, Arkansas, in the 1950s. The KTHS building on the far right |
Kome to Hot Springs / The Mighty KAAY
The Split History of KTHS / KAAY in Hot Springs and Little Rock
One of the most powerful radio stations in Arkansas was KAAY. The story of this station began in 1924, when the station signed on the air as KTHS ("Kome to Hot Springs") in Hot Springs, Arkansas. In the early 1930s, the it became a 10,000 watt station, sending its signal clear to the state capital Little Rock as well. KTHS was the founding station of the "Lum & Abner" show, which started in 1932.
KTHS was a NBC Blue network affiliate and continued to be part of the network even after 1945, when it was renamed ABC. The station was operated by the local Chamber of Commerce until 1942, when it was sold to Radio Broadcast, Inc. from Shreveport, Louisiana, making it a sister station to KWKH. Shortly after it changed owners, KTHS became a 50,000 watt station and was moved to Little Rock in 1943, though it stuck with its call letters.
The station featured a lot of country music programming, featuring such artists as Leo Castleberry, Tommy Trent, the Shelby Cooper and the Dixie Mountaineers, the Haley Family, Jack Hunt, or the Melody Boys. In the 1930s, the station had its Country Store stage show and in the early 1950s, the station carried KWKH's Louisiana Hayride.
 |
| Cast of the KTHS Country Store, presumably the station's 1930s live stage country show. If anyone has more information on this program, feel free to leave a comment! |
The station introduced KTHV as its televison station in 1955 but in 1962, both stations were sold to different new owners. Call letters of KTHS were changed to KAAY and was turned into a top 40 station, abandoning the country music and its local programming. After 11 pm, the station featured programs that played progressive pop and rock music, making it an underground favorite among young listeners. It was especially "Beaker Street" hosted by Clyde Clifford that became extremely popular not only in Arkansas but in different states of the Mid-West, Mississippi Valley, and as far as Cuba. Other DJs at that time included Rock Robbins, Charlie "King" Scarbrough, A.J. "Doc Holiday" Lindsey, and others.
The station was sold once more in 1975 to Multimedia Radio and in the 1980s, changed to religious programming, which it continues to this day. It was purchased by Citadel Broadcasting in 1997 (which became Cumulus Media in 2011).
See also
Sources
No comments:
Post a Comment