KRLD
Encyclopedia
KRLD "NewsRadio 1080" is an all-news
radio station
located in Dallas, Texas
and owned by CBS Radio
. The callsign originated from the station's original owners, Dallas Radio Laboratories, transposed as Radio Laboratories of Dallas.
The station was a radio affiliate of the Texas Rangers
Major League
Baseball
team and airs games on weekends, with weekday games airing on sister station KRLD-FM as of 2009. However, in the 2011 Major League Baseball season
, KRLD AM & FM relinquished its broadcasting rights to KESN
(ESPN Radio
) and KZMP-AM
(ESPN Deportes
).
KRLD was also used as the callsign of the CBS television
affiliate KDFW-TV (channel 4) in Dallas from 1949 to 1970, and later the callsign of the Metromedia
-owned television station on channel 33
in Dallas from 1983 to 1986.
, KRLD broadcast six hours a day, except on Wednesdays when the station closed down to make repairs and recharge the batteries
. Since 1938, KRLD has broadcast at an effective radiated power
(should just read power...FM stations have ERPs...AM stations have nominal input powers)of 50,000 watt
s, the highest allowed by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). KRLD can be heard at night in 38 states
. In the summer of 1941, KRLD moved to 1080 on the dial.
In April, 1978
, KRLD switched from a music-based format to become the first news and information station in Dallas/Fort Worth (although 1310 WRR (now the Ticket) was all news in 1975 through it's 1978 sale to Bonneville. Over in Fort Worth 1540 KRXV carried the NBC News and Information Service (and was all news) from 1976 to 1978.
During the 1970s and 1980s, KRLD was the flagship station for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys
and since 1995 the flagship for the Texas Rangers
of the American League. In 2009 weekday games were moved to sister station KRLD-FM, while KRLD continues to air games on weekends until the 2011 season. Brad Sham
provided both color analysis and play-by-play for both teams (Sham is still the Cowboys' lead voice as of 2009). In 1996, KRLD Radio became the Home of the Amber Alert, with first trial of the Amber Alert broadcast from there.
The station originally broadcast from the Adolphus Hotel
in Dallas. KRLD's main studios were formerly located at Ameriquest Field, aka The Ballpark at Arlington, in Arlington, Texas
. In summer 2005, the station moved to a fifth floor office at the southwest corner of Fitzhugh and Central Expressway, in Dallas, Texas
.
KRLD has achieved many firsts in the field of radio broadcasting:
Branch Davidian
leader David Koresh
used KRLD to broadcast his messages in 1993
during his standoff with the government and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
.
programming from 5am-8pm, with talk programming remaining on nights and weekends. However, it continues to broadcast paid programming. A listing of all on-air personnel and their scheduled air times can be found on the KRLD On-Air page. KRLD serves as the flagship station for the Texas State Network
. In addition, during periods of severe weather KRLD is generally the only AM station in the DFW area to interrupt all programming and bring continuous weather updates. On December 12, 2008, sister station KLLI switched callsigns to match KRLD after changing the format to sports
as 105.3 The Fan. The new station has the calls KRLD-FM.
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
located in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
and owned by CBS Radio
CBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
. The callsign originated from the station's original owners, Dallas Radio Laboratories, transposed as Radio Laboratories of Dallas.
The station was a radio affiliate of the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
Major League
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team and airs games on weekends, with weekday games airing on sister station KRLD-FM as of 2009. However, in the 2011 Major League Baseball season
2011 Major League Baseball season
The 2011 Major League Baseball season began on Thursday, March 31, and ended on Wednesday, September 28. This marked the first time a season began on a Thursday since , and the first time a regular season ended on a Wednesday since...
, KRLD AM & FM relinquished its broadcasting rights to KESN
KESN
KESN is a Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas based sports talk radio station. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company as an ESPN Radio affiliate.-History:...
(ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
) and KZMP-AM
KZMP (AM)
KZMP is a radio station that serves the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Liberman Broadcasting however it is managed and operated by The Walt Disney Company's ESPN under a local marketing agreement.-History:...
(ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes is a cable television and radio network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day to the Spanish-speaking community in the United States...
).
KRLD was also used as the callsign of the CBS television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
affiliate KDFW-TV (channel 4) in Dallas from 1949 to 1970, and later the callsign of the Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
-owned television station on channel 33
KDAF
KDAF, virtual channel 33 , is a CW-affiliated television station serving the Dallas-Fort Worth television market area. The station is licensed to Dallas and owned by the Tribune Company with its studios located off the John W. Carpenter Freeway in northwest Dallas. The station's transmitter is...
in Dallas from 1983 to 1986.
History
Beginning in 19261926 in radio
The year 1926 saw a number of significant happenings in radio broadcasting history.-Events:*1 January – 2RN, the first radio broadcasting station in the Irish Free State, goes on air....
, KRLD broadcast six hours a day, except on Wednesdays when the station closed down to make repairs and recharge the batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
. Since 1938, KRLD has broadcast at an effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
(should just read power...FM stations have ERPs...AM stations have nominal input powers)of 50,000 watt
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s, the highest allowed by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC). KRLD can be heard at night in 38 states
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
. In the summer of 1941, KRLD moved to 1080 on the dial.
In April, 1978
1978 in radio
The year 1978 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting.-Events:* May 6 – Bob Kingsley, producer of the syndicated "American Country Countdown," takes over as host. He replaces Don Bowman, who had hosted for the first 4½ years...
, KRLD switched from a music-based format to become the first news and information station in Dallas/Fort Worth (although 1310 WRR (now the Ticket) was all news in 1975 through it's 1978 sale to Bonneville. Over in Fort Worth 1540 KRXV carried the NBC News and Information Service (and was all news) from 1976 to 1978.
During the 1970s and 1980s, KRLD was the flagship station for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
and since 1995 the flagship for the Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
of the American League. In 2009 weekday games were moved to sister station KRLD-FM, while KRLD continues to air games on weekends until the 2011 season. Brad Sham
Brad Sham
Brad Michael Sham is an American sportscaster who is known as the "Voice of the Dallas Cowboys". Sham is currently heard on the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network, including the flagship stations 1080 AM KRLD, where Sham held the position of Sports Director between 1976 and 1981; and 105.3 KRLD-FM "The...
provided both color analysis and play-by-play for both teams (Sham is still the Cowboys' lead voice as of 2009). In 1996, KRLD Radio became the Home of the Amber Alert, with first trial of the Amber Alert broadcast from there.
The station originally broadcast from the Adolphus Hotel
Adolphus Hotel
The Hotel Adolphus is an upscale hotel and Dallas Landmark in the Main Street District of downtown Dallas, Texas which was for several years the tallest building in the state of Texas.- History :...
in Dallas. KRLD's main studios were formerly located at Ameriquest Field, aka The Ballpark at Arlington, in Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
. In summer 2005, the station moved to a fifth floor office at the southwest corner of Fitzhugh and Central Expressway, in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
.
KRLD has achieved many firsts in the field of radio broadcasting:
- first station to present live broadcasts of high school and college footballCollege footballCollege football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
games. - first to offer continuous election returns.
- first to broadcast live music and entertainment programs. The Big D Jamboree, which originated from the since-demolished Dallas SportatoriumDallas SportatoriumThe Sportatorium, located in downtown Dallas, Texas , was a barn-like arena used primarily for professional wrestling events...
, was a regular Saturday fixture on KRLD in the 1950s and 1960s. KRLD also aired wrestling matches from the Sportatorium, with longtime sportscaster Bill MercerBill MercerBill Mercer is an American sportscaster, educator and author, originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, who now lives in Richardson, Texas. In 2002, he was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.-Personal:...
calling the action. - commercial announcementsAdvertisingAdvertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
on radio.
Branch Davidian
Branch Davidian
The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...
leader David Koresh
David Koresh
David Koresh , born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990. A 1993 raid by the U.S...
used KRLD to broadcast his messages in 1993
1993 in radio
The year 1993 in radio involved some significant events.-Events:*WIBF debuts it's modern rock in Jenkintown/Philadelphia*March 13 - Eagle 106 WEGX becomes WJJZ Smooth Jazz 106.1 and featured Smooth Jazz format. the final song played for Eagle 106 was I Will Remember You by Amy Grant...
during his standoff with the government and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
.
Current format
As of September 27, 2010, KRLD broadcasts a news radio format, eliminating any and all talk radioTalk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
programming from 5am-8pm, with talk programming remaining on nights and weekends. However, it continues to broadcast paid programming. A listing of all on-air personnel and their scheduled air times can be found on the KRLD On-Air page. KRLD serves as the flagship station for the Texas State Network
Texas State Network
The Texas State Network is the largest of the 30 state radio networks in the United States. TSN mainly distributes news and agriculture business to more than 130 AM and FM radio affiliates across Texas.-History:...
. In addition, during periods of severe weather KRLD is generally the only AM station in the DFW area to interrupt all programming and bring continuous weather updates. On December 12, 2008, sister station KLLI switched callsigns to match KRLD after changing the format to sports
Sports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
as 105.3 The Fan. The new station has the calls KRLD-FM.