1970
A relic rooted in AM radio's earliest days, the time-share arrangement between WBAP-Fort Worth and WFAA-Dallas finally came to an end on May 1st, 1970. Here's a look at what WFAA's schedule looked like in the early 60s - with programs on 570 in white and those on 820 in red.
The frequency swapping ended thanks to Carter Publishing's (WBAP's owner) purchase of the remaining stake of the superior 820kHZ facility for $3.5 million. This left WBAP to stay on 820 full-time, and WFAA to stay on at 570 full-time. It also left both stations free to program true formats, something they could not realistically offer while swapping back and forth between frequencies during the day. While both stations retained a large dose of news and information programming, a natural since both were then owned by newspapers, the freedom from time-sharing proved to be an immediate boon to WBAP, as the station, which at times didn't even show up in the top 5 in Fort Worth, would soon begin a rapid ascent to the top with a full-time country music format.
| Fort Worth | ||||
| 12+ Ratings for April/May 1970 | ||||
| Call Letters | Frequency | Format | O/N 1969 | A/M 1970 |
| KFJZ | 1270 | Top 40 | 15.1 | 19.9 |
| KXOL | 1360 | Top 40 | 11.6 | 9.0 |
| KBUY | 1540 | Country | 6.6 | 8.5 |
| KLIF | 1190 | Top 40 | 5.4 | 6.4 |
| KFWT | 102.1 | Easy Listening | 6.5 | 6.2 |
DALLAS - While WFAA was settling into its full-time home on 570, there was another big story in the Dallas ratings in 1970. Dallas never had its own soul-formatted station, often leaving Fort Worth's KNOK to show up often in the Dallas ratings. A full-time soul station finally came to Dallas in May 1970. 730 had been the home of Dallas' first full-time country station, KPCN, in 1961. KBOX's move to the country format sent KPCN looking a new format, and after a short attempt at beautiful music, the new KKDA adopted a full-time soul format. "Soul Sockin' 73" started socking it to the competition, and can even be held responsible for some of the decline the legendary KLIF saw in October/November 1970.
FORT WORTH - WBAP's full time "Country Gold" format caused some major changes in the Fort Worth ratings race. The area's other full-time country station enjoyed its last appearance in the top 5 in the April/May book. After WBAP's time-sharing ended, KBUY was relegated to hover near the bottom of the rankings, and a station that once enjoyed double-digit shares, was now lucky to see more than a three share.
| Dallas | ||||||||
| 12+ Ratings for April/May 1970 | ||||||||
| Call Letters | Frequency | Format | O/N 1969 | A/M 1970 | ||||
| KLIF | 1190 | Top 40 | 22.0 | 21.9 | ||||
| KRLD | 1080 | Variety | 11.9 | 12.4 | ||||
| KNOK-A/F | 970/107.5 | Soul | 9.5 | 10.4 | ||||
| KBOX | 1480 | Country | 10.6 | 8.8 | ||||
| WFAA * | 570 | Variety | 4.7 | 4.2 | ||||
| * WFAA started occupying 570 on a full-time basis on May 1. | ||||||||
| Dallas | ||||||||
| 12+ Ratings for October/November 1970 | ||||||||
| Call Letters | Frequency | Format | A/M 1970 | O/N 1970 | ||||
| KLIF | 1190 | Top 40 | 21.9 | 18.1 | ||||
| KRLD | 1080 | Variety | 12.4 | 10.3 | ||||
| KBOX | 1480 | Country | 8.8 | 9.5 | ||||
| KKDA | 730 | Soul | 1.6 | 7.5 | ||||
| WBAP * | 820 | Country | 2.5 | 5.7 | ||||
| * WBAP started occupying 820 on a full-time basis on May 1. | ||||||||
| Fort Worth | ||||
| 12+ Ratings for October/November 1970 | ||||
| Call Letters | Frequency | Format | A/M 1970 | O/N 1970 |
| KFJZ | 1270 | Top 40 | 19.9 | 16.5 |
| WBAP* | 820 | Country | 5.3 | 12.9 |
| KXOL | 1360 | Top 40 | 9.0 | 7.9 |
| KRLD | 1080 | Variety | 4.6 | 6.5 |
| KJIM | 870 | Easy Listening | 5.3 | 5.2 |
| KLIF | 1190 | Top 40 | 6.4 | 5.2 |
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