1980 – NEW DECADE, NEW LEADER
As the eighties rolled in, so
did a new fad called “Urban Cowboy.” KSCS
was primed to take advantage of this, and in the fall of 1980, KSCS notched
its very first win, displacing KVIL and
becoming only the fourth station to hold the number one ranking since the Dallas
and Fort Worth markets were combined. Of
course, with the cowboy craze as big as it was, KSCS wouldn’t be alone long.
In January of 1980, Susquehanna changed 
the format of its easy
listening station, KPLX, to country. It
was the first time KSCS had competition on the FM band.
The 99.5 frequency made its top 10 debut in the fall ratings survey,
initiating a country battle that continues to this day.
The rock war was heating up between KTXQ “Q102” and KZEW “The Zoo” in 1980. The stations were neck-and-neck in both books, with less than a share separating them in each one. And in the six-year old race to be the dominant easy listening station, KMEZ beat KOAX for only the second time, knocking the station out of the top 10 in the fall – the first survey since the Dallas/Fort Worth merger in which KOAX did not make the top 10.
So with all this competition in 1980, what was missing? Top 40. For the first time, no top 40 station managed to crack the top 10 for the entire year. KLIF had been off the radar for three years, and the FM top 40’s (KFJZ-FM and KNUS) were now left to struggle in a precarious position balancing between disco and rock.
| 12+ Ratings for April/May 1980 | ||||||||
| Call Letters | Frequency | Format | O/N 1979 | A/M 1980 | ||||
| KVIL-A/F | 1150/103.7 | Adult Contemporary | 11.1 | 10.5 | ||||
| WBAP | 820 | Country | 7.6 | 9.2 | ||||
| KSCS | 96.3 | Country | 8.2 | 7.9 | ||||
| KRLD | 1080 | News | 7.3 | 6.7 | ||||
| KOAX | 105.3 | Easy Listening | 5.1 | 6.4 | ||||
| KMEZ | 100.3 | Easy Listening | 4.8 | 5.5 | ||||
| KKDA-FM | 104.5 | Urban Contemporary | 5.8 | 5.1 | ||||
| KZEW | 97.9 | Rock | 3.8 | 4.9 | ||||
| KTXQ | 102.1 | Rock | 5.1 | 4.5 | ||||
| WFAA | 570 | News/Talk | 4.4 | 4.3 | ||||
| 12+ Ratings for October/November 1980 | ||||||||
| Call Letters | Frequency | Format | A/M 1980 | O/N 1980 | ||||
| KSCS | 96.3 | Country | 7.9 | 8.7 | ||||
| KVIL-A/F | 1150/103.7 | Adult Contemporary | 10.5 | 8.5 | ||||
| KRLD | 1080 | News | 6.7 | 7.7 | ||||
| KMEZ | 100.3 | Easy Listening | 5.5 | 7.0 | ||||
| WBAP | 820 | Country | 9.2 | 6.4 | ||||
| KPLX * | 99.5 | Country | 2.7 | 5.8 | ||||
| KKDA-FM | 104.5 | Urban Contemporary | 5.1 | 5.5 | ||||
| KZEW | 97.9 | Rock | 4.9 | 4.7 | ||||
| KNOK-FM | 107.5 | Disco | 3.9 | 4.4 | ||||
| KTXQ | 102.1 | Rock | 4.5 | 4.0 | ||||
| * was Easy Listening until January | ||||||||
©2002 Arbitron Inc.