A Statement of Purpose
Discussions of the origins of radio in Texas usually recite developments and achievements in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio while developments in the early years in Houston are often overlooked. This is probably in part because almost all of the earliest stations in Houston lasted only a few months or years and have been completely forgotten. Of the 15 stations to receive broadcast licenses from early 1922 to early 1925 in the Houston-Galveston area only one is still in operation and of all those licensed in the 1920s only three are still on the air. (Thereafter the survival rate improved, thankfully).
In part the oversight undoubtedly is also due to Houston’s propensity to ignore its past.
This blog and forthcoming book will seek to rectify this oversight by bringing to light stories of wireless operators and their exploits, broadcasters, broadcasting stations, performers and more, from the pre-World War I era down through the ensuing decades.
The Houston Radio History blog will have a chronological history of Houston and Galveston area AM and FM stations, station profiles, biographies of prominent broadcasters, memorabilia, photographs and much more, including a section devoted to that other medium where the engineers have figured out how to send pictures over the radio.
The blog will be aimed not just at broadcasters but also at listeners and viewers and anyone interested in the history of broadcasting and the history of Houston.
Material will be added as time permits and as information is uncovered. This will be an ongoing project which is expected to take several years and research is continuing.
No one can possibly know or uncover everything about the history of radio in Houston. There are many specific dates that have not been pinned down; I have undoubtedly got some of the call letter changes wrong, etc., and I will appreciate the help of users of readers of this blog in bringing mistakes to my attention and filling in blanks in what is known, helping to identify people in old photographs, and undoubtedly in other ways unforeseen.
6 comments:
I enjoyed your blog. I worked on the air at KLOL from 1972 to 1976 and was P.D. several years after leaving McLendon in Dallas. Then at KTRH from 1976 to 1979 in the sales department.
Jim Hilty
Some KLOL history can be found at myradodaze.blogspot.com
Thanks Jim. Haven't had time to read the entries but I'm sure some of my readers will find them interesting.
The corrected link:
myradiodaze.blogspot.com
Greetings, I'm looking for pictures from the time when KILT/KLOL operated out of 510 Lovett Boulevard, 77006 Houston, now a condo. IF anyone has pictures of the radio station from that time, can you post?
KILT/KILT-FM(KOST-FM) was at 500 Lovett. KTRH was at 510. I understood, though I never saw it for myself, that KLOL was across the street in an old former residence. I do not have any pictures; hope someone will step forward.
KLOL moved from the Rice hotel to a newly constructed building at 510 Lovett while I worked there. I still have the last Rice Hotel front desk bell. 510 was turned into condos. KPFT, the Pacifica station was across the street in a former residence. Record promoters liked the location because they could stop at KLOL,KILT AM,KILT FM next door, and KPFT with no additional driving.
Jim H.
Thanks again, Jim. As noted above after the previous comment, Jim's blog has posts about KLOL and also Dallas' KNUS-FM. Worth checking out.
Post a Comment