KHTK

KHTK (1140 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Sacramento, California. KHTK broadcasts a sports radio format as "KHTK Sports 1140" as an affiliate of the CBS Sports Radio network.

KHTK
CitySacramento, California
Broadcast areaSacramento metropolitan area
BrandingSports 1140 KHTK
Frequency1140 kHz
(HD Radio)
Repeater(s)96.1-2 KYMX-HD2
First air dateNovember 12, 1926 (as KGDM)
FormatSports
Language(s)English (United States)
Power50,000 watts
ClassB
Facility ID20352
Transmitter coordinates38°23′34″N 121°11′51″W
Call sign meaningFrom the station's previous Hot TalK format
Former call signsKGDM (1926–1957)
KRAK (1957–1994)
Former frequencies1380 kHz (1927–1928)
1150 kHz (1928–1929)
1100 kHz (1929–1941)
1130 kHz (1941–1943)
AffiliationsSacramento Kings
CBS Sports Radio
Las Vegas Raiders
San Jose Sharks
OwnerBonneville International
(Bonneville International Corporation)
Sister stationsKNCI, KYMX, KZZO
WebcastListen Live
WebsiteOfficial website

KHTK broadcasts a 50,000 watt HD Radio signal (the second Sacramento AM station, after KIID, to broadcast in HD), audible as far north as Redding, as far south as Monterey and into the suburbs of San Francisco.[1]

KHTK broadcasts in the HD Radio format and programming is also simulcast on an HD subchannel of sister station KNCI (105.1-HD3).[2]

Its transmitter is located in Wilton, and its studios are in North Sacramento (just north of the American River).

KHTK serves as flagship station for Sacramento Kings basketball and UC Davis Aggies football, as well as co-flagship station (along with San Francisco-based KTRB) for Oakland Athletics baseball, Las Vegas Raiders football and San Jose Sharks hockey.

KHTK emerged after long-time country giant KRAK switched formats in 1994, due to the declining AM music audience. KHTK started out with a talk radio format (as "Hot Talk 1140")[3] until converting to a full-time sports format, which was originally branded as "Sports 1140" before adopting "The Fan" branding in November 2011. On January 1, 2013, KHTK began to identify itself as "CBS Sports 1140." On July 1, 2013, 6 months after identifying as "CBS Sports 1140," KHTK switched its branding back to "KHTK Sports 1140", then to "Sports 1140 KHTK". One of KHTK's initial sports hosts was Pro Football Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood, who co-hosted with Mike Remy, the station's former program director.

On July 31, 2008, the CBS Corporation announced that KHTK and its five sister stations in Sacramento were being put up for sale as part of the planned divestiture of radio stations outside the top-15 U.S. radio markets; it remained a CBS Radio station until its 2017 merger with Entercom, when KHTK was placed into a divestiture trust and became operated by Bonneville International under a local marketing agreement. Bonneville acquired the station outright in 2018.

Programming Lineup

"The Drive with Carmichael Dave" airs from 6 am to 9 am. The popular nationally syndicated Los Angeles-based Jim Rome show airs from 9 am to 12 pm.

"The Lo-Down" with Damien Barling and Jason Ross is heard from 12-3 pm.

The most tenured show on the station is The Grant Napear Show with Doug Christie with Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear and former Kings player Doug Christie, airing from 3-7 pm. Grant has been a staple of the station's programming since 1997. KHTK carries the syndicated Scott Ferrall show "Ferrall on the Bench" from 7-11 pm. Other CBS Sports programming airs overnight.

Weekend programming includes CBS Sports Radio, Kings basketball, Raiders football, A's Baseball, Sharks Hockey, NFL and College Football, College Basketball and other available sporting events coverage.

History

KHTK first signed on the air on November 12, 1926.[4] It carried the call letters KGDM. The station was originally licensed to Hercules Broadcasting, licensed to Stockton, California, and operating at 1130 kHz with 1,000 watts of power. Initially it was a daytime-only station. Later at 1140 kHz with 5,000 W of power, it was authorized to broadcast full-time. By 1962, the station had changed its city of license to Sacramento, and moved to new facilities with 50,000 W of power. It flipped to a country music format, and adopted the call letters KRAK. Some of the early personalities included "Oakie Paul" Westmoreland, Walt Shaw, and Dick Baines.

With country music moving more into the mainstream during the 1970s, KRAK became one of the Sacramento area's most popular stations. Listeners were not only exposed to artists such as Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson, but enjoyed two decades of on-air personality stability. Joey Mitchell worked the 6:00 - 10:00AM "Drive Time" and was named "Sacramento Radio Personality of the Year" several times. Rick Stewart could be heard middays between 10:00 - 2:00PM. Big Jim Hall covered the 2:00 - 6:00PM "Afternoon Drive." Hal Murray worked evenings. Fred Hoffman hosted "Captain Fred's All-Night Truckin' Show. All had Top 40 backgrounds which led to a tighter, more upbeat format.

KRAK continued to broadcast into the 1990s, long after other music stations had switched to the FM band. KRAK-FM would eventually move ahead in the ratings, later becoming 105.1 KNCI through changes after a purchase by CBS Radio and frequency switching. Meanwhile, on February 28, 1994, KRAK became KHTK, first a talk station, later flipping to its current all-sports format.[5] The call letters "KRAK" would make a brief return in the Sacramento media market as a country oldies station at AM 1470 before that station was sold to Radio Disney and is today KIID airing programming in Punjabi. Most recently, the KRAK call letters were assigned to the now-KMPS in Victor Valley, California, also owned by CBS and airing the CBS Sports Radio Network.[6]

On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom (which locally owned KKDO, KUDL, KSEG, KRXQ, and KIFM; the company formerly owned KDND until it shut the station down and turned in its license to the Federal Communications Commission two days later).[7] On October 10, CBS Radio announced that as part of the process of obtaining regulatory approval of the merger, KHTK would be one of sixteen stations that would be divested by Entercom, along with sister stations KYMX, KZZO, and KNCI (KSFM would be retained by Entercom).[8] On November 1, Entercom announced that Bonneville would begin operating KHTK, KYMX, KZZO and KNCI via a local marketing agreement when the merger of CBS and Entercom closed on November 17, while their licenses were placed into a divestiture trust pending a sale to a different owner within 180 days.[9][10][11] On August 3, 2018, Bonneville announced it would buy the stations outright in a $141 million deal;[12] the sale was completed on September 21, 2018.[13]

References
  1. http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KHTK-AM&h=N
  2. https://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=1 HD Radio Guide for Sacramento
  3. Source: Sacramento Radio History in the 1990s from PlaylistResearch.com
  4. Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 pg. C-25
  5. "Doing the country shuffle; KRAK, KNCI, New Country are likely to get new names", The Sacramento Bee, January 15, 1994.
  6. http://tangentsunset.com/sacramentoradio.htm
  7. CBS Radio to Merge with Entercom
  8. Venta, Lance (October 10, 2017). "Entercom Narrows Down 16 Stations To Be Divested To Complete CBS Radio Merger". RadioInsight. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  9. Entercom LMAs Sacramento & San Francisco Stations to Bonneville
  10. "Entercom Receives FCC Approval for Merger with CBS Radio". Entercom. November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  11. Venta, Lance (November 17, 2017). "Entercom Completes CBS Radio Merger". Radio Insight. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  12. Venta, Lance (August 3, 2018). "Bonneville Turns San Francisco and Sacramento LMAs Into Purchase". RadioInsight. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  13. "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. September 24, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
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