KTOY

KTOY (104.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an urban adult contemporary format. Licensed to Texarkana, Arkansas, United States, it serves the Texarkana area. The station is licensed to Texarkana Radio Center Licenses, LLC.[1] Studios are located on Olive in Texarkana, Texas just one block west of the Texas/Arkansas state line, and its transmitter is in Wake Village, Texas.

KTOY
Frequency104.7 MHz
Branding104.7 KTOY
Programming
FormatUrban adult contemporary
AffiliationsCompass Media Networks
Ownership
Owner
  • Texarkana Radio Center Licenses, LLC
  • (Jo-Al Broadcasting, Inc.)
KBYB, KCMC, KTFS, KTFS-FM, KTTY
History
First air date
1992 (1992)
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID31348
ClassA
ERP3,100 watts
HAAT138 meters (453 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
33°25′45.4″N 94°7′11.7″W
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitektoy1047.com

History

On June 16, 1988, Jo-Al Broadcasting, Inc. (named for shareholders Emmie Jo Gamble and her brother-in-law Alcus Davis) filed for a construction permit to build a new radio station on 104.7 MHz in Texarkana, Arkansas. Gamble had been inspired to file after seeing a newspaper article concerning efforts by the Federal Communications Commission to promote women and minority ownership in broadcasting.[2] It was one of three applicants for the frequency, competing with B & H Broadcasting System, Inc., and Dupre' Broadcasting Co. After the three applications were designated for comparative hearing in 1990, the applicants settled, and Jo-Al was granted the frequency.[3]

Gamble, a math teacher, continued teaching while building out the station, which took the call letters KTOY and became the first black-owned station in the state of Arkansas,[4] with the same urban adult contemporary format it still carries.[2] She did not retire from teaching until 2000.[4]

In February 2005, after three years of discussions,[5] Gamble and Davis sold KTOY to Arklatex LLC, which owned four other radio stations in the market.[6] The transaction was described as putting a "jewel" in the company's crown, as KTOY had become the area's top radio station.[5] Eight years later, the stations were sold to Alaska Broadcast Communications, which was 20 percent owned by Richard Burns, for $2.75 million;[7] Burns, an Australian citizen, became the first non-American national to own 100 percent of a United States broadcast station when the FCC approved a first-of-its-kind waiver in 2017, allowing Burns and his wife Sharon to take full ownership of the Frontier Media group.[8]

As part of a series of format shifts at the Frontier Media stations in January 2019, KTFS (940 AM) relaunched as "KTOY Gospel", a gospel-formatted brand extension of KTOY.[9]

References
  1. "Texarkana Radio Stations Part of Historic Foreign Ownership Deal – Texarkana FYI". 27 March 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  2. La'Sha, Epiphany (February 3, 2021). "Texarkana's first black radio station hit the airwaves in 1992". ArkLaTex Homepage. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  3. Stirmer, Joseph (March 19, 1991). "Summary Decision (6 FCC Rcd 7)". FCC Record. pp. 1703–1705. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  4. "TASD honors Emmie Jo Gamble as Distinguished Alumna". Texarkana Gazette. August 24, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  5. Davis, Anthony (June 7, 2005). "Texarkana Radio picks up KTOY, city's top station". Texarkana Gazette. p. 1.
  6. "Deals". RBR Morning E-paper. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  7. "Deals" (PDF). Inside Radio. March 6, 2013. p. 4. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  8. "FCC OKs Groundbreaking Foreign Ownership Milestone". Inside Radio. February 27, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  9. Venta, Lance (January 22, 2019). "Formats On The Move In Texarkana". RadioInsight. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
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