KROF

KROF (960 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a talk format. Licensed to Abbeville, Louisiana, United States, the station serves the Lafayette area. The station is currently owned by Townsquare Media.[3] Its studios are located on Bertrand Road in Lafayette, and its transmitter is located north of Abbeville.

KROF
CityAbbeville, Louisiana
Broadcast areaLafayette, Louisiana
Frequency960 kHz
BrandingTalk Radio 960am
Programming
FormatTalk
AffiliationsFox News Radio
Westwood One
Premiere Networks
Ownership
OwnerTownsquare Media
(Townsquare Media of Lafayette, LLC)
KFTE, KHXT, KMDL, KPEL, KPEL-FM, KTDY
History
First air date
July 9, 1948[1]
Call sign meaning
Rice, Oil, and Furs, the three main exports of Vermilion Parish[2]
Technical information
Facility ID275
ClassD
Power1,000 watts day
95 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
30°00′40″N 92°07′21″W
Links
WebcastListen Live
Websitetalkradio960.com

History

KROF made its official debut on July 9, 1948.[1] It broadcast as a daytime-only station on 960 with 1,000 watts[4] and was the first radio station in Abbeville.[2] The station was owned by Abbeville Broadcasting Service,[4] a local corporation in which residents of Vermilion Parish invested $50,000.[5] The station affiliated with the short-lived Progressive Broadcasting System in 1950.[6]

In October 1970, interests from Crowley began a bid to take over KROF. William C. Broadhurst, an attorney, sent letters to the shareholders in Abbeville Broadcasting Service, offering $400 per share.[7] However, Broadhurst was only able to acquire 176 of the 187 shares necessary to gather a controlling interest in the licensee. Local groups, including the Abbeville city council,[8] passed resolutions asking the Federal Communications Commission to disapprove of any sale of KROF to out-of-town parties, fearful that with the recent sale of the Abbeville Meridional newspaper to other Crowley-based investors, there would be no locally owned source of news and information in Vermilion Parish.[7]

Abbeville Broadcasting Service filed to build an FM counterpart for KROF in 1973.[9] KROF-FM debuted May 25, 1974, allowing Abbeville Broadcasting Service to broadcast after dark; during the day, it simulcast its AM counterpart.[10] The AM and FM sides began to air more separate programming as the 1970s went on, with 960 AM continuing in its Top 40 format[11] while 104.9 FM became a country outlet,[12] changing its call letters on November 1, 1980 to KASC, for "Acadiana/Stereo Country".[13]

In 1984, KROF became known as "Boss 96".[14] Two years later, however, 104.9 became KROF-FM and the two stations resumed a simulcast of what had been the FM's country format.[15] When KROF-FM moved to 105.1 MHz in 1991 as part of a power increase, the two stations flipped to oldies.[16]

The AM and FM frequencies split again in 1993, but this time, it was the AM's turn to make the change. On March 1, KROF AM began broadcasting entirely in French, including Cajun music and commercials.[17] It was the only all-French station in Louisiana.[18] The effort ended after seven months on September 30,[19] when the station resumed simulcasting the FM due to lack of support for the French-language format. In January 1994, KROF AM rolled out a new "Cajun Country Gold" format.[20] Local Vermilion Parish sports broadcasts remained on AM until they moved to the FM frequency in 1996.[21]

Larger changes came in 1999 when a majority stake in KROF-AM-FM was sold to Galloway Consulting Services, owners of multiple stations in the Lafayette market, for $787,500.[22] Galloway, which became known as ComCorp of Lafayette, sold the entire cluster to Regent Communications—predecessor to Townsquare Media—in 2001 for $39.6 million, marking its exit from radio while continuing to own television stations.[23]

References
  1. "KROF". Vermilion Post. July 9, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  2. "Greetings to Radio Station KROF, Vermilion's Own Radio Station". Abbeville Meridional. July 17, 1948. p. 3. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  3. "KROF Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  4. FCC History Cards for KROF
  5. "Vermilion's Own 1,000 Watt Radio Station To Open Soon". The Gueydan News. June 19, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  6. "Progressive Step Taken Sunday By Station KROF". Vermilion Post. November 24, 1950. p. 10. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  7. "Heavy Opposition: Crowley Group Gives Up On KROF Control". Crowley Post-Signal. February 5, 1971. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  8. "Resolution". Abbeville Meridional. December 10, 1970. p. 26. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  9. "Legals". Abbeville Meridional. May 7, 1973. p. 10. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  10. "KROF To Begin FM Broadcasting". Abbeville Meridional. May 23, 1974. p. 1. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  11. "KROF(AM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1978. p. C-90 (332). Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  12. "Grab A Tiger By The Tail!". Daily Advertiser. September 22, 1979. p. 7. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  13. "24 Hours Acadiana/Stereo Country KASC-FM 105". Daily Advertiser. August 30, 1981. p. 76. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  14. "The Boss Has Arrived: KROF "Boss" 96". Daily Advertiser. January 14, 1984. p. 30. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  15. "Country Is Twice As Good on KROF". Abbeville Meridional. July 2, 1986. p. 2A. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  16. "Everybody Is Switching To KROF 105.1". Advertiser. August 25, 1991. p. D-3. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  17. Fuselier, Pascal (March 18, 1993). "Big plus: All-French radio format very unique". Ville Platte Gazette. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  18. "KROF first all-French radio station". Abbeville Meridional. April 27, 1993. p. 11C. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  19. Guillory, Del (October 10, 1993). "Save our French music". Daily Advertiser. p. D-5. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  20. Fuselier, Herman (March 31, 1994). "KNEK moves to all-zydeco format". Daily World. p. TV 1, 20. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  21. "KROF: Same wonderful music, just a new name". Abbeville Meridional. September 6, 1996. p. 4. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  22. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. January 1, 1999. pp. 6, 8. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  23. Bradshaw, Jim (August 30, 2001). "Regent taps radio". Daily Advertiser. pp. 1D, 6D. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
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