KBME (AM)
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| City | Houston, Texas |
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| Broadcast area | Greater Houston |
| Branding | Sportstalk 790 |
| Slogan | Your Home for Houston Sports |
| Frequency | 790 kHz (also on HD Radio) 93.7 HD-2 |
| First air date | 1944 |
| Format | Sports Talk |
| Language(s) | English |
| Audience share | 0.5  (March 2017, Nielsen Audio ratings) |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 23082 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 29°54′54″N 95°27′42″W / 29.91500°N 95.46167°WCoordinates: 29°54′54″N 95°27′42″W / 29.91500°N 95.46167°W |
| Callsign meaning | The Best Music Ever made (the station's slogan during its adult standards period) |
| Former callsigns | KTSB (1940-1944) KTHT (1944-1970) KULF (1970-1982) KKBQ (1982-1998) |
| Former frequencies | 1230 kHz (1944-1951) |
| Affiliations |
Fox Sports Radio NBC Sports Radio Houston Astros (MLB) Houston Cougars (NCAA) Houston Dynamo (MLS) Houston Rockets (NBA) Texas A&M Aggies (NCAA) |
| Owner |
iHeartMedia, Inc. (AMFM Texas Licenses, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KQBT, KODA, KPRC (AM), KTBZ-FM, KTRH |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | sports790.com |
KBME (branded as Sportstalk 790) AM is a sports-talk radio station in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area. It is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. The station airs local sports-talk and carries nationally syndicated Fox Sports Radio programming. KBME is also the flagship radio station for the Houston Rockets, Houston Astros and Texas Longhorns. The station's studios are located along the West Loop Freeway in the city's Uptown district, and the transmitter site is in the city's northwest side.
The station first went on the air as KTHT in 1944. It moved from the Class C channel (1,000 watts) 1230 kHz to the current Class B (5,000 watts) frequency of 790 kHz in 1951. During the 1960s, KTHT was known as "Demand Radio 79", playing pop music.
In August 1970, it became adult contemporary KULF, hosting radio personalities such as Stevens and Pruett. Stevens and Pruett had formerly been on KILT as the last Hudson and Harrigan team before KILT's switch to country. S&P brought to KULF their "Not ready for Drive time Players", and their daily short production of "Star Trots" (modeled after Star Trek: The Motion Picture) with Captain James T. Shmirk, his trusted Lt. Bones, and their weird little robot, ACDC.
In June 1982, Gannett Publishing, through its broadcast subsidiary, bought the station, announced to the employees that were left (S&P had left for KEGL in the Dallas-Fort Worth market before the sale), on what was called "Black Friday" (July 2nd), that everyone was fired as of the following Monday, and relaunched it as top 40 station KKBQ ("79Q") on the 2nd.
Program director John Lander hosted the morning show, called the "Q-Zoo", and took the station to the top of the Houston ratings after one rating period - a feat unheard of for an AM music station in the 1980s. KKBQ would add an FM simulcast on 92.9 FM on December 29, 1982. KKBQ was among the first AM stations in the city to broadcast in AM stereo, originally using the Kahn ISB system, and then later switching to the Motorola C-QUAM system.
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