KONO (AM)
| City | San Antonio, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | San Antonio, Texas |
| Branding | 86 KONO |
| Slogan | Greatest Hits of the 60's and 70's |
| Frequency | 860 kHz |
| First air date | 1927 |
| Format | Oldies |
| Language(s) | English |
| Audience share | 0.7  (March 2017, Nielsen Audio[1]) |
| Power | 5,000 watts (day) 900 watts (night) |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 50029 |
| Callsign meaning | K San AntONiO |
| Owner |
Cox Radio (Cox Radio, Inc.) |
| Sister stations | KCYY, KISS-FM, KKYX, KONO-FM, KTKX, KSMG |
| Website | 86 KONO Online |
KONO (860 AM) is an oldies radio station in San Antonio, Texas. Owned by Cox Radio, its studios are located in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas Medical Center complex, and the transmitter site with two towers are located on Creekview Drive, nearly 5 miles east of downtown San Antonio.
KONO is the fourth-oldest radio station in San Antonio, Texas. KONO began as a hobby in the early days of radio broadcasting by Eugene Roth in a room over his garage in downtown San Antonio. Later, Eugene Roth's son, Jack Roth, inherited the station from his father. Its original format was country & western. In the sixties, KONO (the Big 86) was one of the leading "top-40" stations in San Antonio for several years. Some of the on air personnel were Howard Edwards, Don Couser, Woody Roberts, Skinny Don Green, Lee 'Baby' Simms, Dave Mitchell, Johnny Shannon, Charlie Scott, Nick St John and Frank Jolley plus many more. Many still live in the San Antonio area or parts of Texas. KONO in the 1960s won national awards for their popularity and creativity. In 1965, Bob Pearson and Howard Edwards were selected as two of the top radio personalities in the country. KONO was the number-one AM station in San Antonio and KITY-FM, its sister station was the top-rated FM station. KONO is the former sister station of KSAT-TV, Channel 12. KONO and sister KITY, later KSRR-FM, would remain at 317 Arden Grove, attached to the KSAT 12 building, until the early 1990s, when they moved to a location on NE Loop 410.
In the 1970s, KONO and KTSA 550 battled in the top-40 format. Although KONO's more recurrent-based style frequently played second-fiddle to the more current-oriented KTSA, it continued to do well. The two stations provided a nice 1-2 punch that made WOAI regret its brief flirtation with the top-40 format in the mid-'70s. The two also ran AM/FM simulcast "Q-100" KQAM 1150/KSAQ 100.3 out of the format after a few years.
KONO began the 1980s with the same recurrent-heavy top-40 format it had in the 1970s but with a softer sound than before. KONO's days as a top-40 station were clearly numbered as AM top-40 stations were rapidly losing audience to FM upstarts. KONO began to evolve to a gold-based AC while its top-40 format began to replace the AC format on sister 92.9 KITY. At the end of 1985, Jack Roth announced he was selling KONO and KITY to Duffy Broadcasting, based out of Dallas. Until this point, KONO had been owned within the Roth family its entire existence. Duffy would strike a deal with Booth American in 1987 that created Genesis Broadcasting. About a year later that KONO became a "rock 'n roll oldies" station jettisoning its music from the mid-'70s and later and adding some older popular rock tracks. However, in 1988, KSMG "Magic 105" dropped its AC format to go oldies, and KONO, once again, struggled to maintain its audience against an FM upstart.
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