KULF
| City | Bellville, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Victoria, Texas, Houston, Texas |
| Frequency | 1090 kHz |
| Translator(s) | 102.5 K273CD (Bellville) |
| First air date |
1090: November 19, 1974 (license) 102.5: March 2, 2015 |
| Format | Brokered |
| Power | 1090: 1,000 watts day only |
| ERP | 102.5: 250 watts |
| HAAT | 102.5: 105 meters |
| Class |
1090: D 102.5: D |
| Facility ID |
1090: 48653 102.5: 144570 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 29°56′50.00″N 96°15′54.00″W / 29.9472222°N 96.2650000°WCoordinates: 29°56′50.00″N 96°15′54.00″W / 29.9472222°N 96.2650000°W |
| Former callsigns |
KBAL (November 20–December 14, 2009) KNUZ (AM) (1997–2009) KFRD (1993–1997) KACO (1974–1993) |
| Owner |
Jerome Friemel (JLF Communications, LLC) |
KULF (1090 kHz) is an AM daytimer radio station based in Bellville, Texas. [1] Licensed to Bellville, Texas, USA, it serves the Victoria, Texas and Houston, Texas regional area. The station is currently owned by Jerome Friemel, through licensee JLF Communications, LLC.[2]
The station operates on a Class D daytime license on 1090 kHz. Because KULF shares the same frequency as clear-channel station KAAY in Little Rock, Arkansas, it only broadcasts during daytime hours.
1090 signed on the air in 1974 as Austin County's first and only licensed radio station. It was owned by Mr. & Mrs. J. Lee Dittert. 1090 was granted the calls of KACO, representing not just service to its community of license Bellville, but to the entire Austin County population. KACO started as a 250 watt daytimer featuring a country & western format. In 2010, 1090 moved its tower site out of the City of Bellville itself, opting to build a new site 8 miles southeast of Bellville, Texas with an increase in power to 1 kilowatt, in an effort to cover more of the Houston-Galveston metropolitan area. In 1993, the Dittert family sold the facility to Roy Henderson, and the original KACO calls would be retired, as 1090 changed its callsign to KFRD, which had been at 980 AM in Rosenberg, Texas since its sign on in 1949. 4 years later, 1090 received a grant to change its call letters again and use the KNUZ calls that had occupied 1230 AM in Houston since the 1940s. As KNUZ, and under Roy Henderson's direction, the station simulcasted "Lite 94.1" KLTR out of Brenham. In 2009 the facility dropped the KNUZ call letters and briefly used KBAL, until a switch could be made with the co-owned facility in San Saba. As a result of the call switch, the KNUZ calls are now used for 106.1 FM in San Saba, Texas, the former KBAL.
In December 2009, the station was sold for a reported $500,000 by Roy E. Henderson to JHT Ventures, Inc., 100% controlled by Janice Hollan. JHT sold KULF to Jerome Friemel's JLF Communications, LLC at a purchase price of $10,000; the transaction was consummated on January 29, 2013.
In August 2015, JLF Communications added a translator at 102.5, bringing 1090's programming to FM.
In January 2016, KULF was taken dark as a result of non-payment of rent to the landowner on which the KULF towers and transmission equipment reside. According to radio insider sources, the landowner had a court order that has gave him legal possession of all equipment related to KULF, sans the broadcast license itself. The Houston FCC agent took KULF off of the air, as for a period of over a month, 1090 remained on air both day and night, running 1,000 watts of dead air.
As of May 2016, KULF has returned to the air at full power, resuming brokered Mandarin language programming from China Radio International.
References
- ↑ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Summer 2009. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
- ↑ "KULF Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
External links
- Query the FCC's AM station database for KULF
- Radio-Locator Information on KULF
- Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for KULF