Product Code Database
KIKK () is a daytime-only radio station, licensed to Pasadena, Texas, which broadcasts a sports gambling format under ownership of Audacy, Inc. Its studios are located in the Greenway Plaza district of Houston, and its transmitter is located in Pasadena. While it only broadcasts during daytime hours at , KIKK's low frequency gives the station a large coverage area, stretching from Flatonia, Texas to the west, and past Lake Charles, Louisiana to the east.
On May 1, 1961, KRCT changed call letters to the current KIKK.
KIKK only operates from local sunrise to local sunset in order to protect clear-channel WSM in Nashville. For a time in the 1960s, Industrial attempted to operate the station earlier than sunrise in Houston and Nashville and begin operations at 6:00 am each day. This was denied at district court and appeals court, and the station's prior operation at such times was sanctioned with a fine from the Federal Communications Commission.
Throughout the , , and early , was the country music station in Houston. It simulcasted with its FM sister station at times (the former KIKK-FM, now KKHH), and was part of a heated country war with KILT-AM-FM until 1994.
By this point, KILT (AM) dropped the country format programming it has been utilizing since 1981, becoming Houston's first sports station, while KIKK was merely filling time by simulcasting its FM sister full-time. 650 AM finally broke the simulcast with , and flipped to business news as "Business Radio 650" in 1996.
KIKK changed formats in July 2004 to Hot Talk under the moniker KIKK Ass 650, which became the Houston home for The Howard Stern Show. After Stern's move to Sirius Satellite Radio in December 2005, KIKK switched to a news format and was affiliated with CNN Headline News.Larry McShane; Associated Press, "Assorted radio-network hosts replacing Stern", The Houston Chronicle, October 26, 2005. Their early evening schedule was composed of Adult Standards music until 2008, when Headline News completely took over the rest of the schedule, but that network's continuous move away from rolling news to focus more on personality talk caused the station to seek other programming such as the Clark Howard Show, which then took up most of the station's schedule. In 2010, the station flipped to a local personality-emphasizing talk format (branded simply as "Talk 650"); however, it switched to an all-syndicated lineup in July 2011. "Talk 650 KIKK announces new programming lineup", mikemcguff.com, July 1, 2011
KIKK dropped its talk format on January 2, 2013, and became a sports radio station affiliated with CBS Sports Radio (now Infinity Sports Network as of April 2024). The network's national programming complemented the locally focused sports format on sister station KILT.
On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. CBS Radio to Merge with Entercom The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.
On June 21, 2021, KIKK flipped to sports gambling, branded as "The Bet Houston", with programming from the co-owned BetQL Network. Infinity Sports Network programming remains in certain timeslots. Audacy Flips Seven Stations To BetQL Network Radioinsight - June 21, 2021
|
|
