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KLAT (1010 AM broadcasting) is a commercial radio radio station in Houston. It is owned by Latino Media Network, and airs a Spanish-language adult contemporary and Regional Mexican radio format.
KLAT's transmitter site is on West Little York Road in northwest Houston. Radio-Locator.com/KLAT By day, KLAT broadcasts at 5,000 . But to protect other stations on 1010 AM, a Canada clear-channel frequency, KLAT is licensed to reduce power at night to 3,600 watts. As of current, KLAT has suspended night operations, after the loss of the nighttime transmitter site.
At first, KODA and KODA-FM simulcast the same beautiful music, competing with ABC-owned 1320 KXYZ, which also played easy listening music. But beginning in 1967, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned AM-FM combos in most cities from simulcasting around the clock, so most of the day, KODA began airing a slightly different format, adding middle of the road vocals to the mostly instrumental playlist.
Even though 1320 KXYZ was owned by ABC, that station stopped carrying ABC newscasts; they could only be heard on 1360 KWBA (now KWWJ), based in nearby Baytown, Texas. So the AM version of KODA began airing ABC News each hour.
In 1984, KLAT obtained FCC authorization for round-the-clock operation, giving KLAT Class B status. Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B-265 Unfortunately in late 1979, a fire caused the Harris MW-5 transmitter to melt down. The MW-5 used a step up transformer to raise the three phase input power (at 240 volts) to 17,000 volts. The primary wiring had been bundled closely to the secondary wiring and tightly lashed together. When an insulation breakdown allowed the input wiring to arc, the high temperatures allowed the secondary wires to short to the inputs. This caused extremely high circulating currents and a meltdown of the transformer frame, made of metal castings and laminations.
To add nighttime broadcasts, a seventh tower was added to the array. This was used with five of the existing day towers to make a new parallelogram shaped system. KLAT began night operation at 1,000 watts. This properly protected other stations on AM 1010 as required by FCC rules, but the nighttime signal did not cover all of Houston. This particular authorization was allowed under a waiver for minority-owned stations. Later on, the station received special authority from the FCC to mitigate interference at night from foreign stations (as many south Florida stations get a break from Cuban interference such as WAXY in South Miami). This special temporary authority (STA) allowed the station to operate at 5,000 watts at night using all seven towers. This improved coverage but did not give KLAT 100% nighttime coverage of Houston.
In 1995 the station built a second tower site in Northwest Houston, using six towers and 3,600 watts for nighttime operation. The lowered power did not cover quite as large an area as the former setup. But because of the transmitter's better location, it covered more of the Houston media market. The project used several consultants, ending with duTreil, Lundin and Rackley.
In March 2016, KLAT began to air Houston Dynamo soccer games, as a first step into sports radio. On December 20, 2016, Univision announced that KLAT would be one of the charter affiliates of Univision Deportes Radio, a Spanish-language sports network launched in April 2017. Univision To Launch "Univision Deportes Radio" Astros baseball broadcasts refurned for the 2021 season.
Sometime in late 2024, KLAT switched to a Spanish AC/Regional Mexican format.
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