KFRO (AM)
| City | Longview, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | |
| Frequency | 1370 kHz |
| First air date | February 6, 1935 |
| Format | Silent |
| Audience share | 0.0 (SP-2011, Radio-info) |
| Power | 1,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 70455 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 32°30′7″N 94°42′12″W / 32.50194°N 94.70333°WCoordinates: 32°30′7″N 94°42′12″W / 32.50194°N 94.70333°W |
| Callsign meaning | "Keep Forever Rolling On, Longview" |
| Former callsigns | KFRO (1935-Present) |
| Affiliations | Fox, Former-Moody Bible Institute, Mutual (MBS), NBC-Blue/ABC, Keystone, TSN, CBS |
| Owner | RCA Broadcasting LLC (RCA Broadcasting LLC) |
| Sister stations | KZEY |
KFRO (1370 AM) is an American radio station licensed to Longview, Texas, United States. The station serves the Longview-Tyler-Kilgore-Marshall area. KFRO is owned by RCA Broadcasting, Inc., and is the sister station to KZEY Marshall, Texas.
As of February 15, 2017, KFRO is silent while work is performed on the tower site in preparation for the rollout of the new station.
James R. Curtis received a license in 1924 to operate KFRO on 1220 kilohertz in Ft. Worth, Texas. However, financial problems forced Curtis to abandon the plans for the Ft. Worth station, and later revive the KFRO license on 1370 kHz in Longview. According to legend, Carl Estes (late owner of the Longview News Journal) and R.J. LeTourneau (owner of LeTourneau Industries) offered to finance the station if Curtis would move the license to Longview. The hope of Estes and LeTourneau was that if Longview had its own station it would turn Longview into a big city and put it on the map. Which in turn would bring more readers to the Longview News Journal, and more quality employees to Letourneau Industries.
On October 30, 1933 Voice of Longview received a construction permit to build a 100 watt radio station on 1370 KC in Longview. The location was listed as a generic "local hotel" for both transmitter and studios (as that was what the larger market stations were doing, renting space in hotels).
The call letters KFRO stand for
"Keep Forever Rolling On"
KFRO "The Voice of Longview" signed on the air on February 6, 1935 on 1370 kilohertz with a power of 100 watts daytime by owner J.R. Curtis. The original studio building and transmitter for KFRO was at the SW corner of S. Green St. (then known as Texas State Highway 149) and Radio St. on the southern edge of town.
In 1935 KFRO tried to move its frequency to 1210, but was stopped after an experimental period on 1210.
In 1935 First Baptist Church of Longview first started to broadcast its services on KFRO. This made the First Baptist Church Broadcast the third longest-running program in broadcasting (The Grand Ole Opry (November 28, 1925) on WSM is longest-running show and Music and the Spoken Word (July 15, 1929) on KSL are the second longest). First Baptist ceased the broadcasts after 73 years.
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