April is American Radio Month; not as well-known or celebrated as other holidays, but worthy of noting nevertheless.

One morning shortly after the turn of the century, I was reading the paper at the breakfast table when I commented to my wife about a story I’d just read, “That’s sad,” I said. From my wife’s response, I must have used the same tone of voice I do when I read the obituaries aloud.

“Who died?” she asked.

“Nobody died,” I said. “I just read a story about KDOK-FM becoming KTBB-FM. That means there’ll no longer be a KDOK. No more Kay-Dock. That’s sad.”

“Yes,” she said. “It is sad. What’s the weather forecast for the weekend?”

Now, I didn’t expect her to have the same reaction to this news as I did, but that was cold. The reason it impressed me is because these two stations impacted a good many years of my broadcast career.

When I came to Tyler in 1957, it was to take a job at KTBB, owned by T.B. Butler Publishing Co. and located in the old Blackstone Hotel. There were only two other stations in town; Tyler’s first radio station, KGKB, and its latest, KDOK.

KDOK, with its new-to-East-Texas Top-40 sound, was the hot ticket. Program Director Bill Young had hired the best Top-40 DJs he could find; Rusty Reynolds, Steve Lundy, Randy Robbins, Bill Atkins and Barry Hanson. It looked like a winner to me and two years later I went to work there as sales manager.

Along with the newspaper and a new TV station, the success of which was a subject of debate, competition for the advertising dollar was fierce. Of course, Tyler’s population was less than 50,000 and almost all of the business community was in a six square block area downtown. The exception was the newly-opened Bergfeld Shopping Center which people complained about because it was “so far out.”

As Tyler grew, so did the number of radio stations. KZEY, number four, went on the air in 1960 with all black DJs and a Rhythm & Blues format. Then KGKB sold. After losing their top DJ, Ed Smith, to KTBB, their audience declined. The call letters KGKB, everyone said, stood for “kinda’ good, kinda’ bad.” Rumor had it that they sounded so bad The Salvation Army canceled their public service schedule.

Now, under new ownership, KGKB made a bid to become a contender in the market by adopting the same format as KZEY. They didn’t have the reach of KZEY, but were full-time as opposed to KZEY’s daytime status. Each station’s DJs declared war on one another; trading insults on the air. KGKB DJs used the phrase, “We don’t run down at sundown!” KZEY DJs, not to be outdone, countered with, “We may run down at sundown, but at least we don’t poop at the loop.”

The population finally hit 50,000. Tyler was now a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, the point when all the major retail chains and fast food franchises come to town. In short order (if you’ll pardon the pun), we had a Burger King and McDonald’s plus several pizza places. Not far behind came more radio stations; KZAK, KTYL, KNUE, and probably some I can’t remember.

I put the Radio Wars behind me in 1974 when I went to work at KLTV, and for the next 20 years watched the phenomenal growth of the market and the media that served it.

Even after retirement, I lost neither my interest in nor love for the broadcast media (especially radio). And my hope today is that if some enterprising radio station in Texas adopts those famous call letters, KDOK, they will be worthy of the name.

 

Hugh Neeld is a native Texan, born in Fort Worth in 1929. Educated in public school and Texas Christian University, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1945-48 and retired from a 45-year career in radio and TV in 1994. Today, he and his wife, Cris, live on a golf course in Jacksonville.