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KFNC-FM
Image:KFNClogo.gif
City of license	Beaumont, Texas
Broadcast area	Greater Houston
Branding	The Ticket
Frequency	97.5 (MHz) 97.5 HD-2 for Classic Hits (Coming Soon)
Format	Sports/Talk
Power	100,000 Watts
Callsign meaning	K-FMNewsChannel
Owner	Cumulus Media
Website	[975theticket.com]

KFNC-FM (97.5) is a Sports/talk formatted station. Studios currently located in the Air Liquide Building at 2700 Post Oak Blvd in Houston TX, under ownership of Cumulus Media. Its transmitter facility is located south of Winnie, Texas.

Contents 1 History 2 PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE MONDAY-FRIDAY 3 PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE SATURDAY 4 PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE SUNDAY 5 Callsign History 6 External link

The 97.5 frequency was originally marketed to the Beaumont/Port Arthur/Orange area as a Country Music Station under the callsign KAYD and moniker "KD-97.5." That was until December 2001 when Cumulus made its way into the Houston market by buying the station, relocating the frequency coverage from Beaumont to Houston, and launching it as "Power 97.5", an Urban Contemporary format that time. It still also covered the Beaumont market as well based on the previous market. For the first few months in 2002 KRWP (PoWeR spelled backwards) enjoyed modest success as a Hip Hop/R&B station, only to get caught up in a three-way competition with longer standing Hip Hop station KBXX, KRTX and Rhythmic Top 40 station KTHT (also somehow competing with sister Urban KTCX in Beaumont). So KRWP tilted away from the younger Urban format to an Urban Adult Contemporary one months later; while this was meant to rival heritage R&B station KMJQ, KRWP never had the real opportunity to overtake KMJQ in the ratings due to the fact the transmitter was about 50 miles east of Houston (licensed to Beaumont), thus not getting any decent coverage in the Houston market. (It was home to Doug Banks in the Mornings, even through the format altering until 2003). In late 2004, there were plans for KRWP to switch frequencies from 97.5 to 103.7 or otherwise have a simulcast just to give it better coverage in Houston. Tragically, that never came to fruition under new management, and thus switched formats in January 2005 to Rock under the callsign KIOL as "Rock 97.5". The format change was headed by former KLOL personality Jim Pruett and program director/jock Pat Fant (who assumed market manager for Cumulus Houston as a result) in response to heavy outcry from misplaced KLOL listeners after Clear Channel Houston dumped the heritage rock format on KLOL after 34 years to go with a spanish Hurban (Hispanic Urban) format. When the 103.7 signal signed on in May of 2005, Cumulus moved KIOL to the new frequency and simulcasted on 97.5 under the new calls KFNC for the next few weeks.

On the morning of May 24, 2005, at 6am, 97.5 broke the simulcast and kicked off Houston's second attempt at a FM news station, "FM News Channel 97-5" (97.1 being the first FM Newst/Talk station, even though it failed), a News/Talk Radio format. Former KLOL morning personalities Jim Pruett and Brian Shannon (the voice of Eddie "The Boner" Sanchez) reunited to host the afternoon talk show "Back Talk", which was later moved to mornings. Other KLOL alumni were on board for the stations news department were Laurie Kendrick and Martha Martinez along with former KILT newsman Jim Carolla.

It went through format tweaks and house cleaning, the "FM News Channel" moniker was dropped around spring of 2006 for "Supertalk 97.5" but the stations rating failed to keep the talk format afloat, on the morning of December 22nd 2006 after tearful goodbyes from Pruett and Shannon along with Laurie Kendrick, Martha Martinez and news/traffic girl Julie Takahatchi, the talk format left the airwaves for the current sports format that officially launched in mid-January 2007.

Cumulus Media will be moving KFNC along with KIOL to its new Houston headquarters, the current location of new sister station KRBE in the Chase Building at 9801 Westheimer Rd in mid 2007.

5am-9am Mike & Mike In the Morning 9am-12pm The Herd with Colin Cowherd 12pm-3pm The Dan Patrick Show 3pm-6pm The Bottomline with Jerome Solomon & Jorge Vargas 6pm-9pm The Pulse with Doug Gottlieb 9pm-1am Gamenight 1am-5am Allnight with Jason Smith

12am-5am The V Show with Bob Valvano 5am-6am Inside Golf 6am-7am Smokin Joe's Driving Range with Joe Pogge 7am-8am Saturday Raceday 8am-11am A.M. Gameday 11am-12pm The Sammy & Bob Show with Bob Mungle & Sammy Mahan 12pm-1pm Energy Week with Alan Lammey 1pm-2pm Texas Lending 2pm-5pm Home Improvement Zone with David Yates 5pm-6pm The Huddle 6pm-12am Gamenight

12am-5am The V Show with Bob Valvano 5am-8am Paid Programming 8am-9am The John Kincade Show 9am-10am HRT Investments(Real Estate U) w/Professor C & Marshall B 10am-11am Hot Rod Talk with David Rahman & Randy Shannon 11am-12pm The John Kincade Show 12pm-7pm NFL on ESPN Radio with Sean Salisbury & Eric Allen 7pm-12am Gamenight

   Currently, KFNC-FM has once again changed its format this time into a sports radio station. It now goes by the name "ESPN 97.5 The Ticket". They've acquired all of the ESPN Radio shows from other sports radio station now named "790 the sports animal" (KBME). Yet, all of the sporting events have stayed on 790 the sports animal(Westwood One Programming, NASCAR, NBA on ESPN, U of H ISP Sports, Texas A&M Athletics, Houston Dynamo, and weekday Houston Astros Spring Training games). 

Starting in January 2007, ESPN 97.5 The Ticket debuted a local sports talk show to compete with KILT-AM and KBME-AM. It's called "The Bottomline with Houston Chronicle Sports Writer Jerome Solomon.He's known as King Solomon in his articles, and with CW 39 Weekday Sports Anchor Jorge Vargas. The show starts at 3 p.m. following ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick and runs until 6 p.m.

• KAYD -
• KAYD-FM - 10/06/1995
• KKTT - 01/01/2002
• KRWP - 01/18/2002
• KIOL - 01/26/2005
• KFNC - 05/23/2005

• Query the FCC's FM station database for KFNC