KAWA (FM)

KAWA
Sanger, Texas;
Broadcast area	Denton/McKinney/Fort Worth/Gainesville/ Sherman/Denison/Southern Oklahoma
Frequency	89.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	89.7 WAY-FM
Programming
Format	Christian adult contemporary
Subchannels	HD2: Spanish Christian adult contemporary
Ownership
Owner	WAY-FM Network; (Hope Media Group);
History
First air date	1999
Former call signs	KBJV (1998–1999); KTPW (1999–2004); KVRK (2004–2015)
Call sign meaning	WAy-FM
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	76285
Class	C
ERP	95,000 watts
HAAT	572 meters (1,877 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	33°33′37″N 96°57′34″W / 33.56028°N 96.98634°W
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wayfm.com; vidaunida.com

KAWA (89.7 MHz) is an American Christian adult contemporary music formatted radio station located in Dallas, Texas. It is a WAY-FM Network owned and operated station through Hope Media Group (a non-profit entity). As a non-profit under previous ownership of Research Educational Foundation, Inc., it annually hosted two fund-raising drives to remain on the air. It broadcasts at 95,000 watts from a tower in Sanger, Texas.

History

After a two-year stay in Florida, Eldred and Raye Nell Thomas returned to the Dallas area and decided to start a Christian radio station. Through other business interests, Mr. Thomas learned of KVTT, now KKXT, an existing station that operated as an extension of Elkins Institute, a broadcasting training facility. With retirement looming, Bill Elkins, the founder and president of the Elkins Institute, wanted to find someone to continue with the station he had operated since 1950. In March 1976, Mr. Thomas became the president of Research Educational Foundation, Inc. and General Manager of KVTT. (Eldred and Raye Nell Thomas are now both deceased and KVTT's FM 91.7 frequency was sold to local public broadcaster KERA in 2009.)

In 1994, KVTT applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to begin broadcasting a full-time Christian rock station for the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Around the same time, 1995, the station began to target the area youth with their music programming in the evenings with "Power Mix" on weeknights, "Youth Wake" (later "Lighthouse 21") on Saturday nights and Spin 180 on Sunday nights. "Lighthouse 21" also ran a TV show on KSTR 52 in Dallas.^[2]

It took over four years for the application to be processed and granted by the FCC. On January 18, 1999, a license was granted to broadcast at 14,000 watts as KTPW and transmit from a tower north of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Sanger, Texas. The new station began broadcasting on July 27, 1999.

In 2004 REF Inc. released its responsibility to KVTT and became responsible only for Power FM. The KVRK call letters were established on June 14, 2004. Power FM also had a TV show on JCTV called FM.^{[citation needed]}.

In May 2015, WAY-FM announced plans to acquire the station.^[3] The said acquisition was completed effective on September 16, 2016, at a purchase price of $2 million. The call sign was changed to KAWA on September 24, 2015, and a slight format change from Christian Rock to CCM was made.^[4]^[5] The previous "Power FM" format is still available to stream live through its internet presence and their app.^[6]

As of late September 2016, KAWA holds a construction permit to increase power from 14,000 to 45,000 watts and an application to further increase to 90,000 watts.

Signal

Unlike most of the area's FM stations like competitor KLTY, which transmit their signals from Cedar Hill, KAWA transmits its signal from an area West of Collinsville. Therefore, KAWA's signal is much stronger in the Northern parts of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex including Dallas, Denton, and McKinney as well as the cities of Decatur, Gainesville, Sherman, and Bonham, to as far North as Ardmore and Durant, Oklahoma, but is considerably weaker in Fort Worth and areas south of Dallas.

References

^ "Facility Technical Data for KAWA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
^ "Lighthouse 21 on IMDB". IMDB. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
^ Weinberg, Tessa (2015-05-14). "Report: Power 89.7 FM soon to become "Way-FM"". star-telegram. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
^ "FCC Call Sign Query". FCC Call Sign Query. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
^ 5 Things Dallas and Fort Worth Need to Know About WAY-FM (accessed December 2, 2015)
^ Power FM (accessed December 2, 2015)

External links

Power FM (station's former website)
Facility details for Facility ID 76285 (KAWA) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
KAWA in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
89.7 WAY-FM Facebook Page
Power FM Facebook Page
JCTV
DFW Radio/TV History
Lighthouse 21 on IMDB

33°33′36″N 96°57′36″W / 33.560°N 96.960°W / 33.560; -96.960

[1] "Facility Technical Data for KAWA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.

[2] "Lighthouse 21 on IMDB". IMDB. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

[3] Weinberg, Tessa (2015-05-14). "Report: Power 89.7 FM soon to become "Way-FM"". star-telegram. Retrieved 2020-05-19.

[4] "FCC Call Sign Query". FCC Call Sign Query. Retrieved 27 September 2015.

[5] 5 Things Dallas and Fort Worth Need to Know About WAY-FM (accessed December 2, 2015)

[6] Power FM (accessed December 2, 2015)

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v t e Radio stations in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area (Texas)
By AM frequency	1420 1500 1580 1700
By FM frequency	89.7 90.5 91.5 92.1 93.1 94.5 95.3 97.5 99.3 100.7 102.5 103.3 104.9 106.3 107.3
NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.425 162.475
By call sign	K257EV KAWA KFYN KGAF KHA99 KHYI KJIM KKLF KLAK KLBC KMAD-FM KMKT KTXG KVDT KWRD-FM KXEZ KYFB KZMJ KZMP-FM WXK22 KQDR
Nearby regions Dallas–Fort Worth Lawton Oklahoma City Paris Tyler Wichita Falls See also List of radio stations in Texas

v t e Religious radio stations in the state of Texas
KHCB Radio Network	KHCB-FM – Houston (English) KHCB – Galveston (Spanish) KHCH – Huntsville (Spanish & Asian) Satellite Stations KANJ – Giddings KHCJ – Jefferson KHCP – Paris KHIB – Bastrop KHKV – Kerrville KHML – Madisonville KHPO – Port O'Connor KHTA – Wake Village KHVT – Bloomington KKER – Kerrville KRTG – Carthage
EWTN Radio affiliates	Guadalupe Radio Network: KLPF – Midland KATH – Frisco KBKN – Lamesa KBMD – Marble Falls KJMA – Floresville KVDG – Midland (Spanish) KJON – Carrollton (Spanish) KWMF – Pleasanton (Spanish) Other affiliates: KDJW – Amarillo KEDC – Hearne KINF-LP – Palestine KOOV — Kempner KPIA-LP – Huntsville KYAR – Lorena
Other religious stations	K274BA - Paris KABA – Louise KACB-LP – College Station KACD-LP – Midland KAFR – Willis KAGA-LP – San Angelo KAGC – Bryan KAMY – Lubbock KANI – Wharton KAQD – Abilene KATG – Athens KAVO – Pampa KAVW – Amarillo KAVX – Lufkin KAWA – Sanger KAYK – Victoria KBAH – Plainview KBBW – Waco KBCX – Big Spring KBJS – Jacksonville KBMM – Odessa KBNR – Brownsville KBRZ-FM – Victoria KBUB – Brownwood KCAS – McCook KCCE – San Angelo KCKB – Moran KCKT – Crockett KCTA – Corpus Christi KDAE – Sinton KDEI – Port Arthur KDKR – Decatur KDRY – Alamo Heights KEHH – Livingston KELP – El Paso KEPI – Eagle Pass KEPX – Eagle Pass KFGG-LP – Marble Falls KFLB – Odessa KFLB – Odessa KGDL – Trent KGLY – Tyler KGOD-LP – Tenaha KGWP – Pittsburg KHFZ – Pittsburg KHIH – Liberty KHVU – Houston KIBL – Beeville KIJN – Farwell KIJN-FM – Farwell KIXL – Del Valle KJAV - Alamo KJHV-LP – Killeen KJRN – Keene KJRT – Amarillo KKHT – Winnie KLDS – Falfurrias KLFZ – Jacksonville KLTW – Winnie KLTY – Arlington KMAT – Seadrift KMEO – Mertzon KMOC – Wichita Falls KNNK – Dimmitt KNRB – Atlanta KOIR – Edinburg KOKE-FM – Thorndale KOUI – Mount Pleasant KPAS – Fabens KPCO-FM – Cooper KPDR – Wheeler KQUE-FM – Bay City KRBG – Umbarger KRCM – Shenandoah KRIO-FM – Roma KRYH-LP – Temple KSAO – San Angelo KSGR – Portland KSLR – San Antonio KTAA – Big Sany KTEK – Alvin KTMR – Edna KTMR – Converse KTMU – Muenster KTNZ – Amarillo KTXB – Beaumont KTYR – Trinity KVCE – Slaton KVDT – Allen/Dallas KVLM – Tarzan KVLX – Franklin KVMV – McAllen KVNE - Tyler KVUD – Bay City KVUJ – Lake Jackson KWAS – Borger KWLL – Gilmer KWRD-FM – Highland Village KXAI – Odem KXOI – Crane KYBP – Paris KYFB – Denison KYFP – Palestine KYFS – San Antonio KYJC – Commerce KZAI – Refugio KZFT – Fannett KZKV – Karnes City KZWL - Bullard
Defunct	KDSH-LP – Borger KHSP-LP – Killeen KKVI – Overland
See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Texas See also Classical Jazz Religious Spanish Smooth Jazz Other