Today is
Sunday June 14, 2026
Yes, recent rule changes by Major League Baseball now allow affiliate stations to stream Major League games.
Yours is a question we get nearly every fall. If it were up to us, we’d be on the air at 100 kilowatts. The equipment to broadcast at a higher power output is relatively cheap and, despite the high energy costs that so dominate the headlines as I write this, so is the electricity. If we could, we’d go buy a gangbusters transmitter and crank it all the way up. And so would every other broadcaster. Therein lies the problem.
If every broadcaster simply put as much signal in the air as he or she had the checkbook to buy, the spectrum would be a chaotic jumble of useless noise.
Which is what was rapidly becoming the case in the late 1920s and early 1930s as the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) was formed and that agency began allocating frequencies, power and directionality.
When the sun sets, KTBB, like most AM radio stations, changes its power and the directions in which it most strongly radiates its signal.
Radio Frequency energy (RF) in what is commonly called the AM band (535 kHz to 1700 kHz) has a characteristic called the skywave. During the day, ionization of the atmosphere by the sun suppresses the skywave and your receiver detects only the groundwave. But at night, when solar energy is gone, the skywave is “free” to travel great distances. As a result, the skywave of a station in Tyler, Texas can cause severe interference for a station in a state as far away as either coast. The skywave effect diminishes with an increase in frequency (dial position). Therefore, a station that is low on the dial like KTBB at 600 kHz will have a very significant skywave component.
To deal with this physical property of AM radio, the FCC allocated radio stations in the U.S. in such a way that some stations are fully powered both day and night, a great many stations are only on the air in the daytime and the rest operate at a higher power by day and a lower power by night.
KTBB is in the last group of stations. Our daytime power is 5,000 watts. Our nighttime power is 2,500 watts. We change power at local sunrise and local sunset. As you know, that time changes with the changing of the seasons. As I write this, our power-up time on KTBB is 7:30 a.m. CDT and our power-down time is 6:45 p.m. CDT As I mentioned, those times change as the seasons change.
As if that weren’t enough, KTBB, like most AM stations, uses a directional antenna system. Simply put, we radiate our signal more strongly in some directions than in others. This, too, is to provide protection from interference to stations in other communities that also operate on our frequency (600 kHz) as well as to stations in other communities that operate on frequencies adjacent to ours (580 kHz, 590 kHz, 610 kHz, and 620 kHz). Our directional pattern changes for daytime and nighttime operation at the same times that our power changes. Our pattern is such that we do not radiate as strongly to the east toward Longview at night as we do in the daytime. Also, we protect KLBJ(AM) in Austin. They are at 590 on the dial, the first adjacent channel to us at 600 kHz. Thus, we “pull in our horns” to the south as the sun sets.
The question that always follows is, “Well, can’t you do something to raise your power.” And the answer that must follow is, “No, we can’t.” The AM Table of Allotments for the United States is a giant jigsaw puzzle. What we do will affect our neighboring AM stations, which will affect their neighbors and so on. So what we have is for all intents and purposes fixed. I hope this answers your question.
You can view a table listing of the AVERAGE HOURS OF SUNRISE AND SUNSET by clicking on this link: Sun Hours
Many of our listeners that are affected by our power and pattern changes are making use of our web streaming service. If you live in the Tyler-Longview metropolitan survey area as defined by ARBITRON, the radio ratings company, you can subscribe to our streaming service for only $0.99 and you can listen on any computer you own.
The eligible counties of residence are Smith, Gregg & Cherokee.
Click here: Stream Terms for complete information.
I appreciate your interest and I hope I have answered your question.
Paul L. Gleiser
President
TYLER — Two elections in Smith County may hinge on as-yet uncounted ballots. Elections Administrator Karen Nelson says these fall into two categories. One is provisional ballots — ones that were cast even though an individual’s eligibility to vote was in question. Nelson says there are 77 such ballots in the county. The other category is overseas military ballots; Nelson says about 100 of those are still out. One of the elections involves the Tyler ISD bond proposal; the other will determine whether beer and wine can be purchased for off-premise consumption in J.P. Precinct 4. Both measures were behind when all regular ballots had been counted — but by razor-thin margins, with the votes split virtually down the middle.
Nelson says officials have begun processing the provisional ballots to determine, first, how many will be ruled valid. Then officials will count the valid votes, if there are any. Nelson hopes to have the provisional ballots processed and counted by early Thursday afternoon. The deadline for receiving overseas military ballots is Monday, November 8, at 5 p.m. Nelson says officials have until November 10 to count those ballots, and she hopes to have it done by late afternoon on November 9. The canvassing period is November 10-15. Nothing becomes official at least until the canvassing is done — and challenges or recounts could always come into play. KTBB will keep you posted on how things turn out.
TISD board president Ron Vickery said regardless of the outcome, he’s pleased with the heavy voter turnout. If the bond issue passes, Vickery said the school district will move forward with plans for three new schools. In recent days, some opposition has emerged to the proposal for a new Rice Elementary School based on concerns about possibly moving the campus. Vickery says a key piece of any plans for Rice will be setting up public forums in order to get questions about the school’s future answered as quickly as possible. If the proposal loses, Vickery says school district officials will try to “put together a proposal and do it at a time and in a manner that we hopefully will have some wide community input on and support on.” According to Vickery, bond opponents seem to agree that TISD has facility needs, but there’s been disagreement about “what the plan should look like.”
Other local races were decided early. Both Bullard and Whitehouse will allow mixed beverages in restaurants, but neither will allow beer and wine to be bought in stores for off-premise consumption. Also, State Representative Leo Berman and District Attorney Matt Bingham cruised to easy victories; other area Republican hopefuls appeared on the way to similar wins.
LONGVIEW — A pair from Gladewater and one suspect from Longview were arrested Monday for theft of copper. The three were arrested near FM 1845 and Bacle Road after deputies responded to an in-progress theft call. “Monday morning, field deputies were dispatched to an oil field company storage yard off FM 1845 north of Longview after a theft in progress was reported,” Gregg County Sheriff’s Captain Mike Claxton said Tuesday. An employee of a local production company saw a man run from a cart loaded with stolen copper and called law enforcement.
“Two of the three were located and detained when deputies arrived, and the third was found south of the theft site after running into some woods while deputies were en-route,” Claxton said. Michael Dennis Harnden, 50, and Julia Loraine Dodd, 39, both of Gladewater; and Jeffrey Wayne Prichard, 62, of Longview, were charged by probable cause affidavits with one count of theft of copper, a 4th degree felony. Officials say the copper taken from the company was recovered at the arrest location. “Some damage was caused to several electrical transformers when this group removed the copper,” Claxton said. The cost of the damage has not been determined. On Tuesday, Harnden, Dodd, and Prichard were arraigned before Judge B.H. Jameson. Bond was set on each suspect at $10,000. All three remain in jail.
I share your disappointment that Charley Jones is no longer on the air at KTBB. We like the show and I like Charley. I have known him for over 35 years.
The reason we stopped carrying the show is not because of the show itself. It is because of the Texas State Network. TSN is the network that syndicates Texas Overnight and the network, due to severe cuts in personnel, has devolved into a sloppy, inattentive mess.
When the Texas State Network has technical difficulties in the middle of the night, there is no engineer on hand to clear the problem. What this has meant for us in practical terms is that when the network feed goes down, as it does with distressing frequency, there is literally NO ONE AT THE NETWORK that we can call. We are then left to scramble to get something on the air.
Texas State Network no longer takes live technical trouble calls from affiliates. If an affiliate has a technical problem (or more accurately if the network has a technical problem that results in cessation of delivery of
programming to affiliates), affiliates are supposed to email the trouble report to TSN. Our experience with TSN on this is that the emails are either never acknowledged or are acknowledged hours or in some cases days after the fact.
When TSN goes down in the middle of the night, it causes serious disruptions to our operation. The frequency of TSN’s difficulties, coupled with their indifferent response, has thus led us stop taking their syndicated programming. Replaying Rush’s broadcast from the previous afternoon is something over which we have total control. We have zero control when it comes to fixing problems at TSN and apparently very little influence over them. Our oft expressed concerns regarding their frequent problems fell on deaf ears. That’s why we made the decision that we made.
I appreciate the fact that you miss Charley Jones. As I say, I have known Charley for over three and a half decades and respect him a lot. But his network is letting him down and we simply cannot allow their sloppy
operation to negatively affect us any longer.
Paul L. Gleiser
IRVING — First Choice Power has awarded Tyler’s Discovery Science Place its Reduce Your Use Grant. First Choice Power officials say the grant provides funding for energy-efficiency products and services to reduce nonprofits’ energy usage and costs now and in the future. “These grants enable nonprofits around Texas to decrease their energy use, allowing them to dedicate their time and resources toward the long-term vision of achieving their missions,” said Brian Hayduk, president of First Choice Power.
26 nonprofits agencies will receive the grant across Texas, each located in a community served by First Choice Power. The Discovery Science Place will use the grant funds to replace standard light bulbs with CFL bulbs. First Choice Power officials say the energy efficient lighting must be retrofitted for use with the existing tube lighting fixtures.
“We’re very excited to have been selected as a recipient of the Reduce Your Use Grant” said Michael Shanklin, executive director of The Discovery Science Place. ”As a non-profit organization that is also a hands-on museum with a focus on science and technology, the ability to demonstrate the importance of energy conservation while reducing our energy usage and costs is important to us, our guests and our supporters.”
TYLER — Lone Star Self-Storage has partnered with The Salvation Army in Tyler to sponsor a “Food and Fan Drive.” You can donate non-perishable food items or a box fan and receive your second month of storage free. Donations can be made through the last day of June, Monday through Friday 9-6, Saturday 9-5, and Sunday 9-2 at Lone Star Self-Storage, 3521 Frankston Hwy. Salvation Army staffers say food and fans are needed to help ess-fortunate East Texans beat the heat this summer.
KILGORE — 2010 marks the Texas Shakespeare Festival’s 25th season, and the TSF Foundation is highlighting the festival’s impact on the East Texas economy. Among the examples:
• More than 96% of available seats were sold during the 2009 season.
• 75% of attendees were from outside the Kilgore area.
• More than 75% ate out in the region before/after attending performances.
• Almost 30% spent the night in the area as a result of attending performances.
• TSF has worked with more than 1,139 theatre artists from forty states, the District of Columbia, and eight foreign countries.
• The Festival has staged 110 productions for more than 1,181 performances including 28 plays of the Shakespeare canon, many of them more than once; 22 non-Shakespearean classics; fifteen American musicals; nine productions of a history play based on the East Texas oilfield; 24 productions for children, many of them original scripts; and a world premiere of the musical, Reveoco.
Also of note: Recognizable TSF alumni include Michael Hall, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor and star of the HBO series “Six Feet Under”; Glenn Kessler, Emmy-winning writer and co-creator, writer, and executive producer for the FX series “Damages” with Glenn Close; and Danny Pino, in his seventh season as Detective Valens on the CBS series “Cold Case.” You can go to http://www.texasshakespeare.com for more on this year’s festival.
TYLER — Tyler police are investigating an early Sunday morning drive-by shooting. Police responded around 1:00 a.m. to a residence in the 400 block of Cochran Street and found a woman inside who had sustained a single gunshot wound. She was transported to East Texas Medical Center Hospital by ambulance. Police say her injury is not believed to be life-threatening. According to authorities, the incident involved several shots being fired from an unknown vehicle as it passed by the residence.
Anyone with information about the suspects involved in this crime is urged to contact the Tyler Police Department, at 903-531-1000, or Crimestoppers, at 903-597-CUFF (903-597-2833). Crimestoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information that leads to arrests and charges filed against the suspects in this or any felony case.
Deputies say clues at the scene indicate the body wasn’t there for very long. “We believe she’s been here for less than 24 hours,” said Lt. Tom Dana of the Smith County Sheriff’s Department. “We do believe there’s foul play involved in this death.” Detectives describe her as a young black woman between 18 and 35 years old. She was wearing capri style pants, a black blouse, and white shoes.
TYLER — Jason Wright says he’s humbled to have been elected to Tyler’s City Council. The local businessman bested runoff opponent Kara Camp Saturday, 867 votes to 816, in the race to succeed Charles Alworth in District 6. Wright commented, “What an honor it is…to have the opportunity to be a servant-leader in a city that you love.” He says he can’t wait to get to work and is looking forward to meeting with city officials and staff so he can start learning his way around City Hall. Wright said the Council race was long and hard, but well-run. He added that both he and Camp love the city and want to serve it in any capacity possible.
TYLER — Authorities feel they have a better understanding of what happened over the weekend in the deaths of a Tyler lawyer and his ex-wife. It happened Saturday night in Smith County’s Hidden Hill Lake subdivision where the bodies of Thomas Blow and Kinsey Lynn Lewis-Blow were found. Both had been shot to death. Authorities believe Thomas Blow shot his former wife and then turned the gun on himself.
KETK-TV reported a woman, who authorities say was a friend of Blow’s ex-wife, had dropped her off and was waiting in the drive-way for her to come out. When she never came back to the car, the woman went looking for her, and found the bodies. The couple’s two young boys, ages 5 and 7, who had been staying with their dad for Father’s Day, were not injured.
I sure have missed KDOK and it’s great music. Do you think there will ever be another radio station that will play the kind of music KDOK played in Tyler? There is not a radio station in the area that plays the 60’s,70’s music. Can’t pick up KLUV, station from Dallas. Thank you for a reply.
ANSWER
I cannot speak for other broadcasters in the market. There is always a
chance that one of them will make the business decision to change formats on
one of their stations to something similar to what KDOK did. When and under
what circumstances that might occur, I cannot say.
I miss KDOK, too. I liked listening to it a lot. But it was not a growing
business and it was taking away resources that were necessary to protect and
grow our core franchise, which is news and talk. Playing music on the radio,
and particularly music from a “frozen” playlist, in other words a playlist
that does not continually take in new material, has become a very different
business than it used to be. The proliferation of personal music devices and
the ability to easily interface those devices to the sound system in one’s
vehicle has dramatically chnaged the game for FM radio music broadcasters.
In order to keep time-spent-listening to KDOK at competitive levels, I was
having to spend a ruinous amount of money every year doing focus group
research on the KDOK playlist in order to determine which songs were getting
burned out and which songs needed to be brought back into rotation. The
truth is, it is hard to compete with a person’s iPod. The playlist on a
person’s iPod is the absolutely perfectly researched playlist for that
person. It is particularly true in a format that doesn’t regularly introduce
new music, such as an oldies station like KDOK, that constant music research
is necessary or the audience will not spend as much time listening and that
ratings will suffer.
KLUV in Dallas conducts continuous music research in order to address this
issue. The problem for a similar station in a market like Tyler is that it
costs the same amount to do the research in Tyler as it does to do the
research in Dallas-Ft. Worth. The cost of research as a percentage of KLUV’s
revenue, however, is a fraction of that same cost as a percentage of KDOK’s
revenue.
Thus, we made the decision regarding KDOK and, despite the fact that I miss
KDOK, it has proven to be a good business decision.
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Paul L. Gleiser
Yes, if the show in question is part of our MP3/Podcasting program. The following shows are available, for 1 week, for download and podcasting – More information and a list of available podcasts
Yours is a question we get frequently at this time of year as the sun begins rising later and setting earlier. You didn’t specify where you live in the area so my answer will be general in nature. But put simply, as the sun rises and sets, KTBB, like most AM radio stations, changes its power and the direction in which it more strongly radiates its signal.
A little technical information. Radio Frequency energy (RF) in what is commonly called the AM band (535 kHz to 1700 kHz) has a characteristic called the skywave. During the day, ionization of the atmosphere by the sun suppresses the skywave and your receiver detects only the groundwave. But at night, when solar energy is gone, the skywave is “free” to travel great distances. As a result, the skywave of a station in Tyler, Texas can cause severe interference for a station in a state as far away as either coast. The skywave effect diminishes with an increase in frequency (dial position). Therefore, a station that is low on the dial like KTBB at 600 kHz will have a very significant skywave component.
To deal with this physical property of AM radio, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated radio stations in the U.S. in such a way that some stations are fully powered both day and night, a great many stations are only on the air in the daytime and the rest operate at a higher power by day and a lower power by night.
KTBB is in the last group of stations. Our daytime power is 5,000 watts. Our nighttime power is 2,500 watts. We change power at local sunrise and local sunset. As you know, that time changes with the changing of the seasons. As I write this, our power-up time on KTBB is 7:30 a.m. and our power-down time is 7:45 p.m. As I mentioned, those times change as the seasons change.
As if that weren’t enough, KTBB, like most AM stations, uses a directional antenna system. Simply put, we radiate our signal more strongly in some directions than in others. This, too, is to provide protection from interference to stations in other communities that also operate on our frequency (600 kHz) as well as to stations in other communities that operate on frequencies adjacent to ours (580 kHz, 590 kHz, 610 kHz, and 620 kHz). Our directional pattern changes for daytime and nighttime operation at the same times that our power changes. Our pattern is such that we do not radiate as strongly to the east toward Longview at night as we do in the daytime.
The question that always follows is, “Well, can’t you do something to raise your power.” And the answer that must follow is, “No, we can’t.” The AM Table of Allotments for the United States is a giant jigsaw puzzle. What we do will affect our neighboring AM stations, which will affect their neighbors and so on. So what we have is for all intents and purposes fixed. I hope this answers your question.
You can view a table listing of the AVERAGE HOURS OF SUNRISE AND SUNSET by clicking on the link below:
http://www.ktbb.com/sunhours.php
I appreciate your interest.
Paul L. Gleiser
President