KTLI

KTLI
El Dorado, Kansas

Broadcast area	Wichita
Frequency	99.1 MHz
Branding	"K-LOVE"
Programming
Format	Contemporary Christian
Ownership
Owner	Educational Media Foundation (El Dorado Licenses, Inc.)
History
First air date	February 15, 1972 (1972-02-15)
Former call signs	KOYY-FM (1972–11/06/84) KSPG-FM (11/06/84-01/11/88) KBUZ (01/11/88-01/12/93)
Former frequencies	99.3 MHz (1972–1988)
Call sign meaning	"K T Light 99" (former moniker)
Technical information
Class	C1
ERP	100,000 watts
HAAT	188 meters (617 ft)
Translator(s)	93.9 K230BP (Hutchinson)
Links
Website	http://www.klove.com/

KTLI (99.1 FM) is a radio station in Wichita, Kansas, and licensed to El Dorado, Kansas. The station airs the K-LOVE Contemporary Christian programming from the Educational Media Foundation. El Dorado Licenses is a wholly owned subsidiary of EMF.^[1] KTLI's transmitter is located near Potwin, Kansas.

History

KTLI signed on the air in 1972 at 99.3 FM. Its format history includes rock and adult contemporary as KOYY and country as KSPG-FM.

In February 1988, Gary and Ann Violet purchased KSPG-FM along with KSPG-AM (1360). The country format was dropped on the FM side for urban contemporary as the second incarnation of KBUZ (formerly on 106.5 FM, now KYQQ), targeting Wichita, despite its (at the time) poor signal.^[2] In the fall of 1989, KBUZ upgraded its signal for better coverage over Wichita; the power increased from 3 kW to 50 kW, and relocated its transmitter to a site near Towanda. Along with an increase in its power, the station changed frequencies from 99.3 to 99.1.^[3] The format leaned slightly towards a rhythmic Top 40 direction for a brief period and later moved back to an urban direction.

In December 1991, the Violets once again sold KBUZ along with KSPG-AM, this time to New Life Fellowship Inc., whose principal was local pastor David Brace. At Midnight on December 6, the new owners dropped KBUZ's urban format again, and changed to contemporary Christian as "Light 99" (the KTLI call letters would be adopted on January 12, 1993).^[4]^[5] In December 1995, Brace was convicted on federal money laundering charges; because of this, KTLI was sold off in bankruptcy court to Adonai Radio Group.^[6]^[7]

In June 2004, Adonai Radio Group announced they would sell KTLI to Educational Media Foundation (EMF), at the time based in Sacramento. Since the completion of the sale in October 2004, KTLI has aired EMF's "K-LOVE" contemporary Christian music format.^[8]^[9]

References

^ http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=349835^[bare URL]
^ Nickie Flynn, "El Dorado airwaves to give KBUZ new life", The Wichita Eagle, February 3, 1988.
^ Bob Curtright, "Stronger, slightly changed KBUZ changing cities", The Wichita Eagle, September 2, 1989.
^ Bob Curtright, "KBUZ bought by Christian group", The Wichita Eagle, December 10, 1991.
^ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1991/RR-1991-12-13.pdf^{[bare URL PDF]}
^ Bob Cox, "Brace-affiliated radio stations to be sold", The Wichita Eagle, January 19, 1996.
^ Bob Cox, "Betrayal of Faith", The Wichita Eagle, April 28, 1996.
^ Bob Curtright, "Light 99 bought by K-LOVE company", The Wichita Eagle, June 17, 2004.
^ Brent Castillo, "Faith & music", The Wichita Eagle, September 4, 2004.