KRLD first signed on in October of 1926, originally owned by the Radio Laboratories of Dallas, from whom the station's call letters derive. At first it was on the air for six hours each day, except on Wednesdays when the station closed down to make repairs and recharge the batteries. The Dallas Times Herald, then published by Edwin J. Kiest, purchased KRLD within a year of its debut, in 1927. Since 1939, KRLD has broadcast at a power of 50,000 watts, the highest allowed by the Federal Communications Commission. In the summer of 1941, KRLD moved to 1080 on the AM dial as a result of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement. During the Golden Age of Radio, KRLD carried network programming, including dramas, comedies, game shows, soap operas and big band music. KRLD expanded into FM radio with the original KRLD-FM in 1948, and KRLD-TV in 1949. For most of the 1960s and 70s, KRLD ran blocks of different local programming, including Middle of the Road and Country music, with some news and talk. In April 1978, KRLD switched from a music-based format to become, at the time, the third news and information station in Dallas/Fort Worth. It continues as such in the present-day. KRLD originally broadcast from the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas and for a time had its main studios in Arlington, Texas at Ameriquest Field, now known as Globe Life Park in Arlington. In the summer of 2005, the station moved operations to a 5th floor office at the southwest corner of North Fitzhugh Avenue and Central Expressway in Dallas. KRLD achieved several firsts in the field of radio broadcasting:
first station to present live broadcasts of high school and college football games.
first to offer continuous election returns.
first to broadcast live music and entertainment programs. The Big D Jamboree, which originated from the since-demolished Dallas Sportatorium, was a regular Saturday fixture on KRLD in the 1950s and 1960s. KRLD also aired wrestling matches from the Sportatorium, with longtime sportscaster Bill Mercer calling the action.
History books dispute whether KRLD, KDKAPittsburgh or WEAFNew York was the first station to broadcast commercial announcements on radio. Branch Davidian leader David Koresh used KRLD to broadcast his messages in 1993 during his standoff with the government and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, near Waco, Texas. During the 1970s and 1980s, KRLD was the flagship station for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, with Brad Sham providing color analysis and later play-by-play. Beginning in 1995, KRLD served as the radio flagship of baseball's Texas Rangers. In 2009, weekday games moved from KRLD to KRLD-FM. KRLD would relinquish the Rangers' English language radio rights in 2011 to competitor KESN. Rangers broadcasts would return to KRLD-FM in 2015 with broadcasts moving over to KRLD when conflicting with other programming, such as Cowboy games, on the FM channel. . Over the last several decades, KRLD has gone between being an All-News station and a Talk station. On September 27, 2010, KRLD began broadcasting continuous news from 5am-8pm on weekdays, as well as weekend mornings, with talk programming on nights and most of the weekend. On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with Entercom. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th. Despite this, KRLD and former sister TV stationKTVT maintained a strong partnership up until April 26, 2018 when Entercom struck a new content deal with NBCowned-and-operatedKXAS-TV.
Honors
The Radio Television Digital News Association announced on June 12, 2013, that the KRLD Afternoon News had been chosen as the recipient of the prestigious 2013 National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in the Large Market Radio category.
KRLD has long served as the flagship station for the Texas State Network, which provides KRLD and other stations around the state with news, sports and weather info. Some reporters are based at the KRLD studios, with others at the state capital in Austin and other parts of Texas.
