PRESENTS

KDNT Radio Center, 1947

The History of
KDNT RADIO
By Mike Shannon, Mike Ehrle and Sandy Shepard

KDNT-1440 AM was the very first radio station established in Denton, Texas.  While it primarily served the city of Denton, listeners between the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Oklahoma could easily receive their signal, and relied on KDNT for information and entertainment for over 55 years.

This feature tracks the station from its beginning in 1938, through the addition of its FM sister station in 1948, through ownership changes in 1972, and to its demise in 1993.  Also included are numerous photos of the property that was the final home to the towers and studios, as the site was recently cleared for the construction of a new elementary school.

This portion of the KNUS99.com website was developed in 2001 from a newspaper article written by former KDNT jock Mike Ehrle.  Since then, many former employees and listeners of KDNT have submitted stories, photos, names, clarifications, etc, and, hopefully, this new format will do a more thorough job of honoring those that made KDNT great and memorable.  Special thanks to Mike Ehrle, Harwell V. "Sandy" Shepard II (son of former KDNT owner Harwell V. Shepard,) Josh Holstead, George Lindley, Mike Robinson, Jay Weaver, Roger Daniel, Frank Haley, Betty Whatley, Phil Potter, Ray Weathers, Alan Crone, Ray Whitworth, Daryl Stephens, Joe Short, Chris Vochoska, Brule Eagan, Grant Koeller, Michael Rey, Richard Garner, Lee Woodward, Patrick Woods, Lorraine Wilson, Roger Emrich, Steve Eberhart, Doyle King, George Gimarc and Andy Waldrop for all of their contributions to this website.

Future KDNT owner Harwell V. Shepard was born in Denton on April 12, 1908.  Shepard attended Denton schools and the University of Oklahoma, but dropped out of college at age 19 to help his father with his funeral business, "Shepard Chapel" and "Shepard Funeral Home."

In 1937, Shepard, a ham radio enthusiast, decided to enter the commercial radio business, and his application for KDNT-AM is approved by the FCC.

In 1938, KDNT-AM was established with a mere $6,000 investment; it signed on the air at 1420 kc with 100 watts of power from the Denton town square's Kimbrough Building, 116 1/2 W. Oak Street, on June 1.  30 year-old Shepard lived in a room above the station, and shared the building with a drug store, dentist and the IOOF lodge (of which Shepard was a member.)  KDNT broadcasted for a few hours daily.  Programming included live broadcasting of the "Saturday Night Stage Show," from the campus of nearby North Texas State Teachers College (now the University of North Texas) with Floyd Graham as director.  The band, "Farris Wilson and the Noveleers," appeared regularly on the station, and was reportedly the first band featured on the station (Wilson became a builder thereafter, and died in Denton in 1986.)  Also, programs designed to be teaching aids for Denton area schools were implemented; world and local news were aired four times daily.  United Press (later UPI) provided the network affiliation.

Like most radio stations of the times, KDNT was home to an entertainment and public service format.  Harwell V. "Sandy" Shepard II, son of station founder and owner Harwell V. Shepard, explained the station's purpose:  "My father always wanted this station to be community oriented by broadcasting local sporting events, community programs, news reported instantly by mobile units, weather coverage from different parts of town with these same mobile units, and keeping an eye on the local politicians.  You see, our main competition for advertising dollars was the local newspaper.  My father believed that, if something was happening in Denton, all the citizens had to do was tune to 1440 and we would be right there to report it right then."

Sandy continued:  "He didn't try to program for one particular group, except on Saturday night with country music, and on Sunday with church programming.  The rest of the time, it was modified Top 40 that people could use as background music at work or wherever.  There were just too many choices within our listening area."

By 1939, KDNT and Shepard moved to a house with acreage at 300 Ross Street on the northern edge of Denton.  A tower was constructed next door to his home/studio at 400 Ross.  Shepard reportedly paid $5 for the lot!  In December, the station received approval for nighttime broadcasting, and was set up for a 100 watt output for both day and night broadcasting.

Future Denton mayor Frank Barrow worked for KDNT as an announcer during 1938-39 while a student at Denton High School.  Frank was only 15 at the time, and, after graduating school early and attending North Texas, he left at age 17 for an announcing job at WWDC in Washington, DC.  Frank returned to Denton in the 1940s to help his father run Grace-Barrow Chevrolet.  Barrow was mayor of Denton from 1958-62, and was involved with local philanthropy work until his death in 2006.

In 1940, the station moved up the dial from 1420 to 1450 kc.  By 1942, the station permanently relocated to 1440 kc.  Mary Grace Smith was the program director.  The station broadcasted 5AM-12AM.

Listener Phil Potter recently recalled visiting KDNT in 1943:  "I was stationed at Camp Howze, TX.  A couple of buddies and myself used to visit area radio stations, as I had been an announcer prior to entering the Army.  My distant memories recall our visiting KDNT one evening.  We attended a live country music/hillbilly broadcast on the upper floor of an office building.  In addition to the country performers, there was an engineer sitting at a remote board at a table, and piles of hay strewn around to give the program a true country flavor.  At the time, I thought the setting was the entire station location, but on reflection, I guess it was a countrified Studio A!"

In 1945, KDNT upgraded from 100w to 250w.

In 1946, Shepard applies for an FM license at 101.7 mHz.  It was one of the earliest applications for an FM station in north Texas.