In its nearly century-long existence, KONO AM 860 was the only radio station that showcased San Antonio flavor.
SAN ANTONIO — It’s the end of an era for a San Antonio AM radio station that had been on the air for 97 years.
In its nearly century-long existence, KONO AM 860 was the only radio station that showcased San Antonio flavor. Now, those classic tunes are off the airwaves.
KENS 5 learned how this point on the radio dial was truly one of a kind.
“The oldies they play on KONO 101 on the FM dial, they go back about 40 years… then you talk about KONO AM, you talk about what people refer to as the San Antonio sound,” said Mark Carrillo, a homegrown disk jockey and TV personality.
It’s a jingle familiar to many who grew up in and around the Alamo City.
“K-O-N-O Dial 86 BAW BAW!” recited Carrillo. “Then they hit the record!”
KONO AM 860 was the station where generations of San Antonians fell in love with local flavor.
“Sunny Ozuna, Sonny and the Sunliners, the Sir Douglas Quintet, Augie Meyers,” Carrillo said, listing off the Alamo City musicians that could be hard onthe station. “Maybe you’re not gonna hear ‘Glad All Over’ by The Dave Clark Five unless you go to SiriusXM now. It’s a whole feeling. It’s a whole time.”
Sunny Ozuna’s big break came while he was still a student at Burbank High School on San Antonio’s south side. His band, Sunny and the Sunliners, captured the attention of American television and radio personality Dick Clark, who called Ozuna to perform on American Bandstand. The group performed their hit single “Talk to Me,” making history as the first all-Tejano band to appear on the popular television show.
Country singer Ernest Tubb, known for his biggest career hit “Walking the Floor Over You,” also joined the station’s playlist. In fact, he had a live morning show on KONO.
“He would ride to KONO at 317 Arden Grove near Broadway on his bicycle to do his morning show,” said Steven O. Sellers, a local radio-TV host and musician who got hired at KONO right out of high school in Kenedy.
In 1927, Eugene Roth started the radio station on the second floor of his auto garage in San Antonio. He took an interest in radio and got ahold of a 50-watt transmitter. To help broadcast his programming to the public, Roth teamed up with George Ing, a local engineer.
“They started having programming on this 50 watt transmitter. [Roth] also sold radios,” said Sellers. “So when you bought a radio from Mr. Eugene Roth to hear his radio station, George Ing came to your house and built an aerial so you can pick up the radio station.”
KONO remained locally owned for years and grew its fanbase thanks to the station’s commitment to the community.
“We were answering the phone, ‘Hey, Lee High School’s listening to KONO!'” said Sellers. “We had a jingle for every high school. ‘Jefferson Mustangs really rock with KONO!'”
In the 1970s, KONO was neck-and-neck in the ratings with fellow San Antonio AM radio station KTSA.
“KONO and KTSA bumped heads and you can not imagine what a battle that was not only for ratings, but for ad revenue. There was a lot of money being made,” said Sellers, known to listeners at the time as Charlie Scott. “We were in the big, big battle. You went in for four hours a day. You were expected to be entertaining. You were expected to do a show.”
Carrillo, now a national voiceover artist, also made a career stop at KONO. When Cox Radio acquired the radio station around the turn of the century, Carrillo served as the assistant program director while working the FM side.
Growing up, he listened to KONO AM 860 every day before school.
“I couldn’t go to school in the mornings unless I heard Howard Edwards say, ‘Fair dinkum’ and ring the cowbell!” said Carrillo, listing his favorite DJs. “Don Couser and George the Duck. He would actually impersonate a duck.”
The building, located at 317 Arden Grove near the San Antonio Museum of Art, is no longer standing.
KONO AM 860 underwent multiple format changes. The station played live music, Top 40 hits, then morphed to a country western station at one point.
2017 marked the return of the oldies, with Sellers behind the microphone for the morning show until 2019.
“I was playing the songs that inspired me in high school to want to be on the radio,” he said, with a laugh.
On Wednesday, news of KONO AM’s change was all the buzz online. Now, the station is home to Bloomberg News—the world’s only 24-hour business radio station.
Radio stations in other large markets are also making the switch to Bloomberg Radio. Boston’s 92.9, a popular classic rock station, will begin to broadcast news radio beginning Sept. 3.
“Radio is still very viable from what I gather. It’s just that they’ve had to make so many cuts,” explained Carrillo. “The one thing that’s a constant is change. Sometimes you either gotta get with it, or you’ve gotta step out of the way or it will run you over.”
What set KONO apart from the rest is the station’s commitment to the San Antonio flavor of music.
The fun, quirky music that makes up the heartbeat of San Antonio will echo through memory.
“It’s still there,” Carrillo added. “You just have to go find it now.”
As for the FM side, KONO 101.1, they’re still on the air playing ’80s classics.
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