KEYS

KEYS (1440 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Corpus Christi, Texas. It has a talk radio format and is owned by Malkan AM Associates, L.P. The studios and offices are on Leopard Street in Corpus Christi.

By day, KEYS is powered at 1,000 watts non-directional. But at night, to protect other stations on 1440 AM from interference, it reduces power to 199 watts. The transmitter is on Agnes Street near Flato Road in Corpus Christi. Programming is also heard on 250-watt FM translator K254DH at 98.7 MHz.

Programming
Weekday mornings begin with a local news and interview program, The Bob James Show. The rest of the weekday schedule is nationally syndicated talk programs: The Michael Berry Show, The Dana Loesch Show, The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey, The Mark Levin Show, Infowars with Alex Jones and Red Eye Radio.

Weekends feature specialty shows on money, health, cars, guns, real estate, gardening, veterans, the law, science, hunting and fishing. Some weekday shows are repeated on weekends. Live sports include the Dallas Cowboys, the San Antonio Spurs and the University of Texas Longhorns. Most hours begin with an update from Townhall News.

History


KEYS signed on the air in March 1941. It was the second radio station in Corpus Christi, powered at 250 watts with studios in the Centre Theatre Building. It was owned by Nueces Broadcasting and it originally transmitted on 1490 kilocycles.

In the 1960s and 70s, it aired a Top 40 format. The disc jockeys included Johnny Ringo, Charlie Brite, Johnny Marks, Tom Nix, Jim West and Gil Garcia as Michael Scott. Studio were in Downtown Corpus Christi.

In the early 2000s, it aired a talk radio format. On September 1, 2011, KEYS changed its format to sports radio, branded as "ESPN 1440." It aired programming from the ESPN Radio Network.

As of August 31, 2015, the talk radio format returned to KEYS after four-year absence.