Broadcast Coverage Maps

FM Stations - Detail         FM Stations - Printable

FM Stations
K274AJ1		102.7	Bartlesville		KLCU	N	90.3	Ardmore
KCSC	N	90.1	Edmond		KYCU	N	89.1	Clinton
KBCW		91.9	McAlester		K275AE		102.9	Lawton
W205CR2	#	88.9	Guymon		KGOU		106.3	Norman
KALU		89.3	Langston		KROU		105.7	Oklahoma City
KCCU	N	89.3	Lawton		KOSU		91.7	Stillwater
KOCU	N	90.1	Altus		KWGS		89.5	Tulsa

AM Stations

None

¹ Operated by KRPS, Pittsburg, KS.
² Operated by KANZ, Garden City, KS.

General Comments

Oklahoma is served by eleven public radio stations and one translator owned and operated by university licensees.  Two translators in the state are owned by Kansas entities.  Multiple program services are available to many residents of the counties surrounding Oklahoma City, the state’s largest population center.

FM Service

The number of public radio facilities in Oklahoma has doubled since the 1989 PTFP study reported that Oklahoma was served by five public FM stations and one translator.  Three new stations in Altus, Ardmore and Clinton, and one translator were constructed by KCCU-FM. These stations now cover a major portion of south and west Oklahoma.   A new station was constructed in McAlester to provide first service to uncovered areas of the eastern portion of the state.   KALU, operated by Langston University, did not meet the criteria for inclusion in the 1989 study.  In 1994, KALU received a PTFP grant to increase power and the station is now included in this report.

Public broadcasters in Oklahoma have increased the percentage of population receiving a public radio signal from 70% in 1989 to 83.3% currently.   The total unserved population decreased from 904,000 in 1989 to 577,193.

AM Service

None

Service from Adjacent States

Oklahomans are served by translators in Bartlesville and Guymon operated by Kansas based public broadcasters. Small sections of the state also receive public radio from Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas based broadcasters.  

Unserved Areas

Eighteen rural counties in the southeast and northwest corners of the state lack any appreciable public radio coverage. Four counties -- Alfalfa, Coal, Woods and Woodward -- do not receive a public radio signal at all.  Most of the unserved areas of the state are typified by a dispersed sparse population separated by wide expanses of range and farmland.  In the southeast corner of the state, the Ouachita Mountains present an additional barrier in extending public radio in this region.

Region A

The Oklahoma Panhandle has 8,100 residents without public radio service. The population density for the three counties is just over five persons per square mile and in some portions of the Panhandle as few as two persons per square mile.

Region B

In northwestern Oklahoma, just east of the Panhandle, 65,000 residents are without public radio service.  This area of the state includes Alfalfa, Woods and Woodward counties which are without any public radio service.  An application submitted by KGOU Norman to activate a new station in Woodward County is currently pending before the FCC and is mutually exclusive at the FCC with a competing application.

Region C

There are nearly 100,000 residents in northeastern Oklahoma without public radio service. Osage County which is home to the Osage Indian Reservation is largely without public radio service. Public radio coverage is also spotty between Tulsa and the state's border with Arkansas and Missouri. KWGS Tulsa states that its signal does reach the state line with reliable strength and that it has subscriber support from the border counties in Oklahoma as well as adjacent counties across the state line in Arkansas and Missouri.  The presence of a channel 6 TV station in Tulsa could hinder the activation of new facilities.

Region D

Over 200,000 residents in the area southeast of KGOU Norman and KBWC McAlester are without public radio service.  A four county area southeast of Norman -- Garvin, Pontotoc, Seminole, and Hughes counties -- has nearly 100,000 unserved residents. Six counties in the southeast corner of  Oklahoma^­__Bryan, Atoka, Choctaw, Pushmataha, LeFlore, and McCurtain -- are home to 133,000 residents without public radio service. The area includes Ouachita National Forest and the Ouachita Mountains, the most rugged terrain within the state.  
KTXK Texarkana, Texas, was awarded a construction permit to increase its operating power from 5.2kW to 100kW which will extend its signal into the southeast corner of Oklahoma in spring 2004.

Region E

Southwest Oklahoma has over 100,000 residents without reliable public radio coverage. This area is served by a network of stations operated by KCCU Lawton. KCCU states that these stations do provide reliable service to the "white" areas on the map adjacent to their facilities. The presence of a channel 6 TV station in Wichita Falls, Texas, could hinder the activation of new facilities.