Broadcast Coverage Maps

FM Stations - Detail         FM Stations - Printable

FM Stations
KACU		89.7	Abilene		KPFT		88.1	Houston
KACV		89.9	Amarillo		KTSU		90.9	Houston
KAZI		88.7	Austin		KUHF		88.7	Houston
KUT		90.5	Austin		KTPB	N	88.7	Kilgore
KUTX	N	89.1	San Angelo		KNCT		91.3	Killeen
KVLU		91.3	Beaumont		KOHM	#	89.1	Lubbock
KAMU		90.1	College Stn.		KLDN1	N	88.9	Lufkin
KEOS	N	89.1	College Stn.		KOCV	#	91.3	Odessa
KETR		88.9	Commerce		KPVU		91.3	Prairie View
KEDT		90.3	Corpus Christi		KSTX		89.1	San Antonio
KVRT	N	90.7	Victoria		KPAC		88.3	San Antonio
KERA		90.1	Dallas		KTXI	N	90.1	Ingram
KNON		89.3	Dallas		KTOT2	N	89.5	Spearman
KNTU		88.1	Denton		KTXK		91.5	Texarkana
KTEP		88.5	El Paso		KWBU	#	103.3	Waco
KMBH	N	88.9	Harlingen		KMCU3	N	88.7	Wichita Falls
KHID	N	90.1	McAllen

AM Stations

None

¹   Operated by KDAQ, Shreveport, LA.
²  Operated by KANZ, Garden City, KS.
³   Operated by KCCU, Lawton, OK.

General Comments

Public radio in Texas is provided by 28 licensees with 33 stations and eight translators.  The majority of the licensees are universities or educational entities while nine are community broadcasters. Several of the stations are operated by licensees that also operate public television stations, including KACV, KAMU, KEDT, KERA, KMBH, KUHF, KNCT, KOCV and KWBU.  Many areas of Texas are sparsely populated.  Despite large geographic areas of the state without public radio service, public radio is available to almost 90% of the state’s population.  Multiple services are available in the major population centers of the state.

FM Service

The 1989 coverage study identified 21 public radio stations serving the state.  Texas has experienced a 47% growth in population since 1980, from 14.2 million to nearly 21 million residents. This population growth has filled formerly rural areas between the cities of Dallas, San Antonio and Houston -- spread through west Texas and along the Mexican border near the Gulf Coast and El Paso, the farthest point west in Texas. During this period, many of the larger unserved communities created stand-alone local stations.

Twenty-one new entries are included in this study.  Most of these facilities serve previously uncovered areas of the state. Three stations that did not meet criteria for inclusion in 1989 are now included, KOHM Lubbock, KOCV Odessa and KWBU Waco. These stations provide coverage to growing communities in west Texas and along the I-35 corridor between Dallas and Austin.

Texas based public broadcasters have added seven new stations to cover previously unserved areas. KMBH Harlingen and KHID McAllen cover the Mexican border counties near the Gulf Coast. Areas of east Texas are now covered by KTPB Kilgore. KVRT Victoria was established by KEDT to cover the Gulf coast between Corpus Christi and Houston. KTXI Ingram extends the signals of both KSTX and KPAC into the Hill Country north of San Antonio. KUTX San Angelo extends the service of KUT Austin to west Texas and the lowest reaches of the High Plains. Translators extend the service of KERA Dallas, KVLU Beaumont and most significantly KPFT Houston with 300,000 residents covered by its Galveston translator.  Three new stations were constructed by out-of-state public broadcasters which provide first service in their regions, including KLDN serving Lufkin, KTOT serving the northeast quadrant of the Texas Panhandle and KMCU serving Wichita Falls.

In northeast Texas, KTXK is increasing power and expanding its coverage area. This will provide more service to an uncovered area to the west of Texarkana.

The 1989 study listed community licensee KXCR El Paso. In 2002 the station was sold and no longer provides public radio service. 

The percentage of Texas’s population receiving a public radio signal increased from 77% (in 1989) to 89.5% currently.  The number of unserved residents decreased from 3,326,000 in 1989 to 2,183,387 today. 

AM Service

None

Service from Adjacent States

Three stations and four translators have been installed in Texas by broadcasters operating from Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico.  Texas residents also receive broadcast signals from stations in the adjacent states of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.

Unserved Areas

Texas is a vast state with large areas still not receiving coverage from a single public radio station. Sixty-eight of 254 counties in the state receive minimal public radio service. Thirty-three of these counties have fewer than 5,000 residents. Thirty-eight counties receive no signal at all.

Region A

There are three stations and two translators within the 50 counties located north of Lubbock through the Panhandle encompassing over 81,000 square miles.  Twenty-nine counties remain with little or no public radio service. While many of these are sparsely populated counties, there are nearly 250,000 residents without public radio service in this region.

Region B

The area between KACU and KERA, below KMCU, contains nearly 300,000 residents without service.  Many of the counties in this region are without any public radio service. This area encompasses 45,000 square miles.

Region C

The area southeast of Dallas (KERA) includes nearly 250,000 residents without public radio service.  This area of East Central Texas encompasses over 23,000 square miles.

Region D

The Big Bend Country region of Texas contains more than 100,000 residents without pubic radio service. This area contains rugged desert plateaus to wooded mountain slopes.  The 12 counties in this region cover over 8,000 square miles and are sparsely populated.

Region E

The South Texas Plains region covers 28,000 square miles. Eleven counties along the Mexican border receive no public radio service. Over 200,000 residents of this region do not receive a public radio signal.

Region F

This area just west of the Gulf Coast region is home to nearly 100,000 residents without public radio service. This area is located between the coverage areas of stations in the Gulf Coast and the Texas Hill Country regions.

Translators listed by operating station Facilities in italics operated by out‑of‑state broadcasters

KANZ Garden City, KS					KVLU Beaumont, TX
K235AL	N	94.9	Amarillo		K210CS	N	89.9	Jasper
K217CS	N	91.3	Washburn		KERA Dallas, TX
KENW Portales, NM					K259AQ	N	99.7	Tyler
K215BG	N	90.9	Andrews		K202DR	N	88.3	Wichita Falls
K258AO       N       99.5     Midland	N	99.5	Midland		KPFT Houston, TX
					K208DG	N	89.5	Galveston