Broadcasting History - Various Articles


Shreveport Radio Stations of the 1920s

The following table was provided by Joey Kent, owner of the Louisiana Hayride/KWKH archives. He writes:
My father purchased the Louisiana Hayride from KWKH in the mid-70s and I inherited the recordings, photos, etc. upon his passing in 1992.

In doing research on the Hayride a number of years ago, it became necessary to undertake the history of KWKH to fully understand the Hayride's roots. In so doing, I became fascinated with the story of KWKH founder WK Henderson and especially his engineer, William Erwin Antony, who helped start 20 of Shreveport's 25 earliest stations.

I have researched this for over 13 years and, in addition to having access to the Henderson family papers (I'm an eighth cousin as it turns out!), I recently came into the papers of WE Antony. From his licenses and notes, along with a trip to the National Archives and many long hours pouring over RSBs, I have pieced together the history of early Shreveport radio from the arrival of the first ham set in town in 1907 up to the end of the Henderson era in 1933.

My chief purpose in all this was to straighten out all the confusion over what station became KWKH, who was first on the air, etc. I could advance an argument for making KWKH one of the oldest stations still on the air if you trace it back through WE Antony's line to WAAG. He was on the air before WG Patterson's WDAN which later became WGAQ. Basically, the first 20 stations in Shreveport were created using Antony's equipment and many listed him as the license holder although he often got friends or fellow radio club buddies to take out licenses for new stations in their name so he could experiment some more.

In listing the Shreveport stations, I include KWKH which is listed at Kennonwood since this was the country estate of WK Henderson located 18 miles north of Shreveport. The closest town would be Mooringsport since Kennonwood was not an incorporated city but a country spread of some 3500 acres, but Henderson had two studios in downtown Shreveport as well as one out at Kennonwood where the transmitter was. Another city I will include in Shreveport is Cedar Grove, which today is very much a part of the central city. It was back in the 20s as well, I imagine, although some sort of township status still existed.

Station LicenseeCompanyDate licensed frequencywattagedate closednotes
4CKW. E. Antony(none)1912-141495...1916-04/13...
5AXDorr R. Simmons(none)1915.........Dorr R. Simmons was an electrician with the Elliott Electric Co., future owners of WAAG.
5ZSW. E. Antony(none)1916-04/13705...1927Call sign changed to W5ZS.
WAAGPercy & Sid ElliottElliott Electric Co.1922-04/111000, 114010w1923-1/2...
WDANW. G. PattersonGlenwood Radio Corp.1922-05/18......1922-11/30...
WGAQW. G. PattersonGlenwood Radio Corp.1922-06/261140, 1190, 1000100w, 150w, 250w1925-1/8Became KWKH-1 on 1/8/25.
WMAUW. E. AntonyLouisiana State Fair Association1922-10/02......1923-1/2Station erected for the annual State Fair
KFDXW. G. PattersonGlenwood Radio Corp./First Baptist1923-04/02835, 1200, 1270100w, 250w, 500w1929-2/28Henderson buys from Patterson
KFHFW. E. AntonyCentral Christian Church1923-04/151130150w1924-6/30...
KWKH -1W. G. PattersonHenderson Iron Works1925-01/08...250w, 500w, 1kw1926-8/14Henderson financed and essentially owned. Sold to Patterson and he changes it to KSBA
KSBAW. G. PattersonShreveport Broadcasting Association1926-08/061120, 1150, 14501kw1929-2/27KSBA sold to Sid Elliott & A.C. Steere by 2/27/29.
KWKH-2W. K. Hendersoneventually Hello World Broadcasting Co.1926-08/067601kw, 3kw, 3.5kw, 5kw, 10kw1932-9/25...
KRACBradford Hearn/R. M. DeanCaddo Radio Club1926-11/03136050w1928-5/31Station erected for the annual State Fair. Moved to R.M. Dean's house 12/27. Changed to KRMD 5/28
KGDXW. E. Antony(none)1926-12/301030500w1928-1/31KGDX changed to KWEA by 1/31/28
KGGHW. E. Antony/Arthur J. BatesBates Radio & Electric Company1927-08/151460, 141050w1929-2/27Began at 1460, went to 1410 next month. Changed from KGGH to KTSL by 2/27/29
KTSLW. E. Antony/A. H. HousemanHouseman Sheet Metal Works1927-09/15131050w, 100w1931-10/9KGGH to KTSL by 2/29, 100w by 3/30/29, Houseman sole owner by 5/29, Moved to Laurel, MS 10/9/31
KWEAW. E. Antonyeventually Hello World Broadcasting Co.1928-01/311410, 1210100w, 250w1936-08/01KWEA 250w at 1410 by 2/29/28, to 100w at 1210 by 11/30/28
KRMDR. M. Dean(none)1928-05/31131050w, 100w...KRMD to 1310 by 11/30/28
KTBSSid Elliott, A. C. SteereTri-states Broadcasting Service1929-03/301450500w, 1kw...Changed from KSBA to KTBS by 3/30/29


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