Boerne, TX AM 1500

KBRN has gone silent and word is the owner is looking to lease the tower to a broadcast company to bring local radio back to Boerne.

This facility was silent for extended periods back in the 90's. I guess not much has changed since then.

As I recall, the last incarnation was an oldies format.

Back in the early 1990s I was in Kerrville and knew the folks at KBRN at the time. The station ran a nostalgia format then and struggled. The management mentioned they were still trying to get back in the good graces of the community then. I suppose others before them had wronged the community in some way. I was told they tried to do a live broadcast from a community event and were asked to leave, told they were not welcome. In 1993 they told me they were billing about $5,000 a month, sometimes less.

Like many small town, low wattage daytimers, they had a tough road to travel in the first place but considering how much of their coverage commuted to San Antonio beyond their coverage, it made things doubly tough.

Like many of the Hill Country communities, Boerne is neither as small or as 'sleepy' as it once was. If a local broadcaster can get plenty of community info on the station, they might be able to make it go but I sure wouldn't expect such a station to make me rich by any stretch.

He might not have been the first, but at least he was likely the second owner: Alan Hemberger who was an anchor at the time on KMOL TV. He later went to Houston and to New England. Alan passed away a couple of years back I recall. For most of its history the station was either an oldies 1950s to mid 1960s station, big band or Music of Your Life type of station (actually 1940s through 1960s). I always wondered about those format choices.

It was an oldies format 50's & 60's from Aug 2015 to Feb 2017, a startup company tried to make a go at it but didn't try very hard from what I found out. The current owner/licensee just wants to lease the tower and get a monthly check, he does not get involved in anything more. Hopefully some good broadcast company with some history of the radio business can come in and do something good for Boerne.

There was one point when KBRN was up for sale in the 1980s, maybe middle 1980s. A friend had a financial windfall and got some info on the station. I recall the media kit described the format as pretty much 50s & 60s Top 40 less the British Invasion and Rock side. The packages included one day a week when it was all Elvis (maybe every other song). They charged a premium rate for being on the Elvis day.

Mostly I remember KBRN in the 1980s was a big band station. I was told many of the jocks were essentially volunteers and they played records, including 78s. When I knew the folks at KBRN was 1992/1993 when they had a Nostalgia format on reel to reel. I doubt it was more than months after I left Kerrville that it was leased to Paulino Bernal for his brand of Spanish Christian programming. I recall there were some times when KBRN was off the air...one when they lost their lease to the studio they rented. Back then they were not on land they owned and the studios were leased.

Paulino Bernal was fined by the FCC for not having a "local" studio in Boerne, being on air at night when its a daytime only station. During the time Bernal had the station and up to today the current owner Claro Communications, no one has produced local programming, its all been streamed or simulcast to the transmitter.

I know Paulino went through some rough times where most of his stations were off the air on a rotating basis. As I recall, about that time the Camp Wood station he had turned in their license. I recall KBRN being off and Paulino getting a fine for no local office/studio.

KBRN still remains silent, if anyone knows of a broadcast company interested in leasing the tower, have them post a note here, I have contact info for the owner. KBRN also has a CP for a FM Translator that needs to be moved to its new proposed location.

I hate to say it, but if they're looking to lease the frequency, it will likely have to be a ministry or organization not reliant on commercial sales given the history of KBRN over the years. That likely means no community centered programming. If they get the translator up they can get more for the lease.

The last company tried to do local community programming but they were a startup company and lacked the knowledge of radio broadcasting, I think if some company that has experience could do something, our community is growing in leaps and bounds.

I agree. Towns in the Hill Country have grown by amazing numbers. I know when Jack was managing KBRN around 1992-1993, his big problem was there were so many driving in to San Antonio to work each day, the station was out of range by the time they got to work. It was a really tough sell for him. If Boerne is no longer a 'bedroom community', then I agree. Boerne is about triple the population now and I'm sure the outskirts have tripled in population too.

Yes Boerne has grown big time, we are one of the fastest growing towns and counties in Texas. We have lots of new businesses here it just would take someone with experience in radio sales to sale spots and lead KBRN into a local station.

KBRN is still off-air. I just checked but they haven't submitted a silent notification to the FCC.

Now they have a modification to a CP to move a translator to a new location(which looks to be near the old KONO FM 101.1 location in Boerne) and to change from 101.5 to 103.9 FM.