KHRT

{{Infobox radio station

| name = KHRT

| city = Minot, North Dakota

| country = US

| frequency = 1320 kHz

| logo = KHRT.png

| area =

| branding = K-Heart

| format = Defunct (was gospel music)

| affiliations = Salem Radio Network

| owner = Faith Broadcasting Inc.

| sister_stations = KHRT-FM

| airdate = {{start date|1957|11|17}}

| last_airdate = {{end date|2024|7|31}} ({{age in years and days|1957|11|17|2024|7|31}})

| former_callsigns = KQDY (1957–1964)

| callsign_meaning = K-Heart

| class = B

| power = {{ubl|2,500 watts (day)|310 watts (night)}}

| erp =

| haat =

| webcast =

| website = {{URL|https://www.khrt.com/}}

}}

KHRT (1320 AM) was a Christian radio station located in Minot, North Dakota. It was one of two religious stations, along with KHRT-FM, owned and operated in Minot by Faith Broadcasting Inc. KHRT concentrated on a southern gospel format, and also aired satellite-fed programming from Salem Communications during overnights and weekends. The station went on the air in 1957 as KQDY, became KHRT in 1964, and closed down in 2024.

Although classified as a commercial radio station by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Faith Broadcasting, Inc. acted as a nonprofit organization using commercial advertisements for funding, though it also took donations.

History

=Early years=

Walter N. Nelskog, Paul Crain, Delbert Bertholf, and D. Gene Williams, doing business as Dakota Broadcasters, applied for a new 1,000-watt daytime-only station on 1320 kHz in Minot in late 1956. The principals owned stations in Washington, Oregon, and Montana, and concurrently applied for a station on 1350 kHz at Bismarck.{{cite news |title=New Am Stations |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=December 10, 1956 |page=126}} The Minot construction permit was granted in June 1957,{{cite news |title=New Am Stations |work=Broadcasting–Telecasting |date=July 8, 1957 |page=87}} issued the call sign KQDY,{{cite web |title=KHRT history cards |url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=38955 |access-date=February 27, 2025 |format=PDF}} and went on the air November 17.{{cite book|title=Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2010|year=2010|page=D-417}} Nelskog sold his 25-percent interest in the station to Crain for $12,000 in 1959, giving Crain a 50 percent stake; concurrently, Crain also bought Nelskog's stake in KUDI in Great Falls, Montana, and Nelskog bought Crain's interest in KQTY in Everett, Washington.{{cite news |title=Ownership Changes |work=Broadcasting |date=March 2, 1959 |page=93}} Later that year, station manager H.T. Searle acquired a 25-percent stake in Dakota Broadcasters, with Crain's stake returning to 25 percent.{{cite news |title=Ownership Changes |work=Broadcasting |date=August 24, 1959 |page=86}} Jack W. Birchill, a KUDI employee, took a stake in KQDY in 1960.{{cite news |title=For the Record |work=Broadcasting |date=March 7, 1960 |page=108}}

=Christian radio=

Dakota Broadcasters sold KQDY to the non-profit People's Radio Association for $92,500 in 1964. Three of the new owners' principals—Gordon L. Beck, Gerald M. Swanson, and A. Orville Helgeson—were associated with religious groups,{{cite news |title=For the Record |work=Broadcasting |date=March 9, 1964 |page=100}} with Swanson and Helgeson having respectively served as the program director and general manager of KGDN in Seattle;{{cite news |title=Religious broadcaster hits SEC snag |work=Broadcasting |date=February 28, 1966 |page=69}} the fourth, J. Merrill Tannehill, was a farmer. The new owners changed the call sign to KHRT on September 17, 1964. In late 1966, the station's license was transferred to a trustee in bankruptcy, R. P. Kephart;{{cite news |title=Ownership changes |work=Broadcasting |date=October 31, 1966 |page=99}} the following year, KHRT manager Harold R. Christensen bought the station via KHRT Broadcasting Corporation for $108,000.{{cite news |title=Ownership changes |work=Broadcasting |date=September 11, 1967 |page=104}}

Richard B. Leavitt's Faith Broadcasting Inc. bought KHRT for $188,248 in 1982.{{cite news |title=For the Record |work=Broadcasting |date=August 30, 1982 |page=102}} Leavitt, a former salesman for the station, acquired it after Christensen told him during a Sunday school class that KHRT was for sale and was considering dropping its Christian radio format. Leavitt added an FM sister station, KHRT-FM, in 1992.{{cite news |last1=Crane |first1=Charles |title=Radio station shuts down after 60 years |url=https://www.minotdailynews.com/news/local-news/2024/08/radio-station-shuts-down-after-60-years/ |access-date=February 27, 2025 |work=Minot Daily News |date=August 10, 2024}}

=Expanded Band assignment=

On March 17, 1997, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that 88 stations had been given permission to move to newly available "Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with KHRT authorized to move from 1320 to 1620 kHz.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x004848309&view=1up&seq=276 "FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"] (FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997. However, the construction permit needed to implement the authorization was cancelled on December 22, 2000,

[https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicFacilityDetails.html?facilityId=87113 Facility details for Facility ID 87113 (970613AF)] in the FCC Licensing and Management System so the expanded band assignment was never built.

=Closure=

On July 31, 2024, both KHRT and KHRT-FM signed off the air due to lack of funding and a downturn in advertising revenue; the licenses were put up for sale.{{cite news |last1=Skurzewski |first1=Joe |title=KHRT 1320 AM/106.9 FM going off the air after 60 years, still seeking a buyer |url=https://www.kfyrtv.com/2024/07/23/khrt-1230-am1069-fm-going-off-air-after-60-years-still-seeking-buyer/ |access-date=February 27, 2025 |work=KFYR-TV |agency=KMOT |date=July 23, 2025 |language=en}} The closure came four years after the death of Dick Leavitt; the stations by this point were managed by his son Roy. While Faith Broadcasting would sell KHRT-FM to RadioDifferently LLC,{{cite news |last1=Venta |first1=Lance |title=Station Sales Week Of 12/27 |url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/290417/station-sales-week-of-12-27-2/ |access-date=February 27, 2025 |work=RadioInsight |date=December 27, 2024}} no buyer was found for the AM station. On February 24, 2025, coinciding with the planned completion of KHRT-FM's sale, Faith Broadcasting requested the cancellation of the KHRT AM license,{{cite news |last1=Ellis |first1=Jon |title=North Dakota AM Station Returns License after FM Partner Sold |url=https://northpine.com/2025/02/25/north-dakota-am-station-returns-license-after-fm-partner-sold/ |access-date=February 27, 2025 |work=NorthPine: Upper Midwest Broadcasting |date=February 26, 2025}} which occurred on February 27.{{cite web|url= https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicFacilityDetails.html?facilityId=20483|title=License Cancelled|work=Federal Communications Commission Licensing and Management System|date=February 27, 2025|access-date=February 27, 2025}} Faith Broadcasting continued to seek buyers for the station's equipment and office furniture.

References

External links

{{Official website|https://www.khrt.com/}}

[https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=38955 FCC History Cards for KHRT] (covering 1958-1980 as KQDY / KHRT)

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Category:1957 establishments in North Dakota

Category:2025 disestablishments in North Dakota

HRT

Category:Defunct religious radio stations in the United States

HRT

Category:Radio stations disestablished in 2025

Category:Radio stations established in 1957

HRT