KTSM-AM signed on the air August 22, 1929 with Karl O. Wyler as the sign-on announcer. That first broadcast, just two months before the stock market crash and the start of the Depression was transmitted from the basement of the Tri-State Music Co. on El Paso Street. Hence the call letters, KTSM. The radio station made one of only two moves in its history in 1934, when it relocated to new studios in the upper level of the Paso Del Norte Hotel. Wyler was known in that era as Karl The Kowhand, a singing cowboy who entertained listeners with comic numbers. The first newscast in El Paso history, Newspaper of the Air, was broadcast in 1935.Technology had speeded communication greatly since the days a teletypist would work out of Wyler’s home. He’d light a cigarette, drink some coffee and then type like the dickens, said Wyler. Even with the advent of satellites, everything was much faster, but radio was still the quickest way to get a news story on the air. In 1937, United Press began operation out of the KTSM studio and the station brought the first of many remote-control football broadcasts tot he public from Wichita Falls, Texas and Santa Barbara, California.The station’s sound made a dramatic change in World War II when female announcers replaced men who had joined the military. In the 1940’s, Wyler taught radio broadcasting classes as KTSM worked with the Texas College of Mines (now UTEP) to create a major in radio. KTSM program director Virgil Hicks eventually took over the classroom instruction and continued to lead the radio broadcast program until his retirement in 1970. In 1947, KTSM made another move to 801 N. Oregon Street. Along with the radio operation, KTSM-TV made its debut in January 1953. KTSM also led the way in stereo broadcast with the beginning of KTSM-FM (99.9 FM) in June of 1962. 1997 and 1998 brought big change to the radio side of KTSM. COMCORP of Louisiana bought KTSM TV/AM/FM with the intent of splitting the radio off of the company and buying a new television station. In May of 1998 Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc bought KTSM AM & FM in a Licensed Management Agreement. The agreement ended in June with KTSM radio becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Clear Channel. Clear Channel is a rapidly growing, diversified media conglomerate with leading positions in the radio, outdoor advertising and television industries. The Company operates, or is affiliated with, more than 1,100 radio stations, 18 television stations and approximately 200,000 outdoor advertising displays in 25 countries worldwide. The Company also owns 29% of Heftel Broadcasting Corporation, the largest Spanish-language radio broadcaster in the United States. In the fall of 2000 Clear Channel remodeled a former furniture store on North Mesa and combined all six of their properties under one roof, in a state of the art broadcast complex, where they remain today.