KAKI

Here is what the January 26, 1959 issue of The Billboard magazine had to say about what is probably the most infamous San Antonio Radio historical event in June Bundy’s Vox Jox column:

San Antonio station KAKI, which assumed those call letters last August, has returned to its former call letters (KTSA) due to a “stream of protest letters and phone calls.”

The KAKI story was supposed to have been one of the first stories about San Antonio Radio. However, researching the KAKI call letter change has proven to be both time consuming and difficult, because the principals of the event are not around to provide details about what actually happened. There is an abundance of second hand stories. Verification of first hand knowledge has only proven there is an abundance of second hand stories.

After making the above statements, and in the interest of full disclosure, the following is derived from an e-mail received from Don Keyes, and other verifiable sources. Further questions to Don about KAKI went unanswered, due to his passing on January 23, 2006.

Gordon McLendon purchased KTSA in 1956. KTSA sounded great, but lost momentum sometime in 1958.

Some sources argue that the “momentum” loss was the result of better programming on KONO.

Call sign changes had previously worked to boost ratings for Gordon McLendon, so a call sign change was in order. The question was…what should the new call sign be?

Here is where the often retold story is the same. The new call sign KAKI (pronounced “khaki”) would salute the large military population in the San Antonio area.

It was a great idea!

Then again…maybe it wasn’t so great!

After the call sign change was fully implemented, it was discovered that KAKI sounded very close to the Spanish word for excrement or feces. Protesting phone calls and letters poured in.

At first, Gordon McLendon decided to just let time pass and things would settle down. When things didn’t quiet down as soon as he thought they should, McLendon got nervous and decided to return to the KTSA call sign.

Here is what Gordon McLendon had to say about the event on the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder in 1978:

KAKI was “one of the least important ideas I’ve had in my life, and I’ve had some real bad ones.”

Here are the questions that went unanswered by Don Keyes:

How long was the KAKI call sign used?

Some sources intimate that the call sign change was in effect as short as 24-48 hours. Others indicate the change lasted as long as three or four months.

The longer timeframe has the most verifiable support, not only from the abovementioned Billboard column, but also from the November 29, 1958 San Antonio Light newspaper Around The Plaza column by Renwicke Cary:

It’s now KTSA again. This after the Gordon McLendon station had employed KAKI as its call letters for three months.

The same column seems to support the KONO programming notion, since it also mentions “Howard Edwards, the KONO deejay, warning housewives to be careful and not get any feathers in their Thanksgiving turkey dressing.”

Was a KAKI music survey ever published?

Extensive time consuming archives searching has produced none.

What logo was used for KAKI?

Sources state that logo stationery was printed, but no logo has been found.

What jingle package did KAKI use?

Gordon McLendon was known for his jingle usage.

Editors Note: We are still looking for verifiable information about KAKI. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Gordon McLendon

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