Seventy affiliate stations in 52 markets.
It’s a long way from Jan. 7, 2002, when the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network opened its mic for the first time. It began with just six network stations.
“KPET-AM in Lamesa, with my friend Don Sitton, was the first station to join the network,” recalled Curt Lancaster, manager of the network. “I remember looking at the big map of Texas that was in my office when the network was launched. Just a few red dots were on the map then for stations. It’s gratifying to see how far we’ve come.”
The success of the network is measured in the number of affiliate stations and in the popularity of its programs.
The network’s 70 stations represent an all-time high. And the TFB Radio Network of stations rates highest among Texas farmer and rancher all-day radio listening. It’s a distinction the network has enjoyed for three consecutive market studies of Ag Media Research Farmer Radio Listening.
TFB Radio Network programming is heard in more than 200 Texas counties. At any given time, between 35,000-40,000 farmers and ranchers are listening. The only metropolitan area of the state not currently covered by network programming is El Paso.
Lancaster said the network prides itself in allowing people to tell their story.
“We don’t rip-and-read, which can sometimes happen at networks when you’re scrambling for news material. We let people tell their story, tell what’s going on,” he said. “We ask the questions, they tell the story. It’s an approach that’s made us different, and I don’t see that changing. When you have a recipe that works, you don’t change a thing.”
The network began with Lancaster and Don Kyser producing and hosting its programs. Kyser retired in 2014 after 12 years on the air. Lancaster, Tom Nicolette, Gary Joiner, and Dr. Bob Judd, DVM, of Hewitt, produce and host the network’s eight current daily programs and one weekend program. The TFB Radio Network features three recording studios in the TFB headquarters office in Waco.