The station had originally planned to go dark on April 30, but station manager Dan Haynes revealed during a live broadcast that the closure had to happen a day earlier.
For generations, KSTA served Coleman and surrounding communities with local news, weather, sports coverage and classic country-western music.
According to the station’s website, KSTA had been broadcasting on 1000 AM since 1951, though Federal Communications Commission records show the station’s license was first granted in 1947. The daytime-only station operated on a 250-watt signal.
After 75 years on the air, the FCC canceled KSTA’s license on April 28 following unsuccessful efforts by ownership to sell the station.
In a farewell post, Haynes thanked listeners, sponsors, advertisers and livestream viewers who supported the station through the years. He said the community meant “the absolute world” to both him and his late father, Joseph Haynes, who also worked at KSTA and “loved this community deeply and dearly.”
“Thank you so much for the memories and the years of allowing us to inform and entertain you,” Haynes wrote. “God bless you, Coleman County.”
KSTA had operated under Wendlee Broadcasting for more than 20 years. In an April 28 letter to listeners, owner Rex Tackett said ongoing economic and technical struggles ultimately forced the station off the air.
Tackett wrote that Wendlee Broadcasting spent more than two decades trying to serve Coleman and nearby counties with local information and entertainment, but mounting challenges made continuing operations impossible. He also said repeated attempts to find a buyer for the station were unsuccessful.
“I know radio plays an important role in our listeners’ daily lives,” Tackett wrote. “Hopefully you will find a new media partner to fill the gap left behind by KSTA.”
He also thanked listeners for their support and trust over the years as Wendlee Broadcasting prepared to cease operations alongside the station’s closure.
The closure comes as other Texas radio stations grapple with financial pressures. Last month, Townsquare Media temporarily took Talk 103.9 in Lubbock off the air, ending a 73-year run of KKAM broadcasts while citing “economic conditions in the market.”
Unlike KSTA, however, the station’s license remains active for now. Under federal regulations, stations can stay silent for up to a year before their licenses automatically expire if broadcasts do not resume.