KAND 1340 AM closes its doors

November 1 – After 87 years, KAND 1340 AM and 104.9 FM announced on their Facebook page that the radio station has closed its doors and gone off the air.

The closure took place on Halloween morning, as confirmed by KAND owner Diane Raymond, when the station went silent for the final time.

The radio station, which began broadcasting in 1937 as a variety/entertainment station on 1310 kHz, was originally owned by JC West, who also owned the Wolf Brand (canned) Chili factory in Corsicana. The station was popular for its broadcasts of the Corsicana High School Tigers and Navarro College Bulldogs football games, country music, news and weather updates and Talk Time, a popular local program. TalkTime was later discontinued for a more music format.

From a 2007 Corsicana Daily Sun article: “The station went through a number of owners over the next few years until Richard Parker purchased the company in 1964 and later acquired an FM station to accompany the KAND-AM signal. He sold the FM company in 1992. to a broadcast group in Dallas. In 1995, he sold KAND-AM and Corsicana Cable TV, founded by Parker in 1972, to Northland. For years the station was located on Corsicana’s busy Seventh Avenue, on the site where CVS Pharmacy was now located KAND and Northland moved to the North Beaton Street location in 1997.

The many KAND alumni include Dick Aldama, Dewey Beal, Bob Belcher and Roy Miller.

Raymond, who owned KAND for the past 14 1/4 years, said she was “heartbroken” by the closure, citing revenue issues, some personal hardships and that the station needed people on the ground in the community to run it .

While Raymond is currently talking to someone to help maintain the KAND license and possibly resurrect the station in the future, she couldn’t give a definitive answer as to when, if at all.