By the end of September, Tomball residents will have access to a new local micro power radio station, broadcasting just north of FM 2920 near Main Street. In addition, Magnolia has worked to improve its new local station—Backyard Radio—since its launch last October.

Tomball's station

The city began work on the low-powered FM station—95.3 KTTF Tomball Texas for Fun—about 18 months ago after officials were given an opportunity to apply for a Federal Communications Commission broadcasting license, Tomball Fire Chief Randy Parr said. Parr said he helped develop plans for the new station. Once the license was awarded earlier this year, the city began testing the station signal from a transmitter in nearby Rose Hill. The broadcasting studio will be housed at Tomball Fire Station No. 1 at 1200 Rudel St. “The reason we went after [the station] is because we’re going to use it as another tool in our toolbox for emergency management notifications,” Parr said. “We’ll also be able to put [content] on it that will have local interest.” The city plans to partner with Tomball ISD and Lone Star College-Tomball to integrate radio broadcasting into school curriculum, Parr said. He said he expects both school systems will use the station to broadcast season and intramural athletic games throughout the year. In addition to emergency use, Parr said the station will be a resource to alert residents about road closures and public safety announcements. The station will also broadcast music playlists and weather updates. “It’s [got] a good, strong signal, and it should work for the intended purpose,” Parr said. “A bunch of us are looking forward to having some fun with it.”

“We are a Magnolia radio station first and foremost, and that’s the important thing to us. [But] we’re very connected to Tomball. We’re kind of brothers in arms in terms of how we cover the area.” —Thomas Conley, Backyard Radio founder

Broadcasting to Magnolia

Since its launch last fall, low-powered FM station Backyard Radio—103.5 KYBY-LP—has worked with the city of Magnolia and Montgomery County to become a resource for emergency notifications, such as wildfires or flooding, station founder Thomas Conley said. The station also broadcasts Sunday sermons, a jazz program, a daily update from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and local talk shows. “The biggest programming effort for us was to engage with the Magnolia school district, and we’ve done that,” he said. “We wanted to cover the stuff that wouldn’t get picked up otherwise.” Backyard Radio will share some resources with Tomball, including an engineer who works on both stations, Conley said. “We are a Magnolia radio station first and foremost, and that’s the important thing to us,” Conley said. “[But] we’re very connected to Tomball. We’re kind of brothers in arms in terms of how we cover the area.”