Alan Stock opened his radio show Friday by announcing a closing.
“I have an important update for our listeners. Effective September 1, News Talk 840 KXNT will conclude its broadcast operation,” Stock said, wearing headphones and reading from a prepared statement. “To put it simply, the station’s transmitter site is shutting down. Our parent company, Audacy, explored a number of alternative transmission options, but ultimately wasn’t able to identify a technically and financially viable long-term solution.
“This wasn’t an easy decision.”
The news conveyed on Stock’s “News at 8” program was a stunner, ending the station’s nearly 40-year run on Vegas AM radio. Yours truly was Stock’s Friday morning guest and seated across from the popular host, learning of the news along with his listening audience.
“I know KXNT has been a part of this community for a long time, and it’s been an honor to spend time with you every day,” Stock continued. “I’m incredibly grateful to our listeners, our advertisers, and everyone who has made the station such an important part of Las Vegas.”
As KXNT signs off, Stock’s show will move to KDWN 101.5-FM in its 8 a.m. weekday time slot beginning Tuesday, Sept. 1. His is the lone locally produced broadcast on KXNT, a conservative platform that is otherwise filled with nationally syndicated programming. Shows hosted by such right-leaning voices Glenn Beck and Mark Levin will end their programming in Las Vegas, but still be available nationwide, as the station signs off.
Station Senior Vice President/Marketing Manager Gina Massenzi said the station’s approximately 40 full- and part-time staffers would remain with the company.
KXNT-AM 840 signed on under the call letters KVEG in 1986, mixing talk and middle-of-the-road music. In 1997, KVEG changed its call sign to KXNT, the “NT” standing for “News/Talk”. The station shifted to a traditional talk-radio roster. “The Rush Limbaugh Show” was its signature national broadcast.
Stock moved to Las Vegas in KXNT’s early days, in June 1999. He is a member of the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame, inducted in 2003, and a pillar in the city’s news-media community.
Stock helmed nearly 10 hours of live coverage after the 9/11 attacks. He employed similar broadcast dedication during the Oct. 1 shootings in 2017, working from 11 p.m. to 10 a.m.
“It was old-school radio,” Stock said. “The only break I had was to run down to the bathroom really quick and get back here.”
The veteran broadcaster said he learned at 9:15 a.m. Thursday that KXNT would be going dark.
“It knocked the crap out of me, at the time,” Stock said. “I heard it and I said, ‘Wow, I can’t believe it.’ They let me know right away I would be OK, but I was going, ‘What’s going on?’ … I have a lot of mixed emotions. I’ll be staying on the air. I’m grateful for that. But we have built up a great brand with KXNT over the years. It’s been a great ride here, an absolutely great ride.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.