KBBL (106.3 FM; "Air1") is a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

Cazadero, California Cazadero (Spanish for "hunting ground") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Sonoma County, California, United States with a population of 298 in 2020. The downtown of Cazadero consists of two churches, a ...

, and serving the Santa Rosa area. It airs a

contemporary worship music Contemporary worship music (CWM), also known as praise and worship music, is a distinct genre of Christian music used in contemporary worship. It has evolved over the past 60 years and is stylistically similar to pop music. The songs are of ...

format. The station is currently owned by Redwood Empire Stereocasters.

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest contempor ...

operates the station under a LMA deal from Redwood, and carries its

Air 1 Air1 is an American Christian radio network owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), a non-profit Christian ministry. It primarily broadcasts contemporary worship music, and is a sister to the EMF's K-Love network. History On July 15, ...

network.

History

Origins

The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

held a spectrum auction for the 106.3 FM frequency in Cazadero in the mid-2000s. The

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

was awarded to the Ace Radio Corporation on May 24, 2006. The station was assigned its original KGRP call letters on May 31 of that year. Construction of the station's transmitter site and setup of the studios took 13 months.

Early years (2007–2009)

On June 11, 2007, Ace Radio formally filed the application for its broadcast license. It was granted at the end of the month, and KGRP formally signed on on June 28, 2007. However, later that year, Ace Radio put the station up for sale. Redwood Empire Stereocasters would acquire the station in September 2007. The sale was approved on October 29, and was consummated on November 16.

Country music era (2010–2019)

In 2010, The station switched callsigns to KTRY, and adopted a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format, which resulted in

Nielsen Audio Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

, registering the station as such in March of that year. Hot Country 106

On May 1, 2015, at 5:00 p.m., KTRY rebranded as 106.3 The Bull. With this rebranding came another call change to KBBL. KBBL also shifted to a more contemporary presentation to attract younger listeners. 2019 would mark the station's last full year as a country music station.

CHR era (2020–2022)

On January 30, 2020, it was announced that KBBL would be flipping to a CHR radio format on February 17. The new station would be branded as "106.3 The Beat". On February 3, 2020, KBBL began stunting with a jockless loop of music, while redirecting listeners to 93.7 FM, and the stations swapped call signs, with KBBL taking on the KJZY call sign. The stunt lasted for two weeks until February 17, at midnight, when the now-KJZY formally flipped to a CHR format. The final song played on "The Beat" was " The Middle" by

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...

Maren Morris Maren Larae Morris (born April 10, 1990) is an American singer-songwriter. Rooted in the country genre, her music blends in elements of pop and R&B. Her accolades include a Grammy Award, an American Music Award, five Country Music Associatio ...

, and

Grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

on March 8, 2022, at 11:57 PM local time.

Air 1 era (2022–present)

At midnight on March 9, 2022, KJZY switched to EMF's

radio service, carrying a

contemporary worship Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including ...

radio format. EMF began operating the station under an LMA with station owner Redwood Empire Stereocasters. On August 1, 2022, the station switched back to its former KBBL call sign.

References

External links

{{Air 1 BBL (FM) Mass media in Sonoma County, California Mass media in Santa Rosa, California Radio stations established in 2007 2007 establishments in California BBL (FM) Air1 radio stations