KCYY (100.3 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. It is owned by

Cox Radio CMG Media Corporation (doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company p ...

and airs 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 ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

Studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices are on Datapoint Drive in San Antonio. KCYY has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 100,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, the maximum for non- grandfathered FM stations. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

site is on the McCarter Ranch, off Galm Road in the Far West Side of San Antonio, near Government Canyon State Natural Area.

History

KBER-FM, KSAQ, KCCW

On June 25, 1966, the station

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

as KBER-FM. It was owned by Kepo Broadcasting and was the FM counterpart of AM 1150 KBER (now AM 1160 KRDY). Because KBER AM was a daytime-only station, its country music programming continued on KBER-FM into the night. In 1974, KBER-AM-FM were sold to Pacific Western Broadcasting. The

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

s were changed to KQAM for the AM station and KSAQ for the FM station, also known as "Q-100." The two

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format. In 1976, the AM station was sold to a

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

broadcaster, while the FM station was sold to Radio Alamo. Radio Alamo switched the call letters to KZZY, initially keeping the Top 40 sound. But then it briefly tried a country format as KCCW. The country music lasted less than a year.

Klassy 100

In 1981, Radio Alamo flipped the format to

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, sou ...

. Radio Alamo also acquired AM 930 in Terrell Hills (now KLUP) and simulcast both stations, as KLLS and KLLS-FM, "Klassy 100 FM." In 1987, Newcity Communications acquired AM 680 and FM 100.3.

Country KCYY

680 KKYX had been owned by Swanson Communications, running a classic country format. So when it was paired with KLLS-FM, Newcity made the decision to also play country music on the FM, but a more contemporary version. The call sign was changed to KCYY, with the CY standing for Country and the additional Y as the moniker of the station, "Y100." San Antonio already had an FM country station that had been doing well in the ratings, 97.3 KAJA, owned by

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

, which also owned AM 1200 WOAI. Another country station was 107.5 KBUC-FM, but its ratings weren't a factor, and it eventually flipped to

Tejano Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead ...

KXTN-FM. Newcity thought there were enough country fans in San Antonio for two healthy FM country outlets. KCYY premiered by playing 10,000 songs in a row with no commercials. Backed by the commercial-free weeks and TV ads, KCYY became San Antonio's top country station in Spring 1988. KCYY was also the top station in the 18- to 49-year-old demographic and the 25-54 demographic, according to the

Arbitron ratings 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 ...

. Cox Radio acquired KCYY and KKYX in 1997.Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2000 page D-451
/ref> Since the late 80s, Cox-owned 100.3 KCYY and

iHeartMedia iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

-owned 97.3 KAJA have see-sawed in the ratings, with both stations often in the top five in the San Antonio market.

References

External links

* {{COXMG Country radio stations in the United States CYY Cox Media Group Radio stations established in 1966