KFOX (1650 kHz) is a

Korean language Korean is the first language, native language for about 81 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the national language of both South Korea and North Korea. In the south, the language is known as () and in the north, it is kn ...

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 ...

, licensed to

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

and serving the

Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

. It shares a transmitter site with

KWKW KWKW (1330 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, California, United States, featuring a Talk radio, news/talk and sports radio, sports format known as , 1330 AM. Owned by Lotus Communications, the station services Greater L ...

. KFOX is one of three radio stations in the greater Los Angeles area broadcasting entirely in Korean, in addition to KMPC and KYPA.

History

KFOX began as the "expanded band" twin to a station on the standard AM band. On March 17, 1997, 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 ...

(FCC) announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available " Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with KNOB in

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authorized to move from 540 kHz to 1650 kHz."FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"
(FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997. KNOB is listed under its earlier call sign of KOJY. The FCC's initial policy was that both the original station and its expanded band counterpart could operate simultaneously for up to five years, after which owners would have to turn in one of the two licenses, depending on whether they preferred the new assignment or elected to remain on the original frequency. It was decided to eliminate the standard band station, and on August 15, 2000, the license for the original station on 540 kHz, now KKGO, was cancelled.
in the FCC Licensing and Management System Actually, 540 (which is a Mexican clear channel frequency for XEWA) was effectively moved to Mexico (suburban San Diego/Tijuana) and presently operates with low power due to the presence of the 150-kilowatt station in San Luis Potosi. The new station on 1650 kHz was assigned the call letters KGXL on December 29, 1997, which was changed to KKTR on June 1, 1998, then back to KGXL on March 15, 1999. The station simulcast

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

station KGIL, AM 1260 in Beverly Hills. After several years, KGXL became "K-Traffic," providing constant news updates, and eight traffic updates each hour. On July 26, 2000, the call sign was changed to KFOX, a call sign previously used by two area stations dating back to 1928: 1280 AM (now KFRN) and 93.5 FM (now

KDAY KDAY (93.5 FM, "93.5 KDAY") is a radio station that is licensed to Redondo Beach, California and serves the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Meruelo Media and airs a classic hip hop format. The station's studios are locate ...

). In 2001, KFOX switched from broadcasting in English to Korean, and adopted the slogan "Radio Seoul".

References

External links

1997 establishments in California Korean-American culture in California KFOX Mass media in Torrance, California FOX Radio stations established in 1997 FOX {{California-radio-station-stub