KFZO (99.1 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 ...

licensed to the city of

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

, serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station airs a

regional Mexican Regional Mexican music refers collectively to the regional subgenres of the country music of Mexico and its derivatives from the Southwestern United States. Each subgenre is representative of a certain region and its popularity also varies by ...

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, ...

and is owned and operated by Latino Media Network. The station's

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 located in the Univision building at the Plaza Of The Americas in the City Center District of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. The station is an

affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...

of the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

Spanish Language Radio Network. KFZO 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 ...

is off County Road 2560 in Alvord in Wise County. KFZO is not licensed by the

FCC 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 ju ...

to broadcast in the HD (digital hybrid) format.

History

The station began

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 KWDC on September 15, 1988. It played

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and was owned by Denton FM Radio, Ltd. Less than a month after the station went on the air, owners Bill Mercer and Fred Graham sold it to Larry Greene, who bought it for $6 million. Greene changed 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 ...

to KJZY ("Jazzy 99.1"). In 1991, KJZY made an unusual move for a commercial station, developing "Operation Jazzy" to help save the station's unique format by soliciting listener donations. Some $25,000 was raised, which was only a small portion of the needed $150,000. By December, the station went

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

and was sold. In December 1992, the station went back on the air as KDZR ("Z-Rock 99.1 FM"), playing heavy metal rock from

ABC Radio Network Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which ...

Z Rock Z Rock was a nationally syndicated radio network based in Dallas, Texas, that, from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, played heavy metal and hard rock music. The format was one of several 24-hour satellite-delivered music formats offered ...

satellite feed, which was based in Dallas. It was then purchased by Marcos A. Rodriguez on February 1, 1995. It flipped to KHCK ("99.1 Kick FM"), airing

tejano music Tejano music (), also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican influences. Its evolution began in northern Mexico (a variation of regional Mexican music known as ). It reached a larger audience in the late 20th century ...

. The station was also

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) ...

on 107.9 MHz. In 2004, the station was then sold to Hispanic Broadcasting (later becoming

Univision Radio Uforia Audio Network () is the radio broadcasting and music events division of TelevisaUnivision (United States), TelevisaUnivision USA. Formerly known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation and Univision Radio, it is the eighth-largest radio br ...

). Less than a year later, the station changed names and formats to KFZO as a

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

music station. A short time later, Univision switched it to a

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

format, calling the station "La Kalle" (Spanish for "The Street"). On February 19, 2009, the Regional Mexican format known as "La Que Buena" was moved from 107.9 FM (

KESS-FM KESS (107.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Benbrook, Texas, and serving communities in the western sections of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned and operated by the Uforia Audio Network, a division of TelevisaUnivi ...

) to 99.1 and was simulcast on 107.1 FM (KFZO). The reggaeton station known as "Radio La Kalle" was then moved to 107.9 FM and retooled its format to

latin pop Latin pop () is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. It originates with List of countries where Spanish is an official language, Spanish-speaking ...

where it remained until late 2011. In early 2011, its sister station KDXX (now KFZO) broke away from the "La Jefa" simulcast. On June 28, 2012, KFZO changed its format to Spanish

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 ...

, branded as "Máxima 99.1" and switching call sign to KDXX. On July 29, 2013, KDXX started simulcasting on KFZO 107.1. In September 2014, the "Máxima" branding was changed to "Latino Mix 99.1 & 107.1" and retooled to a

format. On February 17, 2016, Univision swapped call signs and formats once again on 99.1 and 107.9, marking the return of the callsign KFZO to 99.1 FM. A day later, 99.1 returned to its current regional Mexican format as "La Jefa."La Jefa On The Move In Dallas
– ''RadioInsight'' (published February 17, 2016) The La Jefa branding only lasted a year before the station switched to "ZonaMX." On June 3, 2022, TelevisaUnivision is selling its 18 radio stations, including all of its radio assets in Fresno, McAllen, and Las Vegas, to newly founded media company Latino Media Network, for $60 million. This also included both KFZO and sister station

KFLC KFLC (1270 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Benbrook, Texas, and broadcasting to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station is owned and operated by Latino Media Network, with studios located in the Univision Tower at the Pla ...

into the market agreement. In November 2022, The FCC had accepted the agreement, and had a deal for Univision to operate for one year, or the rest of 2023, which was made for both companies, until they give full control to LMN at the end of 2023. The 18 Univision radio stations, including KFZO and KFLC, were currently owned by Latino Media Network and operated by Uforia Audio Network under a programming service agreement. LMN took over operations of both stations by the end of October 2023.

Signal

Unlike most of the area's FM stations which transmit their signals from Cedar Hill, KFZO transmits its signal from an unincorporated area East-Northeast of Alvord. Therefore, KFZO's signal is much stronger in the Northwestern parts of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex as well as the cities of Decatur, Bowie, Gainesville, and Sherman, but is considerably weaker in Dallas and areas Southeast of the city itself.

References

External links

DFW Radio/TV History
{{coord, 33.390, N, 97.565, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title FZO FZO Radio stations established in 1988 1988 establishments in Texas Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States