KJOZ (880 AM) 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 ...

, paired with 2 FM relay translators. Licensed to

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, t ...

, KJOZ primarily serves the northern

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

metropolitan area. The station broadcasts a

Spanish tropical Tropical music () is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. It includes the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Caribbean ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

History

As 900 KMCO

KJOZ started out as a full service country and western station using the call sign KMCO (standing for Montgomery County) in 1951, owned by Reagan Smith & Fred Perry Sr. It was originally located at 900 kHz.

Owen family purchases KMCO; becomes KIKR

In 1974, Steve Owen purchased KMCO, applied to change its call sign to KIKR, and renamed the station "Kicker". It was co-owned with KNRO at 106.9 FM (currently classic rock

KHPT KHPT (106.9 FM, "Houston's Eagle @ 106.9 & 107.5") is a classic rock-formatted radio station licensed to Conroe, Texas, which simulcasts KGLK (107.5 FM). It is owned by Urban One, and is part of a five station Houston cluster that also includes ...

"The Eagle") during this period. The facility was moved to 880 kHz in 1985, after the FM was sold, and upgraded to 10 kilowatts during daytime hours.

Jimmy Swaggart's "Joy of Jesus"

KIKR was sold to

Jimmy Swaggart Ministries Jimmy Swaggart Ministries is a Christian evangelical organization located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The organization was founded in 1984 by Pentecostal televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. It also runs Jimmy Swaggart Bible College, and Family Worshi ...

in 1991, resulting in the change to the KJOJ call sign (standing for "Joy Of Jesus"). Once sold to the Swaggart Ministry, 880 became the simulcast partner of

KJOJ-FM KJOJ-FM (103.3 MHz) was a radio station licensed to Freeport, Texas, United States, operating as a rimshot into the Greater Houston area. It was last owned by Estrella Media and operated in tandem with KTJM (98.5 FM) in Port Arthur, with its tra ...

's Christian ministry format, which had moved from 106.9 to 103.3 a year earlier, due to 106.9's sale by the Swaggart ministries in 1990. 880's 10 kilowatt signal allowed the ministry to remain over the air in the northern areas of the Houston metro, opposite of the 103.3 signal which is located southwest of the metro. The last General Manager of KJOJ during its religious format and before its move into Houston was Kathy Watson and last Program Director was Gary Johnson.

Swaggart sells KJOJ, KJOJ-FM

In 1998, KJOJ moved its studio located in The Woodlands to the Clear Channel studios in Houston after being sold by the Swaggart ministry. In May 2001, KJOJ began to simulcast

KTJM KTJM (98.5 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial FM Broadcasting, FM radio station city of license, licensed to Port Arthur, Texas. It is owned by Estrella Media and airs a Regional Mexican radio format. The radio studio, studios and of ...

98.5 and its former sister KJOJ-FM as Rhythmic Oldies "Houston's Jammin Hits", along with KQUE 1230 AM.

Liberman acquisition

In July 2001, KJOJ and its FM sister were sold to

Liberman Broadcasting Estrella Media Co (formerly known as Liberman Broadcasting, Inc. from 1987 to October 14, 2019 and LBI Media, Inc. from October 15, 2019 until February 2, 2020) is an American media company based in Burbank, California, owned by private equity f ...

, which resulted in both KJOJ and the FM counterpart simulcasting "La Raza" with 1230 & 98.5. In April 2010, Liberman leased KJOJ's 10 kW signal to Rahan Sidiqqui for Hum Tum City's South Asian programming. After several months IDing as simply "880 KJOJ" with Siddiqui's programming, it returned to simulcasting Houston's 1230 KQUE as Regional Mexican "Radio Ranchito" then as "La Ranchera".

KJOJ becomes KJOZ; Radio Aleluya debuts

It was sold to Daij Media, LLC in 2012. During the license reassignment process, Daij Media filed to change the call sign to KJOZ upon consummation of the sale, in order to disassociate the station from the FM counterpart located in

Freeport, Texas Freeport is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, located on the Gulf of Mexico, founded in 1912. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 10,696, down from 12,049 in 2010, where Hispanic (U.S. ...

. Daij Media then switched KJOZ to Radio Aleluya Spanish Christian preaching and music programming from the Aleluya Broadcasting Network.

880 returns to English language; "Where Diversity Finds Its Voice"

On April 13, 2015, KJOZ dropped Spanish Christian programming and relaunched as an urban talk station with the slogan "Where diversity finds its voice." By November, KJOZ dropped most of its talk programming to become a de facto replacement for the original

KCOH KCOH (1230 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Houston, Texas that airs an talk radio, urban talk and urban contemporary format. It is a return to the heritage format that aired in Houston from 1953 to 2013 on KSHJ, ...

, featuring many of the former KCOH personalities including Michael Harris and Don Samuel.

Radio Aleluya returns

On April 8, 2016, Urban Talk & Oldies was dropped from 880 KJOZ, returning to the previous Spanish Christian programming of owner Radio Aleluya.

La Calle moves; KJOZ gains an FM translator

In September 2017, the primary for translator 92.5 K223CW was moved from

to KJOZ, moving the Tropical "La Calle" format from KCOH to KJOZ as well.

Rumba 92.5/880

On December 6, 2019, KJOZ rebranded as "Rumba 92.5/880".La Calle Houston Rebrands as Rumba 92.5/880
Radioinsight - December 6, 2019 Effective November 3, 2021, Daij Media swapped KJOZ to Hector Guevara Ministry Corp. in exchange for the licenses to translators K243BO and K254DU.

La Grande 104.5

In June 2023, KJOZ flipped to regional Mexican under the branding "La Grande 104.5", relayed by translator K283CH on 104.5 in Houston.

La Calle returns

In March 2025, KJOZ flipped back to Spanish tropical under the "La Calle" branding.

Translators

References

External links

* * * * {{Spanish Radio Stations in Texas JOZ Conroe, Texas JOZ Tropical music radio stations