KKAL (92.5 FM, "The Krush 92.5") is a commercial

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radio ...

that is licensed to

Paso Robles, California Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

and serves the San Luis Obispo area. The station is owned by American General Media and broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA)

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, ...

. KKAL is notable due to its linkage to the area's wine industry and culture, both in its imaging (e.g. the "Krush" name, as in crushed grapes) and various wine-related programs that air regularly. The studios and offices are on Sacramento Drive in San Luis Obispo and the

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

is off TV Tower Road in Santa Margarita.

History

Early years

KKAL first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

November 20, 1972 as KPRA, the

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

KPRL KPRL (1230 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. Licensed to Paso Robles, California, United States. The station broadcasts local as well as nationally syndicated talk shows such as Jerry Doyle, Bill Wattenburg, Rush Limbaugh, a ...

(1230 AM), with a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

format. In December 1982, KPRA switched its

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 assigne ...

to KDDB but kept the country format. In April 1991, Owensville Communications Company sold KDDB to Zindy Broadcasting, headed by Stephen B. Jones, for $350,000.

American General Media era (1997–present)

In 1997, American General Media purchased KDDB for $675,000. The country format lasted until 2000, when the station became KWSR, a modern adult contemporary outlet known as "Star 92.5". In 2004, the station changed its call letters to KKAL and flipped to

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

, a format that lasted only two years. In April 2007, KKAL switched formats to

hot adult contemporary 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 present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

with the new moniker "The Krush @ 92.5". This branding is inspired by the surrounding Paso Robles wine country, conjuring up images of the vineyards that host wine tasting tours that have grown in popularity.

References

External links

* * {{San Luis Obispo Radio KAL Mass media in San Luis Obispo County, California Paso Robles, California Radio stations established in 1975 1975 establishments in California