KKMO (1360

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

; "") 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 ...

AM radio station in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. It is owned by Sea Mar Community Health Centers, LLC, and it airs a classic

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, ...

. KKMO transmits with 5,000 watts, using a

non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining t ...

from its

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 ...

location on Browns Point, near

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

in Tacoma.

Programming

KKMO airs a classic

music format branded as "". Notable on-air personalities include nationally syndicated host Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo in morning

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

. Local hosts are heard the rest of the day. KKMO is the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

Spanish broadcaster for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

baseball team and the

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

soccer team.

History

KKMO is one of the oldest stations in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. It

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 ...

the air in 1922. In the 1930s, it had studios in Hotel Winthrop and was powered at only 250 watts. This station used the three-letter call sign KMO from 1922 to 1983. Those letters were randomly assigned. Because it came on the air before Class A

clear channel station A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

KMOX KMOX (1120 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station is a 50,000 watt List of North American broadcast station classes, Class A clear-channel station with a omnidirectional ante ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, it prevented that

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

-owned station from taking a "preferred" call sign that would have represented the abbreviation for the word "

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

". The KMO call letters would sometimes create confusion between KMO and Seattle's

KOMO #redirect Komo#Radio and TV stations {{Rshell, {{R with history {{R ambig {{R from other caps ...

around the Seattle-Tacoma radio market. On May 25, 1932, 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 ...

authorized KMO to go from limited-time to full-time operation along with changes in frequency and power. The station had been on 860 kHz with 500 watts of power. It changed to 1330 kHz with 250 watts of power but it could also broadcast around the clock. The station switched to the call sign KKMO from 1987 to 1997. It returned to KKMO on July 20, 1998. On April 30, 2008,

Salem Communications Salem Media Group, Inc. (formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher based in Irving, Texas, targeting audiences interested in Christian values and wha ...

announced that it had reached an agreement to sell KKMO to Tron Do-run Intelli LLC for $3,690,000. The deal was approved by the

(FCC) on June 25, 2008. But in November 2008, Salem announced that the sale had been cancelled. It was later acquired by the Sea Mar Community Health Centers. In November 2008, the station dropped its "" branding in favor of "".

References

External links

El Rey Radio Official Website

FCC History Cards for KKMO
{{coord, 47, 18, 19, N, 122, 26, 33, W, type:landmark_region:US-WA_source:FCC, display=title 1922 establishments in Washington (state) Mass media in Tacoma, Washington Radio stations established in 1922 KMO Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States

Programming

History

See also

References

External links