KMLA (103.7 FM, "La M 103.7") is a commercial

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 ...

that is licensed to

El Rio, California El Rio (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''El Río'', meaning "The River") is a small, ruralCapace, Nancy (1999). ''Encyclopedia of California''. North American Book Dist LLC. Page 237. . Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated town in Ven ...

, United States and serves the

Oxnard Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city in and the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States. It is a coastal city located northwest of Los Angeles. The population was 110,763 at the ...

area. The station broadcasts 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 ...

music format. KMLA is owned by Gold Coast Radio, LLC.

History

KMLA first signed on in October 1996. Owner Clayton Corp. sold the station to Gold Coast Radio LLC for $600,000 the following month; the transaction was consummated December 6. On October 30, 2008, KMLA owner Gold Coast Radio faced rival radio company Lazer Broadcasting in Ventura County Superior Court, suing for unspecified damages. Gold Coast accused the defendant of interfering with its advertisers and customers to harm its business, beginning with the near-cancellation of a 2007 concert hosted by KMLA. Lazer filed a countercomplaint requesting an injunction to stop Gold Coast from claiming that KMLA is the number-one rated station in Ventura County, citing

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

ratings reports to the contrary. On November 6, a jury awarded $553,000 in damages to Gold Coast Radio and promoter Universo Musical. However, on November 20, Superior Court judge Henry Walsh agreed with Lazer's counterclaim, granting the injunction prohibiting Gold Coast from making false and misleading claims of having the top-rated station. On January 7, 2009, Walsh set aside the jury award and ordered a retrial, citing insufficient evidence presented by the plaintiffs; the second jury granted Gold Coast and Universo Musical a smaller award of $99,800 on August 28. On July 1, 2016 at midnight, Gold Coast Radio began operating KURQ in

Grover Beach, California Grover Beach is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 12,701 at the 2020 census, down from 13,156 in 2010. Grover Beach is the location of the Pacific Crossing 1 ( PC-1) cable landing station, where tra ...

under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

with El Dorado Broadcasters, dropping the pre-existing

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

format and simulcasting KMLA. In October, Gold Coast purchased KURQ from El Dorado for $600,000; that station is now known by the call letters KMLM-FM. KMLA owner Gold Coast Radio LLC is not to be confused with, nor is affiliated with,

Gold Coast Broadcasting Point Broadcasting LLC is an American radio broadcasting company based in Ventura, California. The company is the owner of several radio groups in Southern California, doing business as Gold Coast Broadcasting LLC in the Oxnard—Ventura radio mar ...

LLC, a competing radio broadcasting company based in Ventura, California. Both companies own and operate stations in the Oxnard-Ventura market, including at least one each broadcasting in Spanish (Gold Coast Broadcasting's

KVEN KVEN (1520 AM, "") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Port Hueneme, California and serves the Ventura County area. The station is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language talk/sports format. By day ...

and

KUNX KUNX (1400 AM) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Paula, California and serves the Ventura County, California area. The station broadcasts in the Spanish language, carrying a regional Mexican music format branded as "Radio ...

Programming

KMLA's morning show, ''El Nuevo Show De La M'', is hosted by DON SOLOVINO & EVELYN CORREA "LA MUNEQUITA" Y GABRIEL REYES . The show features top-40

music, news, humorous commentary on current events, and call-in contests. As an hour-long extension of the morning show, ''Las Movidas de La M'' consists of upbeat, danceable selections from

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

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 ...

, and merengue artists. Middays, ''Las Viejas del Recuerdo'' ("The Oldies from the Past") host Chava Vaca plays popular Mexican music from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Other programs include ''Las Canciones Más Solicitadas del Día'', consisting of each day's most requested songs, and the love-song show ''Sentimiento de Amor''.

On-air personalities

*Evelyn Correa "La Munequita De La M" *Gabriel reyes *Aluche "Don Solovino" Ballesteros *Salvador "Chava" Vaca *Gerardo Ceja *el chicharron *Sammy Garcia

References

External links

* * {{Spanish Radio Stations in California MLA Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1996 MLA