KLAX-FM (97.9 FM) is an American commercial radio station located in

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, ...

, broadcasting to the

Greater Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

. It is owned by Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS). KLAX-FM 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 ...

music format branded as "". The station has studios in Los Angeles, and its transmitter is based in Glendale.

History

KNOB

The station began broadcasting on April 22, 1949, holding the call sign KNOB.History Cards for KLAX-FM
fcc.gov. Retrieved June 1, 2019. It originally broadcast at 103.1 MHz and was licensed to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. On August 18, 1957, the station switched to an all jazz music format, becoming the world's first all-jazz station. It was branded "The Jazz Knob". Its owner was Sleepy Stein, who was able to get permission from 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 ...

for a power increase by switching the frequency to 97.9 in 1958.Los Angeles Times - The Daily Mirror
/ref> It broadcast from a studio at their transmitter site atop Signal Hill, near Long Beach Airport. The building and tower remain to this day, though the station has moved away to Flint Peak near Glendale. The station's original high-power transmitter was a Western Electric 10 kW that had previously been installed at KNX-FM. In 1966, the station was sold to Jeanette Pennino Banoczi and husband Jack Banoczi, owners of the Pennino Music Company, for $262,850. KNOB's studios were moved to

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

. Later that year, the station switched to an all-request middle of the road (MOR) format, with ethnic programming on Sundays. KNOB would later air a beautiful music format.
Broadcasting Yearbook 1980
',

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

, 1980. p. C-22. Retrieved June 3, 2019.Bornstein, Rollye.
Los Angeles Market Profile
, '' Billboard''. August 21, 1982. p. 20. Retrieved June 3, 2019. In the early 1980s, the station began airing a syndicated MOR format. In September 1985, it adopted a

soft 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 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

"love songs" format branded "For Lovers Only".McDougal, Dennis.
Radio in the Afternoon
, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. April 6, 1986. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1986
', Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1986. p. B-30. Retrieved June 3, 2019.

KSKQ-FM

In 1988, KNOB was sold to Spanish Broadcasting System for $15 million and its call sign was changed to KSKQ-FM.Call Sign History
fcc.gov. Retrieved May 3, 2019. The station aired a

Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

adult contemporary format.Format Changes
, ''The M Street Journal''. Vol. 9, No. 31. August 5, 1992. p. 1. Retrieved June 3, 2019.Simonett, Helena (2011).
Banda: Mexican Musical Life Across Borders
'. Wesleyan University Press. 37. Retrieved June 3, 2019.

KLAX-FM

In 1992, under the direction of general manager Alfredo Rodriguez, KSKQ-FM was turned into a Banda music station, KLAX-FM, branded "".Puig, Claudia.
Latino Radio Surge: A Coming of Age: Ratings: The rise of KLAX-FM to top-dog status in the Arbitron rankings reflects the ascendance of an immigrant population
, ''

''. January 7, 1993. Retrieved June 3, 2019. In January 1993, KLAX-FM became the most-listened-to station in the market, the first Spanish-language station in Los Angeles to achieve this. In 1998, KLAX-FM moved its city of license from Long Beach to East Los Angeles. In 2002, KLAX dropped the contemporary hits and went to a more focused regional format as "". In March 2017, KLAX began carrying the morning show hosted by Terry "El Terrible" Cortez, Kristel "La Kristy" Yañez, and Johnny "El Perro" Orta, of WLEY-FM, "" in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

.SBS Syndicates El Terrible From Chicago To Los Angeles & San Francisco
, ''Radio Insight''. March 9, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2019. The program also airs on KRZZ in San Francisco. Before joining KRZZ in 2014, Cortez and Yañez had been part of Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo's syndicated morning show for 12 years.

Immigration debate

Renán "El Cucuy" Almendárez Coello, the station's morning show host, helped coordinate a demonstration held on the streets of downtown Los Angeles on March 25, 2006.Watanabe, Teresa and Becerra, Hector. "The Immigration Debate." ''Los Angeles Times'' Mar 28 2006, page A1. The event drew an estimated 500,000 participants and was a springboard to further similar events held throughout the United States. The protesters marched in opposition to H.R. 4437, a proposal Congressional law that would theoretically make illegal immigration to the U.S. more difficult. Coello received attention in various media following the original protests, including an appearance on Tom Leykis' English-language radio talk show.

References

External links

KLAX-FM official website
{{coord, 34.164, N, 118.196, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title 1949 establishments in California Eastside Los Angeles Hispanic and Latino American culture in Los Angeles Mass media in Los Angeles County, California Mexican-American culture in Los Angeles Radio stations established in 1949 LAX-FM Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States Spanish Broadcasting System radio stations LAX-FM