KROP (1300 AM) 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 ...

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 ...

Brawley, California Brawley (formerly Braly) is a city in Imperial County, California, United States within the Imperial Valley. The population was 26,416 at the 2020 census, up from 24,953 at the 2010 census. Year-round agriculture is an important economic act ...

, and serving the

Imperial Valley The Imperial Valley ( or ''Valle Imperial'') of Southern California lies in Imperial and Riverside counties, with an urban area centered on the city of El Centro. The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the S ...

. It broadcasts a

Christian radio Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

format

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

with

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 ...

KGBA-FM 100.1. It airs a mix of

Christian Contemporary music Contemporary Christian music (CCM), also known as Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music, is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith an ...

along with Christian Talk and Teaching shows. It and is owned by The Voice of International Christian Evangelism, Inc. The

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices are on West State Street in

El Centro El Centro ( Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the most populous city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the co ...

. By day, the station is powered at 1,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. But to protect other stations on

1300 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1300 kHz: The Federal Communications Commission classifies 1300 AM as a Regional broadcast frequency. See List of broadcast station classes This is a list of broadcast station classes a ...

from interference, at night it reduces power to 500 watts. It uses 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 ...

History

The station first

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 . It got the

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 as ...

KROP because the Imperial Valley is an agricultural region. The station was a CBS Radio

Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

, although in the 1960s, it switched to the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

. KROP had several music formats from the 1950s to the early 1980s, when it switched to a

Talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format. In 1995, it flipped to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

. This lasted until 1998, when the station became KKSC, "ESPN 1300", a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

station affiliated with

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...

. Though the station's audience grew with the sports format, KKSC had trouble selling the format to advertisers, rendering the station dependent on the profits of sister station 96.1 KSIQ. Commonwealth Communications purchased the station from Stodelle Broadcasting in 1999. Two years later, the station changed back to KROP and began playing a classic country format provided by

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

's "

Real Country Real Country is a 24-hour radio format produced by Westwood One. Real Country is marketed at the demographic of men aged 35 to 64. Its programming consists of a fairly broad playlist of "Today's Stars and the Legends." Classic country is the ...

" service. Cherry Creek Radio bought the station in 2003. In 2010, LarDog Communications, LLC. purchased KROP, installed new state of the art broadcasting equipment and changed the format back to talk radio. After KSIQ was moved into the

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

radio market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

, Cherry Creek Radio shut down KROP in April 2010, as the lack of an FM sister station made it difficult for the station to compete in the Imperial Valley

. The station was sold, and returned on the air when the sale was completed in August 2010. Brawley High School Wildcat Football was broadcast via the World Wide Web. On August 1, 2014, KROP returned to classic country, citing low advertising revenues for the talk radio format. It was reported on January 1, 2018, that KROP went off the air. The phone numbers for both KROP and its owner, LarDog, have been disconnected. The website is also not available. After briefly resuming operations in August, a lightning strike put the station off the air on August 27. On June 11, 2019, LarDog filed to donate KROP to The Voice of International Christian Evangelism, which owns KGBA-AM- FM in Holtville. The donation was consummated on August 12, 2019.

References

External links

* ( Guide to reading History Cards) {{Country Radio Stations in California , state=autocollapse ROP Brawley, California Imperial County, California Radio stations established in 1946 1946 establishments in California