KRYP (93.1 FM) 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 ...

licensed to

Gladstone, Oregon Gladstone is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. The population was 12,017 at the 2020 United States census. Gladstone is an approximately suburban community, Located south of Portland, Oregon, ...

, and serving the

Portland metropolitan area The Portland metropolitan area is a metropolitan area, metro area with its urban area, core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (state), Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Man ...

. It is owned by the

Salem Media Group 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 wh ...

and airs 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 ...

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 ...

format, a mix of genres including

Banda Banda may refer to: People * Banda (surname) * Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician * Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor * Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh ...

Ranchera Ranchera () or canción ranchera is a genre of traditional music of Mexico. It dates to before the years of the Mexican Revolution. Rancheras today are played in the vast majority of regional Mexican music styles. Drawing on rural traditional fo ...

Mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...

, and Norteño music. The studios are on SE Lake Road, off the Milwaukie Expressway ( Oregon Route 224) in Portland. KRYP is a Class C3 FM station, with an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would ha ...

(ERP) of 1,600

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. 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 ...

is atop Portland's West Hills.

History

KAST-FM

KRYP is a "move-in" station. 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 on . Its original

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 ...

was KAST-FM and it broadcast on 92.9 MHz in

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

, about 90 miles (145 km) northwest of Portland. It was the FM

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 ...

of KAST

1370 AM The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1370 kHz: 1370 AM is a regional broadcast frequency, on which Class B and D stations broadcast. Argentina * LRA 54 in Ingeniero Jacobacci, Rio Negro ...

, one of Oregon's oldest radio stations. KAST-FM ran 25,000 watts, with too little power and too far away to be heard by the larger Portland audience. In the early 2000s, the decision was made to ask the

FCC 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 ju ...

to allow the station to move. If it could relocate to the Portland metropolitan area, that would be a lucrative change.

KTRO

KTRO came into existence through a complicated deal that involved five owners of

radio stations in Oregon Radio stations in Oregon, Lists of radio stations in the United States, Oregon Oregon-related lists, Radio stations ...

and featured both signal downgrades and frequency migrations.Five Portland Owners Shuffle Signals to Add KTRO
a February 2, 2006 '' Radio Monitor'' article via allbusiness.com It started in 2005 when Salem Communications bought the FM signal from New Northwest Broadcasters, which had operated it as KAST-FM on 92.9 in Astoria. To make room on the Portland dial,

KPDQ-FM KPDQ-FM (93.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Salem Media Group and serves the Portland metropolitan area, with a Christian talk and teaching radio format. The studios and offices are on SE Lake Road in M ...

, also owned by Salem, moved from 93.7 to 93.9 and downgraded its broadcast station class from C to C1. McKenzie River Broadcasting's

KKNU KKNU is a commercial country music radio station in Springfield, Oregon, broadcasting to the Eugene, Oregon, Eugene-Springfield, Oregon area on 93.3 Frequency Modulation, FM. It is owned by Mckenzie River Broadcasting. Syndicated programming in ...

, licensed to Springfield, moved from 93.1 to 93.3. Bay Cities Building's KDCQ, licensed to Coos Bay, moved from 93.5 to 92.9. Meanwhile, Oregon Eagle's KTIL-FM, licensed to Tillamook, moved from 94.1 to 94.3. New Northwest's own 94.3 licensed to

Long Beach, Washington Long Beach is a city in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,688 at the 2020 census. History Long Beach began when Henry Harrison Tinker bought a land claim from Charles E. Reed in 1880. He platted the town and ca ...

, picked up the KAST-FM call sign and format, moving from the original 92.9 to 99.7 FM. The relocated station began broadcasting in the Portland

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 ...

in early 2006. From that point until April 11, 2007, the station was known as KTRO and it featured 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. Most of the programming was provided by the

Salem Radio Network Salem Radio Network is a United States–based radio network that specializes in syndicated Christian political talk, music, and conservative secular news/talk programming. It is a division of the Salem Media Group. Network information Salem ...

, a

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

service featuring hosts such as

Dennis Prager Dennis Mark Prager (; born August 2, 1948) is an American conservative radio talk show host and writer. He is the host of the nationally syndicated radio talk show ''The Dennis Prager Show''. In 2009, he co-founded PragerU, which primarily cre ...

Hugh Hewitt Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American conservative political commentator, radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network, attorney, academic, and author. He writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States ...

and Mike Gallagher.

KRYP

Salem management saw that the Hispanic community was growing in the Portland area. It decided KTRO's talk format could go on an AM station, leaving 93.1 FM to serve Spanish-speaking listeners with a music format targeted at them. (The Salem Radio Network's conservative talk programming is now heard on co-owned

KPAM KPAM (860 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a conservative talk radio format. Licensed to Troutdale, Oregon, it serves the Portland metropolitan area. The station is owned by the Salem Media Group, with radio studios and offices ...

860 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 860 kHz: CJBC Toronto is the Class A station on 860 AM, a Canadian clear channel frequency. In Argentina * Digital in Lanus, Buenos Aires * LRA56 in Perito Moreno In Canada Sta ...

.) KTRO took on new call letters, KRYP, and a new

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, ...

during the two-week period starting on March 28, 2007. It uses the moniker "El Rey" or The King. Salem Media normally "target audiences interested in Christian and family-themed content and conservative values." But KRYP was an exception. Salem management brought in José Santos of Santos Latin Media to help. He is a former

program director In service industries, such as education, a program manager or program director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services. For example, in education, a program director is responsible for developing ...

KLVE KLVE (107.5 FM, "107.5 K-LOVE") is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, with a Spanish AC format. The station is owned by TelevisaUnivision, and is the flagship station for the Uforia Audio Network. The stat ...

, one of the top Spanish-language stations in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Santos would lead the station's change to a

format. The Spring 2008

Arbitron ratings 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 ...

saw KRYP become the Portland radio market leader. It was the first time a Spanish-language radio station achieved that milestone.Latest Arbs: El Rey Is King
from Oregon Media InsidersEl Rey/Portland Makes History
from the

Radio & Records ''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...

website

References

External links

* {{Salem Media Group Hispanic and Latino American culture in Portland, Oregon RYP RYP Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States Clackamas County, Oregon Radio stations established in 1981 1981 establishments in Oregon Gladstone, Oregon Salem Media Group radio stations