KSLY (96.1 FM, "K-Love") is a

non-commercial A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that is not carried out in the interest of Profit (economics), profit. The opposite is Commerce, commercial, something that primarily serves profit interests and is focused on bu ...

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

San Luis Obispo, California ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. Owned by Educational Media Foundation, the station carries a

contemporary Christian 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 Christianity, Chri ...

format from the nationally syndicated K-Love network as of October 16, 2016.

History

Early years

The station first signed on in December 1959 as KATY-FM, simulcasting then-sister station KATY. It adopted 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 ...

KUNA in 1973. In January 1976, KSLY Broadcasting Company sold KUNA and AM counterpart KSLY to a Chicago-based group for $535,000. KUNA, which aired a beautiful music format, changed its call letters to KUNA-FM on January 15, 1979, then back to KUNA the following year.

KSLY-FM

In February 1984, KUNA switched call signs and formats with KSLY, which aired a

top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

format. The FM station, using new call letters KSLY-FM, adopted the branding "SLY 96-FM". In September 2000, Mondosphere Broadcasting Inc. sold 11 stations throughout Central California, including KSLY-FM, plus a

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for a twelfth station, to

Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...

for $45 million. KSLY-FM dropped its longtime top 40 format in October 2005, flipping 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 ...

and rebranding as "Cat Country 96.1". In July 2007, KSLY-FM was one of 16 stations in California and Arizona that Clear Channel sold to El Dorado Broadcasters for $40 million. On April 20, 2012, KSLY-FM dropped its Cat Country moniker and began simulcasting sister station KSNI-FM in Santa Maria. Both stations co-branded as "Sunny Country 102.5 & 96.1". In May 2016, upon closing of KSNI-FM's sale to American General Media, KSLY-FM dropped its simulcast of Sunny Country and rebranded as "96.1 SLO Country". This format lasted only two months as the station went silent at the end of June. On July 15, 2016, El Dorado Broadcasters sold KSLY-FM to Educational Media Foundation for $350,000; the transaction closed in October. EMF then flipped the station to its

Christian adult contemporary Christian adult contemporary, also known as Christian AC, CAC, or Christian Adult Contemporary Airplay, is a form of radio-played contemporary Christian music, ranging from 1960s Jesus music and 1970s Christian soft rock music to predominately ...

-formatted network. KSLY-FM changed its callsign to simply KSLY on December 15, 2016.

References

External links

* {{coord, 35.360, N, 120.656, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Mass media in San Luis Obispo County, California Radio stations established in 1959 1959 establishments in California K-Love radio stations Educational Media Foundation radio stations SLY