KTAP (1600 AM, "Radio Ranchito") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission 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 radi ...

that is licensed to

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria ( Spanish for " St. Mary") is a city near the Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County. It is approximately northwest of Santa Barbara and northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Its population was 109,707 at the ...

and serves the Santa Maria—

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumash: ''Lum Poc'') is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. Located on the Central Coast, Lompoc has a population of 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who calle ...

area. The station is owned by Emerald Wave Media and broadcasts a

regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mex ...

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 was compelle ...

. KTAP is rebroadcast on FM

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

K225CG at 92.9 FM in Santa Maria.

History

The station originally was assigned 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 assig ...

KWHL by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

, but it first signed on June 10, 1962 as KHER. The station adopted the KZON call letters in 1967. In August 1986, KZON changed its

call letters 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 assign ...

to KTAP. In May 1989, Leo Kesselman sold KTAP to Buenos Diaz Broadcasting Inc., owned by Eduardo Diaz, for $425,000. However, the station would return to Kesselman's possession only two years later. In March 1996, Kesselman's Boardwalk Broadcasting Company announced a sale of KTAP and sister station KIDI-FM to Hispanic Radio Partners L.P. for $550,000; however, just eight months later in November, Boardwalk sold the combo to Emerald Wave Media for $475,000. In February 2002, Emerald Wave president George Ruiz bought out his partner's shares, taking sole ownership of the station pair for $260,000. KIDI-FM aired a

format at the time. In April 2016, Emerald Wave Media purchased an FM

Visalia, California Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...

from Living Proof, Inc. for $28,000. The translator was relocated to Santa Maria and began rebroadcasting KTAP as K225CG at 92.9 FM. On January 18, 2010, high winds in the Point Sal area caused a power outage that knocked 11 of 14 local radio stations (including KTAP) off the air. Using generators, KTAP quickly resumed broadcasting.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KTAP
* * {{Santa Maria-Lompoc Radio TAP Santa Maria, California TAP 1962 establishments in California Radio stations established in 1962