KTAP (1600 AM, "Radio Ranchito") 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 ...

that is licensed to

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, it is approximately northwest o ...

and serves the Santa Maria—

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumashan ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called t ...

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

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, ...

. 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 ''trans ...

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 as ...

KWHL by 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 ...

, 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 Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

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-most populous city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 38th most populous in California, and 183 ...

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