KUMA-FM (92.1 FM) is a radio station licensed to serve

Pilot Rock, Oregon Pilot Rock is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,502 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pendleton– Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area. The main industries are timber and agriculture. Pilot Rock ...

, United States. The station, established in 2006, is owned by Randolph and Debra McKone's Elkhorn Media Group and the

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which va ...

for this station is held by EMG2, LLC.

Programming

KUMA-FM broadcasts a classic hits music format to the greater

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...

, and

Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city in and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are ...

, areas. KUMA-FM is one of several

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

radio stations serving the larger city across the border in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The KUMA-FM signal is considered a

rimshot A rimshot is a percussion technique used to produce an Accent (music), accented snare drum backbeat. The sound is produced by simultaneously hitting the Drum hardware#Rim, rim and Drumhead, head of the drum with a drum stick. The sound and var ...

and is not currently strong enough in the

Tri-Cities, Washington The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities (Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick, Pasco, Washington, Pasco, and Richland, Washington, Richland) at the confluence of the Yakima River, Yakima, Snake River, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the U.S. s ...

, area to garner any significant ratings. Capps Broadcasting's KWHT is the only station of the group that regularly shows up in the Tri-Cities Arbitron ratings.

History

This station received its original

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 ...

from 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 ...

on May 26,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. The new station 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 ...

KLTB by the FCC on June 26, 2006. The station began broadcasting an oldies music format branded as "Oldies 92.1" under program test authority on July 9, 2006. KLTB received its license to cover from the FCC on September 1, 2006. License holder Charles R. Nelson reached an agreement in November 2006 to sell this station to general manager Jeffrey Aaron Bruton's Bruton Broadcasting, LLC, in exchange for the assumption of approximately $354,000 in debt and other obligations. Bruton had been operating KLTB under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one corporation, company agrees to operate a radio station, radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it ...

since June 16, 2006. The deal was approved by the FCC on January 18, 2007, and the transaction was consummated on January 29, 2007. The new owners applied to the FCC for a new call sign and the station was assigned KVAN-FM on August 7, 2007. The call sign change was part of a rebranding as the station shifted to a classic hits format. Just over one year after the call sign change, in August 2008, Bruton Broadcasting, LLC, reached an agreement to sell this station back to Charles R. Nelson in exchange for approximately $320,000 in debt relief. The deal was approved by the FCC on October 22, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on October 23, 2008. In October 2009, Charles R. Nelson reached an agreement to sell KVAN-FM to the Capps Broadcast Group through their UMA, LLC,

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

for a total of $625,000. UMA, LLC, is owned by David N. Capps and Clare Capps of

. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 30, 2009, and the transaction was consummated on December 18, 2009. On January 18, 2010, the new owners had the FCC change the station's

to KUMA-FM. On January 27, 2010, KUMA-FM changed its format to adult contemporary, the format that had been aired by the previous KUMA-FM at 107.7 FM. On March 1, 2015, KUMA-FM changed its format to classic hits, branded as "92.1 Party FM". Effective November 1, 2017, Capps Broadcast Group sold KUMA-FM and nine other broadcast properties to Elkhorn Media Group for $1.75 million.

References

External links

* {{Tri-Cities Radio 2006 establishments in Oregon Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 2006 UMA-FM Umatilla County, Oregon