KVVA-FM (107.1

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

, "La Suavecita 107.1") 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 A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

to Sun Lakes, Arizona, serving the

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the c ...

. The station is owned by

Entravision Communications Entravision Communications Corporation is an American media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish language in the United States, Spanish-speaking Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic community ...

, with

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s near Sky Harbor Airport. KVVA-FM has 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 2,850

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 as a Class C2 station. The

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 located in

South Mountain Park South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona, is the largest municipal park in the United States, and one of the largest urban parks in North America and in the world. It has been designated as a Phoenix Points of Pride, Phoenix Point of Pride. Geog ...

History

KSTM and KVVA-FM

The station

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

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 KSTM. It was built by engineer Harold Harkins who also served as its first general manager and it had a variety format. Harkings sold KSTM to Beta Communications in 1980. Under Beta, it broadcast an

album rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM broadcasting, FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of Rock music, rock albums and is currently associated ...

format known as "The Storm". Two years after buying KSTM, Beta acquired KIFN 860 AM, Phoenix's heritage Spanish-language station, and relaunched it as KVVA. Five years later, Beta opted to jettison the rock format for Spanish-language

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

as KVVA-FM 107.1. It was the first Spanish-language FM station in Phoenix since 99.9 KNNN had exited the format in 1984.

Romántica, Estrella, Jose, Suavecita

Beta went bankrupt in 1996, and the AM and FM stations were auctioned separately. KVVA-FM was sold to Z-Spanish Radio Network. Four years later, Entravision acquired KVVA-FM and KMJK (now KDVA) and combined the two into a simulcast for its " Radio Romántica" format. In 2005, the stations were changed to " Super Estrella," as part of the Super Estrella Network programmed by Edgar Pineda from

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, ...

. In September 2008, the simulcast switched to "Jose FM," a Spanish adult hits format. The current "La Suavecita" format was instituted in 2018. In July 2020, after years of filings involving a nearby FM allotment to

Aguila Águila or Aguila is Spanish for "eagle". It may refer to: Places *El Aguila, Valle del Cauca, a town and municipality in Colombia *Aguila, Arizona, United States Ships *, the first ship of the Chilean Navy *, a British passenger ship sunk in 19 ...

, Entravision was approved to move KVVA-FM's

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

from Apache Junction to Sun Lakes, in order to relocate the transmitter from Apache Junction to South Mountain and become a market-wide signal. Its simulcast partner, 106.9 KDVA, moved to 106.7 MHz in late October 2023. The transmitter move was completed in June 2024, which included the introduction of a simulcast of KFUE 106.7 on its HD2 subchannel.

References

External links

* {{Entravision Communications VVA-FM VVA-FM Entravision Communications stations Adult hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1973 1973 establishments in Arizona