KZOZ (93.3 FM) 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 and serves

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 ...

. The station is owned by

American General Media American General Media is a media company specializing in radio. It was founded by Lawrence Brandon and is operated by sons Anthony and Rogers. American General Media is headquartered in Bakersfield, California. Lawrence Brandon owned and op ...

and broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

format.

History

The station's first license was granted in 1962 to John C. Cohan with the

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 ...

. In November 1965, Cohan sold and its AM counterpart to West Coast Broadcasters Inc., owner of TV station KSBY (channel 6) in San Luis Obispo, for $360,000. The new owner then changed the FM station's call sign to KSBY-FM. In June 1975, KSBY-FM changed its call sign to KZOZ. At the time, the station was branded as "KZOZ Stereo 93" and aired an

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

format. The 1980s brought several major changes at the station. On June 17, 1980, KZOZ adjusted its call sign to KZOZ-FM and flipped to

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 ...

with the branding "Z93". The station reverted to the KZOZ call letters on November 10, 1986. In December 1987, Phoenix Broadcasting Company sold KZOZ and then-sister station KKAL to Tattersall-Commonwealth Broadcasters Company for $3,615,000. The combo changed hands again in February 1989, when Tattersall-Commonwealth sold the pair to Anthony Brandon and L. Rogers Brandon for $2 million. The Brandons' radio company would later be known as

. On October 14, 1991, KZOZ switched formats from top 40 to

, dropping its longtime "Z93" branding. In 2003, KZOZ hired David Atwood as programming director. Atwood adjusted the station's music library in an

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

direction, adding newer songs alongside the existing classic rock as a response to the rise of

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

rival KURQ. In the

Arbitron Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

fall 2004 radio ratings survey, KZOZ finished in first place in the San Luis Obispo market in the 12+ demographic. As of July 2018, programming on KZOZ includes ''Jeff & Jeremy'', a local morning show that has aired since February 2006, and ''Off The Record with Joe Benson'', a nationally syndicated one-hour classic rock show.

References

External links

* *
Jeff & Jeremy (KZOZ morning show)
* {{coord, 35.361, N, 120.657, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title Classic rock radio stations in the United States ZOZ Mass media in San Luis Obispo County, California Radio stations established in 1961 1961 establishments in California