KZTB
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

KZTB (97.9 FM, "La Gran D 97.9") is a
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 serve
Milton-Freewater, Oregon Milton-Freewater is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The city received its current name in 1951 when neighboring rival cities of Milton and Freewater voted to merge. The population was 7,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of t ...
, United States. The station, which began broadcasting in 1992, is currently owned by Amador and Rosalie Bustos 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 ...
is held by
Bustos Media Bustos Media L.L.C. is a media corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Bustos Media specializes in operating Spanish-language, and other ethnic, radio stations in the United States. Most of its stations broadcast in Spanish; however, two ...
Holdings, LLC.


Programming

KZTB broadcasts a
Spanish-language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
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 ...
format as part of Adelante's nationally syndicated "La Gran D"
radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass media, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (teleco ...
. The station serves the greater
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. The Tri-Cities area, dubbed the "Heart of Washington's Wine Country", is now home to an increasing population of
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
s, primarily immigrants from
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.


History


The beginning

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 ...
for a new 500
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 ...
FM station broadcasting on 97.9
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 ...
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 December 14,
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
. 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 ...
KUDO by the FCC on April 29, 1988. The assigned callsign for the still-under construction station was changed to KLUB on August 1, 1989. In April 1992, permit holder Nanette Markunas applied to the FCC to transfer the construction permit to Alexandria Communications. The transfer was approved by the FCC on October 2, 1992, and the transaction was consummated on October 16, 1992. While the transfer was in process, the callsign was changed, this time to KLKY, on September 21, 1992. After several extensions, the permit transfer, and an authorization to increase
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 ...
to 5,100 watts, KLKY received its license to cover from the FCC on May 17, 1993.


Major chain ownership

In June 1997, Alexandria Communications reached an agreement to sell this station to Citadel License, Inc., a subsidiary of
Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company founded and developed by Larry Wilson. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the count ...
. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 12, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on September 25, 1997. Between approval and consummation, the station's callsign was changed to KTHK on September 10, 1997. In February 1999, Citadel License, Inc., agreed to sell KTHK to Marathon Media, L.P. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 13, 1999. An October 1999 internal corporate realignment saw Marathon Media, L.P., apply to transfer the license for KTHK to Marathon Media Group, LLC. The transfer was approved by the FCC on November 8, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on November 9, 1999. In December 2000, Marathon Media Group, LLC, announced it had contracted to sell KTHK to
Clear Channel Communications iHeartMedia, Inc., or CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc., formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc., a company founded by ...
through its Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses, Inc., subsidiary as part of a five-station deal valued at $11 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on February 15, 2001, and the transaction was consummated on February 21, 2001. A January 2001 internal restructuring had Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses, Inc., apply to transfer 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 ...
to Capstar TX Limited Partnership. The transfer was approved by the FCC on February 5, 2001, and the transaction was consummated on April 16, 2001. The station's call sign was changed to KOLW on July 3, 2003. Just over a year later, in August 2004, Capstar TX Limited Partnership reached an agreement to swap KOLW to ALC Communications in exchange for KHTO (97.5 FM, now
KOLW KOLW (97.5 FM broadcasting, FM) was a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format branded as "97.5 Kool FM". Licensed to Basin City, Washington, United States, the station served the Tri-Cities, Washington, Tri-Cities area. The station was ...
, in Basin City). ALC Communications also received $1 million cash as part of this transaction. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 9, 2004, and the transaction was consummated on January 11, 2005. While the sale was in progress, on October 31, 2004, the callsign was changed to KHTO, the other station involved in the swap. In January 2005, ALC Communications applied to the FCC to transfer this station to Alexandra Communications, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 11, 2005, and the transaction was consummated on April 13, 2005.


Swap to Bustos

In December 2005, Alexandra Communications, Inc. (Tom Hodgins, president/treasurer) reached an agreement to swap this station with
Bustos Media Bustos Media L.L.C. is a media corporation headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Bustos Media specializes in operating Spanish-language, and other ethnic, radio stations in the United States. Most of its stations broadcast in Spanish; however, two ...
(Amador S. Bustos, owner/president) for KMMG (101.9 FM, now
KNHK-FM KNHK-FM (101.9 FM, "101.9 Hank FM") is a radio station broadcasting a classic country music format. Licensed to Weston, Oregon, United States, the station is currently owned by Alexandra Communications. History The station signed on the air in ...
, in
Weston, Oregon Weston is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It was originally a post office called Mitchell's Station, established in February 1867. In September 1869, T.T. Lieuallen renamed the post office after his hometown, Weston, Missouri. T ...
) through their subsidiary Bustos Media of Eastern Washington License, LLC. In addition to the Weston station, Bustos Media agreed to pay Alexandra Communications $900,000 in cash at closing. The deal was approved by the FCC on February 22, 2006, and the transaction was consummated on April 10, 2006. At the time of the sale, KHTO broadcast a
contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...
music format. The freshly swapped KHTO had its callsign changed to that of its counterpart in the exchange, KMMG, on March 1, 2006. This change was short-lived as less than two weeks later the station was assigned the current KZTB call letters by the FCC on March 14, 2006. As recently as the Fall 2007 ratings period, KZTB ranked as the top radio station targeting Hispanic listeners in the Tri-Cities area, as defined by
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 ...
, and their 5.6 share tied them for 4th overall in the 12+ rankings. However, the station dropped the locally programmed "Zorro" programming in favor of the "Ke Buena" syndicated fare in April 2007 and the ratings have slipped sharply since then. The programming shift was described as "a reallocation of dollars" by station management. In the Fall 2008 ratings data, released in February 2009, the station had slipped to a 0.9 share 12+ and 22nd overall. In September 2010, Bustos transferred most of its licenses to Adelante Media Group as part of a settlement with its lenders. Effective December 10, 2014, Bustos Media reacquired KZTB, as well as eight other stations and a translator, from Adelante Media for $6 million.


References


External links


Bustos Media website
* {{Bustos Media ZTB ZTB Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1992 Umatilla County, Oregon 1992 establishments in Oregon