KTMZ

KTMZ (1220 AM) is an AM radio station licensed to Pomona, California. The station is owned by Lotus Communications. KTMZ is part of a simulcast with KWKW in Los Angeles, California and airs a Spanish-language sports format as an affiliate of TUDN Radio.

KTMZ
CityPomona, California
Broadcast areaInland Empire
Eastern Los Angeles County
Frequency1220 kHz
BrandingTu Liga Radio 1220 AM
Programming
Language(s)Spanish
FormatSports
AffiliationsTUDN Radio
Ownership
OwnerLotus Communications
(Lotus Los Angeles Corp.)
KFWB, KWKW
History
First air date
December 23, 1960 (1960-12-23)
Former call signs
KKAR (1960-1978)
KLIT (1978-1983)
KTSJ (1983-1996)
KWPA (1996-2000)
KWKU (2000-2015)
Technical information
Facility ID1925
ClassB
Power250 watts
Translator(s)103.1 K276EF (Pomona)
Links
WebcastListen live
Websiteradiodeportes.com

History

The station began broadcasting December 23, 1960 as KKAR.[1][2] It ran 250 watts, during daytime hours only, and was owned by Intrastate Broadcasters.[2] The station was initially intended to offer "FM listening on AM radio", with a "good music" format.[3]

Intrastate sold KKAR to West Coast Communications, Inc. in late 1966; the $160,000 sale[4] closed on January 1, 1967.[2] Under West Coast, the station flipped to a Top 40 format. In late 1970, Elizabeth Schirmer, a former employee of KFMB-TV San Diego, acquired KKAR for $250,000.[5] The ownership and format wheels spun again in 1973 when the station flipped to country on February 24[6] and the Schirmers sold the station to Bassett Broadcasting.[7] In 1976, it began airing a Latin contemporary format after being purchased by JATO Communications; Bassett asked to sell the station before the then-required three-year period, citing its poor financial condition.[8][9]

In 1978, JATO acquired KSOM-AM-FM and was required to spin off the 1220 frequency as a result. The KKAR intellectual unit moved to 1510 kHz as KNSE; at the same time, Gore Broadcasting, Inc., acquired the frequency and relaunched it as a religious outlet, KLIT.[10] In 1983, its call sign was changed to KTSJ.[11] Several groups owned KLIT/KTSJ during its tenure as a religious outlet, including Creative Communications of Pomona and American Sunrise Communications.

KTSJ continued airing a religious format until 1994, when it adopted a Spanish hits format.[12][13]

In 1996, the station’s call sign was changed to KWPA[11] after Personal Achievement Radio bought the station from American Sunrise for $875,000.[14] (Personal Achievement briefly held the call letters KWPA, KXPA and KYPA, all in Los Angeles, for the stations it owned.) However, KWPA only briefly simulcast KYPA; in 1997, it shifted to a gold-based Spanish adult contemporary format as "Radio Mía" and attempted to secure the call letters KMIA.[15] Multicultural Broadcasting would acquire KWPA and KYPA in 1997.

Spanish-language sports

Lotus acquired KWPA from Multicultural at the end of 1999 for $750,000.[16] In 2000, KWPA became KWKU, and it began simulcasting Lotus's Spanish-language sports outlet KWKW,[11][17] improving reception in Pomona and Ontario, in addition to serving as an overflow station for KWKW sports coverage; KWKU also exclusively carried broadcasts of the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

The KWKU nominal main studio in Pomona would prove critical to getting KWKW back on the air after disaster struck on December 6, 2001. A major fire at the Sunset Vine Tower, which was home to the Lotus cluster, caused extensive electrical damage to the building, which was deemed unsafe by fire officials. 105 computers, mixers and other equipment were carted out of the building, and John Cooper, the chief engineer for Lotus Los Angeles, drove them to Pomona, where the station was back on the air in six hours.[18] As a result of the extensive damage, Lotus relocated temporarily to the recently vacated KTNQ studios and later purchased a building near Universal Studios Hollywood to be fitted out for its operation.[18]

In 2015, its call sign was changed to KTMZ.[11]

References
  1. 1971 Broadcasting Yearbook, Broadcasting, 1971. p. B-24. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  2. History Cards for KTMZ, fcc.gov. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  3. "Claremont Man Operates Pomona Radio Station, Pledges Public Service, Good Music". Progress-Bulletin. January 19, 1961. p. 3. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  4. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 7, 1966. p. 119. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  5. "Changing Hands" (PDF). September 21, 1970. p. 43. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  6. "Station KKAR Plans C-W Music Format". Progress-Bulletin. February 24, 1973. p. C-5. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  7. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 15, 1973. p. 17. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  8. Gurza, Agustín (March 19, 1977). "Pomona's 1-Year-Old KKAR Making Dent]" (PDF). Billboard. p. 63. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  9. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 30, 1976. p. 50. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  10. "Radio stations shift a la musical chairs". Chino Champion. March 24, 1978. p. 16. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  11. Call Sign History, fcc.gov. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  12. Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985, Broadcasting/Cablecasting, 1985. p. B-32. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  13. "Format Changes & Updates", The M Street Journal. Vol. 11, No. 34. August 24, 1994. p. 1. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  14. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. December 8, 1995. p. 6. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  15. "Douglas/PAR Taps Two GMs In L.A., DC" (PDF). Radio & Records. September 19, 1997. p. 21. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  16. "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. December 17, 1999. p. 10. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  17. Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2002-2003, Broadcasting & Cable, 2002-2003. p. D-56. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  18. Thomas, Barry (August 2002). "The Tower and the Almost Inferno" (PDF). Broadcast Engineering Radio. pp. 34, 42. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
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