KAZA (AM)

KAZA
Broadcast areaSanta Clara Valley
Frequency1290 kHz
BrandingViên Thao
Programming
Language(s)Vietnamese
FormatMusic and talk
Ownership
Owner
  • Tron Dinh Do
  • (Intelli, LLC)
History
First air date
August 31, 1957; 66 years ago (1957-08-31)
Former call signs
KPER (1957–1967)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID54572
ClassD
Power
  • 1,500 watts day
  • 19 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
36°57′49″N 121°29′22″W / 36.96361°N 121.48944°W / 36.96361; -121.48944
Links
Public license information
  • Public file
  • LMS
Websitewww.vienthao.com

KAZA (1290 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Gilroy, California, and serving the Santa Clara Valley. It airs a radio format of Vietnamese language music and talk, and is branded Viên Thao Radio. The station is owned by Tron Dinh Do, through licensee Intelli, LLC.[2]

By day, KAZA is powered at 1,500 watts. To reduce interference to other stations on 1290 AM, it reduces power at night to 19 watts. It uses a non-directional antenna at all times.[3]

History

KPER was founded by Don Bernard and Chuck Jobbins, co-owners of the Bernard & Jobbins Broadcasting Company.[4] After being granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on January 23 that year, the station first broadcast on August 31, 1957, with call sign KPER and five watts of power.[5][6] The FCC officially granted KPER its broadcast license on November 21, 1957, and KPER increased its transmitting power to 500 watts and was licensed as a daytime-only station.[6] A member of the Keystone Broadcasting System, KPER also broadcast programming in Spanish and Portuguese.[4] KPER increased its power to 1,000 watts on January 21, 1959.[7] On May 2, 1963, KPER increased its power to 5,000 watts, a level continued to this day.[7]

On October 3, 1966, Bernard & Jobbins sold KPER to South Valley Broadcasters for $325,000.[8][9] KPER became KAZA on July 15, 1967.[6] By 1968, KAZA began broadcasting 85 hours of Spanish programming weekly, in contrast to seven hours of Portuguese.[9]

South Valley Broadcasters sold KAZA to Radio Fiesta on March 29, 1973, for $522,500.[10]

KAZA began carrying Spanish language broadcasts of Oakland Raiders games in 2002, the most recent season the Raiders made the Super Bowl.[11] The broadcasts continued for the 2003 season,[12] before they moved to KZSF in 2004.[13]

In November 2010, Tron Dinh Do's Intelli LLC began operating KAZA on a local marketing agreement with Radio Fiesta and began broadcasting the Vietnamese language Viên Thao Radio network. Radio Fiesta ultimately sold KAZA to Intelli for nearly a million dollars in October 2014.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KAZA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "KAZA Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KAZA
  4. ^ a b 1958 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications. 1958. p. A-245. Retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com.
  5. ^ "Station shorts" (PDF), Broadcasting-Telecasting, vol. 53, no. 8, p. 90, August 19, 1957, retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  6. ^ a b c "KAZA". FCCdata.org. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "KAZA history cards". FCC. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  8. ^ "Changing hands" (PDF), Broadcasting, vol. 71, no. 15, p. 50, October 10, 1966, retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  9. ^ a b 1968 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications. 1968. p. B-16.
  10. ^ "Ownership changes" (PDF), Broadcasting, vol. 84, no. 16, p. 58, April 16, 1973, retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  11. ^ Almond, Elliott (January 11, 2003). "Raiders go deep for Hispanic fans". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1A. Archived from the original on February 25, 2003. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  12. ^ "Oakland Raiders". www.raidersenespanol.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Oakland Raiders". raidersenespanol.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Gilroy radio operator going from renter to owner". Radio and Television Business Report. October 6, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2020.

External links

  • (in Vietnamese) Viên Thao Media
  • KAZA in the FCC AM station database
  • KAZA in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KAZA_(AM)&oldid=1193081025"