KSCA (FM)

KSCA
City Glendale, California
Broadcast area Greater Los Angeles
Branding Zona Mx 101.9
Frequency 101.9 MHz (also on HD Radio)
Repeater(s) 101.9 MHz KSCA-1-FM (Santa Clarita)
First air date March 22, 1952
Format Regional Mexican
HD2: Spanish Oldies
ERP 4,800 watts
HAAT 863.0 meters (2,831.4 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 24548
Callsign meaning Southern CAlifornia
Affiliations Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
Owner Univision Radio
(Univision Radio Illinois, Inc.)
Sister stations KLVE, KRCD/KRCV, KTNQ, KFTR-DT, KMEX-DT
Webcast Listen Live
Website KSCA Online

KSCA (101.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Glendale, California and broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KSCA is owned by Univision Radio and it airs a Regional Mexican radio format. The station has studios and offices on Center Drive (near Interstate 405) in West Los Angeles. KSCA's transmitter is on Mount Wilson.[1]

KSCA broadcasts in the HD Radio format.[2] Regional Mexican music is heard on the primary channel with "Recuerdo," a Spanish-language oldies format, heard on the HD-2 channel. KSCA is also broadcast on a 90-watt booster station in Santa Clarita, California, KSCA-1-FM at 101.9.[3]

History

Early Years

The station first signed on the air on March 22, 1952 as KUTE, originally programming a "good music" format from studios in downtown Los Angeles and transmitter atop Flint Peak, just west of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It was owned by Robert P. Adams, who served as its president and general manager.[4]

In 1972, KUTE was sold to the Progress Radio Network (which changed its name to Tracy Broadcasting one year later) and changed hands again in 1979 to Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, a black-owned radio company based in New York City.

Urban Contemporary and The Quiet Storm

Under Inner City's ownership, KUTE became one of the original stations in the United States to launch a format that would later be called urban contemporary, playing the latest R&B, funk and soul music, featuring local DJs such as "Humble Harve", Brian Roberts and "Lucky Pierre." KUTE 102 was also the starting point for many successful radio careers, including veteran PD Rick Thomas, who was hired in 1982 to do weekends on air by then PD Lucky Pierre. During this time, mornings were hosted by Brian Roberts, afternoon drive by Charlie Fox and evenings with Joe Greene. Weekends also featured Ed Mann, Buster Jones, Scott Lockwood and Strawberry Jan Marie.

At 2:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, KUTE 102 would host an hour of disco/dance mixes, usually pre-mixed vinyl albums specially created for DJs. KUTE 102 was one of the first radio stations to air a "mega-mix" when the "Michael Jackson Mega-Mix" debuted in the summer of 1983, capitalizing on the success of Jackson's Thriller album earlier in the year. DJ Mario Flores later hosted a disco dance DJ 12" specialty show Sunday mornings from 2:00 am to 3:00 am featuring 15-minute disco mixes, mixed by well known DJ's around the U.S.

KUTE was quite successful in this format. In late 1983, KUTE became a template for Urban Adult Contemporary stations today, changing its format to a sound known as "The Quiet Storm." KUTE 102's Urban Adult Contemporary format would last until 1987, when the station was sold to Gene Autry's Golden West Broadcasting, which also owned AM 710 KMPC (now KSPN) and Channel 5 KTLA.

Full Spectrum Rock

On October 4, 1987, KUTE changed its call sign to KMPC-FM with a format dubbed "Full Spectrum Rock", a mixture of classic rock, adult album alternative and progressive rock.[5] Many of the DJs who were let go from the defunct KMET that same year could be heard again on this radio station, including Paraquat Kelley, Cynthia Foxx and Jim Ladd. J.J. Jackson, veteran of KLOS throughout the 1970s, and one of the original MTV VJs in the early 1980s, was program director at this time. In March 1989, KMPC-FM became "The Edge", changing its call letters to KEDG and continuing the rock format until May 12, 1989, when the station became "K-Lite", KLIT, and adopted a soft adult contemporary format.[6]

LA's Finest Rock

On July 1, 1994, at 5 p.m., KLIT switched to an adult album alternative ("AAA") format as "FM 101.9," featuring the Dr. Demento show in afternoons.[7] The call sign switched to KSCA on September 1, 1994 upon FCC approval.[8] It was known as "Southern California's Album Alternative" and later morphed into "LA's Finest Rock".

Mike Morrison joined as Program Director from WXPN, Philadelphia. Nicole Sandler, formerly with LA rock station KLOS and The Mark & Brian Show, joined for middays. The station later hired Chuck Moshontz, also from KLOS and paired him with Nicole to do mornings. After the first year, Nicole Sandler was promoted to Music Director. Others on the staff included Mimi Chen, Rich Guzman, Terry Gladstone, Anita Gevinson and Merilee Kelly. The "KSCA Music Hall" (the hallway outside the deejay booth) hosted live performances by dozens of artists, some of whom had their debuts there before going on to superstardom, including the Dave Matthews Band.[9] This format lasted until Midnight on February 4, 1997, when Golden West Broadcasting sold off its last radio property. The last song on FM 101.9 was "Her Majesty" by The Beatles, which was preceded by a brief monologue from general manager of KSCA, Bill Ward.[10][11]

Switch to Spanish-Language Programming

KSCA was bought by the Heftel Broadcasting Corporation in February 1997 for $112.5 million.[12][13] KSCA began calling itself "La Nueva 101.9," switching to a Spanish-language Ranchera music format, aimed at Los Angeles' growing Mexican-American population.[12] At the time, Southern California only had a couple of full power FM stations broadcasting in Spanish, 107.5 KLVE, airing a Latin Soft AC format, and 97.9 KLAX-FM, which was also broadcasting Regional Mexican music.

KSCA's morning host, Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo, co-sponsored a large immigration rally in Los Angeles on March 25, 2006, along with other local radio personalities including KLAX's "El Cucuy" Renán Almendaríz. An estimated half-million protesters marched through Downtown LA. The morning show is now called "El Bueno, La Mala y El Feo" (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly).

On September 16, 2011 KSCA rebranded from "La Nueva 101.9" to "LA 101.9".[14] It has since switched to "Zona MX 101.9."

References

  1. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/KSCA
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-01-28. Retrieved 2015-09-15. HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles
  3. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/KSCA-1-FM
  4. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1953 page 83
  5. ↑ Barnes, Ken, ed. (September 11, 1987). "Transtar Gets KUTE As 'Niche-29' Flagship" (PDF). Radio & Records (703). Los Angeles, California: Bob Wilson. p. 1 – via American Radio History.
  6. ↑ Mitchell, Gail, ed. (May 12, 1989). "L.A. Loses Its Edge" (PDF). Radio & Records (788). Los Angeles, California: Bob Wilson. p. 3 – via American Radio History.
  7. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1994/RR-1994-06-24.pdf
  8. ↑ "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  9. ↑ Wharton, David (14 July 1995). "Live Connections". Valley Life. The Los Angeles Times (Washington ed.). Times Mirror Company. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1990s/1997/RR-1997-02-07.pdf
  11. ↑ "101.9 KSCA Becomes La Nueva". formatchange.com. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  12. 1 2 Rivera, John (2 March 1999). "New voice dominates L.A. radio". The Sun. 163 (61). Baltimore, Maryland. p. 2A – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 2000 page D-45
  14. ↑ Venta, Lance (September 15, 2011). "KSCA Los Angeles Rebrands". RadioInsight. Retrieved June 14, 2017.

Coordinates: 34°13′26″N 118°03′47″W / 34.224°N 118.063°W / 34.224; -118.063

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