KSNI-FM

KSNI-FM
City Santa Maria, California
Broadcast area Santa Maria, California
Branding Sunny Country
Slogan "Only The Best Country"
Frequency 102.5 MHz
First air date 1960 (as KSMA-FM)
Format Country
ERP 13,500 watts
HAAT 262 meters (860 ft)
Class B
Facility ID 4122
Callsign meaning K SuNny Country I
Former callsigns KSMA-FM (1960-1980)
Owner American General Media
(AGM California, LLC)
Sister stations KBOX, KPAT, KRQK, KSMA
Webcast Listen Live
Website sunnycountry.com

KSNI-FM (102.5 MHz, "Sunny Country") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Maria, California, United States and serves the Santa Maria-Lompoc, California area. The station is owned by American General Media and broadcasts a country music format.

History

KSMA-FM

The station was first signed on in 1960 as KSMA-FM by James M. Hagerman and John I. Groom.[1] It simulcast the full service format of its AM sister station KSMA (1240 AM), airing a mix of news, sports, and middle of the road music.[2] Stereophonic sound broadcasts began in 1970.[3]

In January 1980, Hagerman and Nona M. Groom sold KSMA-AM-FM to Bayliss Broadcasting Company for $1.4 million. The company was owned by John Bayliss, who resigned from his position as president of Gannett Company's radio division to manage the Santa Maria stations.[4] The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved the sale on May 12.[5]

KSNI-FM

Upon the change in ownership, Bayliss ended KSMA-FM's simulcast of KSMA after two decades and programmed it separately as a beautiful music outlet.[6] The FM station changed its call sign to KSNI-FM in August 1980.[7] The format lasted only three years as the station flipped to country music in 1983,[8] adopting the branding "Sunny Country".

In August 1999, Bayliss Broadcasting sold KSNI-FM and KSMA to Fresno, California-based Mondosphere Broadcasting for $3.75 million.[9][10] The new owner took possession of the combo on September 30.[11]

The decade of the 2000s saw KSNI-FM change hands further. In September 2000, Mondosphere Broadcasting Inc. sold 11 stations throughout Central California, including KSNI, plus a construction permit for a twelfth station, to Clear Channel Communications Inc. (now iHeartMedia) for $45 million.[12] In July 2007, KSNI-FM was one of 16 stations in California and Arizona which Clear Channel sold to El Dorado Broadcasters for $40 million.[13]

From April 2012 to April 2016, KSNI-FM was simulcast on sister station KSLY-FM (96.1 FM) in the adjacent San Luis Obispo market. The two stations co-branded as "Sunny Country 102.5 & 96.1".[14]

In early 2016, El Dorado began selling off its stations on the Central Coast. KSNI-FM and KSMA constituted the first of these divestments as, on February 26, American General Media purchased the pair for $1.5 million.[15][16] The close of the transaction in April ended the simulcast of Sunny Country on KSLY-FM, which remained with El Dorado and launched a competing country format.[17]

Transmission issues

On March 1, 1989, the transmitters for four stations in Santa Maria, including KSNI-FM, were knocked off the air due to acts of vandalism. Around 1 a.m., two males, ages 18 and 15, broke into the transmitters' circuit breakers and switched them off; the signals were restored within an hour. That same day at 9:14 p.m., the towers fell as guy wires supporting the structures had been cut. Total damage was estimated to be $100,000.[18][19]

During the week of January 18, 2010, a storm in the Santa Maria area triggered a power outage that knocked KSNI-FM and several other stations off the air. The station resumed broadcasting under generator power after two hours of silence.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Directory of AM and FM Radio Stations in the U.S." (PDF). 1961-1962 Broadcasting Yearbook. Broadcasting Publications Inc. 1961. p. B-25. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Where three-dollar spots are top rate" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. July 14, 1969. pp. 54–58. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  3. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. April 13, 1970. p. 91. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. January 28, 1980. p. 91. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  5. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. June 2, 1980. p. 64. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada" (PDF). Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook. Broadcasting Publications Inc. 1981. p. C-32. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  7. ↑ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. August 18, 1980. p. 86. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada" (PDF). Broadcasting/Cable Yearbook. Broadcasting Publications Inc. 1984. p. B-37. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  9. ↑ Saxe, Frank (September 3, 1999). "Station Swaps To Herald Y2K?" (PDF). Billboard Country Airplay Monitor. BPI Communications Inc. p. 8. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable. R.R. Bowker. September 6, 1999. p. 64. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Directory of Radio Stations in the U.S." (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook. New Providence, New Jersey: R.R. Bowker. 2001. p. D-64. ISBN 0-8352-4111-4. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable. R.R. Bowker. September 18, 2000. p. 39. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Price For 16 AZ, CA Clear Channel Stations: $40 Million". AllAccess.com. All Access Music Group. July 11, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  14. ↑ Venta, Lance (April 20, 2012). "Sunny Country Doubles In California". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  15. ↑ Venta, Lance (March 3, 2016). "El Dorado Sells Again In Santa Maria". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  16. ↑ Venta, Lance (May 18, 2016). "El Dorado Continues Sell-Off With KXFM Divestment". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  17. ↑ Venta, Lance (May 1, 2016). "Ownership Change Leads To Country Split On California Coast". RadioInsight. RadioBB Networks. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Tower-Trashing Teens Terrorize Santa Maria" (PDF). Radio and Records. March 10, 1989. pp. 1, 34. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  19. ↑ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications Inc. March 6, 1989. p. 88. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  20. ↑ Ramos, Julian J. (January 23, 2010). "Week's stormy weather causes local radio silence". Santa Maria Times. Retrieved July 22, 2018.

Coordinates: 34°50′10″N 120°24′11″W / 34.836°N 120.403°W / 34.836; -120.403

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