KVVF

KVVF (Latino Mix 105.7 FM) is a radio station that broadcasts from Santa Clara, California, and is being simulcast in San Rafael, California on KVVZ (100.7 FM). It is owned by Univision Communications, with studios located at 1940 Zanker Road in San Jose.[1][2] The KVVF transmitter is located near Mount Hamilton. It serves the San Francisco Bay Area with a Spanish CHR format. It is the San Jose affiliate for the Uforia Audio Network.

KVVF
CitySanta Clara, California
Broadcast areaSalinas, California/Santa Clara, California/San Jose/Oakland/San Francisco, California
Branding"Latino Mix 105.7"
Slogan"Reggaeton y más"
Frequency105.7 FM MHz(HD Radio)
Repeater(s)100.7 FM (KVVZ)
First air dateSeptember 25, 1964 (as KREP)
FormatSpanish CHR
ERP50,000 watts
HAAT152 meters
ClassB
Facility ID19532
Transmitter coordinates37°21′32″N 121°45′22″W
Call sign meaningViVa (old station branding)
Former call signsKREP (1964-1972)
KARA (1972-2002)
KEMR (4/1/2002-4/10/2002)
KSOL (2002-2003)
KEMR (2003-2004)
AffiliationsUforia Audio Network
OwnerUnivision Communications
(Univision Radio Illinois, Inc.)
Sister stationsKVVZ, KSOL, KSQL, KBRG
WebcastListen Live
WebsiteLatino Mix 105.7 Website

KVVF broadcasts in HD.[3]

History

Early years (1964–2002)

105.7 signed on in 1964 as KREP, owned by Robert E. Podesta and his wife Marcella. In 1972, Bob Kieve and Santa Clara Broadcasters bought KREP for $470,000 and changed the call letters to KARA, with an English-language adult contemporary format.[4]

From 1997 to 2000, KARA was the flagship station for the San Jose Sharks hockey team before KUFX took over in 2000.[5][6]

Spanish music (2002–2014)

Kieve sold KARA in 2002 to Hispanic Broadcasting of Dallas, and KARA became KEMR with a Spanish music format at midnight on April 1 that year.[4]

Between 2003 and June 27, 2005, KVVF was the "pop, rock y reggaeton" station, Viva 105.7, also owned by Univision.

On October 13, 2011, the station changed its former station branding "La Kalle" to "Latino Mix."

Hot 105.7 (2014–2019)

On March 14, 2014, the station started repeatedly playing Nelly's "Hot in Herre" uninterrupted, reportedly an act of stunting to promote their branding change to "Hot 105.7."[7]

On March 17, 2014, Hot 105.7 FM started broadcasting at 5:05pm, beginning with a "history lesson" about the first "Hot" station that covered the San Jose area from 1988 to 1995, followed by the return of former KMEL personality Chuy Gomez, and aired a Mix Show. Programmed as a Rhythmic Top 40 with a focus on hit-driven hip hop and R&B, KVVF's target is a bilingual and younger Hispanic audience (mostly around the Southern portion of the Bay Area surrounding Santa Clara County), patterned after sister station KBBT in San Antonio.[8] In a statement from Station Content Director Mark Arias, “We just feel like The Bay Area has been asking for something new and fresh. It’s a format they call Top 40/Rhythmic with a little bit of hip-hop, R&B and Top 40 crossed-over.”[9]

In March 2016, after two years of modest ratings (it barely registered in Nielsen's San Francisco ratings) and difficulty competing with KMEL and KRBQ, KVVF de-emphasized its hip hop and R&B direction and added more rhythmic friendly pop hits. Due to 105.7's strong signal over the South Bay, it also changed focus on the whole Bay Area region to concentrate on mostly San Jose and South Bay listeners as well as listeners in nearby Monterey Bay to the south. Univision has opted to retain its simulcast on KVVZ in the process. In November 2017, they further adjusted their playlist by adding Latin hits and adopting what is essentially a three way hybrid of Rhythmic, Mainstream and Spanish CHR.[10]

In March 2019, KVVF became the San Jose affiliate for the Uforia Audio Network, and is one of only two Rhythmic CHR affiliates in the network.

Return of "Latino Mix"

On August 30, 2019, the station started repeatedly playing J Balvin's "Reggaeton" followed by Vicente Fernández "Volver Volver" uninterrupted, reportedly an act of stunting to promote their branding and format comeback to "Latino Mix 105.7."

On September 2, 2019, Latino Mix 105.7 started broadcasting at 12:03pm, the first song played under the return to Spanish CHR format was J Balvin's "Mi Gente".

References
  1. Univision moves Bay Area studio to San Jose Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved on August 19, 2017.
  2. Univision 14 will move SF headquarters to San Jose Media Moves. Retrieved on August 19, 2017
  3. http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=33 HD Radio Guide for San Jose
  4. Kava, Brad (April 1, 2002). "Radio mogul's payday". San Jose Mercury News. p. A1. Archived from the original on June 12, 2002. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  5. Goldfisher, Alastair (April 7, 1997). "KARA-FM will take over Sharks coverage in fall". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  6. Hamm, Andrew F. (July 15, 2005). "San Jose station gets five-year Sharks broadcast contract". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  7. Mullins, Jessica (March 15, 2014). "Bay Area Latino radio station 105.7 won't stop playing Nelly's 'Hot in Herre'". sfgate.com. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  8. Crawford, Matt (March 17, 2014). "Chuy Gomez Returns to Radio With Hot 105.7". sfstation.com. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  9. "Latino Mix Becomes Hot 105.7 In San Francisco". All Access. March 18, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  10. "Login to All Access - Breaking Radio News and Free New Music - AllAccess.com".
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