KAZA (AM)

KAZA
Broadcast area
Santa Clara Valley
Frequency1290 kHz
BrandingViên Thao
Programming
LanguageVietnamese
FormatMusic and talk
Ownership
Owner
  • Tron Dinh Do
  • (Intelli, LLC)
History
First air date
August 31, 1957 (1957-08-31)
Former call signs
KPER (1957–1967)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
54572
ClassD
Power
  • 1,500 watts (day)
  • 19 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
36°57′48.8″N 121°29′25.8″W / 36.963556°N 121.490500°W / 36.963556; -121.490500
Links
Public license information
Websitevienthao.com

KAZA (1290 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Gilroy, California, United States, and serving the Santa Clara Valley. It airs a 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]

History

KPER was founded by Don Bernard and Chuck Jobbins, co-owners of the Bernard & Jobbins Broadcasting Company.[3] 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.[4][5] 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.[5] A member of the Keystone Broadcasting System, KPER also broadcast programming in Spanish and Portuguese.[3] KPER increased its power to 1,000 watts on January 21, 1959.[6] On May 2, 1963, KPER increased its power to 5,000 watts.[6]

On October 3, 1966, Bernard & Jobbins sold KPER to South Valley Broadcasters for $325,000.[7][8] KPER became KAZA on July 15, 1967.[5] By 1968, KAZA began broadcasting 85 hours of Spanish programming weekly, in contrast to seven hours of Portuguese.[8]

South Valley Broadcasters sold KAZA to Radio Fiesta on March 29, 1973, for $522,500.[9]

KAZA began carrying Spanish language broadcasts of Oakland Raiders games in 2002, the most recent season the Raiders made the Super Bowl.[10] The broadcasts continued for the 2003 season,[11] before they moved to KZSF in 2004.[12]

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 $1,000,000 in October 2014.[13]

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 July 18, 2010.
  3. 1 2 1958 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications. 1958. p. A-245. Retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com.
  4. ↑ "Station shorts" (PDF), Broadcasting-Telecasting, vol. 53, no. 8, p. 90, August 19, 1957, retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  5. 1 2 3 "KAZA". FCCdata.org. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  6. 1 2 "KAZA history cards". FCC. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Changing hands" (PDF), Broadcasting, vol. 71, no. 15, p. 50, October 10, 1966, retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  8. 1 2 1968 Broadcasting Yearbook (PDF). Washington, DC: Broadcasting Publications. 1968. p. B-16.
  9. ↑ "Ownership changes" (PDF), Broadcasting, vol. 84, no. 16, p. 58, April 16, 1973, retrieved April 12, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ "Oakland Raiders". www.raidersenespanol.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2004. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Oakland Raiders". raidersenespanol.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2004. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Gilroy radio operator going from renter to owner". Radio and Television Business Report. October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2024.