KHHZ
Broadcast areaChico; Oroville; Yuba City
Frequency97.7 MHz
BrandingLa Gran D
Programming
FormatRegional Mexican
Ownership
Owner
KZSZ
History
First air date
July 6, 1979 (1979-07-06)
Former call signs
  • KEWE (1979-1996)
  • KZCO (1996-2000)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID50709
ClassB1
ERP1,500 watts
HAAT389.0 meters (1,276.2 ft)
Transmitter coordinates
39°30′18″N 121°18′35″W / 39.50500°N 121.30972°W / 39.50500; -121.30972
Translator(s)93.3 MHz K227DY (Chico)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitelagranderadio.com

KHHZ (97.7 FM, La Gran D) is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Gridley, California, United States, the station serves the Chico area. The station is currently owned by Bustos Media, through licensee Bustos Media Holdings, LLC.

History

Oroville Radio, Incorporated, filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 25, 1976, to build a new FM radio station in Oroville on 97.7 Mhz. The FCC approved the application on March 15, 1977; the station permit bore the call sign KFAM before Vernon Uecker acquired majority control later in the year. The call letters were changed to KEWE before the station began broadcasting on July 6, 1979.[2][3] It aired a big band music format;[3] Uecker selected big band because he wanted a more active format than the beautiful music then in vogue, which he termed "background music"; a format he "didn't want to do".[4] The class A station was approved to change to a class B1 outlet by the FCC in 1991.[5]

In 1996, a 71-year-old Uecker announced he was retiring and sold KORV (1340 AM) and KEWE to Z-Spanish Radio Holdings, the highest bidder for the station. On April 1, Z-Spanish took over operation of KEWE. It changed the call letters to KZCO and began programming Regional Mexican music,[6] using its satellite-delivered Z Hot Hits programming.[7] Some upset listeners commented that the format flip was a sign of the times; one told the Paradise Post, "We are being invaded" by Hispanics.[8] A group later bought back KORV to relaunch it as KEWE with big band music in 1998.[4] Z-Spanish changed the call sign from KZCO to KHHZ on March 10, 2000.[9]

In April 2000, Z-Spanish was purchased by Entravision Communications.[10] Entravision then sold the Chico station to Clear Channel Communications, which relaunched it as KHHZ "Radio México, La Gran X" and increased the station's local content.[11] Clear Channel then sold its entire Chico cluster in 2004 to Deer Creek Broadcasting, controlled by Elliot Evers, for $5.1 million.[12] The station's city of license was changed from Oroville to Gridley in 2008 to allow KMJE to change its city of license from Gridley to Woodland.[13]

In 2019, Bustos acquired three stations in the market and proceeded to trade KFMF 93.9 and KZAP 96.7 to Deer Creek in exchange for KHHZ. It then converted KHHZ to its La Gran D format.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KHHZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "FCC History Cards for KHHZ". Federal Communications Commission.
  3. 1 2 "KEWE(FM)". Broadcasting Yearbook. 1984. p. B-31.
  4. 1 2 Hinesley, Kathryn (October 17, 1998). "Saving their station". Paradise Post. pp. B-1, B-2. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "For the Record". Broadcasting. August 26, 1991. p. 54. ProQuest 1016940502.
  6. ↑ Eckhart, Robert (April 13, 1996). "Station says goodbye, big band; hola, amigos: Oroville radio station KEWE sold to Z-Spanish network". Paradise Post. p. A-4. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Vierria, Dan (April 6, 1996). "Spanish radio network broadens audience with more acquisitions". The Sacramento Bee. p. E9. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Eckhart, Robert (April 13, 1996). "Angry listeners say immigrants are taking over". Paradise Post. p. A-4. Archived from the original on September 26, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "KHHZ Call Sign History". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Archived from the original on 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  10. ↑ Yorke, Jeffrey (April 28, 2000). "Entravision Buys Z-Spanish, Files For $615 Million IPO" (PDF). Radio & Records. pp. 1, 16. ProQuest 1017350677. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  11. ↑ Urseny, Laura (July 28, 2001). "Flexing the Spanish muscle: Census, new Spanish station attest to growing power of Hispanics". Enterprise-Record. p. 7-B. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting & Cable. June 28, 2004. p. 50. ProQuest 225305079.
  13. ↑ Doyle, Peter H. (June 20, 2008). "In re: Minor Change Applications" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  14. ↑ Venta, Lance (August 1, 2019). "Sale Closing Leads To Station Swap & Five Format Changes In Chico". RadioInsight. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
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