KMAK (100.3 FM, "La Unika Mexicana") is an American

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve the community of

Orange Cove, California Orange Cove is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was at the 2010 census, up from at the 2000 census. Description Almost all of Orange Cove's residents are Hispanic, many of them farmers. Orange Cove is locate ...

, United States. The station, established in 1990, is owned by founder Richard B. Smith and the

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary ...

is held by KMAK-FM, LLC, a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

wholly owned by Smith.

Programming

KMAK broadcasts a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

Regional Mexican Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mexico ...

music

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

branded as "Radio 100.3 La Unika Mexicana" to the greater Fresno metropolitan area. The station had previously broadcast a similar format under the "La Favorita" branding.

History

In June 1988, Richard B. Smith applied to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) for a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to build a new

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

station. This station would broadcast on 100.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

with 72

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s of

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

from an antenna in

height above average terrain Height above average terrain (HAAT), or (less popularly) effective height above average terrain (EHAAT), is the vertical position of an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape. HAAT is used extensively in FM radio and television, as it is ...

. The FCC granted this permit on March 10, 1989, with a scheduled expiration date of September 10, 1990. The station was assigned the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

"KMAK" by the FCC on March 23, 1989. Previously, this call sign had been assigned to Fresno-licensed 1340 AM (now

KCBL KCBL (1340 AM is an American sports radio station. Established in 1953 as KMAK and licensed to serve Fresno, California, United States, the station is currently owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station switched to the current "KCBL" call sign on D ...

), which featured now-legendary broadcasters Ron Jacobs and

Robert W. Morgan Robert Wilbur Morgan (July 23, 1937 – May 22, 1998) was an American radio personality best known for his work at several stations in Los Angeles, California, in particular KHJ (AM), KHJ-AM. Morgan also did morning drive at KMPC-AM, KKLQ (FM ...

in the mid-1960s, from its launch in 1953 until changing to "KKAM" in August 1988. After one extension to its construction permit, the station's

was granted by the FCC on December 26, 1990. The station's initial programming

was as a

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

programming of

Merced Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...

-based KAMB (101.5 FM). By the late 2000s, the station had segued to its current

music format. In May 2010, license holder Richard B. Smith applied to the FCC to transfer control of KMAK's broadcast license to KMAK-FM, LLC, a new

wholly owned by Smith. The FCC accepted this application on May 6, 2010, and approved the transfer on May 14, 2010. After resolving some paperwork in establishing the new company, Smith formally consummated the transfer on July 14, 2010.

Previous logo

References

External links

KMAK official websiteKMAK coverage map
{{Spanish Radio Stations in California

MAK Mak may refer to: People *Mak Dizdar (1917 - 1971), Bosnian poet *Muhammad Arshad Khan, Pakistani painter popularly known as "MAK" *Alan Mak (director) (born 1968), Hong Kong film director *Alan Mak (politician) (born 1984), British Member of Par ...

Mass media in Fresno, California

Radio stations established in 1990 1990 establishments in California