KSSE, KSSD, and KSSC are commercial
FM 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 ...
s serving
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
at the 107.1
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 ...
frequency. KSSE is
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
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...
and broadcasts to the
Los Angeles metropolitan area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
, KSSD is licensed to
Fallbrook, California
Fallbrook is a CDP in northern San Diego County, California. Fallbrook had a population of 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census.
Fallbrook's downtown is not on a major highway route. It is west of Interstate 15 or n ...
and serves northern
San Diego County
San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...
and KSSC is licensed to
Ventura, California
Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...
, with its signal covering
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...
. These three stations trimulcast with
KLYY
KLYY (97.5 MHz, "José 97.5") is a commercial FM radio station located in Riverside, California, broadcasting to the Inland Empire, Greater Los Angeles areas. KLYY airs a Spanish adult hits music format. It operates from studios in Los Angeles ...
in
Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
, airing a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
adult hits format known as "José 97.5 y 107.1". KSSC formerly aired a separate Spanish
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
format branded as "La Suavecita 107.1". From 1991 to 2019, the three stations formed a same-channel
trimulcast
In broadcasting, a trimulcast is a cluster of three radio stations and/or translators that play the same feed. Normally this is done in order to have full coverage of a certain area. Some stations use this technique to provide rimshot coverage i ...
covering Southern California from Ventura to San Diego. As of December 31, 2019, KSSC in Ventura switched to José, reforming the trimulcast on 107.1.
KSSE, KSSD, and KSSC are all licensed by 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) to broadcast in the
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
format.
History
Early years of the trimulcast
The oldest of the three stations broadcasting at 107.1 FM is the one licensed to
Arcadia, California
Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...
, which signed on in 1960 with original callsign KMAX. It was owned by
Max H. Isoard and his Sierra Madre Broadcasting Company; it aired a format
targeted at various ethnic groups.
In 1988, John Douglas bought KMAX with the intent to integrate it with other stations that would serve the entire
Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
area with a
rimshot
A rimshot is a percussion technique used to produce an accented snare drum backbeat. The sound is produced by simultaneously hitting the rim and head of a drum with a drum stick.
The sound and various techniques
The sound of rimshots can be ...
signal. He accomplished this by purchasing two stations in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
and
Ventura counties that had been operating separately,
middle-of-the-road outlet KAVO in
Fallbrook
Fallbrook is a CDP in northern San Diego County, California. Fallbrook had a population of 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census.
Fallbrook's downtown is not on a major highway route. It is west of Interstate 15 or n ...
and
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
-formatted KAGR in
Ventura, for $2.1 million. Together, these three
class A FM stations broadcast a city-grade signal across
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
and surrounding counties, at a lower cost than purchasing a single class B station.
Initially, the
trimulcast
In broadcasting, a trimulcast is a cluster of three radio stations and/or translators that play the same feed. Normally this is done in order to have full coverage of a certain area. Some stations use this technique to provide rimshot coverage i ...
retained its format of
brokered-time programming,
much of which was targeted to
African-American Christians
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...
. One popular show during this time was ''Spiritual Vibes'', a
gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...
show hosted by
Ollie Collins, Jr. Also in the lineup was an all-night program playing classic,
traditional
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
, and
contemporary
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
"Black gospel" music, hosted by veteran gospel music DJ "Sister Ruth" Dixon, known for her signature
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
accent.
In 1994, the trimulcast switched to a
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
format known as "Sportsmax 107.1 FM" with the
call letters
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 ...
KMAX, KBAX, and KAXX. Sportsmax hosts included Joe McDonnell, the SportsGods (Dave Smith and Joey Haim), and
Rich Herrera. The stations broadcast games featuring the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
,
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
, and
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the campus' Notre Dame ...
teams, and the
Los Angeles Ice Dogs
The Long Beach Ice Dogs were an American professional ice hockey team based in Long Beach, California at the Long Beach Sports Arena. They played until the end of the 2006–07 ECHL season.
History
The Ice Dogs trace their origins to the San Di ...
of the
International Hockey League. Additionally, the triplecast aired
urban talk/
R&B program ''
The Tom Joyner Morning Show'' weekdays for a brief time.
In November 1995, Douglas sold the three stations, along with co-owned
KWIZ-FM in
Santa Ana, to Odyssey Communications for $35 million. The following year, on March 27, 1996 at 4 p.m., Odyssey flipped the trimulcast to a
modern rock
Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music.
Radio format
Mod ...
format branded "Y107", with the stations' respective call signs changed to KLYY, KSYY, and KVYY. Y107 competed directly with Los Angeles' established alternative rock station,
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock").
The stat ...
.
Spanish formats and Súper Estrella era
On December 13, 1999, the trimulcast stations flipped to
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
as "Viva 107.1". On December 24, 2002, following owner Big City Radio's
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...
filing,
Entravision Communications
Entravision Communications Corporation is an American media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community and owns television and radio stations and outdoor media, in several of ...
purchased KLYY, KSYY, and KVYY for $137 million in cash and stock. Viva 107.1 remained on air for a short time following the sale.
In 2003, the 107.1 FM trimulcast adopted a hybrid
rock en español
Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countrie ...
/
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...
format branded "Súper Estrella". The first rock en español song played was "
Cordillera
A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope').
The term is most commonly u ...
" by
Los Enanitos Verdes
Enanitos Verdes (literal translation: "Little green dwarves", roughly equivalent to the English phrase "Little green men") is a rock trio from Argentina, formed in 1979 in the city of Mendoza.
History
The band started in 1979, with Marciano ...
and the first Spanish AC song was "
Amiga Mia" by
Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sánchez Pizarro, better known as Alejandro Sanz (; born 18 December 1968), is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. Sanz has won 22 Latin Grammy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He has received the Latin Grammy for Latin Grammy Awar ...
. Súper Estrella was known to be one of the first and only radio stations to play Spanish Rock and Pop in a highly saturated Spanish Los Angeles radio market, which consisted only of Regional Mexican. The format originally launched in 1997 on
KVAR (97.5 FM) in
Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
,
then expanded to
KACD-FM (103.1 FM) in 2000. Accompanying the flip was a set of new call signs to match: KSSE, KSSD, and KSSC—the first one of these moving from the Riverside station. On July 13, 2007, KSSE started adding three to four English-language songs per hour. The first song in English was "
Move Ya Body
"Move Ya Body" is a song by American musical duo Nina Sky featuring rapper Jabba. It was released on April 12, 2004, as the lead single from their debut album, ''Nina Sky'' (2004). The song became the duo's only solo single to reach the top 40 o ...
" by
Nina Sky
Nina Sky is an American musical duo consisting of identical twins Nicole and Natalie Albino. Their debut single "Move Ya Body", released from their self-titled debut album in 2004, was a success, reaching number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 10 ...
at 9:04 p.m. On April 22, 2012 at 12:05 a.m., Súper Estrella discontinued English songs after playing "Hot Girls" by
Dony and
Elena Gheorghe
Elena Gheorghe (born 30 July 1985; ) is a Romanian singer. In the first half of the 2000s, she joined the Romanian pop group Mandinga, with whom she released two albums. In 2006, she separated from the group and pursued her solo career. She has ...
and its bilingual version, "La La La (Hot Girls)" by
Da Zoo.
On January 5, 2015, the KSSE/KSSD/KSSC trio was among the first Entravision-owned stations to launch ''El Show de Piolín'', a nationally syndicated program hosted veteran radio personality
Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo
Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo, (born December 1, 1972) is a Mexican radio broadcaster. He is currently host of the nationally syndicated radio show ''El Show De Piolín'' on Entravision''.'' His nickname means "Tweety Bird" in Mexican Spanish, a nickname ...
.
On December 1, 2016, after Entravision's other Súper Estrella stations had slowly disappeared across the United States, all air staff was let go and KSSE's trimulcast began
stunting. The last song played on Súper Estrella was "Persiana Americana" by
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo is an Argentine rock band formed in Buenos Aires in 1982 by Gustavo Cerati (lead vocals, guitar), Héctor "Zeta" Bosio (bass) and Carlos Alberto Ficicchia "Charly Alberti" (drums). As the first Hispanic group to achieve mainstream ...
. On December 5 at 12:02 a.m., the station flipped to Spanish variety
oldies
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...
under the name "La Suavecita". Súper Estrella became an online-only service with four distinct streams.
José
On January 7, 2019, Entravision broke the 107.1 FM trimulcast briefly. KSSE and KSSD dropped La Suavecita and began simulcasting
KLYY
KLYY (97.5 MHz, "José 97.5") is a commercial FM radio station located in Riverside, California, broadcasting to the Inland Empire, Greater Los Angeles areas. KLYY airs a Spanish adult hits music format. It operates from studios in Los Angeles ...
(97.5 FM) and its Spanish adult hits format; However, on December 31, 2019, KSSC in Ventura County dropped La Suavecita in favor of José, reforming the original trimulcast. This new trimulcast is branded as "José 97.5 y 107.1", and is made up of KSSE (Arcadia), KSSC (Ventura), KSSD (Fallbrook) and KLYY (Riverside).
References
External links
*
{{Entravision Communications
SSE
SSE
Radio stations established in 1997
SSE
Adult hits radio stations in the United States