KUMA-FM (92.1 FM) is a

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 radi ...

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

Pilot Rock, Oregon Pilot Rock is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,502 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pendleton– Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area. The main industries are timber and agriculture. Pilot Rock ...

, United States. The station, established in 2006, is owned by Randolph and Debra McKone's Elkhorn Media Group 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 f ...

for this station is held by EMG2, LLC.

Programming

KUMA-FM broadcasts a

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...

music format to the greater

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...

, and

Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution. Pendleton ...

, areas. KUMA-FM is one of several

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

radio stations serving the larger city across the border in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The KUMA-FM signal is considered 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 ...

and is not currently strong enough in the

Tri-Cities, WA The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities (Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland) at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. The cities border one another, making the Tri-Cities seem ...

area to garner any significant ratings. Capps Broadcasting's KWHT is the only station of the group that regularly shows up in the

Arbitron ratings.

History

This station received its original construction permit from 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 jurisdicti ...

on May 26, 2006. The new 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 assign ...

KLTB by the FCC on June 26, 2006. The station began broadcasting an

oldies music 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 wel ...

format branded as "Oldies 92.1" under program test authority on July 9, 2006. KLTB received its license to cover from the FCC on September 1, 2006. License holder Charles R. Nelson reached an agreement in November 2006 to sell this station to

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Jeffrey Aaron Bruton's Bruton Broadcasting, LLC, in exchange for the assumption of approximately $354,000 in debt and other obligations. Bruton had been operating KLTB under a local marketing agreement since June 16, 2006. The deal was approved by the FCC on January 18, 2007, and the transaction was consummated on January 29, 2007. The new owners applied to the FCC for a new call sign and the station was assigned KVAN-FM on August 7, 2007. The call sign change was part of a rebranding as the station shifted to a

format. Just over one year after the call sign change, in August 2008, Bruton Broadcasting, LLC, reached an agreement to sell this station back to Charles R. Nelson in exchange for approximately $320,000 in debt relief. The deal was approved by the FCC on October 22, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on October 23, 2008. In October 2009, Charles R. Nelson reached an agreement to sell KVAN-FM to the Capps Broadcast Group through their UMA, LLC,

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for a total of $625,000. UMA, LLC, is owned by David N. Capps and Clare Capps of

Walla Walla, WA Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two s ...

. The deal was approved by the FCC on November 30, 2009, and the transaction was consummated on December 18, 2009. On January 18, 2010, the new owners had the FCC change the station's

to KUMA-FM. (The KUMA-FM calls were formerly at 107.7 FM Pendleton, OR, currently

KWVN-FM KWVN-FM (107.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "107.7 Hot FM") is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to serve Pendleton, Oregon, United States. The station, originally launched in October 1978, is currently owned by Randolph and Debra McKon ...

.) On January 27, 2010 KUMA-FM changed their format to adult contemporary, the format KUMA-FM had previously at 107.7 FM. On March 1, 2015 KUMA-FM changed their format to classic hits, branded as "92.1 Party FM". Effective November 1, 2017, Capps Broadcast Group sold KUMA-FM and nine other broadcast properties to Elkhorn Media Group for $1.75 million.

References

External links

KUMA-FM official MySpace page
* {{Classic Hits Radio Stations in Washington UMA-FM Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 2006 Umatilla County, Oregon 2006 establishments in Oregon