KVYB (106.3
FM, "106-3 The Vibe") is a commercial
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 ...
that 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
Oak View, California
Oak View is an unincorporated community in Ventura County, California, United States. The community is located along the Ventura River in a narrow valley between the towns of Casitas Springs (south) and Mira Monte (north). Lake Casitas and the com ...
, United States, and serves the
Oxnard
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
—
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 ...
area. Owned by
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...
, the station airs a
contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
(CHR) format.
History
Early years (1982–1999)
The station was launched on January 30, 1982 as KMGQ with a
soft rock
Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
format. In March 1993, RSB Communications sold KMGQ and sister station
KIST
Kist or KIST may refer to:
Abbreviations
* Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, a former university in Kigali, Rwanda, now part of the new University of Rwanda
* K. International School in Tokyo, Japan
*Konark Institute of Science and Tech ...
to Channel Islands Broadcasting for $850,000. The soft rock format remained until 1996 when it evolved to a broader
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 ...
playlist.
KMGQ and KIST would change hands again in September 1996 as Channel Islands Broadcasting sold the combo to Engles Enterprises for $3.5 million. The station flipped to
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
in October 1998, rebranding as "Country 106.3" and changing its call sign to KKSB.
Cumulus era (1999–present)
2000s: CHR, smooth jazz
In December 1999,
Cumulus Media
Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...
purchased McDonald Media Group's eight stations, including KKSB, for $41 million. This transaction marked Cumulus' entry into the Pacific states.
In March 2000, KKSB switched to a
contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...
(CHR) format with the branding "Kiss". This prompted
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
, which also owned stations in the Santa Barbara market, to send Cumulus a
cease and desist
A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
letter claiming infringement upon its "
KISS-FM
KISS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Antonio, Texas. It airs an mainstream rock format and is owned by Cox Media Group. The studios and offices are located on Datapoint Drive in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas Me ...
" trademark. Clear Channel also flipped its
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 ...
-formatted
KIST-FM
KIST-FM (107.7 FM, "Radio Bronco") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Carpinteria, California and broadcasts to the Santa Barbara radio market. The station is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and airs a regional Mexican music for ...
to CHR using the Kiss name, battling with Cumulus head-to-head for ratings. Meanwhile, KKSB rebranded to "Hits 106.3". Ultimately, this move failed, and KKSB went on to air an oldies format.
In March 2005, Cumulus moved its smooth jazz programming from
KRUZ on the 97.5 FM frequency back to 106.3 FM, which reverted to the KMGQ call letters.
On August 26, 2010, KMGQ began broadcasting 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 ...
digital radio format. However, as of May 2018, the station does not broadcast in HD.
2010s: Classic formats, move to Ventura County
On September 24, 2010, KMGQ changed its format from smooth jazz to
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
, branded as "106.3 The Surf", and adopted the KRRF call sign.
In 2011, KRRF was granted 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 ...
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 jurisdiction ...
to change its
city of license
In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
In North American broa ...
to
Oak View, California
Oak View is an unincorporated community in Ventura County, California, United States. The community is located along the Ventura River in a narrow valley between the towns of Casitas Springs (south) and Mira Monte (north). Lake Casitas and the com ...
and move to a new transmitter site in
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 ...
. The
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 ...
at the new site is 960
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 with the
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 same as at the former facility on Gibraltar Peak above Santa Barbara.
KRRF filed for a license for the new Oak View facilities on March 13, 2013, indicating that it had begun operations from the new site. The station's format remained classic rock.
![Classichits1063](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Classichits1063.png)
On March 31, 2013, KRRF began
stunting with a wide range of music. On-air announcements stated "the time has come for something new" and advised listeners to tune in the following day at 6:33 p.m. At that time, KRRF switched its format to
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 1980s ...
, branded as "Classic Hits 106.3", launching by playing 10,006 songs in a row. The first song on "Classic Hits" was "
Two Tickets to Paradise
"Two Tickets to Paradise" is a song by American rock singer Eddie Money from his 1977 self-titled debut album, ''Eddie Money''. It was released as a single in June 1978 and reached number 22 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song has since bec ...
" by
Eddie Money
Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including "Baby Hold On", "Two Tickets to Parad ...
.
On August 15, 2014, KRRF began stunting with liners honoring the famous landmarks of Ventura County, teasing that "a new icon is coming to Ventura County — stay tuned". At 5:00 p.m. that day, KRRF switched to country, becoming one of the stations to launch Cumulus' new
Nash Icon
Nash is a media brand owned by Cumulus Media. It covers country music-related properties owned by Cumulus, including radio stations, digital properties and publications ('' Nash Country Daily''), Nash TV (a video on-demand service operated in pa ...
network as "106-3 Nash Icon". The last song on Classic Hits 106.3 was "
Yesterday" by
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, while the first song on Nash Icon was "
Don't Rock The Jukebox
''Don't Rock the Jukebox'' is the second studio album by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released on May 14, 1991, and produced five singles on the Hot Country Songs charts; the title track, "Someday", "Dallas", and "Love's Go ...
" by
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...
.
Nash Icon programming ended on May 27, 2016 at noon when KRRF flipped to
classic hip hop
Classic hip hop is a music radio format focusing primarily on hip hop music from the 1980s, 1990s, and the early to mid-2000s.
Although stations with such a format date back as far as 2004, the format was first popularized in October 2014, after ...
as "106-3 Spin-FM". The first song on Spin-FM was
"Hypnotize" by
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...
The station changed its call sign to KRUZ on February 17, 2017.
On June 28, 2019, KRUZ changed its call sign to KVYB in preparation for a format change. The following day, KVYB flipped to CHR, branded as "106-3 The Vibe". At the same time, the KRUZ call letters moved to KVYB's previous home at
103.3 FM, which was stunting with clips of 1980s events, movies, video games, and songs that hinted at the launch of a new format. KRUZ flipped to classic hits on July 1.
KVYB became the Ventura County radio affiliate for the
Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network
The Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network is a network that consists of 27 radio stations that air Major League Baseball games of the Los Angeles Dodgers in parts of seven states and one U.S. territory and in three languages. , 20 stations broadcast ga ...
on July 23, 2021;
Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
games had previously been carried by
KVEN
KVEN (1520 AM, "La Voz 1520 AM & 96.3 FM") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Port Hueneme, California and serves the Ventura County area. The station is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language news/tal ...
, which Cumulus concurrently closed down.
References
External links
FCC History Cards for KVYB*
*
{{Cumulus Media
VYB
Radio stations established in 1982
Cumulus Media radio stations
1982 establishments in California
Contemporary hit radio stations in the United States