KXPA (1540
kHz
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 on ...
) is a
commercial
Commercial may refer to:
* a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television)
** Radio advertisement
** Television advertisement
* (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
AM 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
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...
, and serving the
Seattle metropolitan area
The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierceâ ...
. It is part of the nationwide
Multicultural Radio Broadcasting
Multicultural Broadcasting is a media company based in New York City founded by Chinese-American businessman Arthur Liu. It caters mostly to the Asian American community and owns television and radio stations in several of the top markets in mu ...
network, one of 30 stations owned by Arthur Liu, which cater to minority and immigrant communities with programs in their native languages.
The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is located off 118th Avenue SE in Bellevue, near
Kelsey Creek. KXPA is powered at 5,000
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. But at night, to avoid interfering with other stations on 1540, KXPA uses a
directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...
, with much of the signal pointed west over
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
and
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...
.
Programming
KXPA airs
brokered ethnic programming days and evenings, with
adult standards from the "
Music of Your Life
Music of Your Life is an American syndicated music radio format featuring adult standards music. First created by recording executive Al Ham in 1978, the format achieved popularity in the 1980s among AM radio stations in the United States and Ca ...
" Network heard late nights. Clients buy blocks of time on KXPA and host shows in their native language, supported by advertisers targeting those communities.
Languages include
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, Cana ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
and
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
.
History
KXPA is derived from two radio stations. The
AM 1540
The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1540 kHz: 1540 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. KXEL Waterloo, Iowa, and ZNS-1 Nassau, Bahamas, share Class A status on 1540 AM.
Argentina
* LU 28 in General Madariaga, B ...
station
signed on
Signing may refer to:
* Using sign language
* Signature
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
the air in March 1964 as KBVU. It was owned by Birch Bay Broadcasting, powered at 1,000
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. KBVU aired a
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
format, but went
dark
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown.
Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lum ...
in 1967.
Another station in Bellevue, KFKF, had signed on the air in March 1958 at
AM 1330
The following radio broadcasting, radio stations broadcast on AM broadcasting, AM frequency 1330 kHz: 1330 AM is a Regional broadcast frequency.
In Argentina
* LRI237 in Rosario, Santa Fe
In Canada
In Mexico
* XECSEZ-AM in Jalpa, Zacatecas ...
. It was a 1,000-watt
daytimer
A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. The system exists to ensure the viability of cross-coun ...
, required to go off the air at sunset. In 1969, Kemper Freeman, who owned KFKF, purchased the license for AM 1540 so he could move his station there and make it a round-the-clock operation. AM 1540 then became KFKF, a completely brand new radio station.
Stewart Ballinger bought KFKF in August 1972, switching 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 ...
to KBES, with a
middle of the road (MOR) format. KBES was co-owned with 92.5 KFKF-FM (now
KQMV
KQMV (92.5 FM, " Movin' 92-5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Bellevue, Washington, and serving the Seattle-Tacoma-Puget Sound radio market. The Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. outlet airs a Top 40 (CHR) radio format.
KQMV has an effe ...
). The two
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 ...
most of their programming.
In November 1974, when 92.5 FM flipped to
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
as
KZAM-FM, the AM followed suit and became KZAM, still simulcasting. On May 19, 1978, after Sandusky Broadcasting bought the stations, KZAM adopted a "Rock of the ‘80s"
new wave format, the first of its kind in the Seattle market. The FM continued to air
album rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orient ...
until July 1983, when it flipped to
adult contemporary music
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, quiet ...
.
Due to poor ratings, on February 23, 1981, KZAM went back to simulcasting the FM until July 15 of that year, when the AM became all-
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
KJZZ. On December 17, 1984, it became KLSY, with an
automated
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
hot 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, quiet ...
sound. It became a complete simulcast of its FM sister a year later.
In January 1992, due to Sandusky's purchase of
AM 880
The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 880 kHz: 880 AM is classified as a North American clear-channel frequency by the Federal Communications Commission; WCBS in New York City is the dominant Class A station on 880 kHz ...
KIXI
KIXI (880 AM) is a radio station licensed to Mercer Island/Seattle, Washington. It operates 24 hours a day with a daytime power of 50,000 watts and a nighttime power of 10,000 watts from a transmitter in Mercer Slough Nature Park in Bellevue, wh ...
, 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 ...
's ownership limits put Sandusky over the maximum number of stations in the Seattle area. KLSY was spun off to new owners and became KBLV, with a
classic country
Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades.
Repertoire
The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...
format known as "Country Gold." KBLV formed a network by simulcasting with
KJUN and
KJUN-FM in
Tacoma,
KENU in
Enumclaw,
KTOL in
Olympia
The name Olympia may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games
* ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
, and
KWYZ
KWYZ (1230 AM) is a U.S. radio station licensed to serve Everett, Washington. The station, which began broadcasting in 1957, is currently owned by Radio Hankook, Inc. Jean J. Suh, the owner of Radio Hankook, is a pioneer in Korean-language radi ...
in
Everett.
In early 1996, the Country Gold Network discontinued operations due to financial problems, with all stations being put up for sale. KBLV was sold to new owners and flipped to an
Urban Adult Contemporary
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...
format that year. The format didn't last long. In late 1996, after the station was sold to Personal Achievement Radio, 1540 AM adopted an all-
talk
Talk may refer to:
Communication
* Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people
* Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people
* Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct
...
format, offering advice on business and life, from the "Motivation Talk Network." The station took the KXPA call letters on January 31, 1997.
It was later sold, and flipped first to the "Z-Spanish" radio network. In October 2000, it was sold to Arthur Liu, for its current multicultural format.
See also
*
KQMV
KQMV (92.5 FM, " Movin' 92-5") is a commercial radio station licensed to Bellevue, Washington, and serving the Seattle-Tacoma-Puget Sound radio market. The Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. outlet airs a Top 40 (CHR) radio format.
KQMV has an effe ...
References
External links
KXPA"Multi-culti radio," an article about KXPA from the ''Seattle Weekly''"The United Nations in Leschi's back yard," an article about KXPA from the ''Madison Park Times''FCC History Cards for KXPA
{{coord, 47, 35, 29, N, 122, 10, 56, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title
XPA
DNA repair protein complementing XP-A cells is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''XPA'' gene. Function
Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a major pathway for repairing a variety of bulky DNA damages including those introduced by UV i ...
Radio stations established in 1969
Multicultural Broadcasting stations