KZMP (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
University Park, Texas
University Park is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States of America, in suburban Dallas. The population was 23,068 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Southern Methodist University.
University Park is bordered on the north, east and we ...
, and serving the
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned by
Estrella Media
Estrella Media (formerly known as Liberman Broadcasting, Inc. from 1987 to October 14, 2019 and LBI Media, Inc. from October 15, 2019 until February 2, 2020) is an American media company based in Burbank, California, owned by private equity firm ...
and airs a Classic
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 ...
radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
. Programming is
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 ...
from co-owned 106.7
KZZA
KZZA (106.7 MHz "La Ranchera 106.7 FM/1540 AM") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Muenster, Texas, and serving northern communities in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Estrella Media and it broadcasts a Classic Regiona ...
.
History
This 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 ...
as KCUL in 1949, originally licensed to
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. KCUL was owned by East-West Broadcasting and featured a variety format through the 1950s. The station's
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 ...
was chosen for investor A. B. Culbertson, although other sources mention a connection with Fort Worth-area optometrist L. H. Luck, because "K-C-U-L" was "Luck" spelled backwards.
In the mid 1950s, KCUL switched to a
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, ...
format. Blocks of
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 ...
programming were added in 1958 and the station became largely a
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 outlet in the 1960s. By 1964, the radio station had picked up a
sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement.
Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
on the FM dial and hired Marcos Rodriguez, Sr. father of
Marcos A. Rodriguez to be morning DJ and afternoon salesperson. At the time,
FM radio in America was in its infancy. Listeners did not listen to FM very much and broadcasters weren't sure the technology was going to last.
On
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
, 1967, KCUL-AM-FM were sold by East-West Broadcasting to John Walton and was rebranded "Classical Country" KBUY, maintaining its Country format with
Western music added. It became the first full-time Country/Western station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area; the format adjustment was described as "an 'uptown' version of its predecessor, KCUL."
In 1976, the station again rebranded as KRXV (call sign derived from
Roman numerals
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...
XV as "Radio 15"), this time with an
All-News
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news.
All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news stations can run the ...
format that lasted for only 14 months. KRXV employed
Marcos A. Rodriguez as a board operator and
Jim Miklaszewski
James Alan Miklaszewski (; born July 8, 1949), known to his colleagues and contacts as "Mik", is a veteran journalist whose career spanned more than forty years, most of it covering the White House and Pentagon for NBC News.
On September 11, 20 ...
now an
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
News correspondent as News Director. Hal Eisner, currently a longtime TV newsman in Los Angeles, also worked at KRXV. The format then changed to
beautiful music
Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...
as "Radio 15," a joint operation between actor
Jimmy Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
and Oklahoma News Network owner
William Schuller. In 1978, the call sign was changed to KMZK. The call letters were an acronym of sorts for "muzik, but the easy-listening format and branding remained the same.
Between 1979 and 1983, the station was revamped as KTIA with a Spanish format. KTIA was founded by a partnership led by Johnny Gonzalez, one of three former 107.1
KESS
KESS-FM (107.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Benbrook, Texas, and serving communities in the western sections of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is owned and operated by the Uforia Audio Network, a division of TelevisaUnivi ...
advertisers, but their purchase coincided with the
prime rate
A prime rate or prime lending rate is an interest rate used by banks, usually the interest rate at which banks lend to customers with good credit. Some variable interest rates may be expressed as a percentage above or below prime rate.
Use in dif ...
going to 20%. The business went bust and the station 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 ...
for almost a year. The call sign KMIA was established on June 25, 1985, but the station didn't sign on until three months later. The format from that period until 1986 was Spanish,
Tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
, and
Caribbean music
Caribbean music genres are very diverse. They are each synthesis of African, European, Arab, Asian, and Indigenous influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves (see Afro-Caribbean music), along with contributions from other commun ...
. Then the format changed to
urban contemporary gospel
Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...
with some Spanish religious programming. 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 ...
was said to have stood for Ministry In Action) as "Faith 1540".
From 1988 to 1993, formats were bounced from
Religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
to Spanish as KSVZ (1988), KSGB (1989), and KTNO (1993). Then in 1997, it was rebranded as KPAD with a
Motivation
Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...
al format, airing syndicated programming from the Personal Achievement Radio service (the callsign standing for Personal Achievement in Dallas). But the motivation format didn't last long, and the callsign was changed to KZMP as a simulcast of
KTCY until 2003. Along the way,
KTCY and
KZMP-FM
KZMP-FM (104.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Pilot Point, Texas, and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. KZMP-FM is owned by Estrella Media and operated by FunAsia under a local marketing agreement (LMA). It airs a Sout ...
swapped calls. In 2006, KZMP, along with 3 other stations were sold by
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 ...
to Liberman.
On June 1, 2009, KZMP-AM struck a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA) with
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and dropped its FM simulcast ("Radio Salaam Namaste")replacing it with
ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio was an American Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming included call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, Ameri ...
.
Starting with the
2011 Major League Baseball season,
KESN and KZMP acquired the rights to broadcast all
Texas Rangers baseball games for the next four years. English broadcasts aired on KESN while the Spanish-language broadcasts were heard on KZMP. Additionally, the station also carried Spanish audio broadcasts for
FC Dallas
FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...
games.
It was announced on August 7, 2013, that Disney, the owner of ESPN Deportes Radio, had transferred the station's operations to Deportes Media. No changes in the station's programming lineup occurred.
![KZMP ESPNDeportes1540 logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/KZMP_ESPNDeportes1540_logo.png)
On September 4, 2016, ESPN Deportes Radio was dropped for a simulcast of sister station
KZZA
KZZA (106.7 MHz "La Ranchera 106.7 FM/1540 AM") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Muenster, Texas, and serving northern communities in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Estrella Media and it broadcasts a Classic Regiona ...
106.7. KZZA's Classic
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 ...
format was rebranded as "La Ranchera" the same day. The staff of ESPN Deportes Dallas announced on their Facebook pages that they were in search of a new station.
In July 2018, ESPN Deportes Radio returned to KZMP after an almost two-year absence. It competed with
Univision Radio-owned 1270
KFLC
KFLC (1270 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Benbrook, Texas and broadcasting to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station is owned by Univision Radio, with studios located along the John W. Carpenter Freeway in the Stemmons Co ...
, which broadcasts as a Univision Deportes Radio (now
TUDN Radio
TUDN Radio (formerly Univision Deportes Radio) is a U.S. Spanish-language sports radio network operated by Uforia Audio Network, a division of TelevisaUnivision. It launched on March 15, 2017 on ten AM and FM radio stations, most of which previ ...
)
network affiliate
In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...
.
On June 11, 2019, it was announced that ESPN Deportes Radio would cease operations on September 8, and relocate some of its programming to
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
delivery.
ESPN Deportes Radio To Cease Operations In September
- ''Radio Insight'' (published June 11, 2019) The day of the network's shut down, KZMP returned to a simulcast of sister station KZZA
KZZA (106.7 MHz "La Ranchera 106.7 FM/1540 AM") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Muenster, Texas, and serving northern communities in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. It is owned by Estrella Media and it broadcasts a Classic Regiona ...
's Classic Regional Mexican music. It rebranded as "La Ranchera 106.7 FM y 1540 AM."
References
External links
DFW Radio/TV History
DFW Radio Archives
{{coord, 32.836885, -96.777401, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-TX, display=title
ZMP
Radio stations established in 1949
ZMP
1949 establishments in Texas
Estrella Media stations
Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States