KOLA (99.9 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately west of Palm Springs and east of Lo ...

, and broadcasting to the

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 ...

- San Bernardino-

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

radio market. It is owned by the Anaheim Broadcasting Corporation and it airs a classic hits radio format. Its studios are on Orange Tree Lane in

. KOLA has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 29,500 watts. Adding in its tower that is taller than the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

, KOLA is considered a "superpower" FM station. The transmitter is on Box Spring Mountain Road amid other FM and TV towers for Inland Empire stations.

History

Easy Listening

The station first

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 on . The station's original call sign was KFMW. The transmitter was located on Box Springs Mountain southeast of Riverside. The format was a mix of easy listening, middle of the road (MOR) and beautiful music. Rogan Jones served as the original general manager.

Top 40 and Album Rock

Frederick Coté and Chester Coleman bought the station in 1965. Coté bought out Coleman's half-interest at the end of 1969. The call letters were changed to KOLA. The format flipped to Top 40, concentrating on rhythmic hits. In the winter of 1970–71, KOLA moved its studios to the Mission Inn in downtown Riverside. In 1980, the station switched to Album Rock with Ted Ziegenbusch as the programming consultant through 1987. In 1987 the station switched back to Top 40 music.

Oldies and Classic Hits

In the 1990s KOLA changed its format to Oldies from the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Over time, the 1950s songs were deleted and 1980s songs were added. Around 2007, most of the 1960s hits were dropped as the station concentrated on the hits of the 1970s and 1980s. By spring of 2013, KOLA had dropped all the 1960s oldies and switched to a 1970s-80s-90s Classic Hits format. In 2018, KOLA dropped most of the 1970s hits and began adding songs from the early 2000s. KOLA continues to broadcast from the same tower at the same 29,500 watts, as was stated on its original license from 1959 as KFMW.

References

External links

Official Website

{{coord, 33.966, N, 117.289, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title

OLA Ola may refer to: Places Panama *Olá, a subdistrict in Coclé Province *Olá District Russia *Ola, Russia, an urban settlement in Magadan Oblast *Ola District, an administrative division in Magadan Oblast *Ola (river), a river in Magadan Obla ...

Classic hits radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1968