KFZO (99.1 FM "ZonaMX 99.1") 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 ...

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 ...

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

and serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The station airs 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 ...

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, ...

and is owned and operated by Latino Media Network. The station's

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

s and offices are located in the Univision building in the Arts District of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. The station is an affiliate of the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

Spanish Language Radio Network. KFZO has an

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 ...

(ERP) of 100,000

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, the maximum for non-

grandfathered A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

FM stations. 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 off County Road 2560 in Alvord in Wise County. KFZO is not licensed by the

FCC 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 broadcast in the HD (digital hybrid) format.

History

The station began

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 KWDC on September 15, 1988. It played

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 ...

music and was owned by Denton FM Radio, Ltd. Less than a month after the station went on the air, owners Bill Mercer and Fred Graham sold it to Larry Greene, who bought it for $6 million. Greene changed 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 KJZY ("Jazzy 99.1"). In 1991, KJZY made an unusual move for a commercial station, developing "Operation Jazzy" to help save the station's unique format by soliciting listener donations. Some $25,000 was raised, which was only a small portion of the needed $150,000. By December, the station went

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and was sold. In December 1992, the station went back on the air as KDZR ("Z-Rock 99.1 FM"), playing heavy metal rock from

ABC Radio Network Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

Z Rock Z Rock was a nationally syndicated radio network based in Dallas, Texas, United States that, from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, played heavy metal and hard rock music. The format was one of several 24-hour satellite-delivered music for ...

satellite feed, which was based in Dallas. It was then purchased by Marcos A. Rodriguez on February 1, 1995. It flipped to KHCK ("99.1 Kick FM"), airing

Tejano music Tejano music ( es, música tejana), also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican and US influences. Typically, Tejano combines Mexican Spanish vocal styles with dance rhythms from Czech and German genres – particular ...

. The station was also

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 ...

on 107.9 MHz. In 2004, the station was then sold to Hispanic Broadcasting (later becoming

Univision Radio Uforia Audio Network () is the radio broadcasting and music events division of TelevisaUnivision USA. Formerly known as Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation and Univision Radio, it is the eighth-largest radio broadcaster in the United States, and ...

). Less than a year later, the station changed names and formats to KFZO as a

Cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans during colonial times, and Europeans. Examples include: ...

music station. A short time later, Univision switched it to a

Reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American Hip hop m ...

format, calling the station "La Kalle" (Spanish for "The Street"). On February 19, 2009, the Regional Mexican format known as "La Que Buena" was moved from 107.9 FM (

KESS-FM 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 ...

) to 99.1 and was simulcast on 107.1 FM (KFZO). The Reggaeton station known as "Radio La Kalle" was then moved to 107.9 FM and retooled its format to

Latin Pop Latin pop (in Spanish and in Portuguese: Pop latino) is a pop music subgenre that is a fusion of US–style music production with Latin music genres from anywhere in Latin America and Spain. Originating in Spanish-speaking musicians, Latin po ...

where it remained until late 2011. In early 2011, its sister station KDXX (now KFZO) broke away from the "La Jefa" simulcast. On June 28, 2012, KFZO changed its format to Spanish

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 ...

, branded as "Máxima 99.1" and switching call letters to KDXX. On July 29, 2013, KDXX started simulcasting on KFZO 107.1. In September 2014, the "Máxima" branding was changed to "Latino Mix 99.1 & 107.1" and retooled to a

format. On February 17, 2016, Univision swapped call signs and formats once again on 99.1 and 107.9, marking the return of the KFZO call letters to 99.1 FM. A day later, 99.1 returned to its current Regional Mexican format as "La Jefa."La Jefa On The Move In Dallas
– ''RadioInsight'' (published February 17, 2016) The La Jefe branding only lasted a year before the station switched to "ZonaMX."

Signal

Unlike most of the area's FM stations like sister KLNO, which transmit their signals from

Cedar Hill Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

, KFZO transmits its signal from an unincorporated area East-Northeast of Alvord. Therefore, KFZO's signal is much stronger in the Northwestern parts of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex as well as the cities of Decatur, Bowie, Gainesville, and Sherman, but is considerably weaker in Dallas and areas Southeast of the city itself.

References

External links

DFW Radio/TV History
{{coord, 33.390, N, 97.565, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title FZO FZO Radio stations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Texas Regional Mexican radio stations in the United States