LA's Three Trimulcast Latino Stations

[Gregg.]

The LA FM dial has numerous Spanish-language stations. But they are not all doing original programming. Three radio stations each trimulcast. Except for KLYY, they're all Class A stations.

1) Que Buena - 94.3 KBUA San Fernando - 94.3 KEBN Garden Grove - 105.5 KBUE Long Beach .... This one has been around the longest, with the legendary Hard Rock station 105.5 KNAC getting sold to Leiberman Broadcasting and switching to Regional Mexican programming in 1995. The following year, the two stations at 94.3 were added. Lieberman is Mexican-American, even though that isn't a typical Spanish surname. At times, this is actually a quadcast, with Lieberman-owned 96.1 KRQB in San Jacinto, Riverside County, taking some of the Que Buena programming.

2) La Tricolor - 97.5 KLYY Riverside - 103.1 KDLD Santa Monica - 103.1 KDLE Newport Beach .... This one is also Regional Mexican, with Tricolor referring to the three colors on the Mexican flag. At one time, the two stations at 103.1 were separately owned and programmed. In the late 1990s, they were both bought by a company that simulcast Alternative Rock, supposedly more adventurous than KROQ. In 2009, they switched to a Regional Mexican format. Several years ago, 97.5 was added. KLYY is powered at 72,000 watts from a tower 1827 feet above average terrain, but that transmitter is in Riverside. As David tells us in another post, La Tricolor needs those two Class As at 103.1 to adequately cover the LA market.

3) La Suavecita - 107.1 Arcadia - 107.1 KSSC Ventura - 107.1 KSSD Fallbrook .... La Suavecita translates to roughly The Little Soft One, running a Latin AC format. Rather than simply going for an LA audience, this one links a Class A in Los Angeles County with one in Ventura County and one in Northern San Diego County.

I have to wonder, how did the FCC allow separately owned and programmed stations on 94.3 in Garden Grove and San Fernando co-exist? Or separately owned and programmed 103.1 stations in Santa Monica and Newport Beach? But nowadays, if they interfere with each other, it doesn't matter, since they're running the same programming.

 

[dominimmiv]

The LA FM dial has numerous Spanish-language stations. But they are not all doing original programming. Three radio stations each trimulcast. Except for KLYY, they're all Class A stations.

1) Que Buena - 94.3 KBUA San Fernando - 94.3 KEBN Garden Grove - 105.5 KBUE Long Beach .... This one has been around the longest, with the legendary Hard Rock station 105.5 KNAC getting sold to Leiberman Broadcasting and switching to Regional Mexican programming in 1995. The following year, the two stations at 94.3 were added. Lieberman is Mexican-American, even though that isn't a typical Spanish surname. At times, this is actually a quadcast, with Lieberman-owned 96.1 KRQB in San Jacinto, Riverside County, taking some of the Que Buena programming.

2) La Tricolor - 97.5 KLYY Riverside - 103.1 KDLD Santa Monica - 103.1 KDLE Newport Beach .... This one is also Regional Mexican, with Tricolor referring to the three colors on the Mexican flag. At one time, the two stations at 103.1 were separately owned and programmed. In the late 1990s, they were both bought by a company that simulcast Alternative Rock, supposedly more adventurous than KROQ. In 2009, they switched to a Regional Mexican format. Several years ago, 97.5 was added. KLYY is powered at 72,000 watts from a tower 1827 feet above average terrain, but that transmitter is in Riverside. As David tells us in another post, La Tricolor needs those two Class As at 103.1 to adequately cover the LA market.

3) La Suavecita - 107.1 Arcadia - 107.1 KSSC Ventura - 107.1 KSSD Fallbrook .... La Suavecita translates to roughly The Little Soft One, running a Latin AC format. Rather than simply going for an LA audience, this one links a Class A in Los Angeles County with one in Ventura County and one in Northern San Diego County.

I have to wonder, how did the FCC allow separately owned and programmed stations on 94.3 in Garden Grove and San Fernando co-exist? Or separately owned and programmed 103.1 stations in Santa Monica and Newport Beach? But nowadays, if they interfere with each other, it doesn't matter, since they're running the same programming.

Regarding KLYY it is meters not feet and the transmitter is in the San Bernardino Mountains on Keller Peak not Riverside.

 

[davideduardo]

Regarding KLYY it is meters not feet and the transmitter is in the San Bernardino Mountains on Keller Peak not Riverside.

And this week, Entravision announced that KLYY was splitting from the simulcast of the "dual 103's" to return to the José brand of adult hits. So the trimulcast is no more.

 

[dominimmiv]

And this week, Entravision announced that KLYY was splitting from the simulcast of the "dual 103's" to return to the José brand of adult hits. So the trimulcast is no more.

I erroneously stated KLYY broadcasts from Keller Peak; it actually is Heaps Peak (elevation 6400 ft-same area that KGGI's tower is located) between Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs.

 

[Gregg.]

And according to Radio-Locator.com, KLYY is 72,000 watts from 1827 feet, which is 557 meters. It does show the transmitter at Heaps Peak in San Bernardino County just west of Lake Arrowhead. Same as KGGI and KHTI.

So the question is, why would Entravision split the trimulcast after what, a year or two of broadcasting the same Regional Mexican format as 103.1? KLYY is listed as the #3 radio station in the Riverside-San Bernardino market, although the trimulcast is only #30 in the Los Angeles market. But if you split the three stations, they're only going to do worse in the LA ratings.

 

[davideduardo]

So the question is, why would Entravision split the trimulcast after what, a year or two of broadcasting the same Regional Mexican format as 103.1? KLYY is listed as the #3 radio station in the Riverside-San Bernardino market, although the trimulcast is only #30 in the Los Angeles market. But if you split the three stations, they're only going to do worse in the LA ratings.

KLYY switched to Tricolor, the Entravision regional format, in the first week of January. It switched back to Spanish Language Adult Hits last week due, obviously, the huge decline in ratings in the first 3 books of 2018.