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Norsan Acquires KGSR

lanceventa said:
The calm at Waterloo in recent months now leads to a storm. I would expect multiple more dominoes to fall now.

radioinsight.com

Norsan Media Expands In Austin With KGSR Purchase

Norsan Media is expanding its holdings in Austin TX with the purchase of Rhythmic Throwbacks "Vibe 93.3" KGSR Cedar Park
radioinsight.com radioinsight.com
Click to expand...

Let's see if I can guess what will happen next. Because the 93.3 (Waterloo is keeping the rights to the KGSR callsign, meaning that a new callsign will be forthcoming for the frequency) frequency is very powerful, especially to Austin's north and west, Norsan will most likely move one of its current formats (I'm guessing the current regional Mexican one) to 93.3mHz. Waterloo will either pay a fee to keep its AAA HD 2 operation running or (much more likely) move that operation to one of the HD channels on one of its remaining Austin frequencies. I'm guessing that Norsan's current regional Mexican outlet might get a mix of Spanish and English top-40, mainly because that format is not in Austin at this time, though that city does have a (relatively) large Hispanic population. As for "The Vibe,", Waterloo will either cancel it completely or move it to one of its remaining HD signals. Finally, if I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, most of rural northwest Texas will now have mainly Spanish-speaking radio outlets serving it.
 
Did not see that coming, but at the same time not a big surprise. Might bring stability to 93.3, which it has lacked for a long time.

Wonder if Norsan will dump both KTAE 1260 and KZNX 1530 as they would no longer be needed as originating stations for their translator signals as those could be moved to HD subchannels of 93.3.

Note that Waterloo retains the KGSR call, so 93.3 will have a new one.

Also curious if they will use the Bertram tower, or the lower powered stick in the western hills.
 
ted chittenden said:
Let's see if I can guess what will happen next. Because the 93.3 (Waterloo is keeping the rights to the KGSR callsign, meaning that a new callsign will be forthcoming for the frequency) frequency is very powerful, especially to Austin's north and west, Norsan will most likely move one of its current formats (I'm guessing the current regional Mexican one) to 93.3mHz.
Click to expand...

I don't think 93.3 has been broadcasting from it's licensed Class C Bertram, TX site for a very long time. Not even sure it is possible currently. This is based on my own listening as well as some hearsay from several people from a while back. If anyone has an up to date info, I'd love to hear either publicly or by dm.

Waterloo has plenty of HD channels for their own translators, I doubt they will need to rent anything from Norsan after this deal closes.

It is curious though... Waterloo is in the spanish-language radio business with La Z and Latino. They are selling a full power FM signal to an operator, who as far as I know ,only operates spanish-language formats. So they are arming a competitor to better challenge their own stations... or are they?

I suspect Latino is probably not long for this world, but La Z has done well from what I have heard, but could it be on the chopping block too either formatically or a future sale? 107.1 is a great signal to reach hispanic listeners, not unlike 104.3. I wonder if the whole Waterloo cluster might be for sale.

I wouldn't be surprised is AAA KGSR came back to 97.1 but it seems unlikely it will be returning to a full power FM like where it started on 107.1, but where would these calls be parked if the brand is only on a translator?

As for Norsan, I would think La Raza is fore sure headed to 93.3 and perhaps Romatica to 104.9 and Magia expands to 105.3 in addition to their 101.9 in Willco.

One more thing: As of the Spring 2026 "Blue" Book is 31% hispanic. There is a lot of spanish-language stations here and of course not all "hispanic" folks listen to spanish programming.

92.1 Full Power Spanish Christian
92.9 Translator, Spanish Christian
93.3 Full-Power La Raza?
94.1 LPFM, Spanish Christian
94.3 LPFM, Spanish Christian
95.1 Translator, Regional Mexican
97.1 Translator, Spanish AC
99.3 Full-Power, Regional Mexican
101.9 Translator, Spanish AC
101.9 Translator, Tejano
104.9 Full-Power, Regional Mexican
105.3 Translator, Spanish AC
106.5 Transaltor, Spanish Christian
107.3 Full-Power, Regional Mexican
107.7 Full-Power, Regional Mexican

Plus AM :

1260
1440
1530
1560
1600
 
Last edited:
Ryan Williams said:
…perhaps Romatica to 104.9 and Magia expands to 105.3 in addition to their 101.9 in Willco.
Click to expand...
Don't be too surprised if Magia and Romance in Austin get consolidated because NORSAN has been consolidating their stations that target extremely similar audiences with similar playlists. For example, Romance and Latina in Jacksonville were put together, as well as Kaliente, Flow and Tropical in the same market.
 


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