KLNZ

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KLNZ (103.5 MHz at 62kW ERP) is a Regional Mexican-formatted radio station serving the Phoenix, Arizona area. The station is owned by Entravision Communications. KLNZ is licensed to the nearby suburb of Glendale and broadcasts programming from Entravision's California-based "Radio Tricolor" network.

[edit] History

103.5 signed on the air in 1994 as KTWC "Twice 103.5" with an eclectic Oldies-based format with music ranging from the 1950's through the 1980's. It shared studio space and sales resources with KESZ 99.9. Ratings were dismal for KTWC. In 1996, KTWC was purchased by MAC America Communications, owners of KESZ and KTVK Channel 3, and was changed to Smooth Jazz-formatted KOAZ "The Oasis" competing with KYOT.

A year went by and KOAZ was stuck in the ratings cellar. MAC America decided to sell half its interest in the station to Owens Broadcasting, owners of heritage Country KNIX. The format was switched once again to Country, but unlike KNIX, targeting a younger audience, going by the name of KWCY "Wild Country." A huge marketing campaign coinsided with the flip, publicizing the return of popular morning hosts Tim & Willy, who were at KMLE for a few years before a brief stint in Chicago. It was a complete flop, and Tim & Willy eventually became morning hosts at KNIX. Giving up on the frequency, which puts a decent signal in the west and central parts of the Phoenix metropolitan area but spotty on the east side, KWCY was put up for sale in late 1998.

Z-Spanish Radio Networks bought the station in 1999, and placed its Sacramento-based "La Zeta" Regional Mexican format on 103.5. At the time, the station became KLNZ. Entravision merged with Z-Spanish a year later, and its Zeta-formatted stations became Radio Tricolor.