KOAZ

This article is about the station in New Mexico. For other stations that used this call sign, see KOAZ (disambiguation).
KOAZ
City of license Isleta, New Mexico
Broadcast area Albuquerque, New Mexico
Branding 103-7 The Oasis
Frequency 1510 kHz
Translator(s) 103.7 K279BP (Albuquerque)
95.9 K240EC (Santa Fe)
First air date February 14, 1984 (as KABR)[1]
Format Smooth Jazz
Power 5,000 watts day
4,200 watts critical hours
25 watts night
Class D
Facility ID 65389
Transmitter coordinates 34°58′46″N 106°44′13″W / 34.97944°N 106.73694°W
Callsign meaning K OAsis Z substituted for S
Former callsigns KABR (1984-2010)
KMYN (2010-2011)
Former frequencies 1500 khz (1984-2010)
Owner Martha Whitman dba Isleta Radio Co.
Webcast Listen Live
Website 1037theoasis.com

KOAZ is an AM broadcast station licensed to Martha Whitman (dba Isleta Radio Co.) Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico. It is operating at 1510 kHz at "Isleta" with 5000 watts daytime and 25 watts nighttime, from 34°58′46.2″N 106°44′15.1″W / 34.979500°N 106.737528°W. The station serves the Albuquerque Metropolitan area. Its studios are located in Northeast Albuquerque (a mile north of Central Avenue).

KOAZ broadcasts a smooth jazz music format branded as "103-7 The Oasis" which was launched at noon on Valentine's Day February 14, 2012. The station uses a 250 watt FM translator K279BP on 103.7 broadcasting from Sandia Crest in Albuquerque to air the format in stereo on the FM band as well as allowing it to be heard better during nighttime hours when the AM station runs at only 25 watts. Beginning in June 2013 KOAZ added another FM translator K240EC in Santa Fe broadcasting at 95.9.

History

The station signed the air as KABR by the Alamo Navajo School Board on 14 February 1984.[1]

When applying in October 2007 to start KABR-FM, the Alamo Navajo School Board pledged to divest itself of the AM station upon receiving its license for the FM station.[2] The FCC granted the license for KABR-FM.

In 2010, the FCC granted the application to assign KABR (AM) to Martha Whitman and the construction permit to serve Isleta Pueblo by moving KABR (AM), making it part of the KTBL antenna system. The ownership reassignment has since been consummated.

Throughout 2011 it simulcasted a country music format from KMIN AM out of Grants, New Mexico branded as "K-Mine" with callsign KMYN.

In early February 2012 it began to rebroadcast on 103.7 FM in Albuquerque. The translator was originally K216DV and broadcast at 91.1 FM in Albuquerque. It was owned by the Paulino Bernal Evangelism and aired its "Radio Christiana" Spanish-language ministry from its main station KCZO in Carrizo Springs, Texas from about 1999 until the late 2000s at just 10 watts. 91.1 is part of the non-commercial section of the FM band so it was moved to 103.7 in early 2012 to broadcast a commercial format as well as increase power to 250 watts from atop Sandia Crest giving the station a strong signal across Albuquerque.

Smooth Jazz radio in Albuquerque/Santa Fe

The first station in Albuquerque to adopt the smooth jazz format was KRZN-FM 101.3 "The Horizon" in 1994, launched just weeks before the areas' long time easy listening station KKJY-FM "K-Joy" switched to a classic hits format. In 1997, KRZN would move to 105.1 making the format available in Santa Fe, but after two years it would switch to a top 40 format, leaving the market without a smooth jazz outlet much to the dismay of its fans. However on Christmas Day 2000, The Horizon would return to the airwaves on 101.3 and would once again get another shot on 105.1 in late 2001 and changing its callsign to KAJZ-FM. But by 2004 it would be dropped to the weaker 101.7 frequency and would be cut back to just two personalities and running a mostly automated format before it was axed. Ever since Univision's former smooth jazz station KAJZ (101.7 FM, now known as KQTM) changed to a rhythmic oldies (now Sports talk) format in October 2005, the Albuquerque market was left without a smooth jazz radio station for about a year.

American General Media had briefly run a smooth jazz format on KBOM-FM 94.7 in Santa Fe in 2004-2005 a few months after KAJZ moved to 101.7 which only covers Albuquerque.

In April 2005, Clear Channel launched a smooth jazz station for the Santa Fe market on KSFQ (now KSFR) 101.1 FM branded as "The Cat". KSFQ had been since been sold in 2007 which saw the end of that format. 101.1 only covers the Santa Fe market.

Clear Channel launched another smooth jazz format on KABQ-FM 104.1 on September 29, 2006 which covers both the Albuquerque and Santa Fe markets. This format was programmed by satellite from Broadcast Architecture. However in December 2007 Clear Channel did a frequency swap with modern rock station KTEG moving it to 104.1 and the smooth jazz format on KABQ-FM to the weaker 104.7 signal. On May 2, 2009 KABQ-FM switched to a classic country music format. This format would be absent from local airwaves until the launch of KOAZ nearly three years later.

On-Air Hosts

The current weekday lineup of hosts on KOAZ is as follows:

Translators

Broadcast translators of KOAZ
Call sign Frequency
(MHz) 		City of license Facility
ID 		ERP
W 		Class FCC info
K279BP 103.7 Albuquerque, New Mexico 89268 250 D FCC
K240EC 95.9 Santa Fe, New Mexico 93408 70 D FCC

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "KABR". Native Voice One. Anchorage, Alaska: Koahnic Broadcast Corporation. 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  2. ↑ See exhibits 4 and 12 to BNPED-20071018BDZ (FCC Form 340, Application For Construction Permit For Reserved Channel Noncommercial Educational Broadcast Station), by Earl Apachito, 18 October 2007. Retrieved 2010-10-03.

External links