KBRT

Last updated

KBRT
Simulcast with KNSN San Diego
Broadcast area Southern California
Frequency 740 kHz (HD Radio)
BrandingK-BRITE
Programming
Format Christian talk and teaching
Ownership
Owner
KNSN San Diego
History
First air date
June 1, 1952;72 years ago (1952-06-01)
Former call signs
KBIG (1952–1979)
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 34588
Class D
Power 50,000 watts day
190 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
 33°49′44″N117°38′18″W / 33.82889°N 117.63833°W / 33.82889; -117.63833
Translator(s) 100.7 K274CI (Corona)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen Live
Website kbriteradio.com

KBRT (740 AM, known on-air as K-BRITE) is a Southern Californian radio station. It airs a Christian talk and teaching radio format and is owned by Crawford Media Group. It is licensed to Costa Mesa, California, and serves Los Angeles and Orange counties and can be heard in The Inland Empire and north San Diego County. National religious leaders heard on K-Brite include David Jeremiah, Alistair Begg, J. Vernon McGee, Charles Stanley and Rick Warren. The radio studios and business offices are on Airway Avenue in Costa Mesa.

Contents

By day, KBRT transmits 50,000 watts, the maximum for American AM stations. It is a Class D station broadcasting on the Canadian clear-channel frequency of 740 AM, so to avoid interference with Class A station CFZM Toronto and Class B station KCBS San Francisco, at night KBRT greatly reduces power to 190 watts. It uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array. The transmitter is on Black Star Canyon Road in the Santa Ana Mountains. [2] KBRT is licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to broadcast in the HD Radio hybrid format. [3] [4] Programming is also heard on 13-watt FM translator K274CI at 100.7 MHz in Corona. [5]

History

Early years

The station signed on the air on June 1, 1952;72 years ago. It was a daytimer station, powered at 10,000 watts during the day but required to go off the air at night. The station was founded by entrepreneur John H. Poole as KBIG. Poole had worked at KEZY in Anaheim, and was founder of KBIC-TV (now KSCN-TV) in Los Angeles. Later, he would own KBIG-FM. Studios were located at the transmitter site in Avalon on Santa Catalina Island. But because it required a boat ride to get to and from the site, the studios were later relocated to the mainland coast.

From the beginning, there were contentious disagreements with co-channel KCBS 740 in San Francisco over interference between the stations. Much of the path between stations' transmitters was over highly conductive seawater.

According to the July 28, 1979 issue of Billboard Magazine , Bonneville Communications owned KBRT prior to the sale to Crawford Media Group. Bonneville, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), has dabbled on and off in the Los Angeles radio market and also once owned KSWD, "The Sound" at 100.3 FM. After changing call signs from KBIG, KBRT was a mixture of secular and Christian music, with all programming taped, and all song "intros and outros" recorded by professional announcers. There was no live, "on-air" talent until after changing over to a completely Christian radio format.

1980s and 90s

In 1980, the station switched to a Christian talk and teaching format after being purchased by Donald Crawford of Crawford Media Group. Upon the death of Percy Crawford in the late 1950s, the company's founder, the assets of the original Crawford Media Group were split up among his heirs. Just prior to the switch, KBRT played Contemporary Christian Music from sunrise to sunset. The daily sign-on began with a recording of a man's voice: "Good morning. This is K-B-R-T Avalon, and we now begin another day of broadcasting over Southern California. K-B-R-T radio broadcasts on an assigned frequency of 740 kilohertz with a power output of 10,000 watts by authority of the Federal Communications Commission. K-B-R-T's transmitter was located on Santa Catalina Island and is operated by Kiertron, Incorporated." (Note: Disc jockeys made multiple mentions of "Transmitter Tom," who lived on Catalina Island, and oversaw the station's transmitter.)

On-air personalities over the decades have included Rich Buhler, Paul McGuire, Jane Chastain, Greg Koukl, Greg Cynamon, Rich Agazino, Paul McGuire, Tim Berends, Al Gross, Helen Fabian, and Roger Marsh.

2000s

Contractors cutting a steel antenna cable with a gas-powered circular saw caused a wildfire on Catalina Island that began on May 10, 2007. KBRT had to shut down the transmitter, which was not damaged. In February, 2013, KBRT moved to a new transmitter site no longer on Catalina Island, instead near Corona, California. It began broadcasting at 50,000 watts, still sunrise to sunset, added nighttime authorization at 190 watts and had its city of license changed to Costa Mesa. In 2011, KBRT featured David Housholder, Orange County author and pastor, and Roger Marsh in the 3pm-5pm drive-home slot, with "The Bottom Line", a current events show with features in legal, educational, health, and finance segments. Housholder exited "The Bottom Line" in April 2013. [6] "The Bottom Line" reaches most AM radios in California, since it is syndicated on KCBC 770 AM in the Sacramento/Bay Area region. A few years later The Bottom Line was Housholder left the station and Marsh hosted the program alone for over a decade until August 2024 when he left to work full time for the ministry Family Talk with James Dobson.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KIRO (AM)</span> Radio station in Washington, United States

KIRO is a commercial AM radio station in Seattle, Washington, owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International. The station airs a sports radio format and is an ESPN Radio Network affiliate. The station's studios and offices are located on Eastlake Avenue in Seattle's Eastlake district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KBIG</span> Hot adult contemporary radio station in Los Angeles

KBIG is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serving the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a hot adult contemporary radio format focusing on music from the 1990s to the present. Weekdays begin with the nationally syndicated Valentine in the Morning wake-up show, based at KBIG and hosted by Sean Valentine. Evenings feature On with Mario hosted by Mario Lopez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KCBS (AM)</span> Radio station in San Francisco, California

KCBS is an all-news AM radio station located in San Francisco, California. It is owned by Audacy, Inc., which took over after its merger with CBS Radio.

KABC is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serving the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a conservative talk radio format. The studios are located in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City. The transmitter is off West Martin Luther King Boulevard in the Crenshaw District, shared with KWKW and KFOX. KABC’s power is 6,600 watts daytime and 7,900 watts nighttime, using a directional antenna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KYSR</span> Alternative rock radio station in Los Angeles

KYSR is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and owned by iHeartMedia. KYSR broadcasts an alternative rock format and is the flagship station of The Woody Show. KYSR's studios are located in Burbank, while the transmitter resides in the Santa Monica Mountains on Briarcrest Peak in Beverly Hills. KYSR broadcasts using HD Radio technology; its HD-2 digital subchannel airs the sports radio programming of KLAC. KYSR is also heard in the Antelope Valley on KSRY in Tehachapi.

WGMS was a radio station in Washington, D.C. that maintained a classical music format from 1946 to 2007. Last owned by Bonneville International, it was known on air for many years as Classical 103.5. It last broadcast on 104.1 FM from a transmitter in Waldorf, Maryland, with a repeater signal broadcast from Braddock Heights, Maryland, on 103.9 FM under the call sign of WGYS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KLLI (FM)</span> Hispanic rhythmic radio station in Los Angeles

KLLI is an radio station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by the Meruelo Group, it broadcasts a bilingual Latin pop/rhythmic contemporary format. The station has studios located in Burbank, while its transmitter is based on Mount Wilson, and broadcasts in the HD Radio format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFSH-FM</span> Contemporary Christian music radio station in La Mirada, California

KFSH-FM is a commercial radio station that is licensed to La Mirada, California, and serves Orange County and southern Los Angeles County. The station is owned by Salem Media Group and has broadcast a contemporary Christian music (CCM) format since 2000. The station has studios in Glendale, with the transmitter based in the city of Orange. The branding refers to the ichthys, the ancient fish icon used by the Christian church since its birth during the time of the Roman Empire; the ichthys itself is part of the station logo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KWVE-FM</span> Christian radio station in San Clemente, California, United States

KWVE-FM is a commercial radio station licensed to San Clemente, California, and broadcasting to Orange County, the Inland Empire and Northern San Diego County. It airs a Christian talk and teaching radio format, known as "K-Wave". The station is owned by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, with its studios in the church-owned KWAVE Building on West MacArthur Boulevard in Santa Ana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KFRG</span> Radio station in San Bernardino, California

KFRG is a commercial radio station licensed to San Bernardino, California, and broadcasting to the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire radio market. KFRG airs a country music radio format calling itself "K-FROG" and is believed to be the original "Frog" station under previous owner Keymarket. The brand name has been subsequently licensed by Keymarket to dozens of American radio stations.

WDCD was a news/talk radio station licensed to Albany, New York, United States and served New York's Capital District, Adirondacks, and much of western New England. The station was owned by DJRA Broadcasting, and broadcast on 1540 kHz at 50 kilowatts from a three-tower directional antenna array adjacent to the station's studios in Colonie, New York.

WYDE is a commercial AM radio station. The station is owned by the Crawford Broadcasting Company and airs a Southern Gospel radio format with some Christian talk and teaching programs. It is simulcast with WYDE-FM 92.5 MHz in Cordova.

KMXA is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Aurora, Colorado, and serving the Denver metropolitan area. It broadcasts a Spanish-language sports format and is owned by Entravision Communications Corporation.

KIDR is a radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. KIDR is owned by En Familia, Inc. and airs a Spanish-language Roman Catholic religious radio format. The station's transmitter is off South 23rd Avenue in Phoenix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KYLA</span> Air 1 radio station in Fountain Valley, California

KYLA is a non-commercial FM radio station that is licensed to Fountain Valley and serves Orange County on the 92.7 MHz frequency.

KGSV is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Oildale, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by XL Media (CA) Inc., and airs a South Asian radio format known as "Radio Punjab." Affiliated stations carry the same programming in San Francisco, Sacramento and other West Coast cities.

KKGO is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Beverly Hills, California. Owned by Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, the station serves Greater Los Angeles and much of surrounding Southern California. The KKGO studios are located in Los Angeles' Westwood neighborhood, while the station transmitter resides in the nearby Mission Hills neighborhood. Besides a standard analog transmission, KKGO broadcasts over through the HD Radio in-band on-channel standard for AM stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KBFP-FM</span> Radio station in Delano, California

KBFP-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Delano, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., and calls itself "Sunny 105.3." It broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. Most of the programming is syndicated: "Valentine in the Morning" comes from co-owned KBIG Los Angeles, afternoon drive time is from "John Tesh Intelligence for Your Life" and evenings feature the call-in and dedication show "Delilah."

KGBN is a Korean Christian brokered time AM radio station licensed to Anaheim, California. It serves Orange County and Greater Los Angeles. Rev. Young Sun Lee serves as the president of the Korean Gospel Broadcasting Network, which owns the station. KGBN is one of four radio stations in the Los Angeles area that broadcast entirely in Korean. The others are 1230 KYPA, 1540 KMPC and 1650 KFOX in Torrance, although they have mostly secular formats.

KNSN is an AM radio station licensed to San Diego, California, United States. The station is owned by Crawford Broadcasting, through licensee Kiertron, Inc. It airs a brokered Christian radio format, mostly simulcast with co-owned KBRT in Costa Mesa. Programs include half-hour weekday shows from Charles Stanley, Joyce Meyer and David Jeremiah. Studios for KBRT and KNSN are on Airway Avenue in Costa Mesa.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KBRT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/KBRT
  3. ↑ "Station Search Details".
  4. ↑ http://hdradio.com/station_guides/widget.php?id=7 Archived 2017-01-28 at the Wayback Machine HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles
  5. ↑ Radio-Locator.com/K274CI
  6. ↑ "Mr. David Housholder". Maven. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.