KLBS
Encyclopedia
KLBS is a radio station
licensed
to serve Los Banos, California
, USA. The station, established in 1961, is currently owned by Ethnic Radio of Los Banos, Inc.
format featuring Portuguese-language news and community information as part of The Portuguese Radio Network. KLBS and its KSQQ
sister station
serve the large Portuguese community of California's San Joaquin Valley
.
s of power on a frequency of 1330 kHz, restricted to daytime-only operation. The station was assigned the KLBS call sign
by the Federal Communications Commission
.
Under the leadership of company president James Rose, license holder Los Banos Broadcasting Company served the diverse local population by including 8 hours of farm programming, 5 hours of Spanish language
programming, and 7 hours of Portuguese language
programming each week. The Portuguese programming included a weekday morning show from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. and a Sunday afternoon block from noon to 2:00 p.m.
In April 1982, McAdam and the Los Banos Broadcasting Company reached an agreement to transfer ownership of KLBS to a new company called Ethnic Radio, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on May 25, 1982.
the changes on December 3, 1987.
for KLBS to the Vieira family's Ethnic Radio of Los Banos, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on July 2, 1987, and the transaction was consummated the same day. Broadcasting 90% of its programming in Portuguese, KLBS was then the only radio station in California where Portuguese was the dominant language. That would change in 1990 when sister station KSQQ
signed on with a multi-ethnic format broadcasting in a dozen languages but with Portuguese language programming taking the bulk of the station's time.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve Los Banos, California
Los Banos, California
Los Banos is a city in Merced County, California, near the junction of State Route 152 and Interstate 5. Los Banos is located southwest of Merced, at an elevation of 118 feet . The population was 35,972 at the 2010 census, up from 25,869 at the 2000 census...
, USA. The station, established in 1961, is currently owned by Ethnic Radio of Los Banos, Inc.
Programming
KLBS broadcasts a Portuguese-language world musicWorld music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
format featuring Portuguese-language news and community information as part of The Portuguese Radio Network. KLBS and its KSQQ
KSQQ
KSQQ is a world ethnic radio station broadcasting in the Portuguese, Chinese, and Vietnamese languages. Licensed to Morgan Hill, California, USA with a translator, K277BN in San Martin, California, it serves the greater San Francisco Bay Area from North Santa Clara County to Marin County.The...
sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
serve the large Portuguese community of California's San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
.
The beginning
This station began licensed broadcasting on May 1, 1961, with 500 wattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power on a frequency of 1330 kHz, restricted to daytime-only operation. The station was assigned the KLBS call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
.
Under the leadership of company president James Rose, license holder Los Banos Broadcasting Company served the diverse local population by including 8 hours of farm programming, 5 hours of Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
programming, and 7 hours of Portuguese language
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
programming each week. The Portuguese programming included a weekday morning show from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. and a Sunday afternoon block from noon to 2:00 p.m.
New ownership
John R. McAdam acquired the Los Banos Broadcasting Company in 1964. McAdam expanded the ethnic programming to as much as 12 hours of Spanish language and 16 hours of Portuguese language programming each week throughout the 1970s.In April 1982, McAdam and the Los Banos Broadcasting Company reached an agreement to transfer ownership of KLBS to a new company called Ethnic Radio, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on May 25, 1982.
24-hour broadcasting
The station filed an application with the FCC in November 1985 to begin operating around the clock by adding nighttime service with 5,000 watts of power. The FCC granted authorization for this major change on February 24, 1986, and tower installation began in June 1986. Construction was completed in November 1986 and the station was issued a license to coverBroadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
the changes on December 3, 1987.
KLBS today
Ethnic Radio, Inc., applied in June 1987 to transfer the broadcast licenseBroadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
for KLBS to the Vieira family's Ethnic Radio of Los Banos, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on July 2, 1987, and the transaction was consummated the same day. Broadcasting 90% of its programming in Portuguese, KLBS was then the only radio station in California where Portuguese was the dominant language. That would change in 1990 when sister station KSQQ
KSQQ
KSQQ is a world ethnic radio station broadcasting in the Portuguese, Chinese, and Vietnamese languages. Licensed to Morgan Hill, California, USA with a translator, K277BN in San Martin, California, it serves the greater San Francisco Bay Area from North Santa Clara County to Marin County.The...
signed on with a multi-ethnic format broadcasting in a dozen languages but with Portuguese language programming taking the bulk of the station's time.