KWIZ

KWIZ
City	Santa Ana, California
Broadcast area	Los Angeles-Orange County
Frequency	96.7 MHz (HD Radio)
Branding	La Ranchera 96.7 FM
Programming
Format	Classic Regional Mexican
Ownership
Owner	Estrella Media ; (LBI Radio License LLC)
Sister stations	KBUA, KBUE, KEBN, KRQB, KVNR; Also part of the Liberman Cluster: TV Station KRCA
History
First air date	as KVOE-FM
Former call signs	KVOE-FM (1947–1954); KWIZ-FM (1954–1998)
Technical information
Facility ID	37225
Class	A
ERP	6,000 watts
HAAT	62 meters (203 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	33°48′07″N 117°47′46″W / 33.802°N 117.796°WCoordinates: 33°48′07″N 117°47′46″W / 33.802°N 117.796°W
Links
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	LaRanchera.EstrellaTV.com

KWIZ (96.7 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Santa Ana, California, and broadcasting to the Los Angeles-Orange County area. KWIZ airs a Classic Regional Mexican radio format branded as "La Ranchera 96.7 FM." It is owned by Estrella Media with studios and offices are on West 5th Street in Santa Ana. The transmitter is off East Glen Albyn Lane in Orange, California.

KWIZ is not licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast in the HD Radio hybrid format, yet the HD Radio Guide indicates that KWIZ broadcasts on one HD channel.^[1]^[2]

History[]

96.7 FM signed on as KVOE-FM in 1949, simulcast with KVOE (1480 AM, now KVNR).^[3] The two stations were owned by Voice of the Orange Empire, Inc., Ltd. They were Mutual Broadcasting System and Don Lee Network affiliates. The studios were on East 5th Street in Santa Ana. On July 1, 1954, KVOE-AM-FM changed their call signs to KWIZ and KWIZ-FM, but still under the same ownership.^[4]

Ernest and Franc Spencer sold Voice of the Orange Empire in 1965 to the Davis Broadcasting Company. By 1970, KWIZ-FM had separate programming. The AM station aired a full service middle of the road format of popular music, news and information. The FM had an automated easy listening format, which would change to soft adult contemporary music in the mid-1980s.

Liberman acquired KWIZ-AM-FM in 1987. In 1990, KWIZ-FM began carrying Los Angeles Dodgers games in Korean, and on March 10, 1991, it flipped to a full-time Korean format, brokered from Radio Korea.^[5] In 1993, after another brokering deal, KWIZ-FM flipped to Vietnamese as "Little Saigon Radio."^[6]

Other brokered programming deals soon followed. In addition to religious and ethnic talk shows, KWIZ-FM also was home to several niche format music programs, including reggae, alternative rock and surf rock. At night, the station's time was leased to "Renegade Radio," a dance music/techno music format hosted by DJ Racer and former MARS-FM DJ Mike "Fright" Ivankay. Renegade Radio also broadcast MARS-FM music director Swedish Egil's syndicated Groove Radio program, which later became a full-time local electronica format at KACD/KBCD.

In January 1997, Liberman switched the AM and FM services, making the FM a Spanish-language station and the AM aimed at Vietnamese-Americans.^[7] While Liberman has three FM stations in the Los Angeles market playing contemporary Regional Mexican music, KWIZ specializes in classic Mexican hits from past decades.

References[]

^ "Station Search Details". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-01-28. Retrieved 2015-09-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles
^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 99
^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1956 page 75
^ Chu, Henry (April 15, 1991). "The New KWIZ-FM Is Eclectic—and Korean". Los Angeles Times. p. F10. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
^ Dizon, Lily; Le, Thuan (March 21, 1994). "Little Saigon Gets a Big Voice". Los Angeles Times. p. A3. Retrieved July 13, 2019. (Continued)
^ Baxter, Kevin (September 10, 1997). "New frontiers". Los Angeles Times. p. 22. Retrieved July 13, 2019.

External links[]

La Ranchera 96.7 website
KWIZ in the FCC FM station database
KWIZ on Radio-Locator
KWIZ in Nielsen Audio's FM station database
FCC History Cards for KWIZ

[1] "Station Search Details". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 11, 2017.

[2] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-01-28. Retrieved 2015-09-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) HD Radio Guide for Los Angeles

[3] Broadcasting Yearbook 1950 page 99

[4] Broadcasting Yearbook 1956 page 75

[5] Chu, Henry (April 15, 1991). "The New KWIZ-FM Is Eclectic—and Korean". Los Angeles Times. p. F10. Retrieved July 13, 2019.

[6] Dizon, Lily; Le, Thuan (March 21, 1994). "Little Saigon Gets a Big Voice". Los Angeles Times. p. A3. Retrieved July 13, 2019. (Continued)

[7] Baxter, Kevin (September 10, 1997). "New frontiers". Los Angeles Times. p. 22. Retrieved July 13, 2019.

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v t Spanish-language radio stations in the state of California
Stations	KAEH – Beaumont KAFY – Bakersfield KATD – Pittsburg KBAA – Grass Valley KBBF – Santa Rosa KBBU – Modesto KBHH – Kerman KBKY – Merced KBLO – Corcoran KBRG – San Jose KBTW – Lenwood KBUA – San Fernando KBUE – Long Beach KBYN – Arnold KBYN – City of Angels KCAL – Redlands KCFA – Arnold KCHJ – Delano KCVR – Lodi KDBV – Salinas KEBN – Garden Grove KEBT - Lost Hills KEPD – Ridgecrest KESQ – Indio KEXA – King City KEYQ – Fresno KEZY – San Bernardino KFSD – Escondido KFSG – Roseville KFSO-FM – Visalia KGED - Fresno KGEN – Tulare KGEN-FM – Hanford KGRB – Jackson KGST – Fresno KGZO – Shafter KHDC – Chualar KHHM - Shingle Springs KHPY – Moreno Valley KHSQ – Trinidad KIDI-FM – Lompoc KIQI – San Francisco KIQQ – Barstow KIQQ-FM – Newberry Springs KIQS – Willows KIST-FM – Carpinteria KIWI – Mcfarland KJDJ – San Luis Obispo KJOR – Windsor KLAX-FM – East Los Angeles KLBN – Fresno KLJR-FM – Santa Paula KLLE – North Fork KLLI – Los Angeles KLMG – Esparto KLMM – Morro Bay KLNV – San Diego KLOB – Thousand Palms KLOK-FM – Greenfield KLOQ-FM – Winton KLQV – San Diego KLTX – Long Beach KLUN – Paso Robles KLVE – Los Angeles KLYY – Riverside KMAK – Orange Cove KMBX – Soledad KMEN – Mendota KMIX – Tracy KMJV – Soledad KMLA – El Rio KMLM-FM - Grover Beach KMPG – Hollister KMPO – Modesto KMQA – East Porterville KMRO – Camarillo KMYX-FM – Arvin KNTO – Chowchilla KODV – Barstow KOND – Hanford KOXR – Oxnard KPRC-FM – Salinas KPSL-FM – Bakersfield KPST-FM – Coachella KQLB – Los Banos KRAY-FM – Salinas KRCD – Inglewood KRCV – West Covina KRCX-FM – Marysville KRDA – Clovis KRHM-LP – Bakersfield KRQK – Lompoc KRRS – Santa Rosa KSCA �� Glendale KSDO – San Diego KSDT – Hemet KSEA – Greenfield KSEH – Brawley KSES-FM – Seaside KSFN - Piedmont KSJV – Fresno KSMY – Lompoc KSOL – San Francisco KSPA – Ontario KSPE – Santa Barbara KSQL – Santa Cruz KSRT – Cloverdale KSSC – Ventura KSSD – Fallbrook KSSE – Arcadia KTAP – Santa Maria KTGE – Salinas KTMZ – Pomona KTNQ – Los Angeles KTOR – Gerber KTQX – Bakersfield KTSE-FM – Patterson KUBO – Calexico KUFW – Kingsburg KUNA-FM – La Quinta KVMX – Olivehurst KVMX-FM – Placerville KVON - Napa KVTR – Victorville KVUH – Laytonville KVVF – Santa Clara KVVZ – San Rafael KWAC – Bakersfield KWIZ – Santa Ana KWKW – Los Angeles KWRN – Apple Valley KWRU – Fresno KWST – El Centro KXLM – Oxnard KXOL-FM – Los Angeles KXRS – Hemet KXSB – Big Bear Lake KXSE – Davis KXSM – Chualar KXTS – Geyserville KXVV – Victorville KXXZ – Barstow KXZM – Felton KZER – Santa Barbara KZNB – Petaluma KZSF – San Jose KZSJ – San Martin KZSZ – Colusa
Defunct	KFVR – Crescent City KNCR – Fortuna KSKD – Livingston
See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in California See also Classical Jazz Religious Spanish Smooth Jazz Other

v t Estrella Media
LBI Radio	KBOC KBUA KBUE KEBN KEYH KJOJ-FM KNOR KNTE KQQK KRQB KTJM KVNR KWIZ KZMP KZMP-FM KZZA
Television stations	KETD KRCA KSDX-LD KVPA-LD KZJL WASA-LD WESV-LD WGEN-TV WVFW-LD
Television networks	Estrella TV
Other assets	Liberman Broadcasting tower (Era, Texas)
Website: estrellamedia.com