KQRT began broadcasting in 1993 as KRBO with an oldies format. From 1995 to 1999, the station was run as a news/talk outlet in a relationship with local television station KVBC. After being sold, it changed to a Spanish-language operation and adopted its present format in 2003.
History
On April 13, 1989, the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to the Patmor Broadcast Group, a consortium of two formerly competing applicants for the frequency that included Washington lawyers, a businessman from Wisconsin, and Frank Sinatra.[3] More than four years passed before the station went on the air as KRBO in September 1993, airing an oldies format.[4]
The oldies format continued for two years before Compass Communications, owned by Gerald Proctor, took over operations of the frequency under a local marketing agreement in 1995. The station then contracted with Radio News Co., a subsidiary of Sunbelt Communications Company; local news was contributed by Sunbelt's Las Vegas television station, KVBC (channel 3). KVBC reporters were heard on the radio station, as was the TV station's 5 p.m. local newscast.[5] The reformatted station provided FM competition to KNUU (970 AM).[6] Compass then entered into an agreement to purchase KRBO-FM outright.[5] After Compass purchased the station, its ties to KVBC deepened. The station adopted the moniker "All News 3 FM"[7] and the station changed its call sign to KVBC-FM on October 25, 1996.[8] KVBC-FM continued as a news/talk station with local and national talk shows, with notable syndicated offerings including Imus in the Morning[9] and Art Bell.[10] During the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, KVBC-FM offered Monica Lewinsky $5 million if she would do a tell-all interview with the station.[11]
While a restructuring of Compass's ownership involving Meridian Communications in 1999 was said by Proctor to give the company the potential to expand,[12] the sale of the station to EXCL Communications of San Jose, California, later that year sounded the death knell for the talk station. EXCL exclusively ran Spanish-language radio stations, and consequently, the entire air staff of KVBC-FM was dismissed in early December when the station was switched to a satellite-fed music format from EXCL's headquarters.[10]KRNV-FM in Reno, which like KVBC-FM was a news/talk station utilizing resources from Sunbelt's local TV station, was also part of the deal and was switched to Spanish-language programming from EXCL at the same time.[13] The actual sale of KVBC-FM for $3.25 million took place the next year.[14] EXCL was in turn already in the process of merging with Entravision Communications.[15]
In 2002, Entravision entered into an agreement to acquire KRCY (92.7 FM), a station rimshotting the Las Vegas market from Kingman, Arizona.[16] It then changed that station's call sign to KQRT before announcing that it would move KRRN and its Spanish-language contemporary hit radio format to 92.7 MHz, with 105.1 MHz becoming KQRT and Radio Tricolor.[17]
Programming
KQRT was one of 14 Entravision-owned launch stations for the return of El Show de Piolín, hosted by Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo, in January 2015.[18] It also airs El Show del Ratón, which Entravision syndicates from KDLD/KDLE in Los Angeles to 11 of its La Tricolor stations.[19]
