The station first signed on December 7, 1974 as KPGA and broadcast a middle of the road music format.[4] In 1975, original owner James M. Strain sold KPGA to Jack and Lois Gale for $70,000; the deal was approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on October 17.[5] In May 1978, owing to his declining health, Jack Gale sold his share in KPGA to his business partners Charles A. and Patricia Kent, doing business as KPGA Inc., for $6,000.[6] The Kents sold the adult contemporary music-formatted station to Five Cities Broadcasting Corporation for $500,000 in April 1985.[7][8]
In September 1989, U.S. Media Company, who took possession of KPGA's license after Five Cities defaulted on a loan in 1986,[9] sold the station to James H. Elison for $1.05 million.[10] On March 2, 1990, KPGA changed its call letters to KWBR.
Elison's Maverick Broadcasting Company had reached an agreement to sell KWBR to American General Media for $500,000 in December 1996;[11] however, the deal fell through. Instead, the following March, the rock-formatted station was purchased for $350,000 by Winsome Media LLC, based in Cambria, California and owned by Walter D. Howard and Delbert E. Cleft, Jr.[12] On April 17, 1998, the station adopted the KXTZ call sign.[1]
In April 2002, Howard Broadcasting, Inc. sold KXTZ to Mapleton Communications as part of a three-station deal valued at $1.5 million.[13] The deal was approved by the FCC on May 23, 2002 and the transaction was consummated on July 19.[14]
In late 2014, Mapleton Communications sold KXTZ and sister stations KPYG, KWWV, KXDZ, and KYNS to Martha Fahnoe's Dimes Media Corporation for $1 million. The sale closed on January 15, 2015.
References
^ ab"Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database. Retrieved June 21, 2009.
