Wikipedia

KVON

KVON (1440 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a Spanish AC format. Licensed to Napa, California, United States, it serves the Napa County/Sonoma County region of Northern California. The station is owned by Wilfred Alexander Marcencia and Julissa Marcencia, through licensee Wine Down Media LLC.

KVON
Broadcast area
Frequency1440 kHz
BrandingMega Mix 1440/96.9
Programming
LanguageSpanish
FormatSpanish AC
Ownership
Owner
  • Wilfred Alexander Marcencia and Julissa Marcencia
  • (Wine Down Media LLC)
KVYN
History
First air date
November 17, 1947 (1947-11-17)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
74430
ClassB
Power
  • 5,000 watts (day)
  • 1,000 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
38°15′44.7″N 122°16′59.9″W / 38.262417°N 122.283306°W / 38.262417; -122.283306
Translator96.9 K245DK (Napa)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitekvon.com

KVON's transmitter is sited south of Napa, adjacent to the Napa River. The station is also relayed over low-power FM translator K245DK (96.9 FM).

History

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On November 17, 1947, KVON first signed on.[2] Originally it broadcast with 500 watts of power around the clock, before getting a power increase.[3] The station was owned by Thomas L. Young from 1971 to 1996. During Young's ownership, he founded sister station KVYN which went on the air in 1975.[4][5]

In May 2017 an announcement was made that the station along with KVYN had been sold by Wine Country Broadcasting to Wine Down Media for $425,000. The transaction was consummated on August 1, 2017.[6]

On December 14, 2021, KVON announced that it would flip to Spanish language programming on January 3, 2022, and some previous programming elements would move to sister station KVYN.[7] The station is currently the only station in Napa County broadcasting in Spanish 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The format is Spanish AC, branded as "Mega Mix 1440/96.9.[7] The switchover to the new format is a culmination of a 5 year transition, bourne out of several events starting with the October 2017 Northern California wildfires, followed by the 2019 California power shutoffs and the COVID-19 pandemic. Over one third of Napa County's population is Latino and during these events, Spanish speaking residents had a difficult time retrieving and understanding coverage and implications of these events at the local level.[8] The station's ownership was granted a license to broadcast by the FCC on December 8, 2021.[9]

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References

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  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KVON". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "Directory of Radio Stations in the United States and Canada" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-23. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Mayor to Pull Switch as KVON Napa Starts" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 15, 1947. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ Sestito, Maria (December 1, 2015). "Former radio station owner dies at age 94". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Thomas L. Young". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. December 4, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ Huffman, Jennifer (May 14, 2017). "New owners for Napa radio stations KVYN/KVON". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "KVON Relaunches As MegaMix". RadioInsight. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  8. ↑ Yune, Howard (January 15, 2022). "New format, new mission: KVON radio lifts Spanish language to the Napa Valley airwaves". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  9. ↑ "K245DK-FX". radio-locator. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
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