KZSJ

KZSJ
Broadcast areaSanta Clara Valley
Frequency1120 kHz
BrandingQuê Hương (Homeland)
Programming
Language(s)Vietnamese, Korean
Ownership
OwnerBustos Media
History
First air date
November 1995; 29 years ago (1995-11)
Call sign meaning
Previous "Z" branding, San Jose
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID30906
ClassD
Power5,000 watts day
150 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
36°57′49″N 121°29′22″W / 36.96361°N 121.48944°W / 36.96361; -121.48944
Translator(s)101.7 K269GX (San Jose)
Links
Public license information
Websiteyoutube.com/user/quehuongradio

KZSJ (1120 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to San Martin, California. It has a radio format of music and talk in Vietnamese and Korean, serving San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley. The station is currently owned by Bustos Media.[2] Programming is produced by Quê Hương Media, which airs on a digital subchannel of KSCZ-LD (previously on KAXT-CD).

By day, KZSJ is powered at 5,000 watts non-directional. But 1120 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A KMOX St. Louis. So to avoid interference, KZSJ greatly reduces power at night to 150 watts. Programming is heard around the clock on 60 watt FM translator 101.7 K269GX in San Jose.[3]

History

[edit]

Founded by Jeffrey Eustis, KZSJ had its first construction permit on January 18, 1991, with the call sign KSJI.[4] The call letters changed to KZSJ on November 1, 1995.[4] Later that month, KZSJ began broadcasting with a Regional Mexican music format that played genres including banda and ranchera as part of the Z-Spanish Radio Network operated by Redwood City entrepreneur Amador Bustos.[5][6][7]

Eustis finalized a sale of KZSJ for $450,000 in late January 1996 to Bustos.[8] KZSJ was granted its first broadcasting license on February 21, 1996.[4]

In March 1999, KZSJ entered a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Quê Hương Inc. and changed to a Vietnamese language format.[9] Founded in 1994 on KSJX, Quê Hương was the first 24-hour Vietnamese-language radio station outside of Vietnam.[10][11] Programming on the Quê Hương radio network has included music, community events, and legal advice geared towards Vietnamese-American communities.[10] By 2003, Bustos moved KZSJ to his Bustos Media company.[12]

As of 2003, Quê Hương Radio reached about 200,000 listeners in the San Francisco Bay Area.[13] In July 2003, KZSJ broadcast public service announcements from the San Jose Police Department in Vietnamese expressing condolences to the family of police shooting victim Bich Cau Thi Tran.[14] In September 2003, three relatives of dissident Thadeus Nguyễn Văn Lý were charged by Vietnamese officials for corresponding with Quê Hương Radio and the San Jose–based Commission for Religious Liberty in Vietnam.[15][16]

Beginning around 2014, KZSJ began broadcasting Korean-language programming on weekday mornings from Santa Clara-based Hanmi Radio.[17]

On February 1, 2018, Bustos Media obtained a construction permit for an FM translator for KZSJ. K269GX broadcasts on 101.7 MHz. The FM translator was formally licensed on April 8, 2020.[18]

Programming

[edit]

Quê Hương Radio broadcasts throughout the day. Among the local Vietnamese-language media outlets, Quê Hương is known for its stridently anti-communist viewpoint. During the late 1990s, it was a sharp critic of Việt Nam Thời Báo, a local daily newspaper, for the latter's less critical coverage of the Vietnamese government.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KZSJ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "KZSJ Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  3. ^ "K269GX-FM 101.7 MHz - San Jose, CA". radio-locator.com. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "FCCdata.org - powered by REC". fccdata.org. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  5. ^ Kava, Brad (November 24, 1995), "KMEL's bold to stray, and that's the way I like it", San Jose Mercury News, p. Eye 29, retrieved March 26, 2020 – via Newsbank
  6. ^ "Format changes" (PDF), The M Street Journal, vol. 12, no. 45, p. 1, November 8, 1995, retrieved March 26, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  7. ^ "Radio Stations". Z-Spanish Radio Network. Archived from the original on April 14, 1997. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  8. ^ "Transactions" (PDF), R&R, no. 1131, p. 9, February 2, 1996 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  9. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF), The M Street Journal, vol. 16, no. 11, p. 1, March 17, 1999, retrieved March 26, 2020 – via AmericanRadioHistory.com
  10. ^ a b Shore, Elena (February 20, 2003). "Quê Hu'o'ng - Radio Free Vietnam". New California Media. Archived from the original on September 11, 2005. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  11. ^ Tran, De (October 23, 1995). "Vietnamese play evokes hopes, conflicting perspectives: audience sees critical drama as a sign of opening in homeland, while emigres outside theater see only a symbol of their pain". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1B – via NewsBank.
  12. ^ "Ownership Report | REC Networks". recnet.com. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  13. ^ Marshall, Matt (July 18, 2003). "Valuable ventures – investments in minority businesses on par with industry levels, study says: minority firms bring worthy returns". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1E – via NewsBank.
  14. ^ Woolfolk, John; Khánh, Truong Phuoc (July 21, 2003). "Police air condolences over Vietnamese radio". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on August 2, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  15. ^ "Relatives of dissident priest on trial". San Jose Mercury News. Mercury News Wire Services. September 10, 2003. p. 13A – via NewsBank.
  16. ^ Shea, Nina (October 1, 2003). A People Silenced: The Vietnamese Government's Assault on the Media and Access to Information (Report). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  17. ^ "Media Kit" (in Korean and English). Hanmi Radio. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "FCC Daily Digest" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. April 10, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  19. ^ Tran, De (March 4, 1998). "Ethnic press gets hot: Vietnamese-language papers on rise in Valley". San Jose Mercury News. p. 1A – via NewsBank.
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