KGST (1600AM) is acommercial radio station inFresno, California, broadcasting abrokered programmingradio format, with shows in English, Spanish,Portuguese and Armenian. It is owned byLotus Communications with studios on East Olive Avenue in Fresno.

KGST is powered at 5,000 wattsnon-directional by day. At night, to avoid interfering with other stations on1600 AM, it uses adirectional antenna with a four-tower array. The station'stransmitter is off West Church Avenue in the Edison neighborhood of Fresno.^[2]

KGSTsigned on the air in 1949. It started out as a mixed-format "international" station with programs available in Armenian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Serbian. Its programs were hosted by brokers who paid for airtime.

It later became one of the earliest radio stations in California and the first in theSan Joaquin Valley with full-time Spanish-language programming. At its inception, KGST was the only independent (not affiliated with the four major networks) station in Fresno's five-station market (cf. White's Radio Log, Fall 1949).

For most of the years it playedRegional Mexican music, it was known as "La Mexicana." Juan Mercado, who got his start as the Spanish-language programming director at aVisalia station, was one of the most populardeejays at the station. In 1959, he was able to buy the station due to his success. Mercado died just two years later and the station was bought by a couple of men who were at the time also running KLOK in San Jose.^{[citation needed]}

In the mid-1950s to 1960s, KGST was an "eclectic" mix of C&W, Blues, Jazz, and Spanish and other language programming. "Happy Harold's House of Blues" was a program fixture for many years (cf. Fresno Bee radio logs). In that time, KGST was adaytimer, running 1,000 watts and required to sign off at sunset.(cf. White's Radio Log, various editions). KGST later got a boost in power to 5,000 watts and full time authorization.

In 1988, KGST was bought by Lotus Corporation. For a time, KGST was the Fresnonetwork affiliate forESPN Deportes, a Spanish-language sports service.

• Facility details for Facility ID 38453 (KGST) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• KGST inNielsen Audio's AM station database
• "History Cards for KGST".Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)
• History of KGST "La Mexicana" 1600 AM (history thesis)

36°42′36″N119°50′06″W / 36.71000°N 119.83500°W /36.71000; -119.83500

• 1949 establishments in California
• Japanese-language radio stations
• Lotus Communications stations
• Mass media in Fresno, California
• Radio stations established in 1949
• Radio stations in California
• Spanish-language radio stations in California

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Use mdy dates from October 2024
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles using infobox radio station
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from June 2011
• Coordinates on Wikidata