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| Broadcast area | San Diego, California |
| Frequency | 910kHz |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Christian radio |
| Network | Family Radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | 1955; 70 years ago (1955) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | El Cajon Radio or disambiguation of sister stationKEAR |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 20977 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 32°53′44.2″N116°55′34.1″W / 32.895611°N 116.926139°W /32.895611; -116.926139 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | www |
KECR (910AM) is a radio stationlicensed toEl Cajon, California and serving theSan Diegoradio market. Owned byFamily Radio, it carries aChristian talk and teachingradio format, along with traditionalhymns andworship music. Programming comes from Family Radio, based inFranklin, Tennessee.
KECR broadcasts at 5,000 watts, using adirectional antenna. Thetransmitter site is near Moreno Avenue, north ofLakeside, California, nearCalifornia State Route 67. No local programming originates here, as the station airs the Family Radio Network continuously, except for thestation identification. It does however, have a backup radio studio at its transmission site, which is mainly used to carry out messages from theEmergency Alert System. The seven-tower array transmitter site is shared withAM 1170KCBQ, anotherChristian Radio station, owned by theSalem Media Group.
This stationsigned on in 1955. In its early years, it was aTop 40 station with thecall sign KDEO. It used the moniker "Radio Kay-dee-oh".
KDEO was the first radio station to broadcast the countdown programAmerican Top 40 withCasey Kasem, on July 3, 1970.[2] The premiere of the program coincided with theIndependence Day holiday that year.
By 1971 the station rebranded as Magic 91 (referencing its AM frequency). On March 1, 1977, it switched its call letters to KMJC. The station continued its Top 40 format. TheMagic branding would eventually end up onXHRM-FM 92.5 in 1998.
As music migrated to FM radio, the owners decided to adopt a new format. In 1980, KMJC flipped to Christian programming, call letters' meaning to "King and Master, Jesus Christ" to match the new format. It remained independent from any religious network throughout the 1980s.
Bartell Hotels agreed to sell KMJC to Family Stations in November 1989.[3] In April 1990, Family changed the call sign to KECR,[4][5] as it began operating it with programming fromFamily Radio.
The programs were originally fed from 93.3 KECR-FM, which was soon put up for sale. When the simulcast ended in 1995,Jacor Communications acquired the FM station, which subsequently became aCHR station (nowKHTS-FM) in 1996.
During the October 2003Cedar Fires, part of KECR's rural transmitter site was destroyed by flames. One tower (out of seven) and an electrical shack were completely destroyed. This happened after chief engineer Jeff Zimmer rejected a staff announcer's recommendation to mow down brush within 30 feet (9.1 m) of the towers and transmitter shacks. Weeks later, the station transmitter site was repaired and the signal restored to full power.
Family Stations planned to give KECR anFM translator at 100.1 FM. An application was filed on January 28, 2018, as part of a new spectrum auction. On July 3, 2019, theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that Family Radio had won the spectrum auction for a fee of $35,000.[6] This new translator was to be located atopMount San Miguel.[7] In March 2025, Family Stations returned theconstruction permit for the translator—which was set to expire the following month, and was by then proposed to operate at 101.1 FM as K266DD—to the FCC.[8]
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