 | |
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|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Los Angeles |
| Frequency | 105.1MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Go Country 105 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Country |
| Subchannels |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner | Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters |
| KMZT | |
| History | |
First air date | February 18, 1959; 67 years ago (1959-02-18) (as KBCA) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | The word "GO" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 43939 |
| Class | B |
| ERP | 18,000watts |
| HAAT | 880 meters (2,890 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 34°13′44″N118°04′08″W / 34.229°N 118.069°W /34.229; -118.069 |
| Translator | HD2: 98.3 K252FO (Los Angeles) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | |
| Website | |
KKGO-FM (105.1MHz, "Go Country 105") is acommercial radio stationlicensed toLos Angeles, California. It is owned byMount Wilson FM Broadcasters and airs acountry musicformat. The studios are on Cotner Avenue at Ohio Avenue in Los Angeles'Westwood neighborhood, while thetransmitter is atopMount Wilson. Besides a standardanalog transmission, KKGO-FM broadcasts fourHD Radio channels and is available online.
KKGO-FM is notable in being the lone remaining full-power commercial FM signal licensed to Los Angeles that is still independently owned and operated.[2][3]
Saul Levine launched the station at 105.1 FM in February 1959 as KBCA, one of the first FM stations to broadcast fromMount Wilson. In 1979, the station changed itscall sign to KKGO.[4] This was prompted by a court challenge fromKABC, according to one local podcaster.[5] In 1988 the call sign was modified to KKGO-FM. The format was aired until 1989.
After Evergreen Media's record-setting purchase ofKFAC-FM (92.3 FM) on January 15, 1989,[6] followed by rumors and publicity stunts[7] suggesting that stationmusic format (one which had its roots inKFAC (1330 AM), itself divested prior to Evergreen's purchase of the FM),[8][9] KKGO announced that it would flip to classical effective January 1, 1990, with the jazz format being transferred to540 AM.[10]
Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters chairman Saul Levine made an initial bid for KFAC's music library, one which dated back to the 1940s, but withdrew his bid when presented with an asking price upwards of $1 million; a combination ofKUSC, theLos Angeles Public Library, andStanford University acquired it instead.[11] In the time between KFAC-FM's switch on September 20, 1989, and KKGO's switch the following January 1, KKGO offered classical programming for part of the day, with former KFAC host John Santana hired as a part-time announcer.[12]
KKGO celebrated the complete conversion to classical by playing selections fromFranz Lehár's operettaThe Land of Smiles. Another KFAC programming staple would be revived on KKGO that March: theGas Company Evening Concert, which ran on KFAC and KFAC-FM between 1940 and 1989; former KFAC announcer Tom Dixon was hired as host of the new program's incarnation.[13]
In 2000, thecall letters were changed to KMZT-FM[14] to reflect on their rebranding as "K-Mozart". The KKGO call letters were then moved to the co-owned station at1260 AM.
When longtimecountry music stationKZLA (93.9 FM) flipped formats in August 2006, it left the two largestmedia markets in the United States and three of the top four without a full-time country music station. TheNew York City market had been without a country station following the format change ofWYNY and three repeaters in 2003, while theSan Francisco Bay Area was without one followingKZBR's 2005 format change. The other top-three market,Chicago, is served byWUSN.
On February 26, 2007, at 5:00 a.m., in a surprise move announced only three days earlier, Mount Wilson Broadcasters flipped KKGO from K-Mozart to country as "Go Country 105".[15] The company cited declining advertising revenues for the classical format. Saul Levine swapped the formats of 105.1 FM with 1260 AM, bringing the country format and the KKGO calls back to FM while moving the classical programming and the KMZT calls to the AM signal.[16] (XESURF-AM continued to play country music, first simulcasting KKGO's format, but later splitting its programming from that of KKGO). After playingMozart's "String Quartet no. 23 in F major, K. 590", Los Angeles was left once again without a commercial analog FM classical music station.
KKGO brought country music back to the FM dial after a six-month absence, much to the delight of Southern California country fans who had spent that time petitioning the radio community to restore country radio in Los Angeles. Such activities included writing letters, making phone calls, wearing "I Want My Country Music Back" shirts, and distributing ribbons reading "Save Country Music".[17] Their goal was to assure broadcasters and others that the country music format would be a valuable asset to a local radio station. The first song on Go Country 105 was "Only in America" byBrooks & Dunn.
K-Mozart returned to KKGO on April 4, 2011, this time on the HD2 subchannel.[18] As of March 2017, K-Mozart is heard on KKGO-HD4 while KKGO-HD2 airs anoldies format.
On May 8, 2013, KKGO began limiting access to theonline stream of Go Country 105 to listeners in California due to risingroyalty rates from the exponential growth of the streaming audience. KKGO's sister stations and HD subchannels did not restrict their respective streams.[19] As of 2015, this restriction has been lifted; access to the stream is available throughout the United States via the KKGO website as well as throughiHeartRadio.
Until 2015, KKGO wassimulcast onKGIL inJohannesburg, California, extending Go Country 105's reach into theMojave Desert. The simulcast ended after Mount Wilson's sale of KGIL to Adelman Broadcasting closed.[20]
In addition to its K-Mozart AM sister stations, KKGO also had an AM radio station on540 AM.
On November 15, 2016, KKGO began an annual tradition of airingChristmas music for part of November and December, rebranding itself as "105.1 Your Christmas Destination". With this move, the station competed directly with ratings-leaderKOST 103.5 FM, which also switches to an all-Christmas format. During this time, KKGO's regular, non-seasonal country music remained available on one of the station's HD channels and online.[21] The station reverted to its basic country format on December 26, 2016. It continued switching to Christmas music in November and December for nearly a decade.[22]
KKGO often had notable musical artists host Christmas programming. Guests includedJordan Davis,Dan + Shay,Chris Young,Mitchell Tenpenny,Carrie Underwood,Idina Menzel,[23] andMartina McBride.[24]
In October 2024, KKGO-HD2 and itsFM translator on 98.3 MHz ("K-Mozart") temporarily dropped its classical format and began airing Christmas music through December 31.[25] Conversely KKGO-FM's main channel continued with its regular country format during the 2024 holiday season for the first time since 2015.[26]
The station began broadcasting anHD Radio digital signal in 2005. As of 2026, KKGO-FM broadcasts on four subchannels:
In 2005, Mount Wilson Broadcasting startedsimulcasting the programming of two of its AM stations at the time,KKGO 1260 inBeverly Hills, California, andXESURF-AM 540 in theTijuana—San Diegoborder area, on KMZT-FM's HD2 signal. It began airing anadult standards format known as "Unforgettable 540 & 1260". While the AM signals combined to cover much of theSouthern California region, they were still weak, especially at night inOrange County; the FM HD2 simulcast helped boost the reach of the format.
In March 2015, the HD3 subchannel became Unforgettable FM, flipping fromclassic country. Songs representative of this adult standards format, collectively referred to as the "Great American Songbook", come from such artists asTony Bennett,Nat "King" Cole,Barbra Streisand,Harry Connick, Jr.,Mel Tormé,Rosemary Clooney,Dean Martin,Andy Williams,Frank Sinatra andMichael Bublé. This took the subchannel back to a format similar to the one it aired a few years prior under the banner of "Retro 105". However, Retro 105 was only heard in Los Angeles whereas Unforgettable was classified assyndicated and was heard onKNRY inMonterey, California, as well.[27] Later, Unforgettable moved to KKGO's HD4 subchannel.[28] Unforgettable would be dropped altogether, but brought back later.
On July 28, 2023, KKGO-HD3 temporarily dropped the "Unforgettable" standards format and switched to an all-Taylor Swift format in anticipation of herEras Tour shows in Los Angeles.[29] KKGO-HD3 switched to classical music as K-Mozart2 in April 2024 and aired an oldies format, branded as "K-Surf," in 2025. On January 1, 2026, KKGO-HD3 switched to an all-Beatles format as "K-Beatle."