KMIC
 | |
| City | Houston, Texas |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Greater Houston |
| Branding | Radio Dabang |
| Frequency | 1590 kHz (also on HD Radio) |
| First air date | November 20, 1946 (as KATL) |
| Format | Bollywood South Asian |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
| Class | B |
| Facility ID | 20491 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 29°50′38″N 95°26′51″W / 29.84389°N 95.44750°W |
| Callsign meaning |
MICkey Mouse (official mascot of The Walt Disney Company, former owner) |
| Former callsigns |
KATL (1946-1954) KYOK (1954-1999) |
| Affiliations | Radio Disney (1999-2015) |
| Owner |
Roberto and Ruben Villarreal (DAIJ Media, LLC) |
| Sister stations | KCOH, KRCM, KJOZ, KBRZ, KQUE, KQUE-FM, KCVH-LD and K22JW-D |
| Website | http://www.radiodabang.com |
KMIC is a South Asian Bollywood music formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Houston, Texas, serving the Greater Houston area. The station, which began broadcasting in 1946, is owned and operated by DAIJ Media.[1]
KMIC is also licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast in the HD (hybrid) format;[2] however, was turned off in 2012.[3]
History
This station began as KATL on 1590 kc. in 1946 and is the sixth oldest surviving station licensed in the Houston area. The station launch was postponed by engineering problems. KATL went on the air at 6 pm on May 12, under special authority since it hadn't received its official license. KATL became an affiliate of Gordon McLendon’s Liberty Broadcasting System.
When KATL was sold in 1954 it was bought by two Louisiana businessmen, Jules Paglin and Stanley Ray, for their OK group of stations targeted at African American listeners and the call letters changed to KYOK. Its Urban contemporary gospel format lasted on and off for over four decades, it also aired an Urban Contemporary (or Soul) format within that time frame.
From 1988 to 1992, KYOK was known as "The New YO! 1590 Raps" playing a hip hop-heavy mainstream urban format.
From the Fall of 1992 to the Fall of 1994, it aired an Urban AC format as "AM 1590 The New KHYS, playing the Hits & Dusties", and simulcasted along with KJOJ-FM.
From Fall of 1994 to 1996, the station played Soul Oldies as "AM 1590 Solid Gold Soul".
In late 1996, the station switched back to Gospel 1590 AM. It lasted on the 1590 dial until 1999, when the owners sold the station to The Walt Disney Company/ABC Radio and switched it to an affiliate of Radio Disney as KMIC in July 1999. KYOK and its Gospel format was moved to daytimer 1140 kHz, licensed to Conroe, north of Houston.
On August 13, 2014, Disney put KMIC and 22 other Radio Disney stations up for sale, in order to focus more on digital distribution of the Radio Disney network.[4][5]
In November, Radio Disney Group filed to sell KMIC to Ethnic and Religious broadcaster DAIJ Media. DAIJ Media is also owner of KRCM, KJOZ, KBRZ, KQUE, KCVH-LD and K22JW-D.[6]
On January 8, 2015, the FCC approved the sale of KMIC from Radio Disney Group to Daij Media, at a purchase price of $3.2 million. As a result, the station went dark the following Tuesday on January 13, 2015. The station resumed operations on January 23, 2015, compliant with the FCC's rule that a station can go silent for a maximum of 10 days without notifying the FCC. The station went back on the air with a Spanish Religious format as a result of the consummation of the sale.[7]
In mid October 2016, Radio Aleluya programming was replaced with brokered South Asian programming "Radio Dabang" which had aired on Siga Broadcasting station KLVL in Pasadena. This was done in an effort to provide better nighttime service to the southwest areas of Houston that KLVL was unable to cover after sunset.
References
- ↑ "KMIC Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
- ↑ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=20491
- ↑ AM IBOC Stations on the Air
- ↑ Lafayette, Jon (August 13, 2014). "Exclusive: Radio Disney Moving Off Air to Digital". Retrieved August 13, 2014.
- ↑ "Radio Disney to Sell the Majority of Its Stations". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ↑ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ↑ "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
External links
- Houston Radio History: Another 60 Years on 1590
- Query the FCC's AM station database for KMIC
- Radio-Locator Information on KMIC
- Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for KMIC