KETU

KETU
Broadcast areaTulsa metropolitan area
Frequency1120 kHz
BrandingKETU La Diferente
Programming
FormatSpanish adult contemporary
Ownership
Owner
  • Antonio Perez
  • (Radio Las Americas Arkansas, LLC)
History
First air date
January 29, 1968; 56 years ago (1968-01-29) (as 1110 KEOR Atoka)
Former call signs
KEOR (1968–2012)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID3651
ClassD
Power10,000 watts day
7,000 watts critical hours
Transmitter coordinates
36°18′31″N 95°58′25″W / 36.30861°N 95.97361°W / 36.30861; -95.97361
Translator(s)97.9 K250BN (Tulsa)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websiteladiferentetulsa.com

KETU (1120 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Catoosa, Oklahoma, and serving the Tulsa metropolitan area. The station broadcasts a Spanish adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Antonio Perez, through licensee Radio Las Americas Arkansas, LLC.[2]

KETU is a daytimer station. It is powered at 10,000 watts by day and 7,000 watts during critical hours. Because 1120 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for KMOX in St. Louis, KETU must go off the air at night to avoid interference. The station uses a directional antenna with a two-tower array. The transmitter is on East 106 Street at North 14th Avenue in Sperry.[3] Programming is heard around the clock on 250-watt FM translator K250BN at 97.9 MHz in Tulsa.[4]

History

[edit]

The station signed on the air on January 29, 1968; 56 years ago (1968-01-29). Its original call sign was KEOR licensed to Atoka, Oklahoma, and operated for many years on the frequency 1110 kHz.[5] Then, as now, KEOR was a daytimer. It had a power of 5,000 watts but had to go off the air at sunset. It broadcast a country music format and was an affiliate of the ABC Entertainment Network.

KEOR flipped to Top 40 hits in the 1970s. In 1984, KEOR changed to Southern Gospel, after brokering the station to Sonshine Ministries.[6] In the 1990s, Sonshine broker weekday programming to Christian talk and teaching ministries, while Saturday mornings were brokered to Ed and Jolene Bullard, who used their time to play Classic Country and Bluegrass music. KEOR would be sold to Edward J. and Leticia Vega in 2012.

In 2008, the Raftt Corporation, the station's owner, got permission from the Federal Communications Commission to move 100 miles north, into the more lucrative Tulsa radio market. The city of license was switched to Catoosa, a suburb of Tulsa, and the frequency relocated to 1120 kHz, one notch up the dial. Meanwhile, in the early 2000s, some Catholic organizations around the U.S. were looking for radio stations to broadcast Catholic programming, in response to the increasing number of stations proclaiming an Evangelical Christian message.

In January 2009, The Raftt Corporation reached an agreement to sell this station to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa for $880,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 17, 2009. However the transaction was subsequently cancelled. Raftt later sold the station to Edward J. and Leticia Vega's La Zeta 95.7 Inc. The sale was consummated on November 21, 2012, and the station switched its call sign to KETU. La Zeta put a Spanish-language format on KETU.

Effective September 22, 2020, La Zeta 95.7 swapped KETU and $10,000 to Radio Las Americas Arkansas, LLC in exchange for KLTK, a Regional Mexican station in Centerton, Arkansas.

Translators

[edit]
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class FCC info
K250BN 97.9 MHz FM Tulsa, Oklahoma 140389 250 76 m (249 ft) D LMS

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KETU". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "Winter 2008 Station Information Profile". Arbitron.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KETU
  4. ^ Radio-Locator.com/K250BN
  5. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-168, Broadcasting & Cable
  6. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1990 page B-247, Broadcasting & Cable
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