KVOZ

KVOZ
Del Mar Hills, Texas;
Broadcast area	Laredo, Texas; Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas
Frequency	890 kHz
Branding	Radio Cristiana
Programming
Format	Spanish Christian talk and teaching
Ownership
Owner	Consolidated Radio, Inc.
History
First air date	April 15, 1952; 72 years ago (originally on 1490 kHz in Laredo)
Call sign meaning	VOZ is voice in Spanish
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	6429
Class	B
Power	10,000 watts (day); 1,000 watts (night)
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;

KVOZ (890 kHz "Radio Cristiana") is a Spanish-language AM radio station licensed to Del Mar Hills, Texas, and serving Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, on the United States-Mexico border. It airs a Spanish-language Christian radio format, featuring Christian talk and teaching programs with Christian music. It is owned by Consolidated Radio, Inc.

By day, KVOZ is powered at 10,000 watts non-directional. But because 890 AM is a clear channel frequency reserved for Class A WLS Chicago, KVOZ must reduce power at night to 1,000 watts to avoid interference. After sunset, it also uses a directional antenna with a three-tower array. The transmitter is off U.S. Route 59 in Laredo.^[2]

History

KVOZ signed on the air on April 15, 1952; 72 years ago (1952-04-15).^[3] It originally broadcast on 1490 kilocycles and its city of license was Laredo. The daytime power was 1,000 watts and at night it reduced power to 250 watts, a fraction of its current output. It added an FM station at 94.9 MHz in 1972.

By the 1980s, the Federal Communications Commission relaxed the rules against assigning stations to clear channel frequencies. With Laredo nearly 1,200 miles (2,245 kilometers) from Chicago, the FCC granted it permission to move to 890 kHz while protecting WLS with reduced power and a directional antenna at night. It made the move to 890 kHz in 1988.