Founded by George B. Bailey and Greater Bay Area Broadcasters, the station obtained its first construction permit on March 8, 1963, and signed on as KGBA on December 15, 1963.[3][4] KGBA featured programming from the Mutual Broadcasting System and weekly programs in German and Italian.[4]
Following a $182,000 sale of the station to Royal Bear Broadcasters in the previous month, KGBA became KGNU on October 1, 1965.[5][6] KGNU changed its network affiliation from Mutual to ABC in 1969.[7]
Royal Bear Broadcasters sold KGNU and Stockton station KWG to Barnes Enterprises for $900,000 in June 1969, and KGNU's call sign changed to KEGL on July 1, 1969.[8][5] KEGL had a full country and western music format until April 1971, when Barnes changed the station schedule to have religious music in mornings and Spanish programming in evenings.[9] In March 1972, Barnes sold KEGL to Cascade Broadcasting for $316,000.[10]
KEGL became KNTA on July 1, 1976.[5] By 1980, KNTA broadcast exclusively in Spanish.[11] In 1986, KNTA began broadcasting Oakland A's games in Spanish.[12]
In February 1997, the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation purchased KNTA from Imperio Enterprises (formerly Cascade Broadcasting) for $2.2 million.[13] After changing from Spanish to an Asian ethnic format, KNTA became KVVN on October 17, 1997.[14][15]
After Inner City Broadcasting filed for bankruptcy, it sold KVVF and Berkeley station KVTO to YMF Media, a company backed by Magic Johnson and other investors in 2012. YMF Media sold both stations to Pham Radio Communications in 2013.[16]
^"Changing Hands"(PDF), Broadcasting & Cable, p. 68, February 10, 1997, retrieved April 4, 2020
^"Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
^Goldfisher, Alastair (October 13, 1997). "KNTA dials up new format". Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 20, 2002. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
