KODS

KODS is a commercial radio station licensed to Carnelian Bay, California, broadcasting to the Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe areas on 103.7 FM. KODS airs a classic hits music format branded as "The River" (a local reference to the Truckee River). The station, now owned by Reno Media Group, began with a transmitter on Brockway Summit, between Truckee, CA and Lake Tahoe. Its signal could be heard only in Truckee and in a small section of Tahoe's north shore, including Kings Beach and Carnelian Bay. Tom Quinn and a handful of investors purchased the station, then known as KEZC, in 1982. Within two years Quinn petitioned the FCC to increase the station's power and he relocated the transmitter to Slide Mountain overlooking Reno, Carson City and Lake Tahoe. The station, with new call-letters KTHX and known as "K-Hits 104," had instant ratings success in the Reno radio market. This allowed Quinn to purchase a second station serving the Fresno, CA area and then a third in Las Vegas. In 1988, KTHX (then using the call-letters KHTZ) changed format to oldies music and call-letters to KODS, and the station instantly regained its position as the top-rated station in Reno. In the late 1990s KODS began using the nickname "The River" and in Incline Village the nickname "Fun 101" reflecting its use of a translator at 101.3 FM. Except during specialty programs, KODS subsequently dropped most of its 1950s and early 1960s music and transitioned to a classic hits rather than oldies format.