City Galveston, Texas Slogan "Mas Variedad" First air date 1989 | Broadcast area Greater Houston Frequency 106.5 MHz Format Adult hits | |
KOVE-FM (106.5 FM) is a Spanish-language radio station serving the Houston and Galveston areas from Galveston, Texas. KOVE-FM is owned by Univision Communications. The studios are in Uptown Houston and the transmitter is in Santa Fe, Texas.
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History
This station, licensed in 1990, is not related to the earlier Galveston FM station launched in 1968 as "KGBC-FM" (106.1 FM), then sold and moved to 106.5 FM, and re-licensed as "KUFO" in 1974. That station, with shifting ownership and declining fortunes, became "KXKX" in 1979 and "KQQK" in 1986 before signing off forever and having its license cancelled by the FCC in March 1989.
KQQK
This incarnation of 106.5 was licensed and signed on January 8, 1990, retaining the KQQK calls used by the former KUFO facility before its license was surrendered nearly a year earlier. The new KQQK (pronounced Kah-Koo-Koo-Kah) was a Tejano format, utilizing a bilingual approach in both music and presentation. It simply went by its dial position and calls, spoken as "1-oh-6-5, Kah-Koo-Koo-Kah".
The popular Tejano format proved to be a hit with 2nd and 3rd generation Mexican Americans living within the coverage area, and remained well rated, and a vital community asset until the format was ultimately moved to Beaumont in July 2001, on a rimshot signal to Houston, where the Tejano format was left, eventually collapsed and was replaced, leaving AM 980 KRTX as Houston's sole broadcast home for "Puro Tejano" music. This came as a result of the sale of the 106.5 facility from KQQK, Inc. (predecessor to El Dorado Communications) to the Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (predecessor to Univision).
K-Love
With the format and calls of KQQK now officially moved to 107.9 in Beaumont, 106.5 temporarily assumed the KQBU callset and continued simulcasting KQQK for a brief period. Towards the end of July 2001, Spanish language Romantic Adult Contemporary "K-Love" debuted on KQBU, which coincided with the second call change inside a month to the current KOVE. K-Love would continue, with positive, sustainable ratings and cume, for the next decade. During this period, KOVE upgraded to the current Class C, 98 kilowatt, 598 meter HAAT operations.
Recuerdo/Más Variedad
First given the name "Recuerdo", then adjusting to "Más Variedad", 106.5 has become a Spanish Adult Hits format that blends the larger hits of the grupero, regional Mexican and contemporary ballad music styles of Northern Mexico. Most of Más Variedad's music focuses on hits from the 80s and 90s, however, a small percentage of KOVE's playlist expands into more recent music offerings from the 21st Century. The station's slogan is "Más musica y Variedad", translated to English as "More Music and Variety".