KYAT
Radio station in Gallup, New Mexico, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
KYAT is a radio station on 94.5 FM in Gallup, New Mexico, United States. Owned and operated by Millennium Media, the station broadcasts a country music format in the Navajo language known as Ya'a'te'eh Diné (Navajo Country).
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| Frequency | 94.5 MHz |
|---|---|
| Branding | Ya'a'te'eh Diné |
| Programming | |
| Language | Navajo |
| Format | Country |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| KXXI, KYVA, KYVA-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | October 19, 1974 |
Former call signs |
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| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 35028 |
| Class | C0 |
| ERP | 100 kW |
| HAAT | 420 meters (1,380 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 35°36′22.08″N 108°41′28.31″W |
| Translator | K235BR (94.9 FM) Gallup East |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | gallupradio |
History
94.5 FM was launched as KGLP on October 19, 1974, airing a country format.[2] It was co-owned with KYVA (1230 AM),[3] which had previously mixed Top 40 and country tunes, much to the chagrin of its air staff; the new country outlet allowed the two formats to be split.[4] Both stations were sold to Road Runner Radio, Inc., owned by Russell Carpenter and George Malti,[5] for $500,000 in 1977, and the FM's call letters were changed to KOVO on October 24.[6] The station flipped to adult contemporary in 1986 and adopted the call letters KKOR.[7]
In 2010, the call letters were changed to KYAT as the station began broadcasting full-time in the Navajo language, the first FM station to do so.[8] Some program features remained in English, including news bulletins three times a day from the Navajo Times newspaper.[8] Coverage was extended to Navajo-language play-by-play of high school basketball games in January 2017.[9]
George Malti died in 2016 after owning KYVA and KYAT for 39 years.[10]