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Sacramento to lose K-HITS for Regional Mexicana

The logo of Sacramento radio station KCCL (Graphic designed by The Desk)
The logo of Sacramento radio station KCCL (Graphic designed by The Desk)

Sacramento’s top classic hits radio station is about to go off the air.

This week, Results Radio signed an agreement to transfer the license of KCCL (101.5 FM, K-HITS) to Oxnard-based Lazer Broadcasting, the owner of several Spanish-language radio stations across California.



The deal was first disclosed in an application filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a transfer of KCCL’s license from Results to Lazer. The valuation of the deal is around $1.9 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

The purchase is expected to get regulatory approval. Upon closure of the deal, KCCL will flip from a classic hits format station to Regional Mexicana and will adopt the “Radio Lazer” moniker.



Officials at Lazer say the purchase is expected to help the Radio Lazer brand further penetrate the Sacramento market. The brand is already used on KBAA (103.3 FM) in Grass Valley, which reaches the Auburn market but doesn’t penetrate the greater Sacramento region beyond that.

KCCL first took to the airwaves in 1996 with the call letters KMJE and a soft rock format under the “Sunny 101.5 FM” brand. It eventually swapped call letters with a station on 92.1 FM in the Sacramento market, and became “101.5 K-HITS” in early 2013.



The station has a loyal following in the Sacramento market, particularly among older radio listeners. It eventually forced KHLX (93.1 FM), owned by iHeart Radio, to end its classic hits format; that station began simulcasting news-talk station KFBK in December 2013.

In a twist of irony, iHeart Radio will have one of the market’s two remaining classic rock stations when KCCL flips from that format to Regional Mexicana after Results’ deal with Lazer closes. KRYV (93.7 FM, The River) has offered a classic rock format since it abandoned the Jack FM format in 2017. The other station, Audacy’s KSEG (96.9 FM, The Eagle), has broadcast classic rock music since 1990.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 11 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting. Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn by clicking or tapping here.