KBZU

Infobox Radio station
name = KBZU
city = Albuquerque, New Mexico
area =


frequency = 96.3 MHz
airdate =
share = 0.9, #26
share as of = Wi'08
share source = R&R [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Albuquerque Market Ratings | date= | url=http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRatings/DetailsPage.aspx?MID=5&RY=2008&RQ=1&MP=0&OTHER=2&MN=Albuquerque&MS=NM&MR=69&12P=691300&UP=5/8/2008%2012:00:00%20AM&SU=CM&BPER=2.7&HPER=41.4&OPER=&NSD=6/16/2008%2012:00:00%20AM&CE=0
work =Radio and Records | pages = | date = | language = ]
format = Spanish Sports/Talk
power =
erp = 20,000 watts
haat = 1260.0 meters
class = C
facility_id = 48596
coordinates = coord|35|12|44.00|N|106|26|58.00|W|region:US_type:city
callsign_meaning = Jumbled "BUZZ" (former branding)
former_callsigns = KHFM (??-2001)
KRIF (2001)
owner = The Last Bastion Station Trust, LLC, As Trustee
licensee =
sister_stations =
webcast = [http://espn-mp3-od.andomedia.com/espnpod2/espndeportes/asx/espndeportes.asx ESPN Deportes Live Feed]
website = [http://963thebuzz.com 963thebuzz.com]
affiliations = ESPN Deportes Radio

KBZU (96.3 FM) is a Spanish language sports radio station broadcasting the national ESPN Deportes Radio network. Licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, the station serves the Albuquerque area. The station is currently owned by The Last Bastion Station Trust after being sold by Citadel Broadcasting as part of its merger with ABC Radio.

History

The station was a Talk/Personality station, titled "96.3 The Buzz", from February 12, 2007 until August 2, 2008. The talk format featured Bob & Tom in morning and Opie and Anthony in the afternoon, along with Dennis Miller, Mike O'Meara (prior to that, Don & Mike), and Tom Leykis. The station also featured a short-lived locally produced program.

Prior to the talk format, KBZU was a classic rock station named "The Buzzard" which started in April 2001 and ran until February 12, 2007. The Buzzard had challenged area rock radio rivals KIOT and KZRR. The station used the slogan which claimed to play "Real Classic Rock," featuring a mix that was somewhat harder than most classic rock stations by avoiding "wimpy" songs, but also played only classic bands and no modern stuff that it dubbed as "weird." That format also included Bob & Tom in the morning and in late 2006 it added Opie and Anthony in the afternoon. Nights with Alice Cooper also aired on The Buzzard at night in the last couple of years. Some local personalities had also been featured as well throughout its run. But over the years the station consistently lagged behind its competitors in the Arbitron ratings.

96.3 was also the longtime home of classical music station KHFM. In 2001, Citadel Broadcasting had made an agreement with American General Media to move the format to its current home on 95.5 FM so that Citadel could run a more commercially competitive format on 96.3.

References

External links

*FMQ|KBZU
*FML|KBZU
*FMARB|KBZU