The 50,000 watt KVVF began its life in 1964 as Bob Podesta’s KREP. Following Bob Kieve’s purchase of the station in 1972, the call letters were changed to KARA.
In 2002, Kieve cashed out of KARA, selling the station to Dallas-based Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, which owned more than 50 Spanish-language stations nationwide, including signals in a number of major markets. The KARA deal was a spectacular financial success for Kieve and his partners: they’d paid $470,000 for the station and sold it for $49 million.
Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. immediately changed the call letters to KEMR and installed a regional Mexican music format.
At about the same time, Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. was in talks with Univision, the operator of a Spanish-language network and 50 TV stations. The Federal Communications Commission approved their merger on a 3-2 vote in September 2003.
Following the Univision merger, the station became KVVF, initially branded as Viva 105.7. This would give way to La Kalle, and then in 2011 to Latino Mix. All the way along, the station’s primary language was Spanish.
That changed in March 2014 when KVVF switched to a rhythmic contemporary format under the brand Hot 105.7. The Oakland Tribune would describe it as “an English-language hip-hop and R&B station catering to Latino millennials”.
It didn’t work. After two years of meager ratings, the station began to phase in more pop hits. By 2017, Latin hits were being added to the mix and in 2019, KVVF once again went all-in on Spanish-language programming as Latino Mix, promising “reggaeton y mas”.
