KTAO

KTAO ("KTAOS 101.9") is a solar-powered FM radio station licensed to serve Taos, New Mexico. The station is owned by Taos Communications Corporation. It airs an adult album alternative music format.^[3] The station was assigned the KTAO call letters by the Federal Communications Commission on October 6, 1986.^[1] The station is an affiliate of the syndicated Pink Floyd program "Floydian Slip."

KTAO

Taos, New Mexico
Frequency	101.9 MHz
Branding	Ktaos
Programming
Format	Adult album alternative
Ownership
Owner	Taos Communications Corporation
History
First air date	1991
Former call signs	KXRT, KVNM[1]
Call sign meaning	TAOS
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	64602
Class	C1
ERP	1,200 watts
HAAT	852 meters (2797 feet)
Transmitter coordinates	36°14′48″N 105°39′15″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen live
Website	www.ktao.com

Radio

History

KTAO (1968–1974), Los Gatos, CA

KTAO 95.3 FM, was an FM station in Los Gatos, owned by former Random House editor Bill Ryan and Lorenzo Milam.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

K-TAOS 101.9FM, Taos, NM

KTAO’s transmitter was in the town of Taos prior to 1991. Following FCC approval to increase to 1,200 watts, a new transmitter site was needed. A new transmitter was located at 10,800-foot Picuris Peak, which does not have grid power. According to former owner Brad Hockmeyer, solar power was the only option. The high-altitude location of its transmitter gives KTAO rimshot broadcast coverage from as far south as Albuquerque, New Mexico, and north into southern Colorado. This broadcast area is the largest of any solar-powered station in the world.^[10][11] On June 8, 2010, Brad Hockmeyer sold KTAO and the Solar Center to ^[12] Aidan Bain, gaining controlling interest of KTAOS Solar Radio 101.9 FM, and the KTAOS Solar Center, a full bar, restaurant, and music venue attached to the operating radio station office building.

KTAO is the largest solar powered radio station in the United States.^[13] It was featured in Episode 8, "Sky's The Limit", of the History Channel program Life After People.

Awards

New Mexico Broadcasters Association (2011)

NMBA Station of the Year

Public Service Announcement: “Holiday Shop Local Campaign”

Station Promotional Announcement: “Testimonial Campaign”

Complete Newscast: Paddy Mac in the Mornings

Single Topic News: Brad Hockmeyer interview with Tom Udall

30 Second Commercial: “Gay Pride Taos – Gayest Dog Wash EVER”

30 Second Commercial: “Taos Solar Music Festival 2010”

NonSports Talk Show: Paddy Mac in the Mornings Valentine’s Day Matchmaking

Sports Talk Show: Tigerbeat

Best of Taos (2011)

Best DJ: Paddy Mac

Best Live Music Venue: The KTAOS Solar Center

Solar Center

The KTAO studio offices are located five miles north of the town of Taos in El Prado. Outside the studio and offices is a festival-style performance venue with a tent allowing KTAO to host events year-round. The site is located equidistant from Taos Ski Valley and the Historic Town Center, and beneath the tallest peak in New Mexico. The concert space adjoins the home of two radio stations, solar powered KTAOS 101.9 FM and Luna 103.7 FM. Food services are available to concert-goers.

References

1. "Call Sign History". Fjallfoss.fcc.gov. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
2. "Facility Technical Data for KTAO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
3. "Arbitron Station Information Profiles". .arbitron.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
4. "Radio, Man". The Mercury News. November 19, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2021. The concept of listener-supported, noncommercial radio was still fairly new when it arrived in Los Gatos in about 1968. Operating at 95.3 FM, station KTAO was under the management of Lorenzo W. Milam, one of the pioneers of what was called 'free-form' radio.
5. "KTAO Radio". afana.org. Retrieved February 8, 2021. KTAO-FM was a free-form radio station in Los Gatos, California, that existed from March, 1969, through June, 1974. Operating at 95.3 FM, it was run essentially as a "benevolent dictatorship" by Lorenzo W. Milam (1933–2020), a founder of KRAB in Seattle and KDNA in St. Louis, who had purchased radio station KLGS (soon to be renamed KTAO), along with veteran literary editor William Harvey "Bill" Ryan III (1928?-1986).
6. "KTAO-FM, Los Gatos - Program Guide Archive 1970 to 1971". krab archive.
7. "bio". Don Campau. Retrieved February 8, 2021. In 1971 Don also began hosting a radio program on KTAO-FM in Los Gatos California under the mentorship of Lorenzo W. Milam, one of the founding fathers of community radio in the USA.
8. Fong-Torres, Ben (November 26, 1970). "FM Radio: Power to What People?". Retrieved February 8, 2021. Lorenzo Milam is more than a verbal/dramatic, concerned observer; he's a participant. Milam is co-owner of KDNA, the listener-supported St. Louis station that was busted. He was a founder and director of KRAB, the Seattle FM station now going through FCC hearings to determine its status as a licensee. And, as head of KTAO, a small but successful "commercial co-op" station in Santa Clara Valley (wiped out, in nearby San Francisco, by Metromedia's 50,000-watt KSAN), he is in touch with the KMPX Collective. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
9. Munger, Philip (November 30, 2007). "Jeremy Lansman - Part I". Progressive Alaska. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
10. Diddlebock, Bob (October 1, 2006). "Media: Still Tuned In". TIME. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
11. "K-TAOS 101.9FM – World Famous Solar Radio, Taos, NM – Mediapage". Archived from the original on April 6, 2008. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
12. "The Music Radio Trade Publication". RadioInfo. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
13. "KTAO – The Solar Powered Radio Station". Green Passive Solar Magazine. April 7, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2017.

External links

• Official website
• Allaccess.com
• Fmqb.com
• Allaccess.com
• Facility details for Facility ID 64602 (KTAO) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KTAO in Nielsen Audio's FM station database