KJOJ-FM


KJOJ-FM is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Freeport, Texas, and serving the Greater Houston radio market. It is owned by Estrella Media and airs a Regional Mexican radio format under the branding "La Raza". Programming is simulcast on sister station 98.5 KTJM Port Arthur.
KJOJ-FM has an effective radiated power of 100,000 watts, the highest permitted for non-grandfathered FM stations in the U.S. The tower has a height above average terrain of. KJOJ-FM also has a Federal Communications Commission construction permit to relocate to a tower that is. The transmitter is located off Sgt. Joe Parks Memorial Highway in Sargent, Texas.

History

KGUL. KGLF-FM and KJOJ

When the FCC granted a construction permit to build a new FM station in Freeport, it was given the call sign KGUL. By the time the station signed on the air on October, 1989, the call letters were KGLF-FM. KGLF-FM was owned by Freeport Broadcasting. Freeport sold the station for $2 million to U.S. Radio in 1990.
The new owner changed the call letters to KJOJ. In 1991, the call sign changed to its current KJOJ-FM as 880 AM in Conroe took the KJOJ call sign, which had been on 106.9 FM for many years under the ownership of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Swaggart sold 106.9 to U.S. Radio after the sex scandal that caused him to leave his ministry for some time. The simulcast with 98.5 FM began in 1993 after Swaggart sold 103.3.

Urban Gold and Smooth Jazz

When "Yo 1590 Raps!" went on the air on KYOK 1590 AM, after flipping from Urban Gospel to Rap music, in February 1991, the FM station's format changed back to "Y98.5 Is Back, playing the best variety of Hits and Dusties." In 1993, 103.3 KJOJ-FM and KYOK began simulcasting as "Y98.5". KJOJ-FM has been simulcasting since.
The station started playing Smooth Jazz on Sundays. It proved so popular that on March 8, 1995, the simulcast flipped full time to Smooth Jazz, known as "Smooth FM 98.5 and 103.3".

Rhythmic CHR and Rhythmic Oldies

On February 24, 1997, after stunting with continuous play of the song Kiss by Prince, the station's format changed to Rhythmic Contemporary as "Kiss 98-5, Kiss Again 103-3". The stations targeted the Hispanic youth market playing heavy doses of Latin Freestyle and House music, mimicking the style of WPOW-FM Power 96 in Miami. In June 1998, the "Kiss 98-5, Kiss Again 103-3" format was tweaked again to rival 104.1 KRBE, by playing Rock and Pop based Top 40.
On January 1, 1999, the station jumped on the Rhythmic Oldies bandwagon as "98.5 The Jam". The call letters changed to KTJM, to represent "Texas Jam." During 1999 to 2001, the station's moniker changed to "Houston's Jammin' Oldies" and then to "Houston's Jammin' Hits".

Switch to Regional Mexican

In July 2001, the station was bought by Liberman Broadcasting of Burbank, California. The ownership changed brought a flip to the current Regional Mexican "La Raza" format.
In 2019, Liberman ran into financial problems and declared Chapter 11. After reorganization, the corporate name changed to Estrella Media.