KSIQ is a move-in FM radio station from Brawley

Brawley, California

Brawley is a city in Imperial County, California, United States. Brawley is located north of El Centro. The population was 24,953 at the 2010 census, up from 22,052 at the 2000 census. The town has a significant cattle and feed industry, and hosts the annual Cattle Call Rodeo. Year-round...

 to San Diego, California. The station has a main transmitter site in Campo, California

Campo, California

Campo is a census-designated place located in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California. The population was 2,684 at the 2010 census....

, east of San Diego and West of El Centro, with a booster transmitter on Mount San Miguel. It airs a Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

  format.

The booster transmitter has been silent since October 22, 2010.
The station has applied for, and been granted, a Special Temporary Authority to operate the booster transmitter from a temporary site.

History

Previously, KSIQ Q96 was a commercial Class B radio station

Radio station

Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...

 located in Brawley, California

Brawley, California

Brawley is a city in Imperial County, California, United States. Brawley is located north of El Centro. The population was 24,953 at the 2010 census, up from 22,052 at the 2000 census. The town has a significant cattle and feed industry, and hosts the annual Cattle Call Rodeo. Year-round...

, that broadcast to the Imperial Valley, California, area at 50,000 Watts ERP.

In early 1981 it was called "SI-96" , using the middle letters of its call name KSIQ.
"SI" stood for the Spanish word meaning "yes."
This was meant to attract the large Hispanic audience and to have them interpret the name as "Yes-96."
In 1983, this changed to the simpler name "Q-96" which used the last letter of its call letters KSIQ.
This name caught on much better.
KSIQ was a popular FM station in multiple markets including the Imperial Valley, California, Yuma, Arizona

Yuma, Arizona

Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

, area and internationally in Mexicali

Mexicali

Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city...

, Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

 Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

As for the reasoning for the move from the Imperial Valley

Imperial Valley

The Imperial Valley is an agricultural area of Southern California's Imperial County. It is located in southeastern Southern California, centered around the city of El Centro. Locally, the terms "Imperial Valley" and "Imperial County" are used synonymously. The Valley is bordered between the...

 to San Diego The Holtville Tribune Weekly Chronicle writes:

"After 25 years in Brawley, KSIQ FM, or Q96, is slated to leave the Imperial Valley for Santee this weekend, barring any changes. The move is scheduled to begin around January 9.
Due to the mountain region between Imperial and San Diego Counties, KSIQ’s signal will not reach far into Imperial County.
Expected to move to the area around Campo, California, the main tower’s signal will not reach Imperial County. A booster signal to be placed on Mt. San Miguel, was requested and approved through the FCC, which will help the station reach the El Cajon and Downtown San Diego areas.
The move also includes a reduction in power of the main tower from 50,000 watts to 25,000.
The move was requested by station owners Cheery Creek Radio Corp in 2005 in an attempt to increase potential revenue. Currently, the station is valued at $5 million but a move to San Diego could boost that to around $25 to $40 million in time.
The move was approved in by the FCC 2008, with a construction permit and change of license.
The local station, which topped Imperial Valley ratings for many years, played a Top 40 format that was unique to the county as most played country and Mexican music.
Currently the only on-air talents moving with the station are morning DJ Tony Driskill, who is also general manager of the station, and afternoon DJ Stacy Lynn.http://tribwekchron.com/2010/01/q96-radio-moves-to-san-diego-this-weekend/

The AM station, KROP 1300, will stay and continue to broadcast in Brawley with a mostly country music format.
Local reaction has been mixed, as many young listeners are looking towards stations from Riverside County for their music while older listeners have already changed station preferences.
Other radio stations are looking forward to a piece of Q96’s advertising revenue. KSIQ’ ratings were the highest of any radio station in the Imperial Valley, which lured businesses to advertise with them.

Program directors

• Tony Driskill (1987–1993)
• Dan Watson (1993–1996)
• Tony Driskill (1996–2003)
• Vincent "Toby" Salgado (2003–2008)
• Tony Driskill (2008–Present)

Owners

• Kurt Leptich (1981–1984)
• Stodelle Broadcasting (1984–1999)
• Commonwealth Communications, LLC (1999–2003)
• Cherry Creek Radio, LLC (2003–present)

Current

KSIQ still airs a Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio

Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...

 format.
Its new moniker, "San Diego's New Q - Q96," references San Diego's legendary KCBQ

KCBQ

KCBQ is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format and is owned by Salem Communications. The station offers Conservative talk programming such as Mike Gallagher, Dennis Prager and Michael Medved...

.

In its new location the main transmitter is located just east of Lake Morena, west of Campo.
The booster station is located atop Mount San Miguel along with several other transmitters,
including those of television stations KUSI and KNSD

KNSD

KNSD is the NBC television station based in San Diego, California. It is owned by a joint venture of NBCUniversal and LIN TV . However, because NBCUniversal has majority control, KNSD is run as an NBC owned and operated station...

.

The main transmitter has 25,000 watts ERP, down from 50,000 ERP watts at its Brawley site, and the booster is licensed for 700 watts ERP.
Aside from Campo,
the station primarily serves the market south of Interstate 8

Interstate 8

Interstate 8 is an Interstate Highway in the southwestern United States. It runs from the southern edge of Mission Bay at Sunset Cliffs Blvd, in San Diego, California, almost at the Pacific Ocean, to the junction with Interstate 10, just southeast of Casa Grande, Arizona...

 and Northern Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

 in the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. A temporary booster was placed near Sweetwater with 5,000 watts. The results did not improve reception. The booster "returned" to Mount San Miguel and began operation in July 2011.

Technical problems

As of early morning October 22, 2010 KSIQ went silent.
The station was transmitting a silent carrier, with stereo subcarrier but no audio.

The owners of KSIQ, Cherry Creek Radio, applied to the Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC) for a
Silent STA:
A "special temporary authority" to retain their license despite not being on the air.
The application stated that the T1

Digital Signal 1

Digital signal 1 is a T-carrier signaling scheme devised by Bell Labs. DS1 is a widely used standard in telecommunications in North America and Japan to transmit voice and data between devices. E1 is used in place of T1 outside North America, Japan, and South Korea...

link to the booster transmitter failed,
that troubleshooting was underway,
and that they intended to return to the air as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, November 16, 2010, KSIQ was broadcasting again.

On January 24, 2011 the San Diego Radio blog reported that KSIQ's relay on Mount San Miguel was not operating, and the signal from the main transmitter in Campo was not reaching San Diego.

On March 31, 2011, the station's management requested a Special Temporary Authority (STA)
to operate the booster transmitter with temporary facilities from an alternate site.
The site proposed is just west of Sweetwater Reservoir, about four miles west of the Mount San Miguel location.
The STA request also includes a significant increase in transmitter power, from 700 watts ERP to 5000 watts ERP.
This request was granted on April 5.
If the tests from the new site are successful, the station will file an application for permanent use of the new site.

The new booster site was not operating as of May 7.

The station was back to broadcasting on June 20, 2011.