KBBY FM 95.1

A commercial FM radio station licensed to Ventura, California, operating at 95.1 MHz and serving the Oxnard-Ventura metropolitan area with an adult contemporary music format. Owned by Cumulus Media, the station is one of the longest-operating FM outlets in Southern California. The station first signed on December 27, 1962, under the call letters KUDU-FM, simulcasting its AM counterpart and operating as the first automated top 40 station in Southern California. In 1969, it rebranded as KBBY with a progressive rock format known as K-Baby, launched by John Hendrix and KACY-FM veteran Ron Herron. Within a year, K-Baby had captured the largest audience share among rock stations in the Ventura-Santa Barbara-Oxnard market, though the format lasted only four years before a return to top 40 programming in 1973. Subsequent decades brought repeated ownership and format changes. In late 1978, Tri-Counties Public Service sold the station to Forrest Broadcasting Co. for $1.2 million, which introduced a country music format. By July 1986, Forrest Radio sold to Ventura Broadcasting Associates for $3 million, adopting adult contemporary programming. The station changed hands again in 1989 to Buena Ventura Inc. for $6.7 million and in December 1996 to McDonald Media Group for $6.6 million, bringing it under common ownership with KVEN and KHAY. Cumulus Media acquired the station in December 1999 as part of an eight-station, $41 million transaction representing the company's entry into the Pacific states. The station has maintained its adult contemporary format since approximately 2001 and today presents a mix of current hits alongside local contests and community promotions.