Spanish radio station eyes Grant County

EPHRATA - A Granger-based Spanish radio station is trying to widen its audience by building two new stations near Ephrata on Beezley Hill and a second near Prosser to serve the Tri-Cities.

If the Federal Communications Commission approves permits for the new stations, KDNA radio will bring transmitters and antennas to the sites to broadcast Spanish-speaking programs, said Gabriel Martinez, KDNA's station manager.

Radio staff members will not be working at the stations, but the new equipment is expected to give KDNA the ability to broadcast live from areas around Ephrata and Prosser, he said.

A new station near Ephrata would likely reach about 30,000 listeners in Othello, Moses Lake, Quincy, Soap Lake, Royal City and Mattawa, he said. And about 55 percent of those listeners are Hispanic, he estimated.

"The main reason we wanted to go into Moses Lake was because of the Hispanic population," he said. The station's signal does reach parts of Moses Lake and Quincy, but another station will provide a broader coverage area, he said.

The site near Ephrata was also picked because of its availability, he said.

The station was also looking at a site in East Wenatchee, which didn't work out for reasons he didn't elaborate on.

He wasn't sure Wednesday when the FCC is expected to approve the permits, but said he had been checking the FCC's Web site daily. An FCC spokeswoman also said Wednesday she didn't know when the permits would be approved.

KDNA's permit applications were submitted to the FCC during a five-day window in October intended for non-commercial FM stations, Martinez said.

KDNA's focus is providing information to the Spanish-speaking population, including local and national news, he said.