KIRV

---

title: "KIRV" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["daytime-only-radio-stations-in-california", "christian-radio-stations-in-california", "1962-establishments-in-california", "radio-stations-established-in-1962"] description: "Radio station in Fresno, California" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KIRV" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Radio station in Fresno, California ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox radio station"]

Field	Value
name	KIRV
city	Fresno, California
country	US
area	Fresno
branding	Radio Vida Abundante
frequency
language	Spanish
airdate
format	Christian radio
power	10,000 watts (days only)
licensing_authority	FCC
class	D
facility_id	48513
coordinates
callsign_meaning	Original owner Irving E. Penberthy
owner	Centro Cristiano Viva Abundante, Inc.
sister_stations	KJDJ, KDBV
website
::

| name = KIRV | city = Fresno, California | country = US | area = Fresno | branding = Radio Vida Abundante | frequency = | language = Spanish | airdate = | format = Christian radio | power = 10,000 watts (days only) | licensing_authority = FCC | class = D | facility_id = 48513 | coordinates = | callsign_meaning = Original owner Irving E. Penberthy | owner = Centro Cristiano Viva Abundante, Inc. | sister_stations = KJDJ, KDBV | website =

KIRV (1510 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Fresno, California, United States, and serving the Fresno area during the daytime hours only. The station is owned by Centro Cristiano Viva Abundante, Inc. and carries a Spanish-language Christian radio format branded as "Radio Vida Abundante".

KIRV must sign off the air at sunset, a requirement originally instituted to protect the signal of KGA in Spokane, Washington, the former Class A clear channel station on 1510 kHz.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/KIRV_logo.jpg" caption="Former station logo"] ::

The Federal Communications Commission authorized the granting of a construction permit for a new radio station on 1510 kHz in Fresno to Irving E. Penberthy on October 31, 1961. Penberthy was a Baptist minister, but while plans were initially announced for the station to specialize in religious programs, this was changed before broadcasting began in August 1962.

At the end of 1965, Penberthy reached a deal to sell KIRV to general manager Robert Eurich. Eurich owned the station until New Life Enterprises acquired it in 1974. One of the partners in New Life was Jim Patterson, who later became mayor of Fresno between 1993 and 2001. Patterson was a second-generation broadcaster; he had previously been employed at KBIF, which was owned by his father Norwood until he lost ownership of it in a tax case. Norwood was also involved with Visalia's KICU-TV. Patterson, who was joined by Dan Jantz and Dennis Klassen in the partnership, frequently aired his conservative political views on KIRV programs. The station lost $400 in its first full year as a Christian outlet but made $44,000 of revenue by 1980.

The 500-watt station upgraded to its present 10,000 watts after the construction of two new towers in the antenna array was approved in 1979.

Though not active in management in the later years, Patterson continued to own KIRV until 1999, when it was sold to Gore-Overgaard Broadcasting. Gore-Overgaard sold KIRV to current owner Centro Cristiano Vida Abundante in December 2012 for $600,000.

References

References

1. "KIRV Facility Record". United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division.
2. "History Cards for KIRV". [[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards.
3. (December 31, 1961). "Minister Will Open Radio Station". The Fresno Bee.
4. (July 26, 1962). "New Station Will Feature Concert Selections, News". The Fresno Bee.
5. (December 21, 1965). "Radio Station KIRV Is Sold For $145,000". The Fresno Bee.
6. Boren, Jim. (April 25, 1995). "Mayor finds his job puts him on the freebee-receiving end". The Fresno Bee.
7. Hoagland, Doug. (May 3, 1986). "Valley airwaves alive as listeners tune into Jesus". The Fresno Bee.
8. (January 5, 1997). "Jim Patterson: I Am the Mayor: Leader of city's new era faces challenges, doubts". The Fresno Bee.
9. (December 18, 1979). "Supervisors OK growth in county's 'antenna city'". The Fresno Bee.
10. (December 19, 2012). "Fresno AM headed to noncom". Radio and Television Business Report.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::