Regional Mexican La Z 96.5 is off the air in the Phoenix area. Orozco Broadcasting has stopped operating KZOM in Claypool, Ariz., and FM translator K243BN at 96.5 in Laveen/Phoenix, which carried the format from the HD3 channel of KOOL on 94.5. The shutdown comes just under two years after the format launched.
In its filing with the FCC to take the stations silent, Orozco said they went dark for financial reasons. The company did not say whether it plans to return the stations to the air or sell them.
The two signals split the job of reaching the market. KZOM sits east of Phoenix near Globe and rimshots the metro, while K243BN covers the city itself along with nearby suburbs including Glendale, Peoria and Sun City.
Orozco bought the stations in 2024 for $2.4 million and put La Z on the air in December of that year.
A silent notification or request for silent authority lets a licensee stop broadcasting temporarily without giving up its license. Under the Communications Act, though, a station that stays silent for 12 consecutive months generally loses its license automatically, so the clock now matters for KZOM and K243BN.