KCEO

KCEO
Vista, California;
Broadcast area	Western San Diego County
Frequency	1000 kHz
Branding	Relevant Radio
Programming
Format	Catholic talk and teaching
Ownership
Owner	Relevant Radio, Inc.
History
First air date	March 13, 1968; 56 years ago
Former call signs	KMLO (1968–January 1986), KKOS (January–April 1986), KVSD (April 1986–1990)
Call sign meaning	K Chief Executive Officer (from former business talk format)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	67666
Class	B
Power	10,000 watts day; 900 watts night
Transmitter coordinates	33°13′58″N 117°16′11″W / 33.23278°N 117.26972°W
Translator(s)	99.3 K257FV (San Diego)
Links
Public license information	Public file; LMS;
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	relevantradio.com

KCEO (1000 AM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to Vista, California, and serving San Diego County. The studios are located in Carlsbad, California. It is an owned-and-operated station of Relevant Radio, based in Wisconsin. It airs a Catholic talk and teaching radio format.

KCEO broadcasts by day with 10,000 watts and 900 watts at night. It uses a directional antenna with a four-tower array. The transmitter is off Sagewood Drive in Oceanside, near Guajome County Park.^[2] Programming is also heard on 250-watt FM translator K257FV in San Diego at 99.3 MHz.^[3]

History

KMLO, KKOS, KVSD

This station signed on the air on March 13, 1968; 56 years ago (March 13, 1968). The original call sign was KMLO. Because 1000 AM is a clear channel frequency, to avoid interference, the station was limited to 1,000 watts and was a daytimer, required to go off the air at night. It was owned by the North County Broadcasting Company.

In 1976, the FCC granted a construction permit to increase the power to 5,000 watts days and 1,000 watts nights. But it had to set up a directional antenna to keep the signal from interfering with Class A stations KNWN Seattle, WMVP Chicago and XEOY Mexico City, all broadcasting on 1000 kHz.

Tri-Cities Broadcasting, owner of KKOS-FM in Carlsbad (now KSSX), bought KMLO in 1985. It relaunched the station as KKOS AM in January 1986. The call letters changed to KVSD, "The Voice of San Diego," in April.^[4]

Business News and Talk

In August 2005, the station began broadcasting a business news format. Until August 2007, KCEO had competition with another business talk station, Cash 1700, with its studios in San Diego and its transmitter in Tecate, Baja California. On August 1, 2007, Cash 1700 became "San Diego 1700." It began airing a talk radio format, while still retaining Ray Lucia and a few other, one-hour business talk shows.

KCEO was one of the first stations to carry Rush Limbaugh after his show became nationally syndicated. KCEO was the former flagship station for business talk host Ray Lucia.^[5]

Catholic programming

Effective March 7, 2012, KCEO changed its format. It began airing Catholic talk and teaching full-time. Originally, the shows were provided by Immaculate Heart Radio.^[6]

The station switched to the Relevant Radio branding when the two organizations merged on June 30, 2017.^[7] It now carries most of the Relevant Radio line-up around the clock.