Empire Broadcasting

What Empire Broadcasting does

Empire Broadcasting Corporation is a private, for-profit media company headquartered in San Jose, California, founded in 1967 by Bob Kieve. The company operates KRTY (95.3 FM), a country music radio station that has served the San Jose and South Bay region for more than 25 years under its current format (the station was previously known by the call sign KARA). Nate Deaton serves as General Manager of KRTY, and the company employs between 11 and 50 people. Founder Bob Kieve passed away on May 25, 2020 at age 98.

The company's core product is terrestrial FM radio programming — country music content distributed over the airwaves to listeners in the South Bay Area. Its digital footprint is deliberately minimal: the station's website (krty.com) is built on OneCMS by InterTech Media, and the company has no mobile apps or public APIs in evidence. Audience reach is extended through standard social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube). Empire also operates the Backstage Pass VIP Club membership offering and runs the recurring Song & Wine Series live event at Clos LaChance Winery. The company previously operated KLIV-AM, whose signal was taken dark in January 2019, with founder Bob Kieve having indicated an intent to transfer that signal to the City of San Jose.

Empire Broadcasting generates revenue primarily through on-air radio advertising sold to local and regional advertisers. A secondary revenue stream comes from live event production and ticketing, including co-presented concerts with AEG-Goldenvoice and venue partnerships with Mountain Winery, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and Resorts World Las Vegas for listener-contest and audience-engagement activations. The business model is structurally that of a single-market terrestrial broadcaster — high fixed-cost signal operation underwritten by spot advertising — augmented by modest, recurring event and membership revenue.

Name

Empire Broadcasting

Legal name

Empire Broadcasting Corp

Website

https://krty.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Empire Broadcasting Corporation operates KRTY (95.3 FM), a country music radio station serving the San Jose and South Bay Area for over 25 years. The privately held company generates revenue through local radio advertising, live event partnerships including the Song & Wine Series, and the Backstage Pass VIP Club membership.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Radio Broadcasting

NAICS

Radio Broadcasting Stations (51611)

SIC

Radio Broadcasting Stations (4832)

akta.pro primary industry

Internet Radio & Streaming Broadcast Stations (Simulcast/Online-only) (MPAIAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Live Music Venues & Concert Bars (THAFAEAD)

Keywords

• Country music radio
• Radio broadcasting
• Live music events
• Radio advertising sales
• Internet radio streaming

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Radio Advertising: Traditional radio broadcast advertising sold to local businesses and national advertisers targeting the South Bay/San Jose country music audience.
2. Live Events and Ticketing: Revenue from ticket sales for concerts and events including Song & Wine Series, Mountain Winery shows, and other live performances. Tickets sold through TIXR, Ticketmaster, and AXS platforms.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Empire Broadcasting Corp operates KRTY (95.3 FM), a locally owned country music radio station serving San Jose and the South Bay area for over 25 years. The company delivers a country music radio broadcast, internet radio streaming via krty.com, live music events including the Song & Wine Series and concerts at Mountain Winery, and a Backstage Pass VIP membership club. Revenue is generated through on-air advertising sold to local and national advertisers and ticket sales for live events.

Product overview

KRTY.com is a locally owned and operated country music radio station serving San Jose and the South Bay area for over 25 years. The station offers a unified product experience centered on its live radio broadcast, enhanced by internet radio streaming for online listening. The product portfolio includes on-air programming with local personalities, a live internet radio streaming service, the Song & Wine Series event program featuring songwriter performances, concert events at regional venues presented with AEG-Goldenvoice, contest giveaways with prizes like concert tickets and getaway packages, and a Backstage Pass VIP membership club. An online events calendar aggregates all station-organized events with ticket purchasing capabilities through Tixr. The station maintains social media presence across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for audience engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• KRTY Country Music Radio Station (95.3 FM) Locally owned and operated country music radio station broadcasting on 95.3 FM, serving San Jose and the South Bay area with live radio programming, music discovery, artist promotion, and community engagement through on-air personalities and events.
• Internet Radio Streaming

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AEG-GoldenvoicecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAEG-Goldenvoice serves as the promoter and ticketing partner for Mountain Winery concert events. They present major country music concerts including shows by Maren Morris, Jeff Foxworthy, Wynonna Judd, Melissa Etheridge, George Thorogood, Tucker Wetmore, and Luke Bryan at Shoreline Amphitheatre.
• Fontainebleau Las VegasminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFontainebleau Las Vegas partnered with KRTY for a Keith Urban concert getaway contest package prize including hotel stay and tickets.
• Resorts World Las VegasminorGTM or Marketing PartnerResorts World Las Vegas partnered with KRTY for a Chris Young concert getaway contest package prize.
• Mountain WinerycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMountain Winery in Saratoga, CA serves as the primary venue for KRTY's summer concert series. The station presents multiple major concerts annually at this venue including annual season programming.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Beasley Media Group: Multi-station radio operator with local ad sales and event sponsorship businesses; comparable structure to KRTY at a small-cap, multi-station level.
• Alpha Media: Mid-market U.S. radio broadcaster with country and other formats, focused on local content, live events, and digital extensions — directly comparable operating model to Empire Broadcasting.
• Townsquare Media: Mid-market local radio group with a heavy country format presence and live event tie-ins (Townsquare Ignite); closest analog to KRTY's local + live-events strategy, though at multi-market scale.
• Salem Communications: Radio broadcaster with format-specialized stations and digital properties; comparable in that it operates niche, locally branded stations rather than general-market networks.
• Hubbard Broadcasting: Privately held radio and TV broadcaster with country formats in multiple markets; similar privately controlled, multi-station operating profile to Empire Broadcasting.

Broad incumbents

• Cumulus Media: Major multi-station radio broadcaster with country formats in many markets, including the Bay Area; directly comparable business model (radio ad sales + digital + live events) but operating at portfolio scale rather than a single-station footprint.
• iHeartMedia: Largest U.S. terrestrial radio operator with hundreds of stations including multiple country formats; competes for the same local ad dollar and audience in the San Jose market and nationwide, but at vastly larger scale and across many formats.
• Audacy: Major U.S. radio broadcaster operating stations and the Audacy digital audio platform; directly competes for local radio ad budgets in major markets and offers a streaming counterpart to KRTY's internet simulcast.

Others

• AEG Presents: AEG's live concert promotion division and KRTY's stated core channel partner; comparable as a promoter of country artists at Mountain Winery and Shoreline, and thus a structural counterpart in the events value chain rather than a direct radio competitor.
• Live Nation: Largest live concert promoter and ticketer; competes with AEG-Goldenvoice (KRTY's promotion partner) and sets the economics of the country concert touring circuit that KRTY monetizes via ticket partnerships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/krty
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCMCtfA5UZUsliuKBwQ1-p0A
• Facebookfacebook.com/953krty
• Instagraminstagram.com/krtymusic
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/empire-broadcasting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Empire Broadcasting