KPAT (95.7 FM, "95.7 The Beat") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Maria, California, United States and serves the Santa Maria—Lompoc area. The station is owned by American General Media and broadcasts a rhythmic contemporary format.

History

The station first signed on in 1994 as KGDP-FM with a rhythmic oldies format. By the end of the 1990s, KGDP-FM featured Southern gospel music.

On March 24, 1999, KGDP-FM changed its call sign to KPAT. (Previously, the KPAT call letters belonged to a station in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, now known as KKRC-FM, from 1973 to 1994.) In November, Radio Representatives Inc., based in Los Osos, California, sold KPAT to American General Media for $900,000.

KPAT adopted a rhythmic contemporary format in 2004.

On January 18, 2010 at 11:30 a.m., high winds in the Santa Maria area triggered a power outage that knocked KPAT off the air. The station resumed broadcasting one hour later under generator power.