KFAS was a radio station on 1260 kHz in

Casa Grande, Arizona , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...

, United States, which operated from December 6, 1956, to at least November 1995. Its FCC license was canceled on February 9, 1997.

History

KPIN (call letters standing for

Pinal County Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...

) signed on December 6, 1956, as the first radio station in Casa Grande. It broadcast with 1,000 watts during the day on 1260 kHz and was owned by the ABC Service Company, named for its three proprietors: E. Glenn Abercrombie, Milton F. Brown, Jr., and N. L. Caperton. Within six months of signing on, ABC Service Company sold the station to John W. Parham and David A. Garee, who promptly exited the partnership. In 1966, Casa Grande Broadcasting bought the station; by the time of its sale to KPIN, Inc. at the end of 1970, it held an affiliation with the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

. In 1973, an application was made by new owner Santa Cruz Valley Communication Systems for an FM partner on 105.5 MHz; Brett F. Eisele filed a mutually exclusive application and won the frequency, which signed on as KBFE in 1976. In 1989, a consortium of owners including

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

bought the station, continuing a revolving door of owners. The call sign was changed to KFAS, and it was paired with KFAS-FM (the former KBFE) at 105.5 MHz, giving it the FM counterpart it had not been able to obtain 15 years prior. The call sign was derived from Sinatra's initials. KFAS broadcast country music, while KFAS-FM held an adult contemporary format. By 1990, KFAS had flipped to Spanish to fill a void created when station KXMK changed formats to classical music in a simulcast with Phoenix-area station KONC. Ultimately, the two stations began simulcasting again. However, the combo soon became embroiled in a buyout, lawsuits, and in 1992, a suit filed by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

which sought $28,158 in unpaid wire service bills. In 1995, KFAS's FM counterpart (by now known as KKER), which had upgraded its facilities in order to become a

rimshot A rimshot is a percussion technique used to produce an accented snare drum backbeat. The sound is produced by simultaneously hitting the rim and head of a drum with a drum stick. The sound and various techniques The sound of rimshots can be ...

into Phoenix, was bought by McDaniel and Callaham and began broadcasting the K-LOVE network, changing its calls to

KLVA LVA is the abbreviation of: * Lake View Academy, a Seventh-Day Adventist boarding school in Bukidnon, Philippines * Land-vertebrate age, age of a rock formation determined by biochronology * Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, a public high school in L ...

and later being sold directly to the

Educational Media Foundation Educational Media Foundation (formerly EMF Broadcasting, abbreviated EMF) is an American nonprofit Christian media ministry based in Franklin, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville. EMF is the parent company of K-LOVE and Air1—the world's largest ...

. One last go was made of 1260 AM late in 1995, when it returned to the air after an absence of more than two years and bearing a country format. It also sought to use the KKER call sign that had been used by 105.5 FM. This final incarnation of the station was short-lived, disappearing quickly, and the license was canceled in February 1997 for failure to transmit in a 12-month period under Section 312(g) of the Communications Act. In May 2010, 1260 AM returned to Pinal County when

KBSZ KBSZ (1260 kHz; "The Rattler") is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a classic rock radio format. Licensed to Apache Junction, Arizona, the station is owned by 1TV.com. The studios and offices are on Broadway in Miami, Arizona. By day ...

relocated from

Wickenburg Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa and Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 7,474, up from 6,363 in 2010. History The Wickenburg area, along with much of the Southwest, became part of ...

Apache Junction Apache Junction is a city in Pinal and Maricopa counties in the state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,499, most of whom lived in Pinal County. It is named for the junction of the Apache Trail and Old West Highway. Th ...

, moving from 1250 kHz.

References

External links

FCC History Cards for KFAS (KPIN)FCCdata.org records for KPIN
{{Phoenix Radio Radio stations established in 1956 Radio stations disestablished in 1996 Casa Grande, Arizona Defunct radio stations in the United States Frank Sinatra 1956 establishments in Arizona 1996 disestablishments in Arizona FAS FAS