KKNS (1310
AM) is an American
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
licensed to
Corrales, New Mexico, serving the
Albuquerque metropolitan area
The Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area, sometimes referred to as Tiguex (named after the Southern Tiwa language, Southern Tiwa), is a metropolitan area in central New Mexico centered on the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque. The ...
. It is owned by
The Navajo Nation and broadcasts talk and music programs in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and in the
Navajo language
Navajo or Navaho (; Navajo: or ) is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené family, through which it is related to languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Navajo is spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States ...
.
By day, it is powered at 5,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s
non-directional. But to reduce interference at night to other stations on
1310 AM, it reduces power to only 82 watts. The
transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...
is on Montbel Place in Albuquerque.
History
The sign-on of KXAK on July 15, 1985, returned 1310 kHz to use for the first time in Albuquerque since the demise of
KARA
Kara or KARA may refer to:
Geography Localities
* Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture
* Kára, Hungary, a village
* Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township
* Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province
* Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
in May 1968. KXAK, a contemporary Christian music station initially owned by Harold S. Schwartz and Associates, had been years in the making; the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
had granted the permit in December 1979, but the station had suffered an unexpected setback when county commissioners denied the station's application to build a transmitter site in 1983 after KDEF, to which KXAK would have been adjacent, objected.
In 1986, a year after putting KXAK on the air, Schwartz sold its network of religious radio stations to management in a $9 million buyout; the new owners operated as the Mid-America Gospel Radio Network. Mid-America Gospel sold KXAK for $425,000 to the Daytona Group in 1987. The Daytona Group owned
KIVA (105.1 FM); 1310 AM initially began simulcasting its new sister station in AM stereo.
After a year of simulcasting KIVA, 1310 AM regained its own identity in 1988 when it became KZRQ, airing the
Z Rock
Z Rock was a nationally syndicated radio network based in Dallas, Texas, United States that, from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, played heavy metal and hard rock music. The format was one of several 24-hour satellite-delivered music for ...
syndicated rock format from the
Satellite Music Network
Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats.
History
Affiliate stations, mostly in small and medium markets, co ...
. KZRQ and KIVA-FM were sold in 1991 to Star of New Mexico, Inc., for $300,000. In 1992, 1310 AM switched to an adult standards format, and the KIVA and KZRQ call letters switched positions. The next year, Territorial Communications bought the pair for $900,000, forming a duopoly with KZKL-AM-FM. A majority stake in those four stations were then acquired by
Simmons Media Group
Redrock Media is a media company based/their headquarters in St. George, Utah, in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental Unite ...
in 1996.
Simmons moved KIVA's adult standards format and call letters to
1580 kHz in 1999 as part of a cluster-wide format shuffle. In its place on 1310 bowed a new talk outlet, KBTK "City Talk". Four years later, Simmons rebranded the station as KKNS "News Source 1310", which lasted until 2005 and a flip to sports talk as "The Ticket".
In December 2006, Simmons sold KKNS to El Camino Communications for $860,000. The new ownership, which took over on January 12, 2007, retained none of the previous programming; the
New Mexico State Aggies
The New Mexico State University teams are called the Aggies, a nickname derived from the university's agricultural beginnings. The mascot is known as " Pistol Pete". NMSU's colors are crimson and white. Since 2005 the Aggies have competed in the ...
had to find a new radio home in Albuquerque for the second time in three months. El Camino flipped the station to Spanish oldies from the 1970s and 1980s, branding as "Los Éxitos de Siempre" (The Classic Hits). By early 2008, the station had changed its moniker to "La Norteñita". In June 2008, the station flipped to Regional Mexican, branding as "La Ley"; at the same time, KKNS began to rebroadcast on FM translator K240BL on 95.9 in Albuquerque. In the fall of 2011, the format changed to Spanish contemporary Christian as "El Camino".
Transmitter site problems dogged KKNS in the 2010s and almost prompted the station to lose its license. On October 1, 2012, the lease on KKNS's transmitter site was terminated; the station sought approval to transmit at 500 watts from a church site. This arrangement only lasted until April 1, 2013, when the temporary antenna was vandalized, forcing Camino to ask for authority to go silent. During this time, the FM translator switched to carrying
KIVA (1600 AM).
A construction permit for a new tower site was issued on December 23, 2015, and it was allowed to upgrade from 500 watts daytime to 3,500 using the facility under special temporary authority. During some of this time, the station was brokered as a Spanish-language Christian outlet known as "Radio Amor". A final license to cover was finally filed for on January 6, 2020.
In April 2020, Camino filed to donate the station to the
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
; the station will continue to be operated commercially by its Native Broadcast Enterprises unit, which runs
KTNN
KTNN is a Navajo language AM ( medium-wave) radio station broadcasting on 660 AM from Window Rock, Arizona, the seat of the government of the Navajo Nation. It broadcasts Navajo tribal music and audio from Navajo ceremonial (''powwow'') dances ...
and
KWRK. The Navajo Nation assumed $16,000 in regulatory fees to be paid by KKNS in the deal.
The transaction was consummated on August 27, 2020.
References
External links
KNS
Radio stations established in 1985
1985 establishments in New Mexico
{{NewMexico-radio-station-stub