KPSA-FM (98.5 FM, "98.5 The Planet") is a

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 serve Lordsburg, New Mexico, United States. The station, established in 1986, is currently owned by Cochise Media Licenses, LLC. The station is a member of the New Mexico Broadcasters Association.

Programming

KPSA-FM broadcasts a

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

music format. In addition to its usual music programming, KPSA-FM broadcasts

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

games as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks radio network.

History

Launch

This station received its original

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

from 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 ...

on May 22,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. The new station was assigned the KXKK

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

by the FCC on August 6, 1984. In October 1986, permit holders Charles R. Crisler and John W. Krehbiel, doing business as Interstate 10 Broadcasting of New Mexico, applied to the FCC to transfer the permit for the still-under construction KXKK to a new corporation called Interstate 10 Broadcasting of New Mexico, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on June 30, 1987, and the transaction was consummated on August 18, 1987. After several extensions and engineering modifications, KXKK finally received its license to cover from the FCC on September 22, 1989, broadcasting on 97.7 MHz.

KQTN

In July 1994, after an aborted attempt to sell the station the previous year, Interstate 10 Broadcasting of New Mexico, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Loretta L. Farrier. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 14, 1995, and the transaction was consummated on August 14, 1995. The new owner had the FCC change the station's call sign to KQTN on January 31, 1997. In May 1998, Loretta L. Farrier, announced a deal to sell KQTN to LuRunn Broadcasting System, LLC. The deal was approved by the FCC on September 1, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on October 20, 1998. In October 1999, LuRunn Broadcasting System owner Phillip H. Runnels applied to transfer control of this station to Dewey Matthew Runnels as part of a multi-station deal valued at $180,000. The transfer was approved by the FCC on December 20, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on January 20, 2000. At the time of the transfer, KQTN's signal was dark. Shortly thereafter, the company changed its name to Runnels Broadcasting System, LLC.

KPSA-FM

Facing financial difficulties, the broadcast license for KQTN was involuntarily transferred in August 2002 from Runnels Broadcasting System, LLC, to Runnels Broadcasting System, LLC, as Debtor-In-Possession. The transfer was approved by the FCC and consummated on September 19, 2002. The station was assigned new call sign KPSA-FM by the FCC on October 22, 2002. As the financial issues continued, the license was again involuntarily transferred, this time from Runnels Broadcasting System, LLC, as Debtor-In-Possession to Linda S. Bloom acting as

bankruptcy trustee A trustee in bankruptcy is an entity, often an individual, in charge of administering a bankruptcy estate. Canada In Canada, a licensed insolvency trustee (LIT) is an individual or a corporation licensed by the official superintendent to hol ...

for Runnels Broadcasting System, LLC. The transfer was approved by the FCC on January 7, 2005, and the transaction was consummated on January 10, 2005. In February 2006, with approval from the bankruptcy court, trustee Linda S. Bloom reached an agreement to sell KPSA-FM to SkyWest Media subsidiary SkyWest Licenses New Mexico, LLC, as part of a three-station deal valued at $565,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on March 28, 2006, and the transaction was consummated on June 1, 2006.

Sale

In July 2009, SkyWest Media, through its Skywest Licenses New Mexico, LLC, subsidiary, reached an agreement to sell this station to Cochise Media Licenses, LLC, as part of a three-station deal in exchange for $552,000 in debt forgiveness. SkyWest Media is owned by Ted Tucker Jr. and Cochise Media Licenses is owned by his father, Ted Tucker Sr. This application was accepted for filing on July 13, 2009, and granted on October 9, 2009.

Construction permit

KPSA-FM applied to the FCC in July, 2010 for a

that would allow them to change broadcast frequencies to 97.9

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...

, dramatically increase its

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would hav ...

from 250 to 43,000

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, raise its antenna to in height above average terrain, and relocate its transmitter site northeast to 32°34'57"N, 108°25'29"W. The improvements will increase the coverage area of the KPSA-FM broadcast signal. The FCC granted the permit on August 26, 2010, and the permit is scheduled to expire on August 26, 2013. Effective July 26, 2022, KPSA-FM was licensed to operate on 98.5 MHz.

References

External links

* {{Classic Rock Radio Stations in New Mexico PSA-FM Radio stations established in 1986 Hidalgo County, New Mexico Classic rock radio stations in the United States 1986 establishments in New Mexico