KPXQ (1360
AM) is a
Christian radio station
Christian radio is a Christian media radio format that focus on programming with a Christian message. Many such broadcasters play contemporary Christian music, though many programs include sermons, radio dramas, as well as news and talk program ...
owned by
Salem Media Group
Salem Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SALM; formerly Salem Communications Corporation) is an American radio broadcaster, Internet content provider, and magazine and book publisher formerly based in Camarillo, California (moved most operations to Irv ...
in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...
, United States. Programs include ''Through the Bible'' with
J. Vernon McGee
John Vernon McGee (June 17, 1904 – December 1, 1988) was an American ordained Presbyterian minister, pastor, Bible teacher, theologian, and radio minister.
Biography Childhood, education, and early ministry
McGee was born in Hillsboro, Tex ...
, ''Grace to You'' with
John MacArthur, and ''Love Worth Finding'' with
Adrian Rogers. KPXQ is licensed to
Glendale.
History
KPXQ signed on in 1947 as KRUX on 1340 kHz, licensed to Glendale. KRUX moved to 1360 in 1957 after being denied a frequency change to 910 kHz ten years prior. The station now has a 50kw signal.
The glory years
From the 1950s until the 1970s, KRUX was a major Top-40 station in Phoenix. During its heyday, it competed head to head with
KRIZ 1230 AM for Top 40 radio dominance in Phoenix. KRUX and KRIZ went back and forth in the ratings game before both stations succumbed to the more popular FM rockers of the 1970s.
On January 20, 1967,
Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...
Davy Jones,
Micky Dolenz and
Mike Nesmith "took over" the KRUX studios (Peter Tork was ill that day), in order to promote their concert at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum the next day. Portions of this broadcast were used in the first season finale episode, "Monkees On Tour".
Program Directors during the station's heyday included Larry "Lucky Lawrence" Wright and
Al McCoy, who went on to become the long-time play-by-play voice of the
NBA Phoenix Suns.
Some of the station's all time ratings getters were the personalities of the 1960s, known as the "KRUX Good Guys": Lucky Lawrence, "Bobby-Poo"
Bob Shannon,"Your Boy"
Al McCoy, Charles L. "Kit" Carson, Norm Seeley, Dick Gray, Dennis Wilkerson, "Mighty" Ed Mitchell and Don Daro overnights. The jocks of the 1970s were John Driscoll aka the 2nd Bob Shannon, John Sebastian, Dave Trout, Chuck Browning, Harry Scarborough, Rhett Walker and Rich "Mother" Robbins.
Format changes and life after Top 40
For a brief period in the mid-1970s, KRUX experimented with an all-news format featuring
NBC's ill-fated "News and Information Service" network. When that experiment failed, they went back to their Top 40 format, with Richard Ruiz of Downey California, as program director. Ruiz pre-dated the switch to all-news in 1975. KRUX would never recover with the insurgence of FM competition. KRUX management (Lotus Corporation) brought in many valley vets from other stations to try to stem the tide of music on FM. Those radio personalities included "KC in the Morning" Kennedy from 5 AM to 10AM, Daniel (Oshe) from 10AM to 3 PM, Program Director Bobby Rivers 3PM to 7PM in the late seventies till January 1981, when the final rock and roll turntable (Cart machine) went silent. Other DJ's included Greg Mills from 7PM - midnight and Morgan Evans from midnight to 6am. Evans moved to morning drive at Anchorage, Alaska AOR rocker KRKN in 1981 after the KRUX format change to Big Band. CW MCMUffin on Weekends doubled also as the engineer for over five years.
In 1981, KRUX became KLFF with the "Music of Your Life" MOR format until 1992, when they tried another attempt at all-news (featuring the
CNN Headline News audio feed) as KNNS. This would last two years before they switched to sports talk as
KGME
KGME (910 AM) is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. KGME carries a sports radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios and offices are in Phoenix near Sky Harbor International Airport.
KGME is powered at 5,000 watts, u ...
, now at 910 AM.
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, '' The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terr ...
was on KGME and
KHOT-FM
KHOT-FM (105.9 MHz) is a radio station licensed to Paradise Valley, Arizona. Carrying a Regional Mexican format, the station serves the Phoenix area. The station, owned by Univision, is known as "Que Buena 105.9".
History KXLL/KBUQ
KHOT sig ...
early in 1995.
In 1998, KGME upgraded its power from 5000 to 50,000 watts daytime, while remaining at 1000 watts at night.
In April 1999, AM/FM (now part of
Clear Channel) purchased the call letters, studio, and programming of KGME, moving them to 550 kHz. In turn, co-owned
KOY, which was the first radio station in Arizona and had been on 550 since 1941, moved to 1230 where it remains to this day. KGME and news/talk sister-station
KFYI
KFYI (550 AM) – branded ''News/Talk 550 KFYI'' – is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to serve Phoenix, Arizona. Owned by iHeartMedia, KFYI serves the Phoenix metropolitan area as the market affiliate for Fox News Radio, ''The ...
swapped frequencies in 2000, with sports on 910 and news/talk on 550.
New Planet Radio kept the 1360 transmitter, changing the call letters to KFDJ, and simulcasted co-owned
KEDJ 106.3 until the AM station was sold to Salem.
Salem purchased the station in 1999, with intentions of creating a new conservative talk station in Phoenix to pair with its Christian Talk and Teaching format at 960 AM (which was then called "Q96"). Instead, Salem moved the religious programming to 1360 AM with 960 becoming the home for secular talk.
References
External links
FCC History Cards for KPXQ
{{Salem Communications
PXQ
PXQ
Salem Media Group properties
Radio stations established in 1947
1947 establishments in Arizona