KLPZ

Last updated

KLPZ
Broadcast area Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Frequency 1380 kHz
Branding1380 AM Country
Programming
Format Country, talk
Ownership
Owner
  • Keith Douglas Learn
  • (Learn Broadcasting Corporation)
History
First air date
September 7, 1974 (1974-09-07)
Last air date
December 31, 2024 (2024-12-31)
Former call signs
KZUL (1974–1984) [1]
Call sign meaning
 La Paz County
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 66361
Class D
Power
  • 2,500 watts (day)
  • 58 watts (night)
Transmitter coordinates
 34°9′14.1″N114°17′17.8″W / 34.153917°N 114.288278°W / 34.153917; -114.288278
Links
Public license information
Website www.klpz1380.com

KLPZ (1380 AM) was a radio station licensed to serve Parker, Arizona, United States. The station was owned by Keith Douglas Learn, through licensee Learn Broadcasting Corporation. It aired a country music and talk radio format. [3]

Contents

The station went on the air in 1974 as KZUL, which played contemporary pop country, and later middle of the road and adult contemporary music. William Olson Jr., who co-founded the station with Rick L. and Lyle J. Murphy and bought out their stakes in 1977, sold it to Charles L. Scofield in 1982. It became KLPZ, for La Paz County, in 1984. KLPZ was a country music and talk radio station from 1993 until its closure. Learn bought the station in 2000, and closed it at the end of 2024 following his retirement.

History

O. M. Broadcasting, a company controlled by Rick L. and Lyle J. Murphy and William Olson Jr., was granted a construction permit for a 1,000-watt daytime-only station on 1380 kHz on May 22, 1974. [4] The new station signed on at 11 a.m. on September 7 as KZUL ("Kazual"), [5] an ABC Entertainment affiliate playing contemporary pop country. [6] Within a year, KZUL had a middle of the road format, [7] though it was devoting 18 hours a week to country music by 1978. [8] KZUL increased its power to 2,500 watts in 1976; [9] it was the first station to be authorized at this power level. [10] O. M. Broadcasting also applied for an FM radio station on 99.3 MHz; [11] this allocation was instead awarded on July 7, 1977, to competing applicant Gilbert Leivas's BINA Broadcasting, [12] who started KMDX in 1978. [13] The Murphys sold their stake in KZUL to Olson in 1977. [9]

O. M. Broadcasting sold KZUL to Scofield Broadcasting for $225,000 in 1982; Scofield's principals were Charles L. Scofield, owner of KEYZ, KYYZ, and a cable television system in Williston, North Dakota, and his wife Lorraine A. Scofield. [14] The station, which had evolved to adult contemporary music, [15] became KLPZ on March 6, 1984; [1] the new call sign was derived from La Paz County, which had recently been split from Yuma County and of which Parker is the seat. [5] Station founder Rick Murphy would subsequently start a new KZUL-FM in Lake Havasu City. [16]

Until January 1993, KLPZ played adult standards music during the winter months and adult contemporary music in the summer, both supplementing country music. It then became a full-time country station, with programming from Jones Satellite Networks. [17] "The All New 1380 AM Country" also added The Rush Limbaugh Show on February 1, 1993; [18] it would carry the program until Limbaugh's death in 2021, [5] and was also an affiliate of the successor Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show . [19] KLPZ also carried Paul Harvey [18] until his death in 2009. [5]

Keith Learn and Juanita Casares bought KLPZ in 2000; they had been with the station since 1993, [20] and hosted the morning show. [5] Under their ownership, the station described its format as "Country and a Little More", in reflection of its talk programming and the occasional non-country songs on the playlist, [5] and used the slogan "The Last Medium of Freedom". [20]

The Learns announced on December 6, 2024, that they would retire on December 31; [5] regular programming on KLPZ would then end. [20] Learn Broadcasting requested the cancellation of the KLPZ license in February 2025. [21] The license was cancelled on February 7, 2025. [22]

References

  1. 1 2 "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for KLPZ". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "Station Information Profile". Arbitron. Archived from the original on March 1, 2010.
  4. ↑ "New AM stations". Broadcasting . June 10, 1974. p. 61.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wright, John (December 6, 2024). "KLPZ's Keith & Juanita to retire after more than 30 years on air in Parker". Parker Live. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  6. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1975. 1975. p. C-9.
  7. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1976. 1976. p. C-9.
  8. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1978. 1978. p. C-10.
  9. 1 2 "KZUL (KLPZ) history cards" (PDF). Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  10. ↑ "News Briefs". Broadcast Management/Engineering. April 1976. pp. 21, 64.
  11. ↑ "New stations". Broadcasting . April 12, 1976. p. 67.
  12. ↑ "In contest". Broadcasting . July 25, 1977. p. 92.
  13. ↑ Broadcasting Yearbook 1979. 1979. p. C-10.
  14. ↑ "Changing Hands". Broadcasting . February 15, 1982. p. 67.
  15. ↑ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1984. 1984. p. B-14.
  16. ↑ Gutekunst, John (July 28, 2004). "Radio station owner running for Congress". Parker Pioneer. p. 7. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Format Changes". The M Street Journal. January 27, 1993. p. 1.
  18. 1 2 "KLPZ features Rush Limbaugh". Palo Verde Valley Times. February 24, 1993. p. 10. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  19. ↑ "About Us – KLPZ 1380am". Archived from the original on February 1, 2025. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  20. 1 2 3 Gutekunst, John (January 15, 2025). "KLPZ owners call it quits after over 30 years". Parker Pioneer. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  21. ↑ Learn, Keith Douglas (February 3, 2025). "Cancellation Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved February 1, 2025.
  22. ↑ "License Cancelled". Federal Communications Commission Licensing and Management System. February 7, 2025. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
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