KSUB

Last updated

KSUB
Frequency 590 kHz
BrandingNews Radio 107.7-590
Programming
Format News-Talk
Network Fox News Radio
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KCIN, KDXU, KDXU-FM, KIYK, KREC, KXBN
History
First air date
July 4, 1937;88 years ago (1937-07-04)
Former frequencies
  • 1310 kHz (1937–1941)
  • 1340 kHz (1941–1950)
Call sign meaning
"Southern Utah Broadcasting"
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID 61384
Class D
Power
  • 5,000 watts day
  • 138 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
37°41′50″N113°10′59″W / 37.69722°N 113.18306°W / 37.69722; -113.18306
Translator 107.7 K299BU (Cedar City)
Links
Public license information
Webcast Listen live
Website ksub590.com

KSUB (590 AM) is a commercial radio station in Cedar City, Utah, owned by Townsquare Media. [2] It airs a news-talk radio format. The offices and studios are on South Main Street. [3]

Contents

By day, KSUB is powered at 5,000 watts using a non-directional antenna. [4] But to protect other stations on 590 AM from interference, KSUB reduces power at night to 138 watts. Programming is also heard on 250-watt FM translator K299BU at 107.7 FM in Cedar City. [5]

Programming

Weekday mornings on KSUB begin with a local news and interview program hosted by Chris Holmes and Dr. T. A local hour of Tradio is heard in mid-mornings, followed by nationally syndicated talk programs: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, The Sean Hannity Show, The Glenn Beck Radio Program, The Ramsey Show with Dave Ramsey and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory . [6]

Weekends feature specialty shows on health, money, religion, law, travel and guns. Syndicated weekend programs include: Bill Handel on the Law, The Weekend with Michael Brown, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, Travel with Rudy Maxa, Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham and Somewhere in Time with Art Bell . Most hours begin with an update from Fox News Radio.

History

Ties to KSL Salt Lake City

On September 22, 1936, Harold Johnson and Leland M. Perry received a construction permit for a new 100-watt radio station to operate on 1310 kHz at Cedar City. [7] The station was originally scheduled to open June 17, 1937, but days before opening, the tower collapsed in a construction accident. [8] The opening had to be postponed until July 4, 1937. [9] Perry took over as sole operator in 1939 when Johnson died. He had been a local dry goods store owner. [10]

A reorganization of KSUB under the Southern Utah Broadcasting Company followed, with Earl L. Glade, general manager of KSL in Salt Lake City, becoming the largest stockholder. [11] The station moved to 1340 kHz in 1941 as part of North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA) reallocation. It was authorized in 1944 to increase power to 250 watts. [7]

KSUB's ties to KSL became more concrete in 1944, when the Radio Service Corporation, its licensee, purchased a majority share in the Cedar City outlet. [12] On November 1, the station became a network affiliate of CBS, matching KSL's affiliation. [13]

Move to 590 AM

In November 1944, KSUB filed to move to 590 kHz, which would be coupled with a boost to 1,000 watts, greatly increasing its coverage area. This was initially OKed in 1946 but did not receive final approval until 1949. [7] The upgrade included a new transmitter site, with two 300-foot (91 m) towers replacing the 100-foot (30 m) antenna previously in use.

The site was separated from the studios and so it needed a telephone link and its own night watchman, complete with on-site apartment. [14] KSUB moved to 590 kHz on March 10, 1950. [15]

Changes in ownership

In 1957, KSL sold majority control in the Southern Utah Broadcasting Company to a group of four investors. Within a year, they transferred their shares to the Beehive Telecasting Company, which at the time was building an independent television station, KLOR-TV channel 11, in Provo. [7] [16]

The television station venture performed poorly and that affected KSUB. In late 1959, the station was sold to Granite District Radio Broadcasting Company, which owned Salt Lake City's KNAK. [17]

Tower problems

An FM counterpart to KSUB arrived in 1976, but not before more pre-construction trouble similar to that which had befallen KSUB itself 39 years prior. While the new tower was being put into place, gusty winds tangled the guy lines in the tower, and corrective efforts led to the tower crashing to the ground. [18] After contending with other issues during construction, [19] KSUB-FM the FM station began broadcasting in November 1976. [20]

In 1983, one of the AM station's two towers installed in 1949 was toppled in a wind storm. It was replaced later that year. [21]

Country, Standards and Talk

In 1984, KSUB flipped from its format of full service adult contemporary music to country music. The AM and FM stations in effect exchanged formats. [22] KSUB 590 retaind the country sound until a brief flip to adult standards in 1988. But that did not last the year. [23] [24]

In 1991, KSUB began its move to its present news/talk format. In middays it began airing The Rush Limbaugh Show . [25] The decision to carry Limbaugh came at a crucial time for the station, which was struggling financially. [26]

Cherry Creek and Townsquare

More than 35 years of ownership by members of the Johnson family ended in 2005 when KSUB and its four sister stations were sold to Cherry Creek Radio for $5.8 million. That marked Cherry Creek's entrance into the southwestern Utah radio market. [27]

KSUB returned to being the flagship station of Southern Utah Thunderbirds athletics in 2020 as part of a new deal with Cherry Creek. [28]

Effective June 17, 2022, Cherry Creek Radio sold KSUB as part of a 42 station/21 translator package to Townsquare Media. The price tag was $18.75 million.

References

  1. "Facility Technical Data for KSUB". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. "KSUB Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division.
  3. ksub590.com/help
  4. FCCdata.org/KSUB
  5. Radio-Locator.com/K299BU
  6. ksub590.com/shows
  7. 1 2 3 4 "History Cards for KSUB". Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)
  8. "Opening of Radio Station KSUB at Cedar City Postponed". June 15, 1937. p. 17. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  9. "KSUB(AM)" (PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1984. p. B-261. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  10. "The FCC on June 20..." (PDF). Broadcasting. July 1, 1939. p. 26. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  11. "Glade Chief Owner of KSUB" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 1, 1940. p. 75. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  12. "WCOP to Cowles; Bulova Holds WNEW" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 5, 1944. p. 12. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  13. "KSUB Joins CBS" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 20, 1944. p. 32. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  14. "1000 Watts, New Wave Length Is Assigned KSUB". Iron County Record. March 17, 1949. p. 1. Retrieved February 2, 2021. (Note: misstates KSUB's sign-on date by 10 years)
  15. "KSUB Increases Service to Southern Utah". Washington County News. March 16, 1950. p. 8. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  16. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 23, 1957. p. 89. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  17. "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. p. 80. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  18. "KSUB-FM tower falls". Daily Spectrum. September 14, 1976. p. 1. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  19. Robinson, Jim (November 3, 1976). "New station on air soon?". Deseret News. p. B9. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  20. "Cedar station begins stereo". Daily Spectrum. November 30, 1976. p. 5. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  21. "High Adventure over KSUB". Daily Spectrum. June 26, 1983. p. B-2. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  22. Yardley, Barb (March 25, 1984). "KSUB switches FM, AM formats". Daily Spectrum. p. B-2. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  23. "KSSD-FM joins 'Pure Gold' music format". Daily Spectrum. January 10, 1988. p. 6. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  24. Gilmore, Rich (December 4, 1988). "Sawyer Brown concert sets style at Centrum". Daily Spectrum. p. 3. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  25. "Limbaugh to be heard in tri-state area". Daily Spectrum. March 31, 1991. p. 4B. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  26. Hiatt, Tyson (July 7, 1997). "60 years on the air: KSUB celebrates landmark anniversary". The Spectrum. pp. A1, A3 . Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  27. "Deals". Broadcasting & Cable. October 15, 2005. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  28. Lester, Bryson (November 23, 2020). "Southern Utah Athletics Announces Radio Changes". Southern Utah University. Retrieved February 2, 2021.