KBSZ (1260 AM; "The Rattler") is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

broadcasting a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. Licensed to

Apache Junction, Arizona Apache Junction (Western Apache: Hagosgeed) is a city in Pinal and Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,499, most of whom lived in Pinal County. It is named for the junction of the Apache Trai ...

, the station is owned by 1TV.com. The studios and offices are on Broadway in Miami, Arizona. By day, KBSZ is powered at 4,500

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s. But to protect other stations on AM 1260 from interference, it must reduce power at night to 50 watts. KBSZ uses an extremely short () lower efficiency fiberglass whip antenna, broadcasting a non-directional pattern day and night. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is on South Royal Palm Path in Apache Junction. Programming is also heard on 250-watt

FM translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater ( two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tr ...

K247CF at 97.3

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

in Payson.

History

KSWW Wickenburg

The Wickenburg Radio Company received a

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

for a new radio station in

Wickenburg, Arizona Wickenburg is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa and Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapai counties, Arizona, United States. The population was 7,474 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and was estimated to be 7,920 in 2022. H ...

, on October 25, 1967. It

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air on . KSWW broadcast as a 500-watt

daytimer A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

at 1250 kHz. The majority stockholder was W. Schuyler Thurber, a former department store owner. KSWW was the second attempt to build a radio station on the frequency in Wickenburg. The first was KAKA, which had signed on August 28, 1960. It was owned by Mamie Gander and Paul Mullenix; Lowell F. Beer bought out Gander in 1962. However, KAKA and short-lived sister station KTPM in Sun City went into receivership and were shuttered in 1963. It’s license was deleted on November 8, 1965.

Off the air

Thurber's share in KSWW was bought in 1972 by Jack Hughes, the General Manager of KSWW radio at the time. The station went bankrupt in December 1979 and was silent for 16 months. Lee Shoblom bought the silent KSWW for $80,000 and returned it to air on March 11, 1981, as

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

station KUUK. Shoblom lost out on its first attempt to acquire an FM counterpart to KUUK in 1982 when Hassayampa Broadcasting was awarded the permit. However, the two stations would eventually be united. In 1983, Shoblom sold KUUK to the Wickenburg Broadcasting Company, and two years later, the same principals acquired the FM permit. On January 1, 1987, the FM station launched, and the two stations became KCIW-AM-FM with a country music format. Kenyon Communications bought the stations in 1988. When the FM station got a power increase to 50,000 watts, on August 2, 1989, the two stations changed to an

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

format as KTIM-AM-FM. Interstate Broadcasting Systems of Arizona acquired both stations in the fall of 1990, but the acquisition was primarily for KTIM-FM, which Interstate planned to use as an FM counterpart to its KRDS 1190 AM. On November 27, 1990, KTIM-FM became KRDS-FM (today's

KHOV-FM KHOV-FM is a radio station on 105.1 MHz in Wickenburg, Arizona, serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision through its Uforia brand and carries a simulcast with sister station KHOT-FM, playing the regional Mexican ...

). With no plans to keep the AM station, Interstate sold it to Circle S Broadcasting, owned by Harold Shumway. Shumway renovated a former Big W restaurant to serve as station offices. Shumway then obtained an FM construction permit for Wickenburg on 93.7 MHz and signed it on as KFMA in 1992.

KBSZ

On March 1, 1996, KTIM became KBSZ, call letters then in use by the sister FM station. However, the FM flipped to country music soon after, using the call letters KSWG. The next year, Circle S sold KBSZ to SBD Broadcasting. Four years later, SBD sold the station to Richard (Pete) and Joann Peterson. The Petersons relaunched the station with entirely local programming, including Wickenburg High School football games.

Move to Apache Junction

On November 7, 2007, the Petersons filed to move KBSZ's transmitter and

city of license In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

from Wickenburg (about 60 miles northwest of downtown Phoenix) to Apache Junction (35 miles east of downtown Phoenix). The move was accompanied by a frequency change to 1260 kHz. The switch to 1260 AM allowed it to broadcast around the clock. A month later, the station was sold to 1TV.com, Inc., owned by John Low. In 2010, KBSZ signed on from its new Apache Junction location with a Classic Hits/

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format targeting the residents of Phoenix's growing eastern suburbs. After only four months, the station adopted a

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format on Sept. 7. It was the first radio station on the frequency in Pinal County since KFAS Casa Grande signed off in the mid-1990s.

Comedy and Classic Rock

After a short time as a talk station, KBSZ flipped to an all-comedy format. It used a syndicated comedy programming service known as " 24/7 Comedy." When the network ceased operations, the station wanted to keep its comedy format, so it switched programming to "Today's Comedy." In 2012, KBSZ was issued a

U.S. Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

to increase its daytime power to 4,500 watts from its previous 3,500 watts. Around July 1, 2019, KBSZ fell silent without any explanation. On July 8, 2019, the station posted a message on its website that KBSZ had ceased broadcasting the comedy format "due to circumstances beyond our control." It would soon be simulcasting

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

KIKO-FM's

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format. After nearly two weeks of broadcasting with

dead air Dead air, also known as unmodulated carrier, is an unintended period of silence that interrupts a broadcast during which no audio or video program material is transmitted. Radio and television Dead air occurs in radio broadcasting when no audio ...

, KBSZ returned with a

format named "The Rattler". The programming is largely

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

. The station carries the weekly syndicated program " Floydian Slip," focusing on the music of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. The station also airs Bob Stei's "Grunge Garage" throughout the weekend.

Former logos

References

External links

FCC construction permit
{{Classic Rock Radio Stations in Arizona BSZ Radio stations established in 1968 Classic rock radio stations in the United States 1968 establishments in Arizona