KKLS (920 AM) is a

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 ...

licensed to serve

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

. The station is owned by HomeSlice Media Group.

History

The station was first licensed as KEZU in 1959. On July 9, 1971, the call letters were changed to KKLS. It was a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "To ...

station during the 1970s.

Expanded Band assignment

On March 17, 1997, the

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 j ...

(FCC) announced that eighty-eight stations had been given permission to move to newly available " Expanded Band" transmitting frequencies, ranging from 1610 to 1700 kHz, with KEZU authorized to move from 920 to 1700 kHz."FCC Public Notice: Mass Media Bureau Announces Revised AM Expanded Band Allotment Plan and Filing Window for Eligible Stations"
(FCC DA 97-537), March 17, 1997. However, the station never procured the Construction Permit needed to implement the authorization, so the expanded band station was never built.

Later history

In May 1999, Triad Broadcasting reached a deal to acquire this station from Brothers Jim and Tom Instad as part of a twelve-station deal valued at a reported $37.8 million. In July 2006, Schurz Communications Inc. reached an agreement to buy this station from Triad Broadcasting Co. as part of a six-station deal valued at a reported $19 million. On September 10, 2010, KKLS dropped the True Oldies Channel, and began using the moniker "97.5 - The Hills", playing a mix of songs from the 1970s to the 2000s. While the FM frequency was now given the focus, the AM parent carried the same broadcast. Schurz Communications created the Black Hills broadcast division, New Rushmore Radio, now known as Rushmore Media Company. KKLS was sold to the Homeslice Media Group in July 2014, a divestiture required due to Schurz's acquisition of

KOTA-TV KOTA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside MeTV affiliate KHME (channel 23) and low-power broadcasting#Televisi ...

. The transaction, which included sister station KBHB and translator K284BA, was consummated on June 30, 2014, at a price of $650,000. As of January 1, 2015, KKLS changed their format to classic hits, branded as "Smash Hits KKLS", switching translators to K284BA 104.7 FM Rapid City. As of March 1, 2018, KKLS changed their format to News/Talk, branded as "News. Talk. Radio". On January 13, 2020, KKLS dropped its news/talk format and began stunting with a loop of "

Old Town Road "Old Town Road" is the debut mainstream single by the American rapper and singer Lil Nas X, first released independently in December 2018. After gaining popularity, the single was re-released by Columbia Records in March 2019. He also recorded ...

" by

Lil Nas X Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), better known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his 2018 country rap single "Old Town Road," the longest-running nu ...

and

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

, and cryptic liners consisting of recitations of country music song lyrics, followed by the announcement "He's coming- January 21st.". On January 21, KKLS flipped to classic country, branded as "The Cowboy".KKLS Introduces The Cowboy to Rapid City
Radioinsight - January 21, 2020

Previous logo

References

External links

KKLS official website

FCC History Cards for KKLS
(covering 1958-1980 as KEZU / KKLS) * * {{The HomeSlice Group KLS Radio stations established in 1959 1959 establishments in South Dakota Classic country radio stations in the United States