The station signed on the air in 1946; 78 years ago (1946). The original call sign was KTYL. It broadcast on 1490 kHz and was owned by the Harkins Theater group. It was the second station in Mesa, signing on 3 days after KARV (1400 AM). Both stations ran 250 watts full-time with non-directional antennas — the maximum power allowed for Class IV (now Class C) stations at the time. Two years later, KTYL bought and shut down KARV. Its frequency was reactivated in Phoenix in 1950 as KONI (now KSUN).
Harkins also put Arizona's first FM station (KTYL-FM 104.7, now KZZP) on the air in 1950. Three years later, Harkins put Phoenix's second TV station (KTYL-TV channel 12, now KPNX) on the air. As with the AM station, both stations were originally located in, and are still licensed to, Mesa.
KBUZ and KQXE
KTYL moved to 1310 in the early 1950s, and eventually increased its power to 5,000 watts day and 500 watts night. In 1958, it became KBUZ, a beautiful music station. It used the slogan "Drive with care, and KBUZ, everywhere." It moved to the Thomas Shopping Mall on the east side of Phoenix. The format was simulcast on 104.7 KBUZ-FM (now KZZP). KBUZ-AM-FM played quarter hour sweeps of soft, instrumental music, including Broadway and Hollywoodshow tunes.
On January 1, 1977, the station became KQXE, with a personality-oriented oldies format. For three years it was successful, going up against market leader KOY550 AM. Management assembled a group of talented disc jockeys from the Phoenix radio region and other cities, including Phil Barry from Detroit and Phil Gardner from Cleveland.[5]
KZZP and KXAM
After owners Southwestern Media sold the station to Western Cities Broadcasting, KQXE transitioned to a Top 40 format under the call sign KZZP, which it shared with its sister station 104.7 KZZP-FM. After a ten-year-long simulcast, 1310 AM split from KZZP-FM on February 19, 1990.
The station's last logo as KXAM.
AM 1310 became KXAM. It initially was an adult standards station. After a few years, KXAM flipped its format. It became a talk station, airing syndicated shows including Laura Ingraham, Dave Ramsey and Matt Gerson. Gerson was part of the family that controlled KXAM's owner, Embree Broadcasting, and hosted a political talk show until March 2009.
Relevant Radio
In 2009, Embree Broadcasting announced that KXAM would cease operations. Two of the station's local programs, Culinary Confessions (a food show) and The Bandwagon (a sports show) moved to KAZG soon after the announcement. Although KXAM employees had offered to buy the station, the Gerson family turned their offers down, insisting at that time on returning the license to the Federal Communications Commission.[6] The station went silent on April 16, 2009.
On June 1, 2009, the Gerson family backed off from its plans to surrender the KXAM license. They sold it to IHR Educational Broadcasting for $1 million.[7] It returned to the air as KIHP, with Catholic programming from Immaculate Heart Radio, on December 17.[1] The station changed its call letters to KIHP, airing Catholic talk and teaching programming. It began airing the Relevant Radio network when IHR Educational Broadcasting and Starboard Media Foundation consummated their merger on June 30, 2017.[8]
