KSUB

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. The station was originally scheduled to open June 17, 1937, but days before opening, the tower collapsed in a construction accident. The opening had to be postponed until . Perry took over as sole operator in 1939 when Johnson died. He had been a local dry goods store owner.

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. 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.

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. On November 1, the station became a network affiliate of CBS, matching KSL's affiliation.

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. The upgrade included a new transmitter site, with two 300 ft towers replacing the 100 ft 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. KSUB moved to 590 kHz on March 10, 1950.

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.

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.

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. After contending with other issues during construction, KSUB-FM the FM station began broadcasting in November 1976.

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.

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. KSUB 590 retaind the country sound until a brief flip to adult standards in 1988. But that did not last the year.

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

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.

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

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

References

1. "KSUB Facility Record". United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division.
2. [https://fccdata.org/?facid=&call=ksub&ccode=1&city=&state=&country=US&zip=&arn=&party=&lmspf=&lmspl=&party_type=ELMFA&latd=&lond=&lang=en FCCdata.org/KSUB]
3. "History Cards for KSUB". [[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards.
4. (June 15, 1937). "Opening of Radio Station KSUB at Cedar City Postponed".
5. (1984). "KSUB(AM)". Broadcasting Yearbook.
6. (July 1, 1939). "The FCC on June 20...". Broadcasting.
7. (June 1, 1940). "Glade Chief Owner of KSUB". Broadcasting.
8. (June 5, 1944). "WCOP to Cowles; Bulova Holds WNEW". Broadcasting.
9. (November 20, 1944). "KSUB Joins CBS". Broadcasting.
10. (March 17, 1949). "1000 Watts, New Wave Length Is Assigned KSUB". Iron County Record.
11. (March 16, 1950). "KSUB Increases Service to Southern Utah". Washington County News.
12. (December 23, 1957). "For the Record". Broadcasting.
13. "For the Record". Broadcasting.
14. (September 14, 1976). "KSUB-FM tower falls". Daily Spectrum.
15. Robinson, Jim. (November 3, 1976). "New station on air soon?". Deseret News.
16. (November 30, 1976). "Cedar station begins stereo". Daily Spectrum.
17. (June 26, 1983). "High Adventure over KSUB". Daily Spectrum.
18. Yardley, Barb. (March 25, 1984). "KSUB switches FM, AM formats". Daily Spectrum.
19. (January 10, 1988). "KSSD-FM joins 'Pure Gold' music format". Daily Spectrum.
20. Gilmore, Rich. (December 4, 1988). "Sawyer Brown concert sets style at Centrum". Daily Spectrum.
21. (March 31, 1991). "Limbaugh to be heard in tri-state area". Daily Spectrum.
22. Hiatt, Tyson. (July 7, 1997). "60 years on the air: KSUB celebrates landmark anniversary". The Spectrum.
23. (October 15, 2005). "Deals". Broadcasting & Cable.
24. Lester, Bryson. (November 23, 2020). "Southern Utah Athletics Announces Radio Changes". Southern Utah University.