KFCS

KPIK went on the air in June 1957.{{r|air}} It was owned by the Western Broadcasting Company, controlled by David Pinkston and Leroy Elmore. It broadcast during the daytime only with 5,000 watts and broadcast a country music format from its first day of operation.{{r|area}} The station expanded to FM when it acquired the then-KLST 94.3 in 1966 and converted it to a simulcast as KPIK-FM (now KILO).{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36921797/|title=KPIK Buys FM Outlet|date=January 9, 1966|work=Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph|page=3-A|accessdate=October 8, 2019}} KPIK-FM was just the second all-country music station on FM in the United States.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36921989/|work=Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph|title=Junky Tells Story on New 'Night Call' Show Here|first=Don|last=Bennet|page=14|date=January 29, 1966}} The AM and FM stations remained a simulcast through 1977, when the FM moved toward a more contemporary country sound as "Super K-94" while the AM station focused on more traditional country.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36922119/|work=Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph|first=Linda|last=Navarro|title=Station Break|page=18-D|date=February 5, 1977}} That same year, station manager George James was elected to the Colorado Springs city council.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36922221/|work=Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph|page=1-B|date=April 6, 1977|title=Winners Promise To Serve Citizens|first=Dick|last=Foster|accessdate=October 8, 2019}}

Pinkston, with various partners, owned the station until selling it to the Area Broadcasting Company, headed by James, in 1978; this separated it from the FM station.[https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=43931 FCC History Cards for KFCS]{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/36922396/|title=Area Broadcasting Corp. Purchases AM Radio Station|page=5-A|date=February 25, 1978|accessdate=October 8, 2019|work=Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph}} It was sold again in 1980 to KPIK Broadcasting, Inc.{{r|hc}}

In 1987, the station became KWYD under the ownership of Edward J. Patrick who at the time owned KWYD-FM. While Patrick sold off KWYD-FM in 1989, Patrick continued to own KWYD (AM) until he sold it in 1998. The call letters changed to KKKK in 2005 and KREL in 2010. As KREL, the station aired a sports radio format, first from ESPN Radio and then changing to ESPN Radio affiliate in January 2013 and was a Fox Sports Radio affiliate from October 2014 to April 2015.

On Monday, April 13, 2015, the station switched to cannabis-centric talk as 'K-High 1580' with the call sign KHIG.{{cite news|url=https://www.westword.com/news/introducing-k-high-ex-fox-sports-radio-station-thats-switched-to-pot-talk-6650451|title=Westword, April 15, 2015. Introducing K-HIGH, Ex-Fox Sports Radio Station That's Switched to Pot Talk|date=April 15, 2015|work=Westword|accessdate=July 18, 2023}} The talk format moved online after one month, with KHIG temporarily switching to a simulcast of 'Easy 101.3' KFEZ.{{cite news|url=https://radioinsight.com/headlines/92973/khigs-pot-talk-moves-online-after-one-month/|title=Westword, April 15, 2015. KHIG’S POT TALK MOVES ONLINE AFTER ONE MONTH|date=May 15, 2015|work=Radio Insight|accessdate=July 18, 2023}}

In 2016, Jacob Barker acquired the station through licensee Gabrielle Broadcasting Licensee II, LLC. Under Barker, the station programmed a Christian talk format as "1580 The Trumpet" and gained a translator signal on 103.1 FM in the immediate Colorado Springs area. The format and name were also used on Barker's Phoenix station, KXEG.

File:KFCS_radio_logo.png

In 2019, Gabrielle went into bankruptcy and a receiver, Jim Mross Engineering, was appointed for the station. Operations were taken over by the Greeley Broadcasting Corporation, which owns Regional Mexican KRYE 94.7; in September 2019, Mross filed to sell the station outright to Greeley for $85,000.[https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101808424&qnum=5040©num=1&exhcnum=1 BAL-20190917AAV Asset Purchase Agreement — KFCS]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The acquisition gives El Tigre's southern Colorado station, which had previously only covered Pueblo by way of KRYE-FM, a local signal in Colorado Springs. The sale to Greeley Broadcasting was consummated on December 20, 2019.

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|http://tigrecolorado.com}}

{{AM station data|51816|KFCS}}

• {{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=43931 |title= History Cards for KFCS|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} (Guide to reading History Cards)

{{Colorado Springs Radio}}

{{Spanish Radio Stations in Colorado}}

FCS

Category:Radio stations established in 1987

Category:1987 establishments in Colorado