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KIHM

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Coordinates: 39°30′50″N 119°42′52″W / 39.51389°N 119.71444°W / 39.51389; -119.71444
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KIHM
Frequency920 kHz
BrandingRelevant Radio
Programming
FormatCatholic religious radio
AffiliationsRelevant Radio
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
August 10, 1946 (1946-08-10)
Former call signs
  • KOLO (1946–1987)
  • KQLO (1987–1999)
Call sign meaning
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID53707
ClassB
Power
  • 4,800 watts day
  • 850 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
39°30′50″N 119°42′52″W / 39.51389°N 119.71444°W / 39.51389; -119.71444
Translator(s)93.3 K227AW (Truckee, CA)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websiterelevantradio.com

KIHM (920 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Catholic religious radio format. Licensed to Reno, Nevada, United States, it serves the Reno area. The station is owned by Relevant Radio.

History

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KOLO

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The El Cortez Hotel housed KOLO radio from 1956 to 1971

On September 25, 1944, the Reno Broadcasting Company filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission for a new radio station to broadcast on 920 kHz in Reno with 1,000 watts.[2] The FCC approved its application, and that of Sierra Broadcasting Company for 1340 kHz, on March 7, 1946.[3] Taking an affiliation with CBS and the call letters KOLO,[4] the station signed on the air August 10, 1946 as the third in town.[5] The same interests involved in starting KOLO, Hi Wells and David McKay, would also build Las Vegas station KORK in 1950.[6]

In 1955, Wells and McKay sold their Nevada broadcasting holdings to Donald W. Reynolds, who owned the Las Vegas Review-Journal and television stations in Las Vegas (KLRJ-TV, renamed KORK-TV) and Reno (KZTV channel 8, which became KOLO-TV in 1956).[7] The next year, KOLO radio moved from its original location on Sierra Street to the El Cortez Hotel.[2] In 1963, after a three-year wait, the FCC authorized KOLO to increase its daytime power to 5,000 watts.[2]

After KOLO television was forced to rebuild after a 1977 fire, a new building next to it was constructed in 1981 to provide space for KOLO radio and Donrey's outdoor advertising business.[8] At the time, the station aired an adult contemporary format,[9] switching to country music in April 1983.[10]

KQLO

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In 1987, Donrey sold KOLO radio after 32 consecutive years of ownership to Constant Communications of Nevada, owners of KWNZ (97.3 FM). The call letters were changed to KQLO later that year, though the station initially retained its country music format.[11] The next year, Constant switched KQLO to news/talk.[12] In 1989, Constant sold its radio stations to a subsidiary of Pacific Telecom of Vancouver, Washington.[13] Citing low ratings, Pacific wasted little time making its own format shift, flipping the station to oldies in January 1990.[14] The station used the Kool Gold syndicated format; when this was discontinued by the Satellite Music Network on December 31, 1994, KQLO switched to simulcasting KWNZ.[15]

The end of Kool Gold heralded the sale of the station. In 1995, KQLO was acquired by Universal Broadcasting for $325,000[16] and began broadcasting Spanish-language programming as "Radio Universal".[17]

Catholic radio

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In 1999, Universal sold KQLO to Thomas Aquinas School of Tahoe City, California. In 1997, after Doug Sherman drove from Reno to Vermont without hearing a single Catholic radio station,[18] the school had bought 1590 AM and relaunched it as Catholic radio outlet KIHM, which then switched frequencies with KQLO to put KQLO on 1590 and KIHM on the stronger 920 signal.[19] Universal leased the 1590 frequency from Aquinas with the option to buy.[20] It was the first station in the Immaculate Heart Media network, which by the time of its 2017 merger with Relevant Radio had grown to 23 stations in the western United States.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KIHM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b c FCC History Cards for KIHM
  3. ^ "FCC Approves Two New Radio Stations Here". Nevada State Journal. March 8, 1946. p. 14. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Station to Use Columbia System". Nevada State Journal. April 19, 1946. p. 12. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "Third Radio Station on Air". Reno Evening Gazette. August 9, 1946. p. 6. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  6. ^ "Radio State Operator To Move To Honolulu". Reno Evening Gazette. June 19, 1958. p. 19. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "Sale of KOLO Is Authorized". Reno Evening Gazette. April 8, 1955. p. 21. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  8. ^ "Radio station work begins". Reno Evening Gazette. December 23, 1980. p. 16. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  9. ^ O'Driscoll, Bill (August 1, 1981). "What do the radio stations offer? Variety". Reno Evening Gazette. pp. 2B, 3B. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  10. ^ Gunkel, Terri (November 13, 1984). "Reno's radio craze". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 1D. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  11. ^ DeChick, Joe (October 8, 1987). "KOLO lures away half of KOH's 'Breakfast' team". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 1D.
  12. ^ Farley, Cory (July 8, 1989). "Barbano off KQLO in dispute over contract". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 1D. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Skorupa, Susan (August 1, 1989). "Sale of Reno radio stations hinges upon FCC approval". Reno Gazette-Journal. pp. 8B, 5B. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  14. ^ Sion, Michael (January 22, 1990). "It's music, not news at KQLO". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 1E. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  15. ^ Melton, Wayne R. (December 30, 1994). "Oldies is out". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 1E. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. April 28, 1995. p. 8. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  17. ^ Melton, Wayne R. (May 27, 1995). "Thumbs-up for call-in". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 1E. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  18. ^ Scott, David (April 1, 2001). "A New Frequency of Faith". Crisis. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  19. ^ "Catholic radio moves". Reno Gazette-Journal. April 17, 1999. p. 4E. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "Format Changes & Updates" (PDF). M Street Journal. August 11, 1999. p. 2. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  21. ^ "Catholic Stalwarts Immaculate Heart and Relevant Merge". Inside Radio. October 17, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
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