Audacy has requested the cancellation of the licenses for 720 KDWN Las Vegas and 1140 KXST North Las Vegas NV after failing to resume operations by the March 1 deadline.
Audacy took both stations silent on March 1, 2023 after selling the land holding its tower site to a warehouse developer for $40 million. The site, which until the past couple of years was located in desert land near Nellis Air Force Base and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has been rapidly built up with warehouse development. Three sides of the now-former Audacy property are now surrounded by Amazon warehouses. Ahead of the land-sale, Audacy acquired KDWN and 101.5 K268CS Las Vegas from Beasley Media Group in exchange for 107.5 KXTE Pahrump/Las Vegas. Beasley had diplexed KDWN at the 1140 KXST tower in 2020 after selling its real estate in Henderson to housing developers.
The company made an attempt to retain both licenses as it applied in September to combine both station at the site of co-owned Conservative Talk 840 KXNT North Las Vegas where KDWN would have operated with a non-directional 25kW day using one tower and a directional 4kW night utilizing three of KXNT’s towers and KXST would be directional day and night using two of the towers for a 12kW daytime operation and three towers for 100 watts at night.
KDWN launched in 1975 and would shift to a Talk format a few years later. It would add Art Bell as overnight host in 1983 and he would then go into national syndication a decade later with his show renamed “Coast To Coast AM”.
KXST’s history is longer as it originally signed on as 1050 KRBO in 1956. The station would move to 1140 and take on the KLUC call letters around a decade later. What the station has never had was any format or call letter stability with time as KMJJ, KZAP, KXNO, KSFN, and KYDZ before becoming KXST in 2013. Formats have varied from AC, Hot Talk, Casino information, multiple Sports attempts, Heavy Metal, Children’s programming, simulcasts of CHR 98.5 KLUC-FM, brand extensions of cable networks, and Sports Betting.
Following the sign-off of the AMs, KDWN’s programming continued on 101.5 K268CS Las Vegas fed via 94.1 KMXB-HD3, while KXST’s “The Bet” identity continued on 98.5 KLUC-HD2.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com