KCEE

On April 15, 1953, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit to Tucson Radio, Incorporated, for a new daytime-only radio station to broadcast on 690 kHz in Tucson.[4] The company consisted of two former employees of KOPO and an Ohio transplant.[5] The station announced plans for studios and a transmitter site on Shawnee Avenue east of St. Mary's Hospital,[6] but it soon found itself needing to buy additional land to ensure a buffer to surrounding properties.[7]

The new station took the call letters KEVT. It signed on the air on September 23, 1953 (September 23, 1953).[8] It was Tucson's sixth radio station and its first all-Spanish-language outlet, serving an estimated audience of 40,000 Spanish speakers in the area.[9] KEVT broadcast from a 280 ft (85 m) tower—Tucson's second-tallest at the time.[9] Future governor Raúl Héctor Castro served as the station's attorney.[7] Daily broadcasts included English lessons from a University of Arizona professor, radio dramas and newscasts.[3]

In 1956, the station attempted to go to a full-time schedule by moving to 1600 kHz.[10] But the move was dismissed a year later.[4] For a time, KEVT operated from a streetside studio at the corner of Congress Street and Church Avenue, which opened in 1957.[3] A year later, after a burglary, fire caused extensive damage and destroyed the station's record collection and many business records.[11][12] KEVT got new Spanish-language competition when a full-time station, KXEW 1600 AM, began broadcasting in 1963.[3]

In January 1966, Peter Trowbridge, one of the founding members of Tucson Radio, resigned. The company publicly announced its interest in setting up a Spanish-language TV station and an English-language FM outlet.[13] A bigger change was on the horizon when Alvin Korngold acquired the station, a transaction filed in February and approved in May.[4] During the transaction, four announcers charged that Korngold had dismissed them and discriminated against them as Mexican Americans.[14] Three of the four were promptly rehired.[15] Korngold had abandoned his antitrust law practice on Long Island to move to Tucson and run KEVT, which became one of the first U.S. stations to carry Spanish-language news direct from the Associated Press instead of having to translate English-language stories from the AP.[16] Korngold made a second attempt to take the station to a full-time schedule.[17] But the FCC denied the application in 1970.[4]

Where Tucson Radio failed in expanding to FM, Korngold was successful. From the KEVT studios, relocated to Broadway Boulevard in 1967, KWFM 92.9, an album rock music station, started in March 1970.[18] The next year, he started a Spanish-language station, KAMX, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[19] in 1972, he attempted to purchase interest and take operational control of KPHX in Phoenix.[20] He later bought KLAV in Las Vegas.[21]

In 1980, Korngold announced the $3 million sale of KEVT and KWFM to Jay and Louise Heifetz, the son and daughter-in-law of violinist Jascha Heifetz. The sale attempt was dropped that June. High interest rates dissuaded the potential buyers, who would have had to pay a higher interest rate than they planned.[22]

In late 1980 and early 1981, KWFM and KEVT were sold by Korngold to separate buyers. The FM was the first to find a purchaser: Sandusky Newspapers, which already owned Phoenix rock outlet KDKB.[23] A more dramatic transformation, however, awaited KEVT. Abundant Life Ministries, owned by Grace Chapel, acquired the station for more than $1 million in 1981. It planned a format of "inspirational" Christian talk and teaching programming.[24] To the dismay of many loyal listeners, KEVT broadcast for the final time on July 28, 1981.[25] The next day, Abundant Life began its programming.[25] The station switched to the call sign KVOI, signifying the "Voice of Inspiration".[26]

New ownership brought yet another attempt to turn KVOI into a full-time operation by adding nighttime service. Seeking to take advantage of a ruling that incentivized stations licensed to suburban localities, Abundant Life filed in 1982 to move KVOI to 700 kHz in Oro Valley, where it could broadcast with 10,000 watts during the day and 1,000 at night.[27] Though granted, the move never came to fruition. Meanwhile, KVOI began to focus itself more on Contemporary Christian music, which increased in popularity during the decade.[28] In 1989, the station was off the air for some time after a hit-and-run driver, who was said to be street racing and doing doughnuts, plowed into a guy wire. That brought down its 300 ft (91 m) tower.[29]

In the 1990s, KVOI put an FM station on the air, KGMS 97.1 FM. KGMS became a Christian Contemporary music outlet, while the AM station concentrated on mostly national Christian talk and teaching programs.[30] During the 2000s, with KGMS having moved to its present dial position of 940 kHz, KVOI changed formats again, this time to news/talk.[31]

Good News Radio Broadcasting, owner of KVOI and KGMS, purchased KCEE (1030 AM) from Jim Slone in 2009. He had programmed an adult standards format on the station. Martin immediately announced his plans to put the KVOI programming and call letters onto the 1030 frequency, which had a stronger signal at night.[31]

KCEE retained the adult standards programming until Good News sold it to Calvary Chapel of Tucson in 2018 for $150,000.[32] It was the fourth sale by Good News announced in one week: the company had divested KVOI to Bustos Media, KGMS to Tucson Christian Radio, and a K-Love-airing FM station to the Educational Media Foundation.[33]

Calvary, which returned the station to its present religious programming, already owned a radio station licensed to Tucson.[34] In December 2013, the church had purchased 88.9 KAIC, a then-Air1 transmitter owned by the Educational Media Foundation, for $75,000.[35] While its city of license is listed as Tucson, its tower is in San Manuel, Arizona. Its signal is concentrated northeast of Tucson, covering Oracle and Tiger.