KXEG

In 2016, KXEG 1280 AM celebrated its 60th anniversary. The radio station—which has also gone by the call letters KHEP and KTKP—is believed to be the oldest Christian radio station in Arizona and has a very long history.

Phoenix's 1280 AM started out as KHEP, the area's first full-time country music station. Pronounced k-hep (“You ain’t hep if you don't listen to KHEP!” went the tagline), the station was launched on October 23, 1956, by Texas transplant Ray Odom, who went on to own several other stations in the area. “There was no country music in town, and people were just screaming for it,” Odom told Phoenix magazine in 2014.[2] The licensee was Bam Ray Broadcasting Company, which consisted of Odom and A.V. Bamford.

KHEP featured shows like “Hillbilly Hit Parade,” “Cheyenne Kid,” and “Mesa Mack.” Largely because he frequently played Elvis songs, Odom's station quickly became one of Phoenix's most popular radio stations.[3]

A year after its launch, Odom sold the station to Grand Canyon Broadcasters, a trio of evangelical businessmen who raised funds by selling stock to almost 500 Valley Christians.[4] At that time, television had forced scores of religious radio programs off the air, and their aim was to start a wholly Christian radio station. John Hoeksema was recruited in 1957 to be the station's first general manager, and his wife Bea served as his executive secretary. The station's call letters were referred to as shorthand for “Keep Heralding Eternal Promises.”[5]

The station featured a mix of music and preaching, and early programs included “Gospel Echoes,” “The Baptist Hour” with preacher Roy O. McClain of Atlanta, and “Streams in the Desert,” as well as broadcasts of services from local churches like Eastside Church of the Nazarene and First Southern Baptist Church.

Bea Hoeksema also hosted a 25-minute women's ministry show called “Studio Bea” that featured music and interviews with local notables and visiting celebrities. “She interviewed the astronauts and vice presidents, anybody that was important that came to Phoenix,” said Bea Hoeksema's daughter, Jan Aul. “She got to be very, very popular.”[5]

KHEP kept up with the times, producing programs like a special five-night series on communism in 1960, and another the next year on “The Christian Answer to Communism.” It also aired shows with well-known preachers like Jerry Owen, healer Leroy Jenkins (“The man with the miracle arm”), and Oral Roberts.

But the early years were tough financially as the station's owners learned the ropes of the radio business.[4] There were only eight staff members, including two energetic salesmen.

In 1962, John Hoeksema died, and Jack Willis took over as general manager.[5] Gradually, the station began to earn a profit and pay a small dividend to its shareholders, even as other Christian stations sprang up in the area. New music and talk programs included “The Reformation Hour,” “Haven of Rest,” and “High Noon Bible Class” with Rev. J. Vernon McGee of Los Angeles; the station offered news on the hour, courtesy of UPI's audio service.

As the times changed, KHEP sought to remain relevant. In 1972, it aired a special program on “Solving the Drug Problem”; that year, it also began hosting a daily radio program, “Tips for Teens,” hosted by Rev. Mel Johnson. It also began offering community hymn sings at Encanto Park.[6]

In 1977, KHEP celebrated its 20th anniversary. General Manager Jack Willis—who also served as president of the Arizona Broadcasters’ Association and vice president of the Western Religious Broadcasters Association—told the Arizona Republic, “We were one of the first Christian stations in the country to develop a complete range of programming, not just recorded ministries and gospel music. To the best of these, we added news, features and interviews, and blended them together to create a full spectrum of service for our listeners.”[7]

Jack Willis left in 1983 and was replaced by Herm Gebert; around that time, Grand Canyon Broadcasters changed its name to Christian Communications. In 1985, Arbitron ratings showed that the station failed to garner sufficient audience to even appear in the ratings.[8] Soon after, it began to call itself “inspirational” rather than “religious,” and sought to expand its signal in order to reach more people. New shows in the late 1980s included “Topic,” hosted by KHEP program director Will Ray, “People to People,” hosted by Bob George, and "Open Mike with Mike Lish" an Arizona centered interview program with guests such as John McCain and Evan Mecham.

By the 1990s, the station was struggling to find an audience, and began airing fishing programs, local sports games, a car repair show, and country music. In 1999, the station changed its call letters from KHEP to KTKP;[9] simultaneously, Tom Brown, then the general manager, changed the station's format to include more conservative talk.[10] The new programming included a morning show with Austin Hill, who discussed culture from a conservative perspective, and others with Trent Franks and Oliver North.

By the end of 1999, however, the format had not been particularly successful, and Tom Brown departed as general manager.[11] Six months later, the station was sold by Christian Communications to Mortenson Broadcasting Co., a Christian broadcaster, for $1.7 million;[12] Mortenson quickly sold it to James Crystal Enterprises for $2.3 million. Rex Collins, chairman of Christian Communications’ board, told the Arizona Republic that Phoenix's media climate was “too competitive, too challenging” for KTKP.[13]

By the end of 2001, 1280 AM had become KXEG (previously on 1010), with Jess Spurgin as the general manager;[14] religion was once again the core focus. In October 2005, the station was sold to Communicom Broadcasting for roughly $8.5 million.[15]

In 2013, a heavy debt load and the lingering effects of the recession pushed Communicom into bankruptcy, and the courts forced a sale.[16] On May 30, 2014, a group led by Jacob J. Barker purchased KXEG in a sale overseen by the court. In 2017, Barker became the sole owner. Under his aegis, the station was rebranded “The Trumpet” to reflect its complete focus on Christian teaching using talk programming, paralleling the prophetic use of this instrument in the Bible. Barker operated the station until February 4, 2019, when the station abruptly shut down. A notification of suspension of operations was filed on March 5, 2019, with Barker citing loss of tower lease as reason for going silent.[17] Sister station KFCS in Colorado Springs is still in operation, but previous management has taken over interim operations of that station.[18]

On January 7, 2020, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Timothy J. Thomason ordered that the station be placed into receivership of media broker Stephen Sloan and tasked him with preserving the assets of the radio station, returning it to air before the license expired, and preparing it for sale.[19] The station was returned to air under Special Temporary Authority using a long wire antenna from an alternate transmitter site on April 15, 2021, one day before the license was to expire.[20] The STA allows the station to operate daytime hours only at a power of 625 watts.[21] The current format is unknown and temporary in nature, intended to keep the station on the air long enough to maintain a valid license.

• KXEG in the FCC AM station database
• KXEG on Radio-Locator
• KXEG in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
• K241CS in the FCC FM station database
• FCC History Cards for KXEG