[4][5] The relocated, higher-power KCNA, an ABC affiliate, advertised its coverage as including areas as distant as Phoenix, Lordsburg, New Mexico, and Caborca, Sonora.
[6] The new KCNA transmitter site was built with a television saddle on the middle tower to accommodate a future TV station.
[4] In 1952, KCNA applied for a television license and received a construction permit to build KCNA-TV, which would have broadcast on VHF channel 9[7] and expected to start operations in the fall of 1953.
[13] John B. Walton, Jr. bought KTAN in April 1967, promptly donating his former daytimer KFIF at 1550 kHz to the University of Arizona (that station is now KUAZ).
The promotion announced the kidnapping of one of the station's DJs, Gary Craig (real name Arthur Gopen),[19] who at that time had taken over KIKX's morning show; the intention was that Craig would "disappear", call into the station from Miami, and then call in from various cities on his way back to Tucson, with lucky listeners who were able to identify the cities winning prizes.
[21] Concerned listeners contacted the Tucson Police Department, which was initially told by station staff that the DJ had indeed been kidnapped; their phone lines were tied up with calls about the alleged crime.
[22] While station staff became concerned, the program director allowed the promotion to continue, while the general manager did not know about the complaints until he returned to work after the weekend.
[23] That summer, the scope of the license hearing widened when the Black Media Coalition of Tucson filed a petition to deny, saying KIKX did not have an affirmative action program.
[25] The station remained on air as Walton appealed to the FCC; it also transitioned to a country format on September 17, 1977[26] and switched its ABC network from Contemporary to Entertainment.
[32] In 1986, a proposal to revive the frequency on a new license, made by Elliott-Phelps Broadcasting Corporation, was granted over an objection, claiming the applicant had incorrectly stated the defunct radio station's transmitter facilities were available when they had been sold to a real estate developer.