Wilson and Philip D. Jackson, doing business as Independent Broadcasters, were granted a construction permit by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 6, 1957, for a new 1,000-watt, daytime-only radio station to serve Redding.
[2] Wilson sold his interest to his partner before launch, and Jackson built and started KPAP, which began broadcasting June 3, 1958, as the town's fourth radio station, with a format consisting of pop and country music.
[6] Callers flooded both stations' switchboards, one even thinking the stunt was a "John Birch Society plot", as the event led to what KVIP manager Donald Chamberlain termed "mass confusion".
[11] While KVIP stockholders decided to sell, and the station ultimately was silent for nearly a year before being purchased by a religious group,[12] KAHR changed to KCLM (for "Carl and Leah McConnell") on February 10, 1969.
[19] The DeBeaus installed an "uptempo easy listening" format on the station, relocated it to new studios, and converted it to broadcast C-QUAM stereo, the first in the Redding area.
[21] The DeBeaus sold the station after less than a year to Jeffrey Broadcasting—owned by two couples from Walnut Grove—because their son opted to remain a law enforcement official in Florida instead of moving to Redding to run KCLM.