KBLU 560 AM returns to Yuma with Russ Clark and a studio inside a mortgage office

KBLU 560 AM is back on the air in Yuma after going silent in March. Russ Clark has returned to his weekday 6 to 9 a.m. show, and the station's new owner, mortgage professional Derek Egeberg, has put its studio inside the building that houses his lending business.

The return was reported by KYMA on Oct. 13. Federal Communications Commission filings document the ownership transfer to Approval Coach Broadcasting LLC and the licensee's report that full operations resumed Oct. 5.

Bringing the station back without a separate studio bill

Egeberg had hosted a biweekly credit and mortgage program on KBLU for about 12 years, according to an Oct. 6 interview with Radio World. When former owner El Dorado Broadcasters took the AM station off the air in March, the show lost its home. Clark kept his morning program going on Facebook during the shutdown.

Egeberg bought the station and moved its studio and production equipment into the building where he manages a MortgageOne branch. He told Radio World that using the existing space eliminates a separate rent expense and keeps overhead low. The station still leases its transmitter site, so the arrangement does not eliminate every operating cost.

Radio World reported a purchase price of $50,000, negotiated in June. That figure comes from its interview with Egeberg; the purchase agreement was not independently reviewed for this article.

The local morning show is central to the relaunch. KYMA reported that Clark hopes to bring more public officials, business owners, students and school groups into the conversation, including taking the show into the community. The rest of the station's schedule is not exclusively local: Radio World says programming from Premiere and Fox Sports fills the remaining hours.

What the FCC records establish

The license-assignment application, submitted June 16, was granted Aug. 3. It authorized the transfer from EDB VV License LLC to Approval Coach Broadcasting LLC. Egeberg signed as the buyer's manager.

A separate completion notice, file 0000301860, reports the transaction closed Aug. 10. The notice was filed Aug. 11 and accepted Aug. 12. The FCC station profile lists Approval Coach Broadcasting as KBLU's licensee.

The resumption filing, file 0000304560, reports that KBLU resumed full power and operations Oct. 5. Radio World puts the return on Oct. 4. The sources do not explain the one-day difference, and the FCC filing is the clearer record of when the licensee reported full operations.

The FCC's application history also includes an AM license grant dated March 14, 1940. That establishes a long licensing history, not continuous use of the KBLU call letters or an unchanged format.

For listeners, the immediate change is simpler: the signal is back, Clark is on weekday mornings again, and the new owner is trying to keep a local radio operation financially manageable.