KIGS (620AM) is a commercialradio stationlicensed toHanford, California, United States. It serves theVisalia-Tulare andFresnoradio markets. The station is owned by Charanjit Singh Batth, and it carries programming from "Radio Punjab." Radio Punjab is also heard inSan Francisco,Seattle and otherWest Coast cities, airingPunjabi language music, talk and news forSouth Asian listeners.

KIGS operates with 1,000watts around the clock, using adirectional antenna at night to avoid interfering with other stations onAM 620. The studios andtransmitter are located on Hanford Expressway (California State Route 198) near 6th Avenue in Hanford. The station building was the basis for the cover ofJourney's 1986 album,Raised on Radio.^[2]

On February 1, 1948, the station firstsigned on as KNGS, owned by the Pereira family (whose sonSteve Perry was the lead singer of the rock bandJourney from 1977-1987 and again from 1995-1998).^[3] OfPortuguese descent, the Pereiras first carriedPortuguese-language programming in 1952, expanding to a mostly-Portuguese format (with someSpanish language programming) in 1989.^[2][4]

Lee Smith bought the station in 1972. He acted asgeneral manager and aired acountry music format on KIGS, with news supplied by theABC Entertainment Radio Network.^[3] In February 1976, Smith put anFM radio station on the air, 103.7 KKYS (nowKFBT).

In 1986, the station was acquired by Bob Liggett. He kept the country music format in place but changed the call letters in 1987 to KCLQ.^[5]

In 1990, the station was bought back by the Pereira Family, licensed as P & C Broadcasting. A Portuguese music and talk format was once again heard on AM 620. The original call letters "KNGS" were no longer available so the station became KIGS.

On July 27, 2012, the license for the station was transferred from Maria Pereira,^[6] who died on February 11, 2012 (given inFCC documents as Maria O. Pereira),^[7] to John Pereira, the Special Administrator of Maria Pereira's estate.^[8] On July 31, the station temporarilyleft the air, pending completion of Maria Pereira's estate administration, and the beneficiary's plans for the station.^[7] In February 2013, ownership was transferred to her children, Albert Pereira and Odilia Silva.

From May 23, 2013, to October 30, 2014, KIGS returned to the air withsports programming fromFox Sports Radio,^[9] before changing itsaffiliation toNBC Sports Radio soon after. During this time, KIGS served as the Hanford-Tulare affiliate of theLos Angeles Angelsbaseball radio network.

On October 31, 2014, New Media Broadcasting bought the station from Pereira Communications. The next day, November 1, 2014, KIGS began carrying the Radio Punjab format. The purchase closed on February 3, 2015.

• Facility details for Facility ID 51122 (KIGS) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• KIGS inNielsen Audio's AM station database
• FCC History Cards for KIGS

• Radio stations in California

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