KBIM (910 AM) is a radio station licensed to Roswell, New Mexico, United States. KBIM is currently owned by Noalmark Broadcasting Corporation and broadcasts a Regional Mexican format as "La Ley 93.7", alluding to the frequency of its FM translator.

History

On October 15, 1952, the Federal Communications Commission awarded a construction permit to Theodore Rozzell and William Paul Brown to build a new daytime-only radio station on 910 kHz in Roswell; the station had originally been proposed for location at Clovis.^[2] KBIM began broadcasting on May 27, 1953.^[3] It had not been on the air six months before its owners sold it to the Taylor Broadcasting Company in November; the new management secured approval to increase power from 1,000 to 5,000 watts the next year.^[2] The station, which soon adopted the Todd Storz formula of Top 40, proved to be a ratings and commercial success; using its profits, Taylor was able to start two other stations in the region, in Las Cruces (KGRT) and Colorado Springs (KAFA).^[4] Taylor also attempted to purchase Carlsbad's KPBM,^[5] but the FCC blocked the deal citing overlap with the signal of his Roswell station.^[6] KBIM's facilities were improved in 1965 with the approval of a new transmitter site and directional setup that allowed nighttime broadcasting;^[2] despite increased competition, including the launch of the 50,000-watt KSWS (1020 AM), the station remained atop the ratings in Roswell.^[4]

In 1966, KBIM expanded to television with the launch of KBIM-TV channel 10, which provided CBS television programming to southeastern New Mexico.^[7] Taylor Broadcasting merged into Holsum, Inc., in 1970, in the wake of a merger effectuated after the region entered a regional economic slump caused by the closure of Walker Air Force Base.^[2][8]

Tragedy struck the KBIM stations on the morning of May 31, 1977, when a fire gutted the shared studios on Main Street;^[9] the AM radio station was out of service for just one day,^[10] as it was able to resume operating by broadcasting directly from the transmitter site.^[11] New studios were set up at 214 North Main Street, still used by the television station today.^[12] Holsum sold off the radio properties to King Broadcasting in 1981; John King had already been involved with KBIM for 18 years at the time of the transaction,^[8] being the husband of Betty King, daughter of W. C. Taylor.^[13]

In 1988, the KBIM radio stations moved to new quarters north of downtown, where they continue to operate; at the same time, the AM station switched from contemporary music to the syndicated "Pure Gold" oldies format.^[14] The oldies format was dropped for the audio of CNN Headline News in 1994;^[15] this evolved into a news/talk format in 1996.^[16]

Noalmark ownership

KBIM was acquired by Noalmark Broadcasting in 2007, marking the retirement of the King family from broadcasting.^[17] Noalmark retained the news/talk format on the AM station until 2015, when it changed call letters to KKBE and adopted a contemporary hit radio format as "The Beat". This then was switched in 2018 to "The Light", a contemporary Christian music station, and to an active/alternative rock format known as "The Crash" by 2021.^[18]

On November 25, 2021, KKBE dropped its active rock format and began stunting with Christmas music as "Santa 93.7".^[18] On December 26, 910 AM emerged from the stunting as Regional Mexican La Ley 93.7, reverting to the historic KBIM call sign; the station features the syndicated El Bueno, La Fea y El Malo morning show and Erazno y la Chokolata in afternoons, a local midday show, and soccer coverage from Fútbol de Primera.^[19]

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