KBLU 560 AM Goes Silent After Nearly 90 Years, Hosts Pivot Online

At 6:30 PM on Saturday evening, the signal for Yuma’s long-running news/talk station 560 KBLU went silent when El Dorado Broadcasters ended the format and took the AM station off the air, a BarrettMedia account reports. Local listeners noticed the blackout over the March 1–2 weekend as KYMA reported the station “officially went off the air March 1–2, 2026,” while Radio Insight’s Mediumwave entry dated 2026-03-01 said El Dorado “pulled the plug on News/Talk 560 KBLU Yuma AZ on Saturday evening.”

The shutdown comes amid a separate sales move involving El Dorado’s Yuma radio cluster. BarrettMedia noted, “The end of 560 KBLU comes as El Dorado Broadcasters struck a deal to sell its Yuma cluster in November for $375,000 to K-Love Inc. Country 95.1 KTTI and Classic Hits 100.9 The River were included in the deal, but the news/talk station was not.” Mediumwave adds that the FM sale—naming 100.9 as KQSR—was “set to close in mid-March,” and both accounts say KBLU was excluded from that November agreement.

Programming on 560 had been a mix of syndicated shows and a locally produced morning program. “The station aired a mostly nationally syndicated lineup. Its morning show, however, was helmed by Russ Clark,” BarrettMedia wrote. Clark, the station’s longtime morning host, is keeping a local presence: KYMA reported Clark moved into the Morgage One studios in Yuma and that “Morning host Russ Clark is continuing on social media as ‘The Russ Clark Show.’” Clark told KYMA, “Radio 80 years ago was everything. We didn't have social media. We didn't have telephones. Cell phones and long distance was forever.” On his future plans he said, “What we're going to do now? We'll figure it out, you know? No big deal. I mean we'll get there because it's what we want to do.”

BarrettMedia and Mediumwave both report Clark has already shifted the morning program online. BarrettMedia states, “Clark has revealed he’ll continue to host a daily morning show. He’ll continue to helm the program on Facebook Live. The first edition of his live digital video show debuted on Monday morning.” Mediumwave summarized the move tersely: “Clark will continue his show on Facebook.”

KBLU’s roots run deep in Yuma broadcasting. BarrettMedia traces the 560 allocation back to KYUM, which “began on March 3, 1940.” Mediumwave records add that “KBLU signed on in 1959 on 1320” and that a corporate merger in 1969 led to KBLU replacing KYUM on 560; BarrettMedia also notes a merge with daytime-only 1320 AM KBLU in 1967 and FCC approval in 1969. More recently, BarrettMedia says El Dorado purchased the Yuma cluster, including KBLU, in 2007, and Mediumwave records that then-owner Clear Channel “briefly attempted to relocate the station to the Las Vegas market” in 2005.

Reaction in Yuma has been immediate: KYMA reported locals have been reaching out to Clark since the shut down and that he hopes “at some point they're able to get back on the radio.” Online, a RadioDiscussions thread titled “Rest of Arizona KBLU AM 560 Silenced: Yuma’s 80+ Year Radio Legacy Ends” gathered users such as desertaire, Mark Roberts and KilowattKat to trade memories and links to FCC and brokerage records.

For now, 560 AM remains off the air while Clark pursues a digital video morning show from Yuma and El Dorado’s FM stations move toward the planned transfer to K-Love Inc. mid-March; the exact calendar tie between BarrettMedia’s Saturday 6:30 PM time stamp and KYMA/Mediumwave’s March 1–2 reporting remains a point for follow-up with station owners and FCC filings.