KQBU (AM)

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KQBU (AM) is a silent AM radio station in El Paso, Texas, broadcasting on 920 kHz. It is owned by 97.5 Licensee TX, LLC, the American subsidiary of Grupo Radio Centro (GRC). The station previously carried a sports format as Lone Star Sports 920 and, before that, was part of Univision’s radio group with Spanish-language programming. It stopped broadcasting on September 19, 2022 after losing its tower site.

History (in brief)
- 1947: The station began life as KELP, a 1,000-watt daytime-only station.
- 1950s–1980s: The station changed hands several times and adopted new call signs (including KYSR and KBNA) as ownership evolved. Night operation and additional towers were added during this era.
- 1989–1990: The station was relocated to its current site.
- 1997: The FCC opened a path for KBNA to move to an expanded AM band (1680 kHz), but the move was never built.
- 2009: Univision Radio owned KBNA, and KQBU (the call sign later used) was involved in a Spanish-language lineup. TalkBack Radio, an English-language morning talk format, was launched briefly but later canceled.
- 2016: Univision sold its El Paso cluster to Grupo Radio Centro (GRC); KQBU operated as a simulcast of KBNA-FM for a time.
- 2018: KQBU dropped the simulcast and switched to sports programming, branded as Lone Star Sports 920, using CBS Sports Radio content.
- 2022: The station ceased operations after losing its tower and could not relocate another suitable site.

Current status and contact
- KQBU remains silent as of 2022. The former branding and programming were Lone Star Sports 920, with a link previously listed as lonestarsports920am.com. The station is tied to Grupo Radio Centro through its ownership, with 75% of the licensee owner’s stake held by Rafael Márquez and the remainder by Grupo Radio Centro TX, LLC.