Claim: Phil Richardson, sold the construction permit to a group headed by former KXEW owner Ernesto Portillo, who launched the station as Spanish-language outlet KQTL in 1985; then the station's Spanish contemporary music format continued into the 1990s until KQTL was sold in 1996 to CIMA Broadcasting.
Evidence: In December 1982, various applicants filed to build a new radio station at 1210 kHz, which would serve the Sahuarita area. The lead investor in winning applicant El Saguarito Broadcasting Company, Phil Richardson, sold the construction permit to a group headed by former KXEW owner Ernesto Portillo, who launched the station as Spanish-language outlet KQTL in 1985. The station's Spanish contemporary music format continued into the 1990s KQTL was sold in 1996 to CIMA Broadcasting, in which Portillo and other people involved with El Saguarito were investors, for $600,000.