KTAR-FM
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Broadcast area | Phoenix metropolitan area |
Frequency | 92.3 MHz (HD Radio) |
Branding | KTAR News 92.3 FM |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | Talk radio |
Subchannels | HD2: Latter-day Saints Channel |
Network | ABC News Radio |
Affiliations | Westwood One Compass Media Networks Radio America |
Ownership | |
Owner |
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History | |
First air date | December 19, 1970 |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | Taken from KTAR, which had been owned by The Arizona Republic |
Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Facility ID | 65479 |
Class | C |
ERP | 100,000 watts |
HAAT | 545 meters (1,788 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 33°19′58″N 112°3′48″W / 33.33278°N 112.06333°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Webcast | Listen live Listen live (via Audacy) |
Website | www |
KTAR-FM (92.3
Its studios and offices are on North 16th Street near Piestewa Peak.[4] The transmitter is in South Mountain Park. In addition to a standard analog transmission, KTAR-FM broadcasts in HD Radio, with its HD2 digital subchannel carryimg the Latter-day Saints Channel. As Bonneville holds the radio broadcast rights to most major professional and college sports in Phoenix, KTAR-FM carries games in the event of scheduling conflicts.
History
KXTC
On December 19, 1970
, the station firstIn 1978, with
KJJJ-FM and KEZC
The station dropped disco for country music in 1980, going by the moniker "KC-92". In January 1981, the station's studios moved to Shaw Butte, and three months later, the station switched its call sign to KJJJ-FM for the first time.
In 1982, the call letters switched to KEZC, which stood for EZ Country. Easy Country played the softer hits from current and recent country music charts, designed for office listening and relaxing. In 1984, the station began to simulcast with KJJJ (now KGME). It returned to the call sign KJJJ-FM, moving back to mainstream country music.
KKFR
In 1985, KJJJ-FM flipped to KKFR as a gold-based Top 40 outlet as "The Fire Station, Arizona's 92 Fire FM", and later as "92.3 KKFR, Your Fire Station!". In 1988, KKFR began calling itself "Hot Hits 92.3", but was forced to drop that by radio consultant Mike Joseph, the owner of the "Hot Hits" slogan nationally.
Over the next few years, the station began shifting towards a
On December 16, 1993, despite high ratings as a rhythmic contemporary outlet, KKFR evolved to Mainstream
Chancellor Media (which later became AMFM, Inc.) purchased the station in late 1998 from its longtime owners The Broadcast Group. When Chancellor merged with
KTAR-FM
In 2006, Emmis sold the station to Bonneville International. In turn, Bonneville announced it would move the news/talk format airing on KTAR (620 AM) to KKFR beginning September 18, 2006. That same day, KKFR became KTAR-FM. The AM station merged its programming with KMVP, the local ESPN Radio sports radio station. The merger was complete by January 1, 2007.
As KTAR-FM carried all news/talk programming, KTAR AM became "Arizona Sports 620". (On September 15, 2014, KTAR AM became "ESPN Phoenix 620 AM" with the local "Arizona Sports" format moving to 98.7 FM on January 6, 2014.) 860 AM was divested to the non-profit Cesar Chavez Foundation on March 9, 2017.[7][8][9]
KKFR
The former occupant of the 92.3 frequency, KKFR, went through several changes. Its intellectual property was acquired by Riviera Broadcast Group (which already owned 103.9
Sunburst Media let Riviera operate and later own the station. KKFR took over KKLD and created the new KKFR on September 1.
Programming
KTAR-FM airs a mix of local and
Weekends feature specialty shows on money, health, home improvement, cars, real estate and gardening. Some weekend programs are paid
HD radio
KTAR-FM broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format. The main signal airs KTAR's news/talk programming.
The HD2 digital subchannel carries the Latter-day Saints Channel, aimed at members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns Bonneville International. The Mormon Channel originates from Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and broadcasts lifestyle and religious shows.
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KTAR-FM". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "KTAR-FM Facility Record". United States Federal Communications Commission, audio division. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
- Arbitron. Spring 2010. Archived from the originalon 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
- ^ KTAR.com/contact-us
- ^ Information from the Broadcasting Yearbook 1973 page B10
- ^ "FCC History Card" (PDF). Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ^ "Phoenix's Peak Flips to Sports". 2014-01-06.
- ^ "Bonneville to Launch ESPN Phoenix in September". 2014-07-10.
- ^ "Bonneville Sells Phoenix AM To Cesar Chavez Foundation - RadioInsight". RadioInsight. 9 March 2017.
External links
- Official website
- KTAR in the FCC FM station database
- KTAR in Nielsen Audio's FM station database