KTAR

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KTAR-AM/KTAR-FM

City of license	Phoenix, Arizona/Glendale, Arizona
Broadcast area	Phoenix, Arizona
Branding	News 92.3 KTAR
First air date	1922/1985
Frequency	620 (kHz)/92.3 (mHz)
Format	News/talk
ERP	5.0 kW
Class	B
Callsign meaning	Keep Taking the Arizona Republic (reference to co-ownership with The Arizona Republic at one point)
Owner	Bonneville Holding Company
Website	http://www.ktar.com/

KTAR is the callsign for two radio stations in Phoenix, Arizona. They broadcast at 92.3 MHz on the FM band with a news format, and until January 2007 on 620 AM. KTAR-FM 92.3 is licensed to Glendale, while KTAR-AM 620 has a Phoenix city of license. KTAR is owned by Bonneville International Corporation.

KTAR is the radio flagship home of the National Basketball Association's Phoenix Suns and Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. KTAR also simulcasts Arizona Cardinals and Arizona State Sun Devils football games with its sister-station, KMVP (AM), ESPN Radio 860.

Contents 1 History 1.1 1920s to 1979: Early history 1.2 1980s to 2006: After the sale 1.3 2006: Move to FM 2 References 3 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1920s to 1979: Early history

The AM station began in June of 1922 as KFAD, Arizona's first radio property. In 1929, the station was purchased by the owners of the major newspaper in Phoenix, the Arizona Republic. As a result, in January of 1930, the call sign of this NBC affiliate was changed to KTAR. For many years it operated as a companion to the Republic, hence the "TAR" in the call sign (the call letters supposedly meant "K'eep Taking the Arizona Republic". [1][2]

From 1939 to 1975, KTAR was the flagship of a statewide radio network called the "Arizona Broadcasting System"; this network had affiliates in key Arizona towns and cities such as Tucson, Globe, Prescott and Yuma.

In 1968, KTAR was acquired by local billboard advertising magnate Karl Eller and became the flagship of his new company, Combined Communications; in 1973, the station affiliated with ABC Radio, which is the network affiliation to this day; the NBC affiliation would be dropped the following year.

And in 1979, after Eller's media empire was purchased by the Gannett Company, KTAR was spun off (they could not hold the associated television property, now KPNX-TV) and acquired by a division of Pulitzer Publishing Company, the then-owners of Tucson's major morning newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star.

[edit] 1980s to 2006: After the sale

The station was purchased by Hearst-Argyle in 1999, then Emmis Communications in 2001, and in 2004 by Bonneville as part of a multi-station swap with Emmis. [3]

[edit] 2006: Move to FM

In 2006, Bonneville bought another Emmis property, CHR formatted KKFR-FM 92.3, licensed to Glendale, with intents to simulcast the AM property. KKFR would become KTAR-FM to match its new ownership. On 18 September of that year, KTAR started the simulcast.[4] [5] To keep the programming on 92.3 before the sale, Bonneville sold the intellectual property of the Power format (including the call letters) to Riviera Broadcast Group, which placed them on KZGL Prescott Valley, which moved to Mayer to bring its signal closer to the area; it is now operated by Riviera, but owned by Sunburst Media as Riviera tries to acquire the license. The simulcast will continue until 1 January 2007, when 92.3 exclusively carries the news/talk format and the format of ESPN Radio-affiliated KMVP would move to 620.[6] Both stations will retain the KTAR call letters.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• KTAR website
• News 92.3 KTAR - a message board for suggestions regarding the new news/talk FM
• 620 Sports KTAR - a message board for suggestions regarding the new all-sports AM
• Bonneville International
• Query the FCC's AM station database for KTAR
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KTAR