KTAR (AM)
Encyclopedia
KTAR is the callsign for a radio station
in Phoenix, Arizona
. It airs programming from ESPN Radio
, in addition to KTAR-acquired broadcast rights for local teams. KTAR is owned by Bonneville International Corporation.
KTAR is the flagship station of the National Basketball Association
's Phoenix Suns
, the National Football League
's Arizona Cardinals
, the Arizona State University
Sun Devils' football games, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury
and Major League Baseball
's Arizona Diamondbacks
. KTAR owns all but a few of the major sports team rights in the Phoenix market.
, who changed the call letters to KREP (for REPublic). In 1930, the call letters changed to the present KTAR (for "Keep Taking the Arizona Republic"). http://www.smecc.org/kfad_-_krep_-_ktar_-_history.htmhttp://www.qzvx.com/phxradio/amdial.html
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 1944, the Republic sold KTAR to Chicago, Illinois advertiser John J. Louis, Sr. In 1955, Louis bought two-year-old KTYL-TV (channel 12), Phoenix' second television station, from Harkins Theatres
, and changed the call letters to KVAR-TV. In 1959, KVAR-TV became KTAR-TV. The same year, the stations moved to a new studio on Central Avenue in Phoenix. The Louis family bought several other broadcasting interests in the 1960s. Eventually, the Louis broadcasting interests became known as Pacific & Southern Broadcasting, headquartered in Phoenix with KTAR-AM-FM-TV as the flagship stations.
In 1968, Pacific & Southern merged with a local billboard advertising business owned by Karl Eller
and became known in 1973 as Combined Communications Corporation. John J. Louis Jr. was Chairman of the new Company and Karl Eller the CEO.
In 1979, after Louis and Eller merged their media empire with Gannett in what was then the largest media merger in U.S. history. The FCC barred Gannett from keeping both the radio stations and KTAR-TV (now KPNX
). KTAR was acquired by Pulitzer Publishing Company
, the then-owners of Tucson's major morning newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star
. KPNX kept the Central Avenue studio.
At the start of 2011, KPNX moved from its location on Central Avenue, where the station had been since 1959, to the building that houses the Arizona Republic at 200 East Van Buren in downtown Phoenix.
in 1999, then Emmis Communications
in 2001, and in 2004 by Bonneville as part of a multi-station swap with Emmis. http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000652666 Ironically, when it was sold to Bonneville, it began a news-sharing relationship with KPHO-TV
: it was once sister to rival KPNX
.
to match its new ownership. On 18 September of that year, KTAR started the simulcast. KKFR's intellectual property was sold to Riviera Broadcast Group. In turn, Riviera bought KKLD in Prescott Valley, which was moved to Mayer in order to put in a better signal to Phoenix. The result was a new KKFR
on 98.3 FM. The simulcast continued until 1 January 2007, when 92.3 became the home of the news/talk format and the format of ESPN Radio
-affiliated KMVP moved to 620. Both stations retained the KTAR call letters.
facing the San Diego Chargers
on 31 December 2006. In contrast, the first event carried on Sports 620 KTAR was the Fiesta Bowl
between the Boise State Broncos
and the Oklahoma Sooners
on 1 January 2007.
Until April 14, 2007, KTAR used to simulcast on KMVP
at 860 kHz, also owned by Bonneville.
While KMVP aired an extensive lineup of shows from ESPN Radio, KTAR has decided to air mostly local shows. For example, only the first two hours of Mike and Mike in the Morning
is aired on Sports 620. KTAR does air ESPN Radio play-by-play if the schedule allows.
. Winners were honored at the Radio Luncheon on April 17, 2007, during the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada
.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. It airs programming from ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
, in addition to KTAR-acquired broadcast rights for local teams. KTAR is owned by Bonneville International Corporation.
KTAR is the flagship station of the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's Phoenix Suns
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
, the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
Sun Devils' football games, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury
Phoenix Mercury
The Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises...
and Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona Diamondbacks
The Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
. KTAR owns all but a few of the major sports team rights in the Phoenix market.
1920s to 1979: Early history
KTAR began in June 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 RepublicThe Arizona Republic
The Arizona Republic is a daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. It was ranked tenth in US daily newspapers by circulation in 2007.-Early years:The newspaper was founded...
, who changed the call letters to KREP (for REPublic). In 1930, the call letters changed to the present KTAR (for "Keep Taking the Arizona Republic"). http://www.smecc.org/kfad_-_krep_-_ktar_-_history.htmhttp://www.qzvx.com/phxradio/amdial.html
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
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, Globe
Globe, Arizona
Globe has an arid climate, characterized by hot summers and moderate to warm winters. Globe's arid climate is somewhat tempered by its elevation, however, leading to slightly cooler temperatures and slightly more precipitation than Phoenix or Yuma....
, Prescott
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
and Yuma
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
.
In 1944, the Republic sold KTAR to Chicago, Illinois advertiser John J. Louis, Sr. In 1955, Louis bought two-year-old KTYL-TV (channel 12), Phoenix' second television station, from Harkins Theatres
Harkins Theatres
Harkins Theatres is a movie theater chain with locations throughout the Southwestern United States. Harkins Theatres is privately owned and operated by its parent company, Harkins Enterprises, LLC...
, and changed the call letters to KVAR-TV. In 1959, KVAR-TV became KTAR-TV. The same year, the stations moved to a new studio on Central Avenue in Phoenix. The Louis family bought several other broadcasting interests in the 1960s. Eventually, the Louis broadcasting interests became known as Pacific & Southern Broadcasting, headquartered in Phoenix with KTAR-AM-FM-TV as the flagship stations.
In 1968, Pacific & Southern merged with a local billboard advertising business owned by Karl Eller
Karl Eller
Karl Eller is an Arizona business leader and nationally recognized entrepreneur.Eller grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He played football collegiately at the University of Arizona where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity....
and became known in 1973 as Combined Communications Corporation. John J. Louis Jr. was Chairman of the new Company and Karl Eller the CEO.
In 1979, after Louis and Eller merged their media empire with Gannett in what was then the largest media merger in U.S. history. The FCC barred Gannett from keeping both the radio stations and KTAR-TV (now KPNX
KPNX
KPNX is a full-service television station serving the Phoenix, Arizona television market as the NBC affiliate. Its studios and offices are located in Phoenix and its transmitter is on South Mountain in Phoenix but it is licensed to the suburb of Mesa. It is owned by the Gannett Company which also...
). KTAR was acquired by Pulitzer Publishing Company
Pulitzer, Inc.
Founded by Joseph Pulitzer , Pulitzer Inc., owned 14 daily newspapers across the United States, and one weekly chain. Its papers included the St...
, the then-owners of Tucson's major morning newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Star is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. The paper was purchased by Pulitzer in 1971; Lee Enterprises bought Pulitzer in 2005....
. KPNX kept the Central Avenue studio.
At the start of 2011, KPNX moved from its location on Central Avenue, where the station had been since 1959, to the building that houses the Arizona Republic at 200 East Van Buren in downtown Phoenix.
1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s
The station was purchased by Hearst-ArgyleHearst-Argyle
Hearst Television, Inc. is a broadcasting company in the United States, owned by the New York City-based Hearst Corporation. It holds joint ventures in television production with NBC Universal Television Distribution...
in 1999, then Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications
Emmis Communications is a media conglomerate based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company owns radio stations and magazines in the United States, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.-History:...
in 2001, and in 2004 by Bonneville as part of a multi-station swap with Emmis. http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000652666 Ironically, when it was sold to Bonneville, it began a news-sharing relationship with KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV
KPHO-TV, channel 5, is a CBS-affiliate television station located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. KPHO-TV is owned by the Meredith Corporation, and has its studios located on Black Canyon Highway in the Alhambra Village section of Phoenix, with its transmitter located on South Mountain in Phoenix...
: it was once sister to rival KPNX
KPNX
KPNX is a full-service television station serving the Phoenix, Arizona television market as the NBC affiliate. Its studios and offices are located in Phoenix and its transmitter is on South Mountain in Phoenix but it is licensed to the suburb of Mesa. It is owned by the Gannett Company which also...
.
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-FMKTAR-FM
KTAR-FM is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. Licensed to Glendale, Arizona, USA, the station serves the Phoenix area and is currently owned by Bonneville Holding Company...
to match its new ownership. On 18 September of that year, KTAR started the simulcast. KKFR's intellectual property was sold to Riviera Broadcast Group. In turn, Riviera bought KKLD in Prescott Valley, which was moved to Mayer in order to put in a better signal to Phoenix. The result was a new KKFR
KKFR
KKFR "Power 98.3" is a Rhythmic Contemporary Hit Radio outlet in the Phoenix, Arizona, radio market. The station broadcasts at 98.3 MHz on the FM dial with an effective radiated power of 41 kW. Its COL was Mayer, Arizona. The station is owned and operated by Riviera Broadcast Group...
on 98.3 FM. The simulcast continued until 1 January 2007, when 92.3 became the home of the news/talk format and the format of ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
-affiliated KMVP moved to 620. Both stations retained the KTAR call letters.
2007 onward: Sports 620 KTAR
The last sports event carried on News 620 KTAR was the Arizona CardinalsArizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
facing the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on 31 December 2006. In contrast, the first event carried on Sports 620 KTAR was the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
between the Boise State Broncos
2006 Boise State Broncos football team
The 2006 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 2006 college football season. The Broncos won the Western Athletic Conference championship with an undefeated 12–0 regular-season record , their second unbeaten regular season in the past three years...
and the Oklahoma Sooners
2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 2006-2007, winning the Big 12 Conference Championship...
on 1 January 2007.
Until April 14, 2007, KTAR used to simulcast on KMVP
KMVP
KMVP is the callsign for a radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. KMVP is owned by Bonneville International Corporation.-History:The 860 kHz frequency was occupied by several radio stations in Phoenix. The first station signed on the air as early as 1953 with the call letters KIFN. KIFN was Phoenix's...
at 860 kHz, also owned by Bonneville.
While KMVP aired an extensive lineup of shows from ESPN Radio, KTAR has decided to air mostly local shows. For example, only the first two hours of Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning is an American sports-talk radio show hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio and simulcast on television, normally on ESPN2. If ESPN is broadcasting a live sporting event during the show's timeslot, Sportscenter will air on ESPN2, and the show's...
is aired on Sports 620. KTAR does air ESPN Radio play-by-play if the schedule allows.
Awards
The station was one of 10 stations awarded the 2007 Crystal Radio Award for public service awarded by the National Association of BroadcastersNational Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
. Winners were honored at the Radio Luncheon on April 17, 2007, during the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.