KTAR-FM is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk format. Licensed to Glendale, Arizona, United States, the station serves the Phoenix area and is currently owned by Bonneville International Corporation. It is co-owned with KTAR on 620 kHz in the AM band, which split off from KTAR-FM on January 1, 2007, as to provide more news on 92.3 FM and more sports on 620 AM, which absorbed the assets of co-owned KMVP at 860 kHz in Phoenix. Its studios are located in Phoenix near Piestewa Peak and its transmitter is in South Mountain Park.
History
KXTC
On December 19, 1970, the station first signed on as KXTC, and aired a mix of mainstream and contemporary jazz music. It initially broadcast from a transmitter atop the Westward Ho. That lasted until 1978, when they switched to a disco format which they would have for about two years, using the name "Disco 92". Show hosts included Scott Tuchman and Rick Nuhn. The station dropped disco for country in 1980, going by "KC-92". In January 1981, the station moved to Shaw Butte, and three months later, KXTC became KJJJ-FM for the first time.
In 1982, the call lettersKEZC were issued on 92.3 FM, the station played a softer version of country formats common in the Phoenix market, and the station slogan was 'Easy Country'. In 1984, the station began to simulcast with KJJJ as KJJJ-FM, a country music station. In 1985, KJJJ-FM flipped from country, and KKFR premiered 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, they began using "Hot Hits 92.3", but was forced to drop that by Mike Jacobs, the owner of the "Hot Hits" slogan nationally. Over the next few years, they began shifting towards a Rhythmic/Dance Music mix. They also adopted the name "Power 92", which patterned their direction on then and now former sister station KPWR in Los Angeles. During this time, KKFR heavily competed against KZZP and KOY-FM. In April 1991, however, KZZP flipped to hot AC, while in September 1993, KOY-FM would drop out of the format and flip first to an ill-fated "rhythm and rock" format, and then smooth jazz, leaving KKFR as the lone Top 40-oriented station in the market. On December 16, 1993, despite high ratings with their rhythmic direction, KKFR evolved to a mainstream Top 40 and leaned slightly toward Modern Rock ; however, the station lost much of its audience and ratings slipped, and from January to March 1995, the station re-added rhythmic and dance music to the playlist, which helped the station regain much of its lost audience. By 1997, they began dropping the dance cuts, leading to the transformation into a R&B/Hip-Hop approach. By the end of the year, the station was no longer Top 40 at all. Chancellor Media purchased the station in late 1998 from its longtime owners The Broadcast Group, but when the company merged with Clear Channel Communications, they had to divest the station to meet FCC ownership regulations. Emmis Communications bought the station in 2000. By this time, the "Power" moniker would be tweaked slightly to "Power 92.3".
News Talk 92.3 KTAR-FM
In 2006, Emmis sold the station to Bonneville International. In turn, Bonneville announced it would gradually move the news/talk format aired on KTAR 620 to KKFR beginning September 18, 2006, and the AM property would merge with KMVP, the local ESPN Radio station, which would then be complete by January 1, 2007. KTAR-FM would become the news station, KTAR would become "Arizona Sports 620" and 860 AM would be divested to the Cesar Chavez Foundation on March 9, 2017. Meanwhile, the former occupant of 92.3, KKFR, went through changes; its intellectual property was acquired by Riviera Broadcast Group, and shortly thereafter, moved to 98.3 FM licensed to Mayer, which was KKLD in Prescott Valley. Sunburst Media let Riviera operate and later own the station; KKFR took over KKLD and created the new KKFR on September 1. In 2007, less than a month after the split of the KTAR radio stations, the station tweaked its identity to News 92.3 KTAR-FM; previously, the "-FM" was not used, as the station was simulcasting with KTAR. Coincidentally, sister station KMVP-FM was the original home of the KTAR-FM call letters. KTAR-FM is a 24-hour news station, but will serve as an overflow for live sporting events whenever KMVP-FM and KTAR are unavailable.
