Radio KTAR-FM

KTAR-FM is a talk radio station in Phoenix, Arizona. KTAR-FM, which is operated at 92.3 MHz in the FM band, is owned by Bonneville Holding Company (a subsidiary of Bonneville International). It is co-owned with KTAR on 620 kHz in the AM band, which split off from KTAR-FM on 1 January 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.

In the late 1960s, the station first signed on as KXTC, and aired a mix of mainstream and contemporary jazz music. 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 Rick Nuhn, who would eventually be found at a number of other stations after KXTC became KEZC, and those included KUKQ 1060 AM, and most recently he worked for KNRJ/KAJM but did most of the work there for KAJM.News Talk 92.3 KTAR-FMIn 2006, Emmis sold the station to Bonneville International. In turn, Bonneville announced a format change that would add a station to the Phoenix dial and change the Arizona radio landscape. Bonneville announced it would gradually move the news and talk aired on KTAR 620 to KKFR beginning 18 September 2006 (which was the day KKFR became KTAR-FM), and the AM property would merge with KMVP, the local ESPN Radio station, which would then be complete by 1 January 2007. When the merges, format changes, and divestitures were completed (such as a sale of KMVP-AM), KTAR-FM would become the news station, KTAR would become "Sports 620 KTAR" and acquire the broadcast rights to sports teams that KTAR held, and KMVP-AM would be divested after a simulcast period with KTAR. Meanwhile, the former occupant of 92.3, KKFR, went through changes; its intellectual property was acquired by Riviera Broadcast Group (which already owned KEDJ and two stations in Las Vegas), 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. 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.

KTAR-FM is basically a 24-hour news station, but will air live sporting events whenever more than one team with broadcast rights held by KTAR plays at the same time.

The decision to split KTAR into a news/talk station and an all-sports station was made by the management team of Erik Hellum, general manager; Russ Hill, director of news/talk and sports programming; and Scott Sutherland, director of sales. Hill oversaw the move of Bonneville's station KSL to FM and was brought in to manage the product changes. Sutherland was quickly promoted to market manager of Bonneville's Salt Lake City stations following the successful split.

Bonneville is pushing more news stations that it owns across the country onto FM, such as WTOP and WWWT in Washington, DC and KSL-FM in Bonneville's home market of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The splitting of KTAR into an all sports station on 620 AM and a news/talk station on 92.3 FM has been extremely successful leading to higher audience ratings and a market leading revenue position. The combined KTAR brand has an audience estimated by Arbitron as 590,000 people. That makes it the radio brand with the most listeners in Arizona.

News/Talk 92.3 KTAR features a lineup of Arizona's Morning News with Ned Foster and Connie Weber (5-9am), Bruce St. James (9am-noon), Glenn Beck (12-3pm), Mac & Gaydos (3-7pm), and Dave Ramsey (7-10pm). KTAR-FM produces more than 14 hours of local programming a day.