KKFR
| City of license | Mayer, Arizona |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Branding | "Power 98.3" |
| Slogan | "Where Hip-Hop Lives" |
| Frequency | 98.3 (MHz) |
| First air date | 1985 (at 92.3 MHz) |
| Format | Rhythmic Contemporary |
| ERP | 41,000 watts |
| HAAT | 852 meters |
| Class | C |
| Facility ID | 41462 |
| Callsign meaning | K K FiRe (A reference to its former moniker "92 Fire FM") |
| Owner | Riviera Broadcast Group (RBG Phoenix Licenses, LLC) |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www.power983fm.com |
KKFR (98.3 FM) - also known as "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 is Mayer, Arizona. The station is owned and operated by Riviera Broadcast Group. Its studios are located on 7th Street in Midtown Phoenix, while its transmitter is located in Crown King, Arizona (producing a rimshot signal from 50 miles northwest of Phoenix).
Competition-wise, KKFR is one of two Rhythmic stations battling for listeners in the Phoenix market, the other being KNRJ. In addition, the station competes against Mainstream Top 40 stations KZZP, KMVA and KZON. This marks the first time in many years that Power had significant competition with rival stations in the market.
History
92.3 FM
See also KTAR-FM
On December 19, 1970, 92.3 FM 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 Scott Tuchman and Rick Nuhn.
In 1982, the station flipped to "Easy Country" as KEZC. In 1984, KEZC began simulcasting KJJJ (now KGME) as KJJJ-FM, a more mainstream country music station. In 1985, KJJJ-FM flipped to a gold-based Top 40 format known as "The Fire Station, Arizona's 92 Fire FM" with new KKFR call letters. Over the years, KKFR began shifting towards a more rhythmic/dance music direction. They also adopted the "Power 92" moniker in 1988 and patterned their direction on (then and now once-former sister station) KPWR in Los Angeles. They would later modify it to "Power 92.3" in 2000. TV personality Danny Bonaduce worked at KKFR for a few months in 1989 and 1990 as a morning program co-host.
On December 16, 1993, despite high ratings with their rhythmic-leaning direction, KKFR evolved to a mainstream Top 40 and leaned slightly toward modern rock (to less of an extent than other Top 40 stations in other markets), but the ratings slipped; from January to March 1995, the station re-added rhythmic and dance music tracks to the playlist, and regained much of its lost audience.
By 1997, they played less dance songs, leading the transformation towards a R&B/Hip-Hop approach. By the end of the year, the station was no longer Top 40. Beginning in 2005, they started adding more rhythmic pop tracks into the playlist.
Chancellor Media (which later became AMFM, Inc.) 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 became its owner in 2000.
Move to 98.3
On May 8, 2006, Emmis sold KKFR to Bonneville International, which, in turn, announced that KKFR would become the news station for the market as KTAR-FM, their AM on 620 absorbing the sports assets of KMVP. On July 12, Emmis sold the KKFR intellectual property to Riviera Broadcast Group, which already owned KEDJ, for use on another radio station. The station was KKLD (98.3 FM), liceensed to Prescott Valley, which relocated its city of license to Mayer and became the new KKFR on September 1 .
On June 22, 2007, KKFR picked up an unlikely competitor when KZON dropped Talk to go Rhythmic CHR as "101.5 JAMZ". When KZON made the flip, it aired attack liners towards KKFR by telling listeners that "The Power's Out," "Where Hip-Hop USED to live," and "100,000 watts of 'Static-Free' Jamz!" However, in a statement made to the Arizona Republic, KKFR's then-PD Bruce St. James had the following to say, "What are they going to do? Play more Hip Hop than us? Really, I think we'll be ok." [1] St. James, by the way, would end up joining KZON as its new PD in January 2010.[2]
On December 1, 2008, KKFR dropped "Where Hip Hop Lives" in favor of the slogan "The Valley's #1 Hit Music Station" but retained its Rhythmic direction. Ironically, KZON adopted the latter slogan in November, a month before KKFR changed theirs. This move gave Phoenix two radio stations with the same format and slogan; KKFR decided to drop the slogan after nearly a year. A similarity happened to rivaling top 40 stations KZZP and KMVA.
References
External links
- Power 98.3's website
- Query the FCC's FM station database for KKFR
- Radio-Locator information on KKFR
- Query Nielsen Audio's FM station database for KKFR
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