KOY
Encyclopedia
KOY in Phoenix
is the oldest radio station
in the state of Arizona
. It is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications
.
station 6BBH on 360 meters (833 kHz). Earl Neilsen was the holder of the 6BBH callsign (there were no country prefixes for hams prior to 1928). At that time, broadcasting by ham radio operators was legal.
In 1922, the station received its broadcast license, under the Neilsen Radio & Sporting Goods Company business name, with the callsign KFCB. While the KFCB call letters were sequentially assigned, the station adopted the slogan "Kind Friends Come Back" to match the callsign.
A Phoenix teenager & radio enthusiast named Barry Goldwater
was one of the new station's first employees.
When the AM broadcast band was opened in 1923 by the Department of Commerce, KFCB moved around the dial, as did many stations at the time. It was on 1260, 1230, 1310, and 1390 before moving to its long-time home of 550 kHz in 1941. KFCB became KOY on February 8, 1929.
From the 1932 to 1949, KOY was the CBS
Radio Network affiliate for the Phoenix area. It became the Mutual
affiliate in 1949 after KOOL
960 took the CBS affiliation.
In 1936, Earl Neilsen sold KOY to the Prairie Farmer Magazine, dba Salt River Valley Broadcasting Company. He remained Station Manager for a couple of years. Prairie Farmer was the owner of WLS
radio in Chicago at the time.
In March 1937, KOY moved from its long-time home on N. Central Ave. to 12th St. & Camelback Rd. (KOY never had studios at 12th St. and Camelback but that was the location of its transmitter until the late 1960's.) That location is now the home of a car dealer. The 550 (KFYI) transmitter is now near 36th St. & Southern Ave. in south Phoenix.
For a brief period KOY entered the television business, sharing the operations of Channel 10 with KOOL (now KSAZ-TV
). Because early television involved large expenses and very small income, it was decided that KOY would do much better if it concentrated on radio.
KOY and its Adult Standards format moved to AM 1230 when station owner AM/FM (now Clear Channel
) purchased the call letters, studio, and sports-talk programming of KGME
1360, and moved it to 550 in April 1999.
KOY's format is "Adult Standards
/Classic Adult Contemporary". The station features a mix of artists like Frank Sinatra
, The Carpenters
, Elvis Presley
, Nat King Cole
, The Platters
, Billy Joel
, Neil Diamond
, Simon & Garfunkel, Petula Clark
, Dean Martin
, The 5th Dimension, Ray Charles
, and others. Morning show host Danny Davis is a fixture on KOY and is well loved by the station's listeners. The station carries the John Tesh
Radio Program in afternoons. The remainder of the programming is mostly satellite fed from the Dial Global network with a play list including Frank Sinatra
, Dean Martin
, Barbra Streisand
and more.
For many years, KOY was the Valley's top station. KOY still maintains a loyal audience and is regularly at the top of the Adults 55+ ratings and often in the top 10 in the Adults 35+ demographic.
From sign-on in 1940 to March 1941, KPHO occupied 1200 kHz and was the home of the NBC Blue Network, which later became ABC
. Prior to KPHO's sign-on, both NBC Red and NBC Blue network programs aired on KTAR
. On March 28, 1941, KPHO and all other stations on 1200 moved to 1230, when NARBA took effect. In 1949, KPHO moved to 910 kHz. 910 was later the home of KJJJ and KFYI
, and is now XTRA Sports 910
.
In 1950, AM 1230 returned to the air as KRIZ, which became an extremely successful AM top 40 station beginning in the late 1950s. KRIZ died in 1978, replaced by religious broadcaster KFLR. KFLR moved to FM 90.3 in the 1980s (they briefly simulcasted). After that, 1230 was KAMJ, KISP, and KISO prior to becoming KOY in 1999, running adult-contemporary (simulcast on 101.5 for a time), news/talk/sports, and classic country formats. KAMJ was the original home of Rush Limbaugh
, before he moved to KFYI.
The 1200/1230 transmitter has been located at 2345 W. Buckeye Rd. in Phoenix since sign-on in 1940. The KRIZ studios were also located there.
In the 1980s KOY-AM also had a sister station, KOY-FM which was known as Y-95. Y-95 was a contemporary hit radio
(Top-40) station and was owned by Edens Broadcasting, headed by Gary Edens.
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...
is the oldest radio station
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 the state of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. It is owned and operated by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
.
KOY
KOY was the first radio station in the state of Arizona, signing on in 1921 as Amateur RadioAmateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...
station 6BBH on 360 meters (833 kHz). Earl Neilsen was the holder of the 6BBH callsign (there were no country prefixes for hams prior to 1928). At that time, broadcasting by ham radio operators was legal.
In 1922, the station received its broadcast license, under the Neilsen Radio & Sporting Goods Company business name, with the callsign KFCB. While the KFCB call letters were sequentially assigned, the station adopted the slogan "Kind Friends Come Back" to match the callsign.
A Phoenix teenager & radio enthusiast named Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
was one of the new station's first employees.
When the AM broadcast band was opened in 1923 by the Department of Commerce, KFCB moved around the dial, as did many stations at the time. It was on 1260, 1230, 1310, and 1390 before moving to its long-time home of 550 kHz in 1941. KFCB became KOY on February 8, 1929.
From the 1932 to 1949, KOY was the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Radio Network affiliate for the Phoenix area. It became the Mutual
Mutual
Mutual may refer to:*Mutual organization, where customers derive a right to profits and votes*Mutual information, the intersection of multiple information sets*Mutual insurance, where policyholders have certain "ownership" rights in the organization...
affiliate in 1949 after KOOL
Kool
Kool may refer to:* Kool , a brand of cigarettes* Kool & The Gang, a 1970s R&B and Funk band* Kool, a 2011 Kannada language film-Broadcasting:*KOOL-FM, a radio station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States...
960 took the CBS affiliation.
In 1936, Earl Neilsen sold KOY to the Prairie Farmer Magazine, dba Salt River Valley Broadcasting Company. He remained Station Manager for a couple of years. Prairie Farmer was the owner of WLS
WLS
WLS may refer to:* White light scanner, a device for measuring physical geometry* WLS , a radio station * WLS-FM, a radio station * WLS-TV, a television station...
radio in Chicago at the time.
In March 1937, KOY moved from its long-time home on N. Central Ave. to 12th St. & Camelback Rd. (KOY never had studios at 12th St. and Camelback but that was the location of its transmitter until the late 1960's.) That location is now the home of a car dealer. The 550 (KFYI) transmitter is now near 36th St. & Southern Ave. in south Phoenix.
For a brief period KOY entered the television business, sharing the operations of Channel 10 with KOOL (now KSAZ-TV
KSAZ-TV
KSAZ-TV, virtual channel 10.1, is the Fox owned-and-operated station in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned by Fox Television Stations in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV station KUTP ....
). Because early television involved large expenses and very small income, it was decided that KOY would do much better if it concentrated on radio.
KOY and its Adult Standards format moved to AM 1230 when station owner AM/FM (now Clear Channel
Clear channel
A clear-channel station is an AM band Radio station in North America that has the highest protection from interference from other stations, particularly concerning night-time skywave propagation. Usually known as class A stations since 1982, they are occasionally still referred to by their former...
) purchased the call letters, studio, and sports-talk programming of KGME
KGME
KGME, branded XTRA Sports 910, is a sports radio station located in Phoenix, Arizona and serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. KGME is owned by Clear Channel Communications, the former owners of Mexican station XETRA in Southern California, where the XTRA name came from.The station's weekday...
1360, and moved it to 550 in April 1999.
KOY's format is "Adult Standards
Adult standards
Adult standards is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations.Adult standards is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly those persons over 50 years of age, but it is mostly targeted for senior citizens...
/Classic Adult Contemporary". The station features a mix of artists like Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Simon & Garfunkel, Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, The 5th Dimension, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, and others. Morning show host Danny Davis is a fixture on KOY and is well loved by the station's listeners. The station carries the John Tesh
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2 Million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in US, Canada, and the UK...
Radio Program in afternoons. The remainder of the programming is mostly satellite fed from the Dial Global network with a play list including Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and more.
For many years, KOY was the Valley's top station. KOY still maintains a loyal audience and is regularly at the top of the Adults 55+ ratings and often in the top 10 in the Adults 35+ demographic.
1230 kHz in Phoenix
1230 kHz, and its pre-NARBA predecessor 1200 kHz, has been occupied in Phoenix since 1940.From sign-on in 1940 to March 1941, KPHO occupied 1200 kHz and was the home of the NBC Blue Network, which later became ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Prior to KPHO's sign-on, both NBC Red and NBC Blue network programs aired on KTAR
KTAR
KTAR may refer to:* KTAR , a radio station licensed to Phoenix, Arizona, United States.* KTAR-FM, a radio station licensed to Glendale, Arizona, United States.* Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman...
. On March 28, 1941, KPHO and all other stations on 1200 moved to 1230, when NARBA took effect. In 1949, KPHO moved to 910 kHz. 910 was later the home of KJJJ and KFYI
KFYI
KFYI is an American news/talk radio station broadcasting in Phoenix, Arizona. KFYI is owned by Clear Channel Communications. KFYI transmits in both analog AM and digital HD Radio.The digital signal is also rebroadcast on KNIX-FM's HD2 channel....
, and is now XTRA Sports 910
KGME
KGME, branded XTRA Sports 910, is a sports radio station located in Phoenix, Arizona and serving the Phoenix metropolitan area. KGME is owned by Clear Channel Communications, the former owners of Mexican station XETRA in Southern California, where the XTRA name came from.The station's weekday...
.
In 1950, AM 1230 returned to the air as KRIZ, which became an extremely successful AM top 40 station beginning in the late 1950s. KRIZ died in 1978, replaced by religious broadcaster KFLR. KFLR moved to FM 90.3 in the 1980s (they briefly simulcasted). After that, 1230 was KAMJ, KISP, and KISO prior to becoming KOY in 1999, running adult-contemporary (simulcast on 101.5 for a time), news/talk/sports, and classic country formats. KAMJ was the original home of Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
, before he moved to KFYI.
The 1200/1230 transmitter has been located at 2345 W. Buckeye Rd. in Phoenix since sign-on in 1940. The KRIZ studios were also located there.
In the 1980s KOY-AM also had a sister station, KOY-FM which was known as Y-95. Y-95 was a contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
(Top-40) station and was owned by Edens Broadcasting, headed by Gary Edens.