 | |
| Broadcast area | Phoenix area |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 740kHz |
| Branding | En Familia Radio |
| Programming | |
| Format | SpanishCatholicreligious radio |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | En Familia, Inc. |
| History | |
Former call signs |
|
Call sign meaning | KID Radio (former format) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 6383 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
|
Transmitter coordinates | 33°21′55″N112°6′30″W / 33.36528°N 112.10833°W /33.36528; -112.10833 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | enfamiliamedios.org |
KIDR (740AM) is aradio station inPhoenix, Arizona. KIDR is owned by En Familia, Inc. and airs aSpanish-languageRoman Catholicreligiousradio format. The station'stransmitter is off South 23rd Avenue in Phoenix.[2]
The station broadcasts with 1,000watts by day; but becauseAM 740 is a Canadianclear-channel frequency, it must reduce power to 292 watts at night to avoid causing interference toCFZM. The station also protectsKCBS inSan Francisco andKTRH inHouston. KIDR uses adirectional antenna around the clock.
At 7:40 am on February 1, 1958,[3] the station firstsigned on as KUEQ (written by the station as KUE-Q). The station was built by the Q Broadcasting Company and was believed to be the first fully automated radio station in the country, playing out programming from tapes during its daytime broadcast hours. Initial studios were located in the Villa Motel on East Van Buren Street.KUEQ was sold twice in its first five years of broadcasting. Dynamic Associates became the licensee in 1959, selling to Radio Station KUEQ, Inc., in 1962.
In October 1964, KUEQ acquired a troubledFM station in Phoenix, KEPI at 96.9 MHz, and relaunched it as easy listening KMEO. Prior to being bought, KEPI had been off the air for most of 1964. In May 1967, KUEQ became KMEO, and the two stations became a simulcast. The stations branded as "Cameo," signifying acameo carving, or a cherished piece of jewelry. Since KMEO was adaytime only station because it broadcast on a clear-channel frequency, the creation of the simulcast allowed KMEO-AM-FM to broadcast around the clock. From the 1960s till the early 90s, the two stationssimulcast abeautiful music format, which was quite successful and lasted through several ownership changes.
In 1976, B & D Broadcasting, owned by the Beauchamp and Dodge families,[4] bought KMEO-AM-FM; the pair was sold in 1980 toScripps-Howard Broadcasting, which owned the stations until it was required to divest them in 1985 so it could acquireKNXV-TV,[5] a decision upheld that July by theFederal Communications Commission.[6]Group W bought the KMEO stations for $11.25 million later that year.[7]
Initially, KMEO remained successful. WhenKQYT flipped from easy listening in 1986, its listeners moved to KMEO, shooting the station into a tie withKZZP at the top of the Phoenix radio ratings.[8] However, by early 1989, Group W was ready to try something different, moving to a soft adult contemporary sound and away from the syndicated format it had used.[9] However, the changes caused KMEO's ratings to decline.[10] The AM station was the first in the Valley (and possibly the entire United States) toplay continuous Christmas music, doing so in 1989, twelve years before the format went nationwide.[11]
Bonneville International bought KMEO-AM-FM from Group W in 1991.[12] AM and FM programming was split for good when Bonneville relaunched KMEO-FM as "Sunny 97" KPSN on July 3, 1991; it is nowKMXP. KMEO remained an easy listening station for another year.
As the popularity ofeasy listening music declined among younger listeners, KMEO changed formats. In October 1992,[13] AM 740 became anaffiliate ofRadio AAHS, achildren's radio network. The station changed itscall sign to KIDR, standing for KID Radio. Although the station has changed ownership and formats several times, its callsigns still refer to "Kid Radio." (The KMEO call letters were briefly used in the early 90s at93.7 FM in Wickenburg.)
Bonneville sold the station to Radio AAHS directly in 1997. In 1998, when Radio AAHS ended its operations, KIDR began carrying its successor network, which included, for 12 hours each night, a dance/EDM music format known asBeat Radio. During the summer of 1998, then-programming director Matt Miller would deejay an hour of contemporary dance and alternative rock music from 2-3 PM Wednesdays-Fridays, in what would be deemed "The Afternoon Fiesta".[14] Later in 1998, KIDR began broadcasting the Catholic Radio Network.
In 2000, KIDR was bought by Radio Única, a national Spanish-language talk network. Radio Única failed to attract enough listeners or advertisers, so in 2003, KIDR and the other Radio Única-owned stations were sold toMulticultural Broadcasting as part of a $150 millionbankruptcy liquidation.[15][16]
Force Broadcasting, LLC acquired KIDR from Multicultural in 2009 for $1.5 million.[17] On December 28, 2012, Force Broadcasting sold KIDR to En Familia, Inc. for $1.85 million.[citation needed]