| |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Phoenix metro area |
| Frequency | 98.7MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Arizona Sports 98.7 FM |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Format | Sports |
| Subchannels | HD2: Sports (KTAR) |
| Affiliations | ESPN Radio Arizona Cardinals Arizona Coyotes Arizona Diamondbacks Arizona State Sun Devils Phoenix Suns |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | July 1960 (64 years ago) (1960-07) |
Former call signs |
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Call sign meaning | "Most Valuable Player" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 52514 |
| Class | C |
| ERP | 100,000 watts |
| HAAT | 545 meters (1,788 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 33°19′59″N112°03′50″W / 33.333°N 112.064°W /33.333; -112.064 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast |
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| Website | arizonasports |
KMVP-FM (98.7MHz) is a commercialradio station inPhoenix, Arizona, featuring asports format branded as "98.7 FM Arizona's Sports Station". Local programming airs on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., withESPN Sports Radio heard nights and weekends. Owned bySalt Lake City–basedBonneville International, KMVP-FM's radio studios are on North 16th Street in Phoenix nearPiestewa Peak, while the transmitter is inSouth Mountain Park.
Arizona Sports is theflagship station of theMLB'sArizona Diamondbacks,NBA'sPhoenix Suns, theNFL'sArizona Cardinals and theArizona State UniversitySun Devils football games. It was also the flagship station of theNHL'sArizona Coyotes until the franchise left the state ofArizona and technically became theUtah Hockey Club in 2024.
In July 1960, the station signed on as KTAR-FM, co-owned withKTAR and KTAR-TV (KPNX). KTAR-AM-FM mostlysimulcast amiddle of the road format of popular music, news and sports. In 1973, the FM station became KBBC, to distinguish it from sister station KTAR.
KBBC aired abeautiful music format of instrumentalcover versions of popular adult songs, along with someBroadway andHollywood show tunes. Over time, to stay youthful, KBBC added more soft vocals and reduced the instrumentals.
The station became one of the nation's pioneers of the "Soft Rock" format under the programming direction of J.D. Freeman who moved over fromKNIX-FM afternoon drive. In 1982, the format evolved intosoft adult contemporary music branded as "K-Lite."
To go with the K-Lite branding, thecall sign was changed to KKLT. The staff included program director Marc McCoy and sales manager Ken Hoag. KKLT had to compete withKESZ for the Soft AC audience. As it lost ratings to its rival, KKLT gradually stepped up the tempo of its music to a more mainstreamadult contemporary. Despite the changes, KESZ continued to dominate in audience share.
On May 28, 2004, the format was changed toadult hits as "The Peak." The call letters were switched to KPKX on May 9, 2005. KPKX became one of the first stations in the U.S. to use the format, and the first not branded as "Jack FM" or "Bob FM". The first song on "The Peak" was "A Change Would Do You Good" bySheryl Crow.
The Peak featured the voice of actorJohn O'Hurley as "Mr. Peakerman", a well meaning but bumbling station owner who more or less allows the staff to play "whatever they want". The station was the brainchild of programmer Joel Grey, with writing and creative imaging produced by John Hugill. Highly successful for Bonneville, it became the de facto flagship of other properties like95.7 Max FM inSan Francisco and106.5 The Arch inSt. Louis.
At 10 a.m. on January 6, 2014, after playingAll The Small Things byBlink-182, and a brief goodbye message from program manager Steve Douglas, KPKX flipped tosimulcastsports radio-formattedKTAR. On January 9, 2014, KPKX changed its call sign to KMVP-FM.KTAR-FM was already on air, so 98.7 was unable to simply copy the AM callsign.[2]
On July 10, 2014, Bonneville announced Arizona Sports would be exclusively heard on 98.7 FM, effective September 15. KTAR then began carryingESPN Radio full time.[3]
Dan Bickley and Vince Marotta host the morningdrive time. Luke Lapinski andRon Wolfley are heard in middays. Dave Burns and John Gambadoro are on in the afternoon. ESPN Radio is carried late nights and weekends.