By January 1924 , KFAD was in operation daily from 7:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. In early 1925, the "Class C" 100 watt station was assigned to operate on 1100 kilocycles by the Radio Division.
In late 1925, KFAD's license was transferred to the Electrical Equipment Company of Phoenix. This new firm was owned by the McArthur Brothers Mercantile Company. KFAD's studio and transmitting location was changed to 312 North Central Avenue, and power was concurrently increased to 500 watts in early 1927. By late 1927, KFAD's slogan, used on the air and off, was "The Gold Spot of America." Again, KFAD's dial position was altered--shifting to 330 kilocycles in early 1928. At 3 a.m. Saturday, November 11, 1928, the effective date of a major frequency reallocations ordered by the newly empowered Federal Radio Commission, KFAD was assigned to broadcast on 620 kilocycles.
A new studio was outfitted in early 1929, adjacent to its transmitting location at 316 North Central Avenue, in the same building as before. By the fall of 1929, the station's air motto was "Phoenix, where Winter Never Comes." In November 1929, KFAD was transferred to The Arizona Publishing Company, publisher of The Arizona Republic daily newspaper. Minority interest in the 500 watt station was retained by the Electrical Equipment Company of Phoenix. W.W. Knorpp was assigned by the newspaper as Station Manager of KFAD, which, in late November 1929 was assigned new call letters: KREP (for "Republic"). KREP was first used by the station in early December. A second thought about call letters for the station brought on the request for a new call, because KREP was being mispronounced. On December 26, 1929, the FCC authorized KREP to change call letters to KTAR ("The Arizona Republic"). This change was effective February 23, 1930. Also in early 1930, daytime power of the station was increased to 1,000 watts. Night power remained at the 500 watt level. Studios continued to be located at 316 North Central, while its transmitter and masts were located at 314 North Central.
KTAR affiliated with the National Broadcasting Company "chain" on June 8, 1930, becoming Arizona's first affiliate of that nationwide network. In late June 1930, a new corporation was formed by "The Arizona Republic" newspaper and the Electrical Equipment Company to operate their station--The KTAR Broadcasting Company.
By 1935, KTAR was granted an SA (Special Authorization) by the Federal Communications Commission to utilize 1,000 watts for its nighttime broadcasts; however, it remained licensed for 500 watts of power at night. On February 26, 1935, the station was granted a construction permit to increase night power permanently to 1,000 watts. KTAR became a fulltime 1 KW facility shortly thereafter.
Today, KTAR 620 NEWS/TALK/SPORTS . . . Arizona's oldest continuously licensed broadcast station, operates 24 hours a day with an all news and information format from studios at 301 W. Osborn Road, Phoenix, Arizona. Operating at 620 kHz with 5,000 watts (nighttime directional), KTAR is licensed to Phoenix Broadcasting, Inc., a subsidiary of the Pulitzer Broadcasting Company (Michael E. Pulitzer, President and Chief Executive Officer). James F. Taszarek is Vice President and General Manager of the ABC Information Network affiliated station.
