KFYI

KFYI
City Phoenix, Arizona
Broadcast area Phoenix metropolitan area
Branding News/Talk 550 KFYI
Slogan The Most Trusted News in Phoenix
Frequency 550 kHz (also on HD Radio)
Repeater(s) 95.5-2 KYOT-HD2
First air date 1921
Format News/Talk
Power 5,000 watts daytime
1,000 watts nighttime
Class B
Facility ID 63918
Transmitter coordinates 33°23′16″N 112°0′24″W / 33.38778°N 112.00667°W / 33.38778; -112.00667Coordinates: 33°23′16″N 112°0′24″W / 33.38778°N 112.00667°W / 33.38778; -112.00667
Callsign meaning K For Your Information
Former callsigns KFCB (1922–1929)
KOY (1929–1999)
KGME (1999–2000)
Affiliations Fox News Radio, Premiere Networks
Owner iHeartMedia
(AMFM Radio Licenses, L.L.C.)
Sister stations KESZ, KGME, KMXP, KNIX-FM, KOY, KYOT, KZZP
Webcast Listen Live
Website kfyi.iheart.com

KFYI (550 kHz AM) is a news/talk radio station based in Phoenix, Arizona. Its signal covers the Phoenix metropolitan area and it uses the slogan "The Most Trusted News in Phoenix." KFYI is owned by iHeartMedia. Its studios are located in Phoenix near Sky Harbor Airport and its transmitter is in South Phoenix near 36th Street and Southern Avenue.

KFYI transmits in analog AM.[1] The digital signal is also rebroadcast on the HD2 channel of co-owned 95.5 KYOT.

Programming

KFYI's weekday lineup features a mix of national and local programming and news. Phoenix-based personalities heard on KFYI include Mike Broomhead (mornings), Chris Merrill (afternoons) and Rob Hunter (early morning news). The news staff (based in Phoenix) is Gregg Paul (managing editor & anchor); Ted Houston (reporter); and Sandra Haros (reporter). Former Congressman J. D. Hayworth resigned from KFYI in 2010 to pursue an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate against Senator John McCain.

Syndicated programming includes Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. The Glenn Beck Radio Program airs in the evening. Weekends include programs on money, health, "Handel on The Law" with Bill Handel and "The Kim Komando Show" featuring computer expert Kim Komando. Some weekend shows are brokered.

History

former logo

For decades AM 550 was the home of KOY. The station aired network programs in the pre-television era, then top 40 and from the 1980s, adult standards music. It was owned by Edens Broadcasting in the 1980s as the sister station to KOY-FM (Y95).

KFYI originated in 1985 on 910 AM, which had been the signal of KPHO radio (co-owned with KPHO-TV, channel 5, until 1972). All-sports station KGME occupies 910 AM today. The frequency switch took place in 2003. The call letters KFYI had been previously used by a station in Oakland, California, now KMKY.[2]

KFYI signed on over the 550 kHz frequency at 5:30am on July 10, 1985 with Morning Host Charlie Van Dyke, newsman Brad Messer and sports anchor Jim Jeffrey. KFYI host Barry Young served as the station's program director from 1988 until 1998, retiring from the station on November 7, 2014.

Controversy

On March 8, 2006 KFYI made news when fill-in host Brian James suggested that the United States National Guard and Border Patrol should shoot to kill people illegally crossing the US-Mexican border.[3] He also stated on the air that he would be "happy to sit there with my high-powered rifle and my night scope" and kill people as they cross the border. Those remarks prompted Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton to complain to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), calling the remarks "irresponsible and dangerous".[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.freqseek.com/AZ/Phoenix/hd-radio-stations.aspx?page=1 Freq Seek list of HD radio stations in Phoenix
  2. ↑ History of the call signs of KMKY
  3. ↑ "'Shoot illegals' comment earns host FCC complaint". WND. 2006-04-08. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  4. ↑ Associated Press, April 10, 2006. Officials: Radio host's call to kill border crossers dangerous Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
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