KGME

KGME (910 AM) is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona, featuring a sports format known as "Fox Sports 910." Owned by iHeartMedia, the station's studios are located in Phoenix near Sky Harbor International Airport, and broadcasts with 5,000 watts—directional at night—from a transmitter site at the intersection of 30th and Maryland Avenues in north Phoenix. In addition to a standard analog transmission, KGME is relayed over the third HD Radio subchannel of KESZ and is available online via iHeartRadio.

KGME is the third-oldest radio station in Phoenix. It began broadcasting in October 1940 at 1200 kHz (soon reassigned to 1230) as KPHO, the first new station on air in the Valley since KOY and KTAR, both built in the early 1920s. Founded by local insurance salesman M. C. Reese, the station grew with its sale to Phoenix Broadcasting, Inc., in 1943; for several years after the sale, Gene Autry was a minority owner. KPHO became the affiliate of the Blue Network, later ABC, in 1944; moved to 910 kHz and increased power in September 1949; and launched KPHO-TV, the first television station in Arizona, that December. From 1952 to 1972, KPHO was owned by the Meredith Corporation; by the end of Meredith ownership, KPHO was a news-intensive station.

After the transaction was delayed by protests and complications, Meredith sold KPHO to Dairyland Associates in 1972. The call letters were changed to KJJJ and the format to country music. KJJJ was one of the Valley's leading stations in the 1970s, though its fortunes declined under several owners in the late 1970s and early 1980s as music listening shifted away from AM and KNIX-FM became the market leader for country music. As a result, in 1985, owners The Broadcast Group changed the format to news/talk as KFYI. The station established itself as the second-rated talk outlet in the market behind KTAR and was a stop in the careers of several notable hosts, including Tom Leykis.

KFYI was sold twice in rapid succession in 1998 and 2000. The second sale, to iHeartMedia forerunner Clear Channel Communications, saw the KFYI format and call sign move to 550 kHz, longtime home of KOY, while KGME's sports talk programming migrated to 910. An affiliate of iHeart-owned Fox Sports Radio, the station also airs several local talk shows and is the current home of Arizona State Sun Devils men's ice hockey. However, with the intermittent exception of the Arizona Coyotes, most of Phoenix's major sports franchises continue to be heard on KMVP-FM and/or KTAR.

Phoenix businessman M. C. Reese, with decades of experience in the insurance industry, applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 30, 1938, for permission to build a new radio station on the local channel of 1500 kHz in Phoenix, soon amended to specify 1200 kHz instead. The FCC designated Reese's application for a hearing, initially concerned that granting the station would not be in the public interest, but granted it on January 25, 1940, later also turning down petitions to deny the grant from Phoenix's two existing radio stations, KOY and KTAR.

From studios at the corner of 24th Avenue and Buckeye Road, KPHO began broadcasting on October 26, 1940, ramping up to a full 20-hour daily schedule of broadcasting and without the use of any network programs. It was the third station for Phoenix, after KOY and KTAR (both built in the early 1920s), and was one of three newly built radio stations in the state during the year. KPHO, which broadcast hourly news summaries, was also responsible for bringing to Arizona the International News Service newswire, which was shared with KTAR and The Arizona Republic. Five months after going on the air, KPHO moved from 1200 to 1230 kHz as part of NARBA reallocation on March 29, 1941.

After slightly less than three years of ownership, Reese agreed to sell KPHO to Phoenix Broadcasting, Inc., for $60,000 in August 1943. The firm consisted of a number of local and out-of-state investors; its president, Rex Schepp, was affiliated with station WIRE in Indianapolis, and movie star Gene Autry was a minority shareholder. The deal received FCC approval and closed in January 1944. That August, KPHO joined the Blue Network (renamed ABC in 1945); the Blue Network had previously shared KTAR with the NBC Red Network, from which it had split. The result was that a number of Blue programs not previously heard in Phoenix were added to KPHO's lineup. Additionally, two Blue Network vice presidents were minority stockholders in Phoenix Broadcasting. The next month, it opened studios in the Hotel Adams. Schepp became the majority owner in 1945.

KPHO applied in 1946 to shift frequencies to 1030 kHz (amended the next year to 910 kHz), where it could increase power from 250 watts to ultimately 5,000. During this time, Phoenix gained another radio station, KOOL (960 AM), which proved to be highly relevant to changes taking place at KPHO. The station went on the air with 5,000 watts in June 1947 from studios in the Hotel Adams, and Autry opted to sell his minority stake at KPHO to buy KOOL. In Tucson, Autry and Charles Garland, who had been KPHO's general manager, owned station KOPO. Meanwhile, a second Phoenix-area radio station, KRUX (1340 AM), also sought the 910 kHz frequency, as did two other applicants proposing entirely new stations; all four applications were placed into comparative hearing.