KOY - KOY

KOY

KOY was the first radio station in the state of Arizona, signing on in 1921 as Amateur Radio station 6BBH on 360 meters (833 kHz). Earl Neilsen was the holder of the 6BBH callsign (there were no country prefixes for hams prior to 1928). At that time, broadcasting by ham radio operators was legal.

In 1922, the station received its broadcast license, under the Neilsen Radio & Sporting Goods Company business name, with the callsign KFCB. While the KFCB call letters were sequentially assigned, the station adopted the slogan "Kind Friends Come Back" to match the callsign.

A Phoenix teenager and radio enthusiast named Barry Goldwater was one of the new station's first employees.

When the AM broadcast band was opened in 1923 by the Department of Commerce, KFCB moved around the dial, as did many stations at the time. It was on 1260, 1230, 1310, and 1390 before moving to its long-time home of 550 kHz in 1941. KFCB became KOY on February 8, 1929.

From the 1932 to 1949, KOY was the CBS Radio Network affiliate for the Phoenix area. It became the Mutual affiliate in 1949 after KOOL 960 took the CBS affiliation.

In 1936, Earl Neilsen sold KOY to the Prairie Farmer Magazine, dba Salt River Valley Broadcasting Company. He remained Station Manager for a couple of years. Prairie Farmer was the owner of WLS radio in Chicago at the time.

In March 1937, KOY moved from its long-time home on N. Central Ave. to 12th St. and Camelback Rd. (KOY never had studios at 12th St. and Camelback Rd but that was the location of its transmitter until the late 1960s.) That location is now the home of a car dealer. The 550 (KFYI) transmitter is now near 36th St. and Southern Ave. in south Phoenix.

For a brief period KOY entered the television business, sharing the operations of Channel 10 with KOOL (now KSAZ-TV). Because early television involved large expenses and very small income, it was decided that KOY would do much better if it concentrated on radio.

KOY and its Adult Standards format moved to AM 1230 when station owner AM/FM (now Clear Channel) purchased the call letters, studio, and sports-talk programming of KGME 1360, and moved it to 550 in April 1999.

KOY's current format on Monday-Friday from 5 AM-6 PM is Adult Standards/Classic Adult Contemporary. The station features a mix of artists like Frank Sinatra, The Carpenters, Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, The Platters, Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, Simon & Garfunkel, Petula Clark, Dean Martin, The 5th Dimension, Ray Charles, and others. Morning show host Danny Davis is a fixture on KOY and is well loved by the station's listeners. The remainder of the programming (Monday-Friday, 6 PM-5 AM and most weekend hours) is Smooth Jazz.

For many years, KOY was the Valley's top station. KOY still maintains a loyal audience and is regularly at the top of the Adults 55+ ratings and often in the top 10 in the Adults 35+ demographic.