KMLE (107.9 FM) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...

, and serving the

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...

. The station is owned by

Audacy, Inc. Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

and airs a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...

. The studios and offices are on North Central Avenue in

Downtown Phoenix Downtown Phoenix is the central business district (CBD) of the City of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located in the heart of the Phoenix metropolitan area or Valley of the Sun. Phoenix, being the county seat of Maricopa County and ...

. The

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is off Road D in

South Mountain Park South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona is the largest municipal park in the United States, and one of the largest urban parks in North America and in the world. It has been designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride. Geography and ecology South ...

amid other towers for Phoenix-area FM and TV stations. It has an

effective radiated power Effective radiated power (ERP), synonymous with equivalent radiated power, is an IEEE standardized definition of directional radio frequency (RF) power, such as that emitted by a radio transmitter. It is the total power in watts that would h ...

(ERP) of 96,000

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

s (100,000 with beam tilt). KMLE broadcasts in the HD Radio hybrid format. Its HD2 subchannel carries a younger-targeting country format titled "Country Thunder."

History

Early years

KMLE's first owners got a construction permit from the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

in 1979, to build a new FM station under the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

KLRG. Those call letters were never used, and the owners eventually acquired the KMLE call sign on June 18 of that year. The station officially

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...

the air on April 18, 1980. The station was owned by Radio KMLE, Inc., with George T. Wilson serving as President and General Manager. At first, KMLE aired an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

format. For most of the 1980s, it was a brokered time Christian radio outlet. National and local religious leaders would pay the station a fee for half hour segments of airtime, during which they could ask for donations to their radio ministry.

Switch to country

On October 24, 1988, Shamrock Broadcasting purchased the station and changed the station's format to

as "Camel Country". At the time,

KNIX-FM KNIX-FM (102.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Phoenix, Arizona, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station airs a country music radio format. The studios and offices are located on East Van Buren Street in Phoenix near Sky Harb ...

was often the leading station in the Phoenix ratings, having been a country outlet since 1969, first under the ownership of singer and TV host

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on ...

and later Clear Channel Communications, now known as iHeartMedia. Since then, KMLE and KNIX have been locked in a long time battle for Phoenix country listeners. Occasionally there would be a third country station in Phoenix as well, but those attempts did not last more than a few years, with KMLE and KNIX often trading the lead among country listeners.

Ownership changes

In 1997, KMLE was acquired by Chancellor Media, which later merged into AMFM, Inc. In 2000, the station came under the ownership of the

Infinity Broadcasting Corporation Infinity Broadcasting Corporation was a radio company that existed from 1972 until 2005. It was founded by Michael A. Wiener and Gerald Carrus. It became associated with popular radio personalities like Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Don Imus an ...

. Infinity was later merged into CBS Radio. On February 2, 2017, CBS Radio announced it would merge with

Entercom Audacy, Inc. is an American broadcasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968 as Entercom Communications Corporation, it is the second largest radio company in the United States, owning 235 radio stations across 48 media ...

. The merger was approved on November 9, 2017, and was consummated on the 17th.

On-air staff

As of April 6, 2022 KMLE @ 107.9 is home to Gunner & Cheyenne in the morning drive, Katie & Company in middays, Kimo in the afternoon drive home and Rob & Holly at night.

HD Radio

KMLE broadcasts in the HD Radio format. The main signal is a simulcast of KMLE's country music programming. At first, the HD2 signal carried Tim and Willy's Classic Country. Tim and Willy were terminated from the radio station during the summer of 2012. The HD2 subchannel now carries "Country Thunder." In November and December, it switches to all- Christmas music, with only a few

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

s per hour and no commercials. On February 23, 2022, KMLE added The Bet to its HD3 subchannel.

References

External links

* {{Entercom MLE Country radio stations in the United States Mass media in Chandler, Arizona Mass media in Maricopa County, Arizona Radio stations established in 1980 1980 establishments in Arizona Audacy, Inc. radio stations