KUPD (97.9 MHz, "98 KUPD") is a commercial

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

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 radio ...

. Licensed to

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

, the station serves 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 Hubbard Radio, a division of

Hubbard Broadcasting Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc. is an American television and radio broadcasting corporation based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was founded by Stanley E. Hubbard. The corporation has broadcast outlets scattered across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, ...

, Inc. of

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

. The radio station's studios are located on North 52nd Street west of Papago Park and its

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

is on

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 ...

. KUPD has been nominated as the "Major Market Radio Station of the Year" for the Radio Contraband Rock Radio Award in 2011 and 2012. KUPD was inducted into the Rock Radio Hall of Fame in 2014.

History

On July 1, 1960, KUPD first

signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature, placing one's name on a document * Signature (disambiguation) * Manual communication, signing as a form of communication using the hands in place of the voice * Digital signature A digi ...

the air as the FM

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

to 1060 KUPD (now KDUS). KUPD-FM

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

its AM station's MOR popular music format. In the 1970s, the station moved to a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

format, and later

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, ...

and

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

, before becoming a rock station in March 1979. During this time, KUPD-FM's original license was not renewed as the result of a 1988 comparative renewal hearing for KUKQ and KUPD-FM, in which the stations lost their original licenses for lying to 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 ...

about an alleged secret owner. An additional owner was ruled unfit to hold a license due to a 1982 criminal conviction in Arizona. The stations were instead awarded to former owner Jack Grimm, his wife Jackie, and Ruth Clifford, doing business as Tempe Radio, Inc. In 1992, after years of appeals, Grimm and Clifford took over KUKQ and KUPD-FM on new licenses, retaining the call letters, facilities and formats of the stations by buying them from Tri-State Broadcasting. After a year, Grimm and Clifford sold the duo to Robert Fish. In the 1990s, KUPD became co-owned with its former competitors, KDKB and KSLX-FM, after being purchased by Sandusky Radio, which also owned stations in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. In 2013, Sandusky sold its stations in Phoenix and Seattle to

Rock concert sponsorship

Along with sponsoring the majority of hard rock concerts in the Phoenix-metro area, the station also holds its own annual concert events such as "UFest", "The End of Summer Scorcher", "The Big Red Night of the Dead" and more. The station has invited notable hard rock acts to play the show each year. In recent years it has been headlined by acts such as

Alice In Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

in 2008, Sevendust in 2009,

Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band formed in Norwood, Ontario in 1992 originally as "Groundswell" and played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1995 and regrouping in 1997. Based in ...

in 2010 and

Papa Roach Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther. After t ...

in 2011. Phoenix will see the return of KUPD's "UFest" on April 24, 2022 after a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

HD Radio

KUPD is also available via

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...

References

External links

*
FCC History Cards for KUPD-FM
!--under prior license--> {{Hubbard Broadcasting Inc. UPD Active rock radio stations in the United States Hubbard Broadcasting