KOOL with its marketing savvy became the leader of oldies in the US. The stations were both owned by Adams Communications, and KOOL format was installed at many of other Adams radio stations. This new format caught on and not only became a ratings success but also syndicated itself 24 hours a day, the first radio station to do so. The music had a concentration of the early hits but also injected a large dose of doo-wop. As Adams radio took ownership, KOOL-AM under the tutelage of GM Jim Seemiller changed format to a 1950s/1960s early rock and roll oldies format on January 7, 1987. In December 1985, Adams Radio Group bought both KOOL-AM/FM from Tom Chauncey and Partners. The show was dropped that August due to low ratings according to The Arizona Republic. More often, KOOL's schedule then was unique, despite the station airing mostly oldies, but KOOL aired Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 for a short time during early and the middle of 1984.

Still, they focused on the music of the late 1960s. Before he left, he recorded thousands of oldies for the KOOL-FM music library.īy about 1986, KOOL was playing a small amount of 1980s music as well. In 1975, Osborne left radio to start his own publishing company. Now the door to success was opened and by the end of 1971, the entire station followed. At the time, no other station in the Phoenix market had an oldies format, and Osborne was given the freedom by KOOL-FM (then owned by Gene Autry) to play anything he wanted. The Dan Coffey Show, which aired on Saturday and Sunday nights, from 6:00 to midnight, immediately became the most popular program on KOOL-FM - so much so that they hired a woman (Pam MacKenzie) whose only job it was to answer the flood of calls and music requests for the Dan Coffey Show. Since the station did not have an oldies library, Osborne supplied all of the music from his own collection. KOOL-FM began programming oldies music in 1971, the first radio station ever to carry the format, as a format brought to the station by Jerry Osborne, who used the air name Dan Coffey. KOOL-FM's studios are located in downtown Phoenix, and its transmitter is in South Mountain Park.

The station primarily competes with Riviera-owned 95.1 KOAI, which concentrates on the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s hits. The station is branded as Big 94.5 and features mostly hits of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and is one of the top-performing stations in Phoenix. KOOL-FM (94.5 MHz) is a commercial classic hits radio station in Phoenix, Arizona.

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