@Kent and I are both right. There were two separate instances of WOW-FM: the Meredith version at 92.3, and the later Great Empire version, which had been KYNN, at 94.1. Meredith split the 590/92.3 combo in 1983, selling Great Empire (KYNN’s owner) the AM station and the FM to someone else. That was around the time Meredith was getting out of its other radio properties, including KCMO.
Correct. 590 was originally paired with 92.3, and I believe 94.1 was paired with 1490. Swapping 92.3 for 94.1 proved a challenge at the time and took about a year to accomplish. I think the swap finally happened at either the end of '83 or the beginning of '84.
Some of these things are coming back to me…especially the Great Empire ownership of WOW, which meant it was country, using Oatman’s rusticated formula that did so well in Wichita and Springfield…and which bombed in Denver (KBRQ).
WOW did well until KXKT 103.7 switched to country around 1992 and took the younger demos. Ironically, the last book KMXM 94.1 had as a country station was the best book it had in the previous 10 years. It came out the day after KMXM was blown up and replaced by KQCH!
In the early 1980s, WOW was a Top 40 station, one that was more likely than most to play New Wave and similar genres. There was some overlap between the WOW and KEZO audience of the time.
I don't ever remember hearing it as anything but a country station, but I have heard it was a legendary Top-40 station that gave Storz a run for his money. I know, as a country station, WOW 590 sold ads as far away as Grand Island. I was listening when WOW became KOMJ. I can't remember what the last song on WOW was, but KOMJ's first song was "If You Could Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot. Shortly before signing off, Ed Anderson "The Old Prospector" said, "I'm still going to be around. You just won't hear me anymore."
Your radio had to be at least somewhat selective (thanks to WDAF) but it was a presence. In earlier times, it wouldn't have surprised me if it showed up in St. Joseph listening surveys. Maybe Des Moines, too.
I don't remember ever getting it on a handheld radio, but, even in my Geo Prizm with a mediocre Delco radio, WOW was there. WIBW might have been a problem on some KC area radios, too. It was a weaker signal at night, though, especially on the Missouri side.
I think it would depend upon whether Summit would want to make the investment and whether that investment would pay off.
Or whether Summit thought it could sell the license for 590 to someone like Boomer Radio. If it even got $1 for the license, that's more than it would get turning it in. I realize selling for $1 would most likely lose money due to the time taken to draw up a sales contract, but you get the idea.
Since the station went off just a few days ago, it's a little too soon to see a suspension of operations notice, or they may go right to a silent STA application. Just as Cumulus has done with some stations, Summit may just sit on the license for a while.
This makes me wonder what the future of 1260 in Springfield holds. It's about two months from hitting the one-year clock. The official word was that Summit was looking at rebuilding the facility after the tornado hit it, but, if it doesn't see enough value in an excellent signal (one of the best in the country in terms of groundwave) with a single tower, how much value does a three-tower directional simulcast in a smaller market have?
radioinsight.com
