The listeners don’t care about call letters, even if they are from 100+ years ago. This is radio geek territory.
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Nebraska KXSP (the former WOW) goes silent
- Thread starter Mark Roberts
- Start date
Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Company. WOW. Still in business today, but now they are called WoodmenLife.
Don't forget Des Moines' WHO. and the former KID, Idaho Falls ID
WHA???
NorthPine has more details and context:
The silent STA request was filed yesterday and says in part:
Station KXSP ceased operations on February 20, 2026. The station was taken off the air due to the sale of the real property on which the station’s transmitter site is located. The Licensee is currently in discussions regarding use of the current transmitter site and is evaluating options to resume operations as expeditiously as possible.
Read into that somewhat oracular language what you will (and you will).
The silent STA request was filed yesterday and says in part:
Station KXSP ceased operations on February 20, 2026. The station was taken off the air due to the sale of the real property on which the station’s transmitter site is located. The Licensee is currently in discussions regarding use of the current transmitter site and is evaluating options to resume operations as expeditiously as possible.
Read into that somewhat oracular language what you will (and you will).
I suppose I could be underestimating the cost and effort of bringing 590 back, but we're not talking about a complex AM array. I know, with AM, even a simple change can require a large engineering study, and it's not a simple matter of, "I have another tower; let's put it there." Getting 590 back on, however, doesn't seem like a major undertaking. Then again, AM has been all about managing decline for the last 40 years. At some point, the decline becomes too much to manage. If we're not already there, I can't imagine it's too far away. Despite that excellent signal, 590 didn't even draw a 1 share in its last book. AM is centenarian technology that few use anymore.
I'd always heard it stood for "Woodmen of the World," but that's pretty much the same. As some others have mentioned, it's an insurance company. If you ever visit, the company's headquarters downtown is pretty hard to miss!
I don't like that either, and it always seemed to me that WOW 590 could've remained as it was when it went adult standards. Heritage, especially the local heritage involving the Woodmen, seemed like something that could've been promotable. Having said that, I do get that the radio dial isn't a museum.
I definitely think it's feasible from a technical standpoint. It might have to reduce power, but it wouldn't have to drop to class D status. From a financial perspective, though, that's another matter. Cuold Summit recoup the investment to rebuild the transmitting plant?
Jon Ellis (NorthPine) pointed out in his article (linked in post #24 above) that KXSP was the only AM signal Summit had in the Omaha market.
That's what it stands for; originally a fraternal organization that branched out into selling life insurance.
It's not a museum, for sure; in fact, it's transitory and ephemeral. There's no National Registry of Historic Call Letters, either. If it's any consolation, the call letters live on in the form of WOWT on virtual channel 6.
IMHO Omaha is "over radioed". If you go to Radio-Locator's Omaha page you get 75 stations in listening range. The same Website has Atlanta #8 market with 78. If you filter FM only each market is 48. ( I am trying to keep it really simple.) I realize due to soil conductivity some of the AM signals in Omaha are distant and take no revenue out of the market.
Why didn't they get a FM translator? But with no FM translator, 590's only chance for survival is a super nich format or somebody has a translator that the 60db could go a lot farther, and the 590 signal could get around the 25 mile rule.
Why didn't they get a FM translator? But with no FM translator, 590's only chance for survival is a super nich format or somebody has a translator that the 60db could go a lot farther, and the 590 signal could get around the 25 mile rule.
I already posted that the station was rebroadcast on 2 different HD2 stations.
You're probably not wrong, but even that estimate at 48 FM's is pretty generous. Keep in mind that Lincoln and Omaha aren't far apart, and the strong Lincoln stations are listenable in Omaha. Lincoln exit signs on I-80 start popping up before you can even tell you've left Omaha. No one (or next to no one) in Omaha, however, listens to Lincoln stations and vice-versa. I suppose both markets might have a few people who live in one while working in the other and don't change radio stations, but efforts to serve both have never worked. KFMQ 101.9 moved to the Springfield tower that housed a few Omaha stations in the early 90's and started trying to serve both. The heritage rock station in Lincoln failed and became "Young Country 101.9," which didn't work either.
Something else to keep-in-mind is that many of those 48 FM's in Omaha are translators and non-commercial religious stations. That doesn't necessarily contradict your point that the market is over-radioed, though, and might even lend more validity to it. I seem to remember Three Eagles thought it was going to move KFRX 102.7 into Omaha and sell it for big bucks. When it finally got the station moved to Springfield and re-licensed to Papillion from Lincoln, it ended up selling to KVSS, which got an upgrade, for a lot less than it thought it would get.
I would also assert that Atlanta might be under-radioed for a market of its size, though it has definitely seen a fair share of move-ins over the last 30 years. Remember, Atlanta radio was designed for the city it was in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, not the city it became in the 80's. People seem to forget that Atlanta had roughly the same population as Tulsa in 1980, and the metro area wasn't much bigger population-wise than that of metro Oklahoma City. Its growth exploded in the 80's, but the broadcast infrastructure lagged behind.
“Woodmen” is an insurance company… still.
Correct about Atlanta's FM allocations. Some of the best signals were move ins. 94.1 and 101.5 were originally Cobb county operations. The only 2 full class C's 97.1 and 106.7 came from Gainesville.
How many Americans even know to work the HD 2 or 3 in a car? I rent about 20 or 25 cars a year at airports. Just about every manufacturer has a different set up for their radio. It really shouldn't be that hard to work the *@#$ radio. Back in the day you simply turned the knob to turn it on and adjust the volume and the other knob would tune stations.
I did find the Mazda display of all receivable stations while stopped at a really long red light. I still found it difficult to get AM stations. I got "lucky" with a Ford last month, Sirius XM was on when I started the car and Howard Stern was on. I haven't heard him in decades. I think he was better when he was OTA on radio.
How many HD 2 or 3 are viable with without a FM translator?
IMHO HD 2, 3 and so on, are only good for "feeding audio" to a FM translator
KWKH 1130 is also still on-the-air, though it runs a sports format. I can't remember if it was Townsquare or GAP, but somebody tried to bring back the classic country format. I don't think it lasted long, though.
Journal, in my opinion anyway, wasn't very forward thinking with its radio properties. Not that one or two might not exist, but I don't think it secured a translator for a single one of its AM's.
Agree 100% FCC laissez faire policy screwed up AM stereo, as well. Imagine how TV would have been back in the day if manufacturers weren't required to include a UHF tuner? Personally I think there's a lot screwed up with HD radio, starting with calling it HD. High Def? C'mon, man! But not making it a requirement is a disservice to the technology. I realize I'm an early adaptor. I have a "HD converter" (like a 70s FM converter) for two of my cars, and a full fledged HD Radio tuner in my stereo cabinet. But I purchased a new car, a 2023 Chevrolet (bought new in 2023), and was quite surprised to find there's NO WAY to get HD in it. It's not even an option.
It's a real shame that that HD subchannel, even though available in "some" cars, is virtually unknown. Joe and Jane listener tuning to a translator have no idea about any of how it works. Using the HD subchannel to feed an analog translator is, IMO, a loophole. But alas, that's where we are now.
The outfit that owns Boomer Radio is buying AM 590
The outfit that owns Boomer Radio is buying AM 590
A few things to watch here:
1) Where will the new transmitter and tower site be. (I predict it will be at the same location as the 1420 and 1490 towers, in fact possibly using one of those towers.)
2) What will be the power output. (If they're going to use the same tower as, say, the 1490 station, I'm not so sure (and engineers, please correct me if I'm wrong) that the station can go back to its 5kW day/night operation; in which case, I would guess a 1kW day-night operation unless the FCC cuts the night power.)
3) What will be the new format. (My prediction would be the oldies format currently on 1490 would go to 590 as a simulcast with the 1490 frequency eventually being turned off for good.)
Of course, we'll wait and see if the FCC approves the sale first.
According to the article
An asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on April 17 lists the purchase price at $40,000. The sale includes the station license, two transmitters, and spare parts. Not included is KXSP’s 90-year-old transmitter site. . .
That's getting to the level where my old broadcasting buddies and my ideas about pooling our money to buy a radio station and program it for fun is starting to feel doable.
An asset purchase agreement filed with the FCC on April 17 lists the purchase price at $40,000. The sale includes the station license, two transmitters, and spare parts. Not included is KXSP’s 90-year-old transmitter site. . .
That's getting to the level where my old broadcasting buddies and my ideas about pooling our money to buy a radio station and program it for fun is starting to feel doable.
Bingo. As I've watched the market across the country the last few years I've noticed some decent properties going for a price range that may actually create, at least for a time, a mini renaissance in terms of small guy/stand-alone broadcasting and it provides some neat opportunities for people with a good business plan.
I heard recently of a FM with some decent power in a fairly populated area going for something like $30K. It still functioned too.