OMAHA RADIO HISTORY

An Inside Look at the Evolution of Broadcasting

 

 

 

ABOUT:

This is the story of radio broadcasting as witnessed from a singular region’s point of view. Why Omaha for Broadcasting’s History ?

Omaha’s setting is an ideal cross-section of Americana, both rural and urban. This region experienced all developments of radio. It was big enough to be competitive, small enough to take chances on ideas.

Omaha also had its share of “firsts” in radio, most notably the move from network-style block programming to music and news formats giving the medium a second life, nationwide.  It all began with Omahan Todd Storz and his 500-watt daytime station, KOWH.

This work shows how America’s educators, engineers, businessmen, and talent combined to evolve a medium of entertainment and information in the face of fast-changing technology and legalities.

 

 

 

 

Volume ONE- More information here

 

 

 

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CHAPTER ONE- THE FIRST SIGNALS

Government stations and special land stations  emerge.  Council Bluffs native Lee DeForest invents the triode tube launching the field of electronics.   Broadcasting begins in 1921 with amateur stations airing music and weather reports.  The broadcast band is formed in 1923 and in Omaha WOW 570 is the first on the new dial.   The band is extended in 1924 as KFAB Lincoln and KFNF Shenandoah sign on.   KOIL in 1925 constructs the country’s first building ever to be used solely for broadcasting.The push for commercialism begins.

CHAPTER TWO- THE FIRST STATIONS

The sign-ons of Omaha’s first serious broadcast stations to last the decades are individually covered in detail: WAAW, WOAW-WOW, KFAB, and KOIL.

CHAPTER THREE- THE GOLDEN YEARS

Networks arrive: KOIL airs the premiere broadcast of CBS.   KFAB joins a West Coast network that fails weeks later.   WOW becomes a ratings leader with with NBC.   KOIL toys with international shortwave from Council Bluffs.   KOIL takes part in the Apex experiments seeking increased audio quality in the pre-FM years.   Shenandoah’s KFNF and KMA get rich selling products with their night signals.

CHAPTER FOUR- THE WAR YEARS

KFAB’s plan for 50,000 watts and a move to Omaha are put on hold for the duration of the war.   KOIL builds the market’s first directional antenna system in order to increase night time power.   WOW’s effort to join the dawning FM band is cut short by the war. Pearl Harbor catches radio off guard on that sleepy Sunday.   Stations make up for it with D-Day coverage Time magazine calls “Radio’s Greatest Day.”

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INSIDE VOLUME TWO–

CHAPTER ONE – THE POST WAR YEARS:  1945-1949

The new FM band lights up starting in 1946 with KOAD 92.5.
Lost in the glow of television screens, the FMs are all gone by 1953, while Omaha’s AM personalities, including Johnny Carson, are suddenly thrust into TV.

CHAPTER TWO- NETWORKS OUT, DJ’S IN:   THE FIFTIES

Omaha’s first DJ, Sandy Jackson, finds success by listening to his listeners, taking requests at KBON 1490.   Top 40 is born thanks to Omahan  Todd Storz who focuses on local record sales rather than the national Hit Parade.   His newly-purchased  KOWH 660 soon reinvigorates post-war radio with pop music, personality, and promotion, his format quickly copied on a national scale.

CHAPTER THREE- MUSIC AND NEWS:  THE SIXTIES

WOW 590 stays old school while KOIL 1290 enters its Glory Years with Top 40 and legendary personalities.  KOWH 660 after the heady Top 40 years becomes KMEO Beautiful Music, then Country KOZN.   KFAB 1110 Establishes a firm footing on its way to becoming Omaha’s heritage station.   KBON 1490 turns to something very different: News and Talk, soon taking listener’s calls as KLNG.   FM returns, soon with stereo, KQAL 94.3 leading the way followed by a hobbyist’s KCOM 96.1 which soon will become KOIL FM.

CHAPTER FOUR- FM CLAWS IT WAY UP:  THE SEVENTIES

FM makes inroads with niche formats: KOWH FM 94.1 settles on Soul while KRCB FM 98.5 focuses on  Progressive Rock.   Non-comms sign on:  Omaha Public School’s KIOS FM 91.5, the University of Omaha’s KVNO 90.7,and Grace Bible Institute’s KGBI 100.7.   Don  Burden’s KOIL 1290 and KEFM 96.1 go dark in radio’s biggest punishment in FCC history, in 1976.   WOW takes over KOIL’s young listeners.  KFAB 1110 with its older listeners reaches astronomical ratings that get national attention while at the bottom, smaller stations struggle.

Table of Contents - Volume TWO - The Musie and News Years

 

 

 

INSIDE VOLUME THREE–  Publication date 2024

CHAPTER ONE – THE EIGHTIES – MORE STATIONS

FM reaches parity with AM and keeps growing.  Non-comms find their niche.  Docket 80-90 adds more FM stations while forcing upgrades on existing Class Cs, now able to cover larger, nearby markets.  Omaha’s first such move-in was from 60 miles out: Atlantic, Iowa on 103.7.  A Lincoln station on 101.9 quickly follows.  AM Clear channels are broken down and Omaha’s first new AM station in 30 years signs on to 1180, once a clear for Rochester, New York.  AM Stereo falters.   In programming, KFAB 1110’s dominance erodes.  Top 40 fractures into sub-formats and disappears. AM stations WOW 590 and KOIL 1290 see their young audience migrate to FM, particularly KQKQ 98.5.  Proud Country KOOO 1420 and 104.5 are outgunned by Great Empire Broadcasting’s entrance into the market with KYNN 1490 and 94.1 and later WOW 590.

CHAPTER TWO – THE NINETIES – THE PATH TO DEREGULATION

Stations proliferate through upgrades, move-ins, and new sign-ons.  Ownership limits are loosened and the AM band is expanded.  No fewer than eight new signals enter the Omaha market.  By 1999 three major radio groups control 90 percent of Omaha’s ad revenue.  One of the groups was locally-owned by John Mitchell, his group continuing to grow in a regional fashion during deregulation.  By the end of the decade the one-time leader WOW 590/94.1 is gutted.  Omaha’s heritage station KFAB 1110 in its switch to all-news struggles through the loss of Husker football rights for five years.  New formats come and go as stations focus on narrower tastes, re-positioning and squeezing in for attention.  Personalities lead itinerant lives keeping up with the changes.  Listeners have more from which to choose but lose much of the local companionship radio once provided.

CHAPTER THREE- THE NEW MILLENIUM

Still more signals vie for the ears and pocketbooks of listeners.  New stations and upgrades fill the AM and FM dials with two-thirds of all signals now on FM.  Internet and Satellite are poised to alter the playing field even further.

About the Author

 

Carl Mann spent the majority of his working career in radio broadcasting. He began in technical work obtaining his FCC First-Class Radiophone License before entering announcing and Top 40 air personality work. His air work included stints at KATI Casper, KOOK Billings, KOMA Oklahoma City, KOIL Omaha, and KCRG and KQCR FM Cedar Rapids. His credits include Music Director and Operations Manager at KOIL and Program Director at KCRG and KQCR. Carl also worked in radio and television news at WOW Radio and at KPTM Fox 42 television, both in Omaha. Carl now resides in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with his wife Sharie, dog Andy, and three cats.

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