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WHO (AM)
Encyclopedia
WHO is a clear channel radio station
broadcasting 50,000 watts on 1040 AM
with a news/talk
format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
and is located in Des Moines, Iowa
. The station can be heard over most of the continental United States during nighttime hours. During daytime hours, its transmitter power and Iowa's flat land allows it to be heard in almost all of Iowa, as well as parts of Minnesota
, Illinois
, Missouri
, Nebraska
, Kansas
, and Wisconsin
.
. After the FRC
's General Order 40
reallocated frequencies in 1928, WHO ended up sharing time on the same frequency with WOC in Davenport
. In 1930, B. J. Palmer
, owner of WOC, bought WHO, and the two stations operated together as WOC-WHO until a new 50,000-watt transmitter near Mitchellville
began operating on November 11, 1933. (WOC ceased broadcasting that day but returned on another frequency a year later.) Palmer later changed the call letter slogan to represent 'With Hands Only', which he had adopted as a slogan of Chiropractic. WHO moved from 1000 AM to the current 1040 AM on March 29, 1941, as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
. Today WHO is one of only two 50,000-watt AM radio stations in Iowa (KXEL
in Waterloo
is the other), though WHO's signal is non-directional and KXEL's is directional http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=kxel&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C.
In 1948, WHO-FM 100.3 signed on the air; WHO-FM has changed formats and call letters several times since then and now broadcasts as KDRB
, "100.3 The Bus." In 1954, WHO-TV
began broadcasting on channel 13.
WHO was owned by the Palmer family until Jacor Broadcasting purchased the station in 1997; Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications
a year later. WHO and the other Clear Channel radio stations in Des Moines (KDRB, KPTL
, KKDM
, and KXNO
) continued to share a building with WHO-TV until they moved into a new facility in 2005.
For many years, WHO has used an owl
as its mascot--an apparent play on its call letters.
United States President Ronald Reagan
worked as a sportscaster with WHO from 1932 to 1937. Among his duties were re-creation
s of Chicago Cubs
baseball
games. During that time, it was too expensive for teams to air games outside their hometowns.
Current local talk show hosts include Van Harden and Bonnie Lucas, co-hosts of the Van & Bonnie
http://www.whoradio.com/pages/vbpersonality.html morning show; followed by Jan Mickelson in the Morning; and Simon Conway, originally from London, England, taking over the afternoon drive slot in April 2011. Weekend local talk shows include Saturday Morning Live and the WHO Radio Wise Guys
. WHO also carries syndicated talk shows such as those hosted by Rush Limbaugh
, Dave Ramsey
, and Michael Medved
.
WHO has also been the longtime flagship station of University of Iowa
sports. Jim Zabel
, who joined WHO in 1944 http://www.whoradio.com/pages/about/staff/index.html?feed=121651&article=371669, was their play-by-play voice for Hawkeye football and basketball
games from 1949 to 1996. While Gary Dolphin now handles those duties, Zabel remains with WHO as co-host (with Jon Miller of HawkeyeNation.com, who is the heir apparent to Zabel as WHO's Sports Director, announced in May 2006) of the Sound Off sports talk show that airs after Hawkeye games, and as co-host of Two Guys Named Jim on Sunday nights with former Iowa State University
football coach Jim Walden
.
WHO perennially ranks at or near the top of the Arbitron
ratings in the Des Moines market.
WHO broadcasts an Internet stream 24 hours per day at WHORadio.com.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
broadcasting 50,000 watts on 1040 AM
Amplitude modulation
Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...
with a news/talk
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
and is located in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. The station can be heard over most of the continental United States during nighttime hours. During daytime hours, its transmitter power and Iowa's flat land allows it to be heard in almost all of Iowa, as well as parts of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, and Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
.
History
WHO first began broadcasting on April 11, 1924, from the top floor of the Liberty Building in downtown Des Moines. The callsign came from the fact that during the 1920s people searching for stations on the radio dial would ask, "Who is it?" The station was originally owned by Bankers Life, which is now the Principal Financial GroupPrincipal Financial Group
Principal Financial Group is a publicly traded corporation based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.The Principal Financial Group is a global financial services provider which offers a wide range of financial products and services, and is a U.S. leader in 401 plans. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, the...
. After the FRC
Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission was a government body that regulated radio use in the United States from its creation in 1926 until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934...
's General Order 40
General Order 40
General Order 40 was an order issued on August 30, 1928 by the new Federal Radio Commission under the Radio Act of 1927 which provided for a reallocation of the commercial broadcast radio spectrum....
reallocated frequencies in 1928, WHO ended up sharing time on the same frequency with WOC in Davenport
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
. In 1930, B. J. Palmer
B. J. Palmer
Bartlett Joshua Palmer born in What Cheer, Iowa, was a pioneer of chiropractic. B.J. was son of Daniel David Palmer , the founder of chiropractic.- Early life :...
, owner of WOC, bought WHO, and the two stations operated together as WOC-WHO until a new 50,000-watt transmitter near Mitchellville
Mitchellville, Iowa
Mitchellville is a city in Polk and Jasper counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 1,715 at the 2000 census.The Polk County portion of Mitchellville is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Jasper County portion is part of the Newton...
began operating on November 11, 1933. (WOC ceased broadcasting that day but returned on another frequency a year later.) Palmer later changed the call letter slogan to represent 'With Hands Only', which he had adopted as a slogan of Chiropractic. WHO moved from 1000 AM to the current 1040 AM on March 29, 1941, as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, usually referred to as NARBA, is a treaty that took effect in March 1941 and set out the bandplan and interference rules for mediumwave AM broadcasting in North America. Although mostly replaced by other agreements in the 1980s, the basic bandplan...
. Today WHO is one of only two 50,000-watt AM radio stations in Iowa (KXEL
KXEL
KXEL is a Class A AM radio station serving the Waterloo/Cedar Rapids metropolitan area with a News/Talk format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1540 kHz and is under ownership of Bahakel Communications. KXEL is also the flagship station of the University of Northern Iowa Sports...
in Waterloo
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0.5% to 68,406. Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two...
is the other), though WHO's signal is non-directional and KXEL's is directional http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=kxel&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C.
In 1948, WHO-FM 100.3 signed on the air; WHO-FM has changed formats and call letters several times since then and now broadcasts as KDRB
KDRB
KDRB, "100.3 The Bus," is an adult hits radio station similar to Jack FM serving the Des Moines, Iowa, area in the USA. It broadcasts at 100.3 FM. The station's studios are located at 2141 Grand Avenue in Des Moines along with Clear Channel Communications' other Des Moines stations...
, "100.3 The Bus." In 1954, WHO-TV
WHO-TV
WHO-DT is a television station that broadcasts on Channel 13 in Des Moines, Iowa. It is affiliated with the NBC television network and serves most of central Iowa. The station transmits from the WOI Tower in Alleman, Iowa, which is actually owned by WHO-DT's owners. WHO-DT brands itself as WHO-HD...
began broadcasting on channel 13.
WHO was owned by the Palmer family until Jacor Broadcasting purchased the station in 1997; Jacor merged with Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
a year later. WHO and the other Clear Channel radio stations in Des Moines (KDRB, KPTL
KPTL
KPTL, "Capital 106.3," is a Modern Adult Contemporary radio station serving the Des Moines, Iowa, area. It is located at 106.3 on the FM dial. The station's studios are located at 2141 Grand Avenue in Des Moines along with Clear Channel Communications' other Des Moines stations .-KANY/KJJY: The...
, KKDM
KKDM
KKDM is a contemporary hit radio station based in Des Moines, Iowa. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-History:KKDM was established by local businessman Rich Eychaner as Midwest Radio, Inc...
, and KXNO
KXNO
KXNO is a sports radio station based in Des Moines, Iowa. It is located at 1460 on the AM band.-History:KXNO's roots can be traced back to KSO , a station that first broadcast from Clarinda, Iowa, on November 2, 1925...
) continued to share a building with WHO-TV until they moved into a new facility in 2005.
For many years, WHO has used an owl
Owl
Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
as its mascot--an apparent play on its call letters.
Personalities and programming
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
worked as a sportscaster with WHO from 1932 to 1937. Among his duties were re-creation
Re-creation
A re-creation is a reenactment, typically used to solve a crime or determine a mode of failure or cause of death. This may either be an actual reenactment, or a virtual reality one done on a computer...
s of Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
games. During that time, it was too expensive for teams to air games outside their hometowns.
Current local talk show hosts include Van Harden and Bonnie Lucas, co-hosts of the Van & Bonnie
Van & Bonnie
Van & Bonnie is an American radio program, airing weekday mornings on WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. The show is hosted by Van Harden and Bonnie Lucas. The hosts were named "Medium Market Personalities of the Year" at the National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Radio Awards in 2007 and 2009.-...
http://www.whoradio.com/pages/vbpersonality.html morning show; followed by Jan Mickelson in the Morning; and Simon Conway, originally from London, England, taking over the afternoon drive slot in April 2011. Weekend local talk shows include Saturday Morning Live and the WHO Radio Wise Guys
WHO Radio Wise Guys
The WHO Radio Wise Guys is an American radio program broadcast on WHO in Des Moines, Iowa Saturdays from 12:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. , hosted by Dan Adams and Brian Gongol. The show focuses on computers and consumer technology news, with secondary features on science and medical technology...
. WHO also carries syndicated talk shows such as those hosted by Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an American radio talk show host, conservative political commentator, and an opinion leader in American conservatism. He hosts The Rush Limbaugh Show which is aired throughout the U.S. on Premiere Radio Networks and is the highest-rated talk-radio program in the United...
, Dave Ramsey
Dave Ramsey
David L. Ramsey III is an American financial author, radio host, television personality, and motivational speaker.Ramsey's syndicated radio program The Dave Ramsey Show is promoted with a tagline that "It's about your life and your money," and it is heard on over 450 radio stations throughout the...
, and Michael Medved
Michael Medved
Michael Medved is an American radio host, author, political commentator and film critic. His Seattle, Washington-based nationally syndicated talk show, The Michael Medved Show, airs throughout the U.S...
.
WHO has also been the longtime flagship station of University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
sports. Jim Zabel
Jim Zabel
Jim Zabel is an American radio and television broadcaster best known for serving as the play-by-play announcer for Iowa Hawkeye football games for 49 years on WHO Radio...
, who joined WHO in 1944 http://www.whoradio.com/pages/about/staff/index.html?feed=121651&article=371669, was their play-by-play voice for Hawkeye football and basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
games from 1949 to 1996. While Gary Dolphin now handles those duties, Zabel remains with WHO as co-host (with Jon Miller of HawkeyeNation.com, who is the heir apparent to Zabel as WHO's Sports Director, announced in May 2006) of the Sound Off sports talk show that airs after Hawkeye games, and as co-host of Two Guys Named Jim on Sunday nights with former Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
football coach Jim Walden
Jim Walden
Jim "Jimmy" Walden is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Washington State University from 1978 to 1986 and at Iowa State University from 1987 to 1994, compiling a career college football record of 72–109–7.-Playing career:Walden played...
.
WHO perennially ranks at or near the top of the Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
ratings in the Des Moines market.
WHO broadcasts an Internet stream 24 hours per day at WHORadio.com.
External links
- WHO official website
- WHO radio historical artifacts from DesMoinesBroadcasting.com
- WHO-Tour of Transmitter and History