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KIOA Goes On the Air - 1948

 

Here is a Des Moines Sunday Register ad from April 15, 1948, shortly after KIOA went on the air.

You will only be able to read the headlines of the ad, but it takes us back to the very beginning of KIOA.

KIOA was the third of three post World War Two stations to come on the air in Des Moines. It was the first "independent" station. In other words, KIOA did not have a network affiliation when it went on the air and that was a bold step in 1948. KIOA's state of the art studios were located in the Onthank Building at 10th and Mulberry. The building was later expanded and Occupied by Look Magazine and more recently by EDS.

With it's 10,000 watts of daytime power on 940 Khz, KIOA covered a good share of the State of Iowa and could be heard in surrounding states. It's nighttime power was 5,000 watts and the nighttime coverage was also restricted by the tight directional pattern required by FCC regulations. Most of the nighttime power went almost straight west and although the station could not be heard well as close as Ames, it pushed out well into the western part of the country at night.

The station was first owned by Independent Broadcasting Company. John Boler was President and general manager. Other officers included John Ruan, Joseph Rosenfield, Kenneth Durham, John Gamble, Edwin Buckley, Robert Root and Kenneth Durham. The company was capitalized at $250,000.

KIOA was also granted an FM construction permit in 1948 but did not put an FM station on the air at that time. For many years, one of KIOA's six towers was taller than the others and supported the never used FM antenna.

Register ad courtesy of Peter McLane.

 

 

History of KIOA in pictures and sound on KIOA main page
Personalities page - more KIOA Good Guys
Around the Dial page more airchecks KIOA and other stations

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