KXEL is one of two FCC Class 1-A stations in Iowa, the other being WHO in Des Moines. It operates at 50,000 watts, 24 hours a day from a two-tower facility near Dysart, IA on the Benton/Tama County line. A single tower is used during the day for a non-directional signal. It provides secondary coverage to most of eastern Iowa during the day (as far west as Des Moines, as far south as Ottumwa and as far east as Dubuque and as far north as Mason City). At night, power is fed to both towers in a directional pattern to protect ZNS-1, Nassau, Bahamas. Due to the cardioid-shaped pattern aimed north, KXEL's skywave signal can be heard throughout the northern plains states and central Canadian provinces.
KXEL was first created by Don E. Kassner, who worked for Joe Dumond. The station began broadcasting on July 14, 1942, and was the first radio facility in the United States to be granted 50,000 watts of power with its original license. It began airing ABC Radio programming from pop hits of the 1940s under the "Stardust" satellite format before switching to a middle-of-the-road (MOR) format under the name "Timeless" until the network's demise in 2010. KXEL also featured country music programming before switching to its current news/talk format. Dumond later sold KXEL to career broadcaster Egmont Sonderling, then on November 9, 1958, Sonderling signed the papers transferring KXEL's license to Cy N. Bahakel. Woodward Broadcasting owned the station between 2011 and December 2014 before selling it, and its sister stations, to current owner, Cedar Rapids-based NRG Media LLC.
KXEL-FMedit
On November 16, 1947, KXEL-FM began broadcasting in Waterloo on 105.7 MHz. It was licensed to Josh Higgins Broadcasting Company, which also held the license for KXEL.[2]
Television station attemptedit
In the early 1950s, KXEL filed for the channel 7 television license in Waterloo. However, Waterloo's other powerhouse radio station, KWWL (now KPTY, a sister station to KXEL) wanted the license as well. KXEL and KWWL went to court and battled it out. KXEL was so sure it would win the suit that it built a new studio large enough to accommodate a television station. This studio was mainly useless because KWWL won the lawsuit and signed on KWWL-TV on November 29, 1953.[3]
kxel, 1540, branded, news, talk, 1540, class, clear, channel, radio, station, serving, waterloo, cedar, rapids, metropolitan, areas, with, news, radio, talk, radio, format, waterloo, iowabroadcast, areawaterloocedar, rapidsfrequency1540, khzbranding, news, tal. KXEL 1540 AM branded as News Talk 1540 is a Class A clear channel radio station serving the Waterloo and Cedar Rapids metropolitan areas with a All news radio Talk radio format KXELWaterloo IowaBroadcast areaWaterlooCedar RapidsFrequency1540 kHzBrandingKXEL News Talk 1540ProgrammingFormatAll news radioTalk radioAffiliationsFox News RadioCompass Media NetworksGenesis Communications NetworkPremiere NetworksUSA Radio NetworkWestwood OneUNI Panther Sports NetworkOwnershipOwnerNRG Media NRG License Sub LLC Sister stationsKFMWKOKZKPTYHistoryFirst air dateJuly 14 1942 81 years ago 1942 07 14 Call sign meaning Excel Technical information 1 Licensing authorityFCCFacility ID35950ClassAPower50 000 wattsTranslator s 100 5 K263BZ Waterloo LinksPublic license informationPublic fileLMSWebcastListen liveWebsitewww wbr kxel wbr com KXEL is one of two FCC Class 1 A stations in Iowa the other being WHO in Des Moines It operates at 50 000 watts 24 hours a day from a two tower facility near Dysart IA on the Benton Tama County line A single tower is used during the day for a non directional signal It provides secondary coverage to most of eastern Iowa during the day as far west as Des Moines as far south as Ottumwa and as far east as Dubuque and as far north as Mason City At night power is fed to both towers in a directional pattern to protect ZNS 1 Nassau Bahamas Due to the cardioid shaped pattern aimed north KXEL s skywave signal can be heard throughout the northern plains states and central Canadian provinces Contents 1 History 1 1 KXEL FM 2 Television station attempt 3 References 4 External linksHistory editKXEL was first created by Don E Kassner who worked for Joe Dumond The station began broadcasting on July 14 1942 and was the first radio facility in the United States to be granted 50 000 watts of power with its original license It began airing ABC Radio programming from pop hits of the 1940s under the Stardust satellite format before switching to a middle of the road MOR format under the name Timeless until the network s demise in 2010 KXEL also featured country music programming before switching to its current news talk format Dumond later sold KXEL to career broadcaster Egmont Sonderling then on November 9 1958 Sonderling signed the papers transferring KXEL s license to Cy N Bahakel Woodward Broadcasting owned the station between 2011 and December 2014 before selling it and its sister stations to current owner Cedar Rapids based NRG Media LLC KXEL FM edit On November 16 1947 KXEL FM began broadcasting in Waterloo on 105 7 MHz It was licensed to Josh Higgins Broadcasting Company which also held the license for KXEL 2 Television station attempt editIn the early 1950s KXEL filed for the channel 7 television license in Waterloo However Waterloo s other powerhouse radio station KWWL now KPTY a sister station to KXEL wanted the license as well KXEL and KWWL went to court and battled it out KXEL was so sure it would win the suit that it built a new studio large enough to accommodate a television station This studio was mainly useless because KWWL won the lawsuit and signed on KWWL TV on November 29 1953 3 References edit Facility Technical Data for KXEL Licensing and Management System Federal Communications Commission KXEL FM Starts PDF Broadcasting November 24 1947 Retrieved October 24 2014 The Battle for Channel 7 A Media Showdown in Waterloo by David F McCartney and Grant Price retrieved October 11 2023 External links editKXEL News Talk 1540 Official website KWWL TV Channel 7 Official website KXEL in the FCC AM station database KXEL in Nielsen Audio s AM station database FCC History Cards for KXEL 42 10 48 N 92 18 38 W 42 18000 N 92 31056 W 42 18000 92 31056 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title KXEL amp oldid 1222352849, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
