KOWL
Encyclopedia
KOWL is a radio station
licensed
to serve South Lake Tahoe, California
, USA. The station, established in 1956, is currently owned by Cherry Creek Radio and the broadcast license
is held by CCR-Lake Tahoe IV, LLC.
/talk radio
format including local news
, local talk, hourly updates from CBS News
, and a number of nationally-syndicated radio shows. Weekday syndicated programming includes talk show
s hosted by Jim Bohannon
, conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh
, consumer advocate Clark Howard
, former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, medical expert Dr. Dean Edell, and author Laura Ingraham
, plus Coast To Coast AM
with George Noory
. Notable weekend programming includes a block of big band music and computer advice from The Kim Komando Show
.
s of power on a frequency of 1490 kHz, and licensed to serve the community of Bijou, California
. The new station was assigned the KOWL call sign
by the Federal Communications Commission
. KOWL owner Robert Burdette also served as the station's first general manager
and program director
.
Although the station was licensed to serve Bijou, California, KOWL's original radio studios were located inside the Harrah's Stateline Club
, a casino in Stateline, Nevada
. The station's original transmitter
, a Gates BC-250L "Hi-Watter" AM transmitter, and broadcast tower were installed roughly two miles south of the casino in South Lake Tahoe, California
.
Just five years later, Tahoe Broadcasters, Inc., sold the station to a new company called KOWL, Inc., in a transaction that was consummated on June 1, 1963. The new owners applied for and, in late 1963, received a construction permit
to upgrade their daytime signal to 1,000 watts while leaving the nighttime signal at 250 watts. In 1968, the station's application for a change in city of license
was granted. This placed the city of license as the same community where the transmitter shack and broadcast tower had been located all along: South Lake Tahoe, California
.
KOWL broadcast a middle of the road music format through much of the 1970s with a number of hours taken each week for country & western. By 1978, the format was a blend of MOR and progressive country
, thanks to the influence of the Bakersfield sound
.
In April 1989, Isenberg Media Corporation, through owner David H. Isenberg, reached an agreement to transfer the broadcast license for KOWL to Regency Communications Limited Partnership, of which Isenberg was a member. The shift was approved by the FCC on June 12, 1989. Isenberg left the partnership group entirely on September 10, 1990.
Just a few months later, in July 1999, Regent Communications
subsidiary Regent Licensee of South Lake Tahoe, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Commonwealth License Subsidiary, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Commonwealth Communications LLC (Dex Allen, principal). The deal, which also included sister station KRLT, was valued at a combined sale price of $1.25 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 27, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on November 5, 1999.
format.
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...
licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to serve South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The population was 21,403 at the 2010 census, down from 23,609 at the 2000 census...
, USA. The station, established in 1956, is currently owned by Cherry Creek Radio and the broadcast license
Broadcast license
A broadcast license or broadcast license is a specific type of spectrum license that grants the licensee the privilege to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses are generally straddled with additional restrictions that...
is held by CCR-Lake Tahoe IV, LLC.
Programming
KOWL broadcasts a newsNews Radio
News Radio can refer to:* NewsRadio, the NBC sitcom which aired from 1995–1999.* News radio, the all-news or news/talk radio format....
/talk radio
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 including local news
Local news
In journalism, local news refers to news coverage of events in a local context which would not normally be of interest to those of other localities, or otherwise be of national or international scope.-Television:...
, local talk, hourly updates from CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
, and a number of nationally-syndicated radio shows. Weekday syndicated programming includes talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
s hosted by Jim Bohannon
Jim Bohannon
James E. "Jim" Bohannon is an American broadcaster who has worked in both television and radio.During the 1980s he was a fill-in for Larry King when King had his popular nighttime national radio program. He also does much work with the Smithsonian Associates...
, conservative pundit 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...
, consumer advocate Clark Howard
Clark Howard
Clark Howard , is a popular U.S. talk radio host of the nationally syndicated consumer advocate program The Clark Howard Show. The show covers consumer and financial news, with advice on how to spend less, save more and avoid rip-offs...
, former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, medical expert Dr. Dean Edell, and author Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham
Laura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Her nationally syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
, plus Coast To Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM
Coast to Coast AM is a North American late-night syndicated radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics, but most frequently ones that relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was created by Art Bell and is distributed by Premiere Radio Networks. The program currently...
with George Noory
George Noory
George Ralph Noory is a Lebanese-American radio talk show host.As of 2010, he is the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM. He is heard across the United States and Canada on many AM and FM stations as well as on XM Satellite Radio. His show is one of the most listened...
. Notable weekend programming includes a block of big band music and computer advice from The Kim Komando Show
The Kim Komando Show
The Kim Komando Show is a commercial talk radio program focusing on personal computers, the use of the Internet, and the complexities of consumer electronics....
.
The beginning
This station signed on in November 1956, broadcasting with 250 wattWatt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
s of power on a frequency of 1490 kHz, and licensed to serve the community of Bijou, California
Bijou, California
Bijou is a former unincorporated community now incorporated in South Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, California. It lies at an elevation of 6243 feet ....
. The new station was assigned the KOWL call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
. KOWL owner Robert Burdette also served as the station's first general manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
and program director
Program director
In service industries, such as education, a program director or programme director researches, plans, develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services...
.
Although the station was licensed to serve Bijou, California, KOWL's original radio studios were located inside the Harrah's Stateline Club
Harrah's Lake Tahoe
Harrah's Lake Tahoe, is a resort casino, in South Lake Tahoe, at Stateline, Nevada. It is branded with the name of its former owner William Fisk Harrah and owned by Caesars Entertainment Corp.. The 18-story tower and 525 rooms, plus of casino make it one of the largest resorts at South Lake...
, a casino in Stateline, Nevada
Stateline, Nevada
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,215 people, 510 households, and 245 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,803.3 people per square mile . There were 562 housing units at an average density of 834.1 per square mile...
. The station's original transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
, a Gates BC-250L "Hi-Watter" AM transmitter, and broadcast tower were installed roughly two miles south of the casino in South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The population was 21,403 at the 2010 census, down from 23,609 at the 2000 census...
.
New ownership
Barely 18 months after it launched, Burdette sold KOWL to Tahoe Broadcasters, Inc., in May 1958. Ed Frech took the reins as president with John J. Murphy as general manager.Just five years later, Tahoe Broadcasters, Inc., sold the station to a new company called KOWL, Inc., in a transaction that was consummated on June 1, 1963. The new owners applied for and, in late 1963, received a construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
to upgrade their daytime signal to 1,000 watts while leaving the nighttime signal at 250 watts. In 1968, the station's application for a change in city of license
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
was granted. This placed the city of license as the same community where the transmitter shack and broadcast tower had been located all along: South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The population was 21,403 at the 2010 census, down from 23,609 at the 2000 census...
.
KOWL broadcast a middle of the road music format through much of the 1970s with a number of hours taken each week for country & western. By 1978, the format was a blend of MOR and progressive country
Progressive country
Progressive country is a subgenre of Texas country music started in the early 1970s in Austin, Texas. The term was coined by programmers at Austin's KOKE-FM in 1972 as a way to differentiate the style of country music in Austin from that being made in Nashville...
, thanks to the influence of the Bakersfield sound
Bakersfield sound
The Bakersfield sound was a genre of country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. The many hit singles were largely produced by Capitol Records country music head, Ken Nelson. Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly produced, string...
.
The 1980s
After more than two decades of ownership, KOWL, Inc., announced in February 1986 that they had agreed to sell this station to the Isenberg Media Corporation. The deal was approved by the FCC on April 1, 1986, and the transaction was consummated on June 10, 1986.In April 1989, Isenberg Media Corporation, through owner David H. Isenberg, reached an agreement to transfer the broadcast license for KOWL to Regency Communications Limited Partnership, of which Isenberg was a member. The shift was approved by the FCC on June 12, 1989. Isenberg left the partnership group entirely on September 10, 1990.
The 1990s
In February 1993, the members of the Regency Communications Limited Partnership applied to the FCC to transfer the KOWL broadcast license to Park Lane Regency Radio, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on June 7, 1993. In August 1998, Park Lane Regency Radio, Inc., applied to shift control of KOWL to a new holding company called Regent Licensee of South Lake Tahoe, Inc. The transfer was approved by the FCC on August 13, 1998, and the transaction was consummated on February 10, 1999.Just a few months later, in July 1999, Regent Communications
Regent Communications
Townsquare Media is an American radio broadcaster, based in Greenwich, Connecticut., after it acquired sister companies Gap Broadcasting and GapWest Broadcasting, it owned 171 radio stations in 36 radio markets, with concentration in the Northeast, Midwest, Southwest, and Mountain...
subsidiary Regent Licensee of South Lake Tahoe, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Commonwealth License Subsidiary, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Commonwealth Communications LLC (Dex Allen, principal). The deal, which also included sister station KRLT, was valued at a combined sale price of $1.25 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 27, 1999, and the transaction was consummated on November 5, 1999.
KOWL today
In October 2003, Commonwealth Communications, LLC, announced an agreement to sell this station to Cherry Creek Radio (Joseph D. Schwartz, CEO) holding company CCR-Lake Tahoe IV, LLC, as part of a 24-station deal valued at a reported $41 million. The deal was approved by the FCC on December 19, 2003, and the transaction was consummated on February 3, 2004. At the time of the sale, the station aired a news/talk/sports radioSports radio
Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
format.