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KOIL

KOIL
Broadcast areaOmaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area
Frequency1290 kHz
BrandingNews Talk 1290 KOIL
Programming
FormatTalk
NetworkABC News Radio
AffiliationsFox News Talk
Compass Media Networks
Premiere Networks
Salem Radio Network
Westwood One
Kansas City Chiefs Radio Network
Omaha Lancers Hockey
Ownership
Owner
KOZN, KZOT, KMMQ, KQKQ-FM, KOOO, KOPW
History
First air date
July 10, 1925; 99 years ago (July 10, 1925) (original license)
December 16, 1976; 48 years ago (1976-12-16) (Interim Operation)
January 13, 1983 (relicensed)
Former call signs
KOIL (1925–1993)
KKAR (1993–2012)
Call sign meaning
K-OIL (original owner was the Mona Oil Company of Council Bluffs, Iowa.)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID542
ClassB
Power5,000 watts
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitenewstalk1290koil.com

KOIL (1290 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station, licensed to Omaha, Nebraska. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by NRG Media, headquartered in Cedar Rapids. The studios are on Dodge Street at 50th Avenue in Midtown Omaha.

KOIL is a Class B station powered at 5,000 watts. At night, it uses a directional antenna with a three-tower array to protect other stations on 1290 AM. The transmitter is off Harrison Street, near Big Papillion Creek in Bellevue, Nebraska.[2]

Programming

KOIL's schedule is mostly nationally syndicated talk shows. Weekdays begin with two news magazines, America in the Morning with John Trout and This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal. The rest of the weekday schedule includes Brian Kilmeade and Friends, The Sean Hannity Show, The Mark Levin Show, The Chris Plante Show, Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis and America at Night with Rich Valdés.

Weekends feature shows on money, health, the law, technology, guns and home repair. Syndicated weekend programs include The Kim Komando Show, Bill Handel on The Law and At Home with Gary Sullivan. KOIL airs live sports including Kansas City Chiefs football and Omaha Lancers junior ice hockey.[3] Most hours begin with an update from ABC News Radio.

History

Establishment

KOIL was initially licensed to the Monarch Manufacturing Company of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and signed on the air on July 10, 1925. It was one of the earliest stations in the Omaha area. Its owner was an oil company, hence the "OIL" in the call letters. It originally broadcast at 1080 AM, before moving to 1290 AM.

KOIL was one of the stations that participated in the first CBS network radio broadcast on September 18, 1927.[4] Its affiliation switched to the NBC Blue Network on December 1, 1931.[5] KOIL carried its schedule of dramas, comedies, news and sports during the "Golden Age of Radio."

The station was moved to Omaha in 1937. It was purchased by salesman and promoter Don Burden in 1953. As network programming moved from radio to television, the station adopted a Top 40 format. KOIL was a popular station for Omaha's teens and young adults. It became part of Burden's Star Stations.

License cancelation

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began an investigation into allegations involving Burden and his stations. They included reports of bribes Burden made to officials in charge of renewing the licenses of his stations, supervision of on-air contests, and lack of candor with the FCC.[6]

Star Stations was forced to surrender its radio licenses, and KOIL was ordered to go off the air as of 12:01 a.m. September 2, 1976.[7] The last two songs played by DJ Gene Shaw were Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) by Gladys Knight & The Pips. This was followed by the very last song, Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence." The engineer on duty who turned off the transmitter after 51 years was Don Eliason. On Tom Becka's last segment, he also played the song as he signed off.

Interim Operation

After KOIL's license was canceled, there were multiple applications filed to continue operations, either temporarily under an Interim Operation authorization, or as a relicensed station.[7] On November 24, the FCC awarded an Interim Operation authorization to Beneficial Broadcasting Inc.[8] Beneficial, headed by Nathan Novak, was the sole applicant to apply for only Interim Operation, and also pledged to donate all profits to charity. On December 16, 1976, the station, still KOIL, resumed broadcasting.[9]

Relicencing

While the Interim Operation of the station was ongoing, the FCC held competitive hearings among the applicants for a permanant relicencing of the station. A May 1981 ruling favored Nebraska-Iowa Broadcasting, but a January 1982 review changed the decision to Omaha Broadcasting.[10] Following a merger of the applicants, the new license was ultimately granted to NewKOIL, Inc., which took over operations on January 13, 1983.[11] Although technically this was a new station, its continued operation as KOIL on 1290 kHz meant that it was considered to be the same station as the original KOIL established in 1925.

In 1993, the KOIL call sign moved to 1180 AM in an exchange with station KKAR (now KZOT). In April 2003, it moved to 1020 AM, replacing KKSC (now KMMQ).[12] The call sign resumed broadcasting on 1180 kHz in January 2009. On June 4, 2012, KOIL was returned to 1290 AM and rebranded as "The Mighty 1290" KOIL.[13]

Past personalities

Announcers who once worked for KOIL include Roger W. Morgan, Gene Okerlund, Gary Michael Ross, Dr. Don Rose,[14] Dick Sainte, and former Shindig! host Jimmy O'Neill.

Other personalities to spend time at KOIL include The Real Don Steele, Gary Owens, Kris Erik Stevens, Lyle Dean, Frank "Coffeehead" Allen, Joe Light, Dave Wingert, Sandy Jackson, and Tom Becka.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KOIL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KOIL
  3. ^ "The Mighty 1290 KOIL". www.newstalk1290koil.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04.
  4. ^ "CBS Radio News Celebrates 75th Anniversary". Radio Online. September 17, 2002.
  5. ^ "KOIL Joins NBC" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 15, 1931. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  6. ^ "The Mighty 1290 KOIL Tribute". Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Burden facilities are much in demand", Broadcasting, September 13, 1976, page 66.
  8. ^ "Other Actions", Broadcasting, December 13, 1976, page 80.
  9. ^ "KOIL Back On the Air 'For Good'", by Doug Smith, Omaha Herald, December 16, 1976, page 1.
  10. ^ "Omaha Broadcasting gets KOIL License", Lincoln (Nebraska) Star, January 12, 1982, page 5.
  11. ^ "KOIL Radio Permanent License Won by NewKOIL, Inc." by Steve Millburg, Omaha World-Tribune, January 13, 1983, page 41.
  12. ^ "Radio News Search". Radio Online. April 29, 2003.
  13. ^ "News Talk 1290 KOIL". Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  14. ^ "Legendary Morning Air Personality Dr. Don Rose Dies". Radio Online. March 30, 2005.

41°11′20″N 96°00′21″W / 41.18889°N 96.00583°W / 41.18889; -96.00583