WOI (AM)
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| City of license | Ames, Iowa |
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| Branding | 640 WOI |
| First air date | April 28, 1922 |
| Frequency | 640 (kHz) |
| Format | NPR/Talk |
| ERP | 5,000 watts (daytime) / 1,000 watts (nighttime) |
| Class | B |
| Owner | Iowa State University |
| Website | www.woi.org |
WOI, is an News/Talk radio station affiliated with NPR serving the Des Moines/Ames, Iowa area. Due to its dial position and power, it can be heard throughout most of the state of Iowa. It is located at 640 on the AM dial. The station's studios are located in room 2022 of the Communications Building at Iowa State University along with WOI-FM.
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[edit] 9YI:The Experimental Years
The history of WOI can be traced back to 1911 when Physics Professor "Dad" Hoffman set a transmission line between the Campus Water Tower and the Engineering Building and set up a wireless telegraph station. By 1913 this was know as experimental station 9YI and it was sending and receiving weather reports by morse code on a regular basis. The first sound broadcast was an hour of concert music on November 21, 1921. The Commerce Department issued a full radio licese for station WOI in April of 1922 and the first regular broadcast took place on April 28, 1922.
[edit] Programming in the Early Years
The first regular programming on WOI was farm market reports gathered by ticker tape and morse code and broadcast throughout the state. Another early staple was sporting events by Iowa State's athletic teams. In 1925 the Music Shop was started. This program is one of the longest running shows in the history of radio and can still be heard on sister station WOI-FM. In 1927 another long time favorite, The Book Club was added.
[edit] New Technology and NPR
On December 1, 1949 WOI launched WOI-FM at 90.1 on the FM dial. It its early years it primarily simulcast the AM station. WOI-TV was launched in 1950 as the first TV station in the Des Moines market. It was also the first Commercial TV station owned by an educational institute. It originally was affiliated with all four networks of its time before it became solely an ABC affiliate. WOI-TV was sold by the Iowa Board of Regents on March 1, 1994.
[edit] WOI Today
Today WOI's programming consists of both NPR and localy produced talk shows along with local news and BBC news updates. The classical music of the early years migrated exclusively to WOI-FM in the 1960s.
| Broadcast radio in the Des Moines/Ames market (Arbitron #92) |
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| AM: WOI 640 - KPSZ 940 - WHO 1040 - KWKY 1150 - KRNT 1350 - KASI 1430 - KXNO 1460 - KXLQ 1490 - KBGG 1700 |
FM: KDPS 88.1 - KWDM 88.7 - KJMC 89.3 - WOI-FM 90.1 - KDFR 91.3 - KJJY 92.5 - KIOA 93.3 - KDRA-LP/KGVC-LP 94.1 - KGGO 94.9 - KHKI 97.3 - KWQW 98.3 - KZZQ 99.5 - KDRB 100.3 - KSTZ 102.5 - KAZR 103.3 - KLTI 104.1 - KCCQ 105.1 - KPTL 106.3 - KNWI 107.1 - KKDM 107.5
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