KWTO

KWTO refers to two radio stations in Springfield, Missouri, USA. On AM, KWTO can be found at 560 kHz, where it airs a news-talk format. On FM, KWTO operates at 98.7 MHz and carries a sports talk format.

The station is owned by Meyer Communications, making it, KWFC, and KTXR the only radio stations in the Springfield market to be locally owned and operated.

KWTO-AM

KWTO was founded by Ralph D. Foster and began broadcasting on December 25, 1933. Foster applied for and got the call letters KWTO, which stood for "Keep Watching The Ozarks." Since the Federal Radio Commission prohibited playing recorded music on the air, the station had its own live bands.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, KWTO’s staff musicians included Slim Wilson and the Tall Timber Trio, Chet Atkins, The Carter Family, Wynn Stewart, Les Paul, The Haden Family and The Goodwill Family. KWTO’S Korn’s-A-Krackin’, a weekly “hillbilly variety” program, was carried nationally by the Mutual Broadcasting System. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the station played a key role in launching the careers of stars such as Porter Wagoner and The Browns. In 1954, the station began carrying Ozark Jubilee, which became an ABC-TV and radio show. In 1959, KWTO broke with its live music tradition and began playing country records, and for the next 30 years was known as "56 Country."

On October 22, 1990, KWTO ended its long-standing country format and became the Ozarks' first full-time news-talk radio station, which carries the programs of talk-show hosts including Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Jim Bohannon (who once worked at the station), and computer guru Kim Komando.

With his 2008 album Rambling Boy, Charlie Haden acknowledged KWTO's country roots by featuring the station's transmission tower on the album's cover. On December 10, 2008, Rep. Roy Blunt recognized the station's 75th anniversary with remarks from the US House floor.

The station's 5,000-watt signal reaches large parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. It provides at least secondary coverage as far north as Kansas City and Topeka, as far south as Fort Smith and as far west as the Tulsa suburbs.

KWTO-FM

KWTO-FM went on the air in November 1972 at 98.7 FM with a rock format and was known as "Rock 99." This format lasted well into the 1980s until rival station KXUS went on the air in April 1985 with a similar format. Rock 99 was originally an automated music format utilizing the TM Stereo Rock format based from Dallas, TX. Several FM radio stations used this format during the 1970's into the 1980's. These stations had the same announcer and same call letter type music jingles. One example, WIBW-FM 97.3 in Topeka, KS was Rock 97 and sounded just like KWTO-FM Rock 99. That was a great automated music format without the talkative DJ's, it was rock, pop, oldies, and some album cuts. The on-air format basically went like this: Two new songs followed by two older songs then commercial break (usually four commercials) then call letter jingle and back to the music.

In March 1987, the station adopted a more Top-40 format and became "99 Hit FM." This format was changed again in 1991 to a soft-rock format, the call letters were changed to KKHT and the slogan became "The Heart - 98.7 FM." In 1993, the station returned to its classic rock roots with "98.7 FM Rock 99" and changed the call letters back to KWTO.

In 2001, the station adopted an all-sports format and became known as "The Jock, 98.7 FM."

External links

• Query the FCC's AM station database for KWTO
• Radio-Locator Information on KWTO
• Query Arbitron's AM station database for KWTO
• Query the FCC's FM station database for KWTO
• Radio-Locator information on KWTO
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for KWTO