WOI (AM)

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WOI

City of license	Ames, Iowa
Broadcast area	Des Moines, Iowa
Branding	640 WOI (also on HD Radio)
Frequency	640 (kHz)
First air date	April 28, 1922 (experimental 1911-22)
Format	NPR/Talk
Power	5,000 watts (daytime) 1,000 watts (nighttime)
Class	B
Owner	Iowa State University
Website	www.iowapublicradio.org

WOI is a News/Talk radio station affiliated with National Public Radio serving the Des Moines, Iowa area. It is located at 640 on the AM dial. Due to its dial position, power and Iowa's flat landscape, it can be heard throughout most of the state of Iowa (as far west as Sioux City and as far east as Cedar Rapids). Its signal also reaches parts of Missouri, Minnesota and Nebraska. The station's studios are located in room 2022 of the Communications Building at Iowa State University in Ames (where the station is licensed) along with WOI-FM. It is the flagship station of Iowa Public Radio's all-news network.

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 known 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 license for station WOI in April 1922 and the first regular broadcast took place on April 28, 1922. It is the oldest fully licensed noncommercial station west of the Mississippi River. The original callsign 9YI is now W0YI and is retained by the ISU Campus Radio Club, with the amateur radio station located in the Electrical Engineering building.

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" aired for the first time. One of the longest-running programs in the history of radio, it moved to WOI-FM in the 1970s before going off the air in 2006. In 1927 another longtime favorite, "The Book Club" was added; it aired until 2006.

New technology and NPR

On December 1, 1949 WOI launched WOI-FM at 90.1 on the FM dial. In its early years it primarily simulcast the AM station. WOI-TV was launched in 1950 as the first television station in central Iowa. It was also the first commercial TV station owned by an educational institution. It originally was affiliated with all four networks of its time before it became solely an ABC affiliate in 1955. WOI-TV was sold by the Iowa Board of Regents on March 1, 1994.

WOI became a charter member of NPR in 1971.

WOI today

Today WOI's programming consists of both NPR and locally 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.

When the radio services of Iowa's state universities were merged into Iowa Public Radio in 2004, WOI became the flagship of IPR's Operations and IT services.

External links

v t e Radio stations in the Des Moines-Ames, Iowa market

By FM frequency	88.1 88.5 88.7 88.9 89.3 90.1 91.3 91.7 92.5 93.3 94.1 94.9 96.1 96.3 97.3 97.9 98.3 99.1 99.3 99.5 99.9 100.3 101.1 101.7 102.5 103.3 104.1 105.1 105.5 105.9 106.3 107.1 107.5

By AM frequency	640 940 1040 1150 1260 1310 1350 1430 1460 1490 1590 1700

NOAA Weather Radio frequency	162.550

By callsign	K260AM KASI KAZR KBGG KCCQ KDFR KDLF KDLS KDLS-FM KDPS KDRB KFMG-LP KGGO KGVC-LP KHKI KICG KICJ KICL KICP KIOA KJJY KJMC KKDM KLTI-FM KNSL KNWI KNWM KPSZ KPTL KPUL KRNT KSTZ KTIA-FM KURE KWBG KWDM KWKY KWQW KXIA KXLQ KXNO WHO WOI WOI-FM WXL57

Defunct	KCBC-FM

Iowa radio markets Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Council Bluffs Des Moines-Ames Quad Cities (Davenport) Sioux City Waterloo-Cedar Falls Other Iowa radio regions Burlington Dubuque Fort Dodge Mason City Ottumwa See also List of radio stations in Iowa

v t e NPR Member Stations in the state of Iowa

Iowa Public Radio News Network	Ames WOI Iowa City WSUI Clear Lake/Mason City KRNI

Iowa Public Radio Classical Network	Cedar Falls KHKE Dubuque K269EK Iowa City KSUI Ottumwa KICW Patterson KICP Perry KICG Mitchellville KICJ Pleasantville KICL

Iowa Public Radio News & Studio One Network	Ames WOI-FM Bettendorf KNSB Carroll KNSC Cedar Falls KUNI Dubuque KNSY Fort Dodge KNSK Lamoni KNSL Mason City KNSM Ottumwa KNSZ

Other stations	Cedar Rapids KCCK-FM Council Bluffs KIWR Decorah KLCD Decorah KLNI Okoboji KOJI Sioux City KWIT Waterloo KBBG

See also List of National Public Radio stations

See also adult contemporary classic hits college country news/talk NPR oldies religious rock sports top 40 urban other radio stations in Iowa

Coordinates: 41°59′34″N 93°41′27″W / 41.99278°N 93.69083°W / 41.99278; -93.69083

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