KCHA (1580 AM) is an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as we ...

formatted

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

licensed to

Charles City, Iowa Charles City is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Iowa. Charles City is a significant commercial and transportation center for the area. U.S. Routes 18 and 218, Iowa Highway 14, and the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railr ...

, serving Charles City & Floyd County as well as North Central and North Eastern Iowa. KCHA is owned and operated by North Iowa Broadcasting, LLC. It was first licensed on December 13, 1949.

Deadly Tornado

KCHA was noted for its role during the May 15, 1968 tornado that tore through Charles City, destroying over half the town and killing 13 residents and injuring hundreds. One of the largest twisters ever recorded in the state, the storm destroyed much of the downtown – 256 businesses and 1,250 homes. KCHA was warning people of the incoming storm when the tornado struck."A moment frozen in time: Forty years later, residents still vividly remember the day Charles City was nearly blown away"
''Charles City Press'', May 15, 2008. After power was knocked out, station personnel installed an emergency generator at the transmitter site on Stony Point Road and was back on the air later that evening.

Transmission Location

The KCHA transmitter is located on Stony Point Road in Charles City, right off Business 218 near K-Mart.

Programming

The station broadcasts an

format. KCHA also produces a special themed weekend on the weekends.

Broadcast Signal

The KCHA signal stretches from Forest City to West Union and

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in, and the county seat of, Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Po ...

south to Waterloo during the day. At night, the signal covers Floyd County, IA.

References

External links

Fabulous 1580 & 103.3 Online
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FCC History Cards for KCHA
{{Oldies Radio Stations in Iowa CHA