KGLO (1300 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Mason City, Iowa. The station is owned by Alpha Media, through licensee Digity 3E License, LLC. It airs a

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...

/ talk radio format. The station aired an adult contemporary format during the 1980s. The station's call letters reflect the '' Globe Gazette'' newspaper. The station began broadcasting in 1938 on the assigned frequency of 1210 kHz. It was owned by Lee Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the owner of the ''Globe Gazette'', Lee Enterprises. The founding general manager of KGLO and Lee Broadcasting was Francis C. Eighmey. KGLO began operation with only 250 watts of power. It was the lowest wattage radio station to be included in the CBS Radio Network, but the station served what was recognized as a key market area in the midwest. In the early 1940s, the station was moved to its present frequency of 1300 in order to increase transmitting power. On March 29, 1941, its power was increased to 1,000 watts day and night with a non-directional antenna. The transmitting location was on old Highway 18 just west of Mason City. Shortly thereafter, power was increased to five kilowatts and two flanking towers were added to produce a directional signal at night with deep nulls to the east and west. In 1998, the transmitter was moved to six miles south of Mason City with directional pattern both day and night to provide a better signal over Mason City. The revenue generated by KGLO radio provided for significant corporate expansion. Eighmey began this process with the acquisition of WTAD in

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

. Additional radio stations were later added in Wisconsin. Lee Broadcasting also established KGLO-TV, the area's CBS affiliate, in 1954; that station is now KIMT-TV.KIMT history
/ref> Other television stations were acquired, including

KGMB-TV KGMB (channel 5) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside NBC affiliate KHNL (channel 13) and Kailua-Kona–licensed Telemundo affi ...

in Honolulu and KOIN-TV in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. In the 1960s, the Lee Newspapers were merged with Lee Broadcasting. The KGLO call letters were assigned to the station by the Federal Communications Commission.

References

External links

KGLO official websiteKGLO's news website
GLO News and talk radio stations in the United States Mason City, Iowa Alpha Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1938 1938 establishments in Iowa {{Iowa-radio-station-stub