KLIR (101.1 FM, "Clear 101") is a

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 A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to serve

Columbus, Nebraska Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Platte County, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 22,111 at the 2010 census. It is the 10th largest city in Nebraska, with 24,028 people as of the 2020 censu ...

, United States. The station is owned by

Alpha Media Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , which ...

, through licensee Digity 3E License, LLC. Digity owns and operates radio station throughout Nebraska and the Midwestern United States. KLIR broadcasts an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

music format.

History

The station was founded in 1964 as KJSK-FM, sister station to KJSK-AM. In 1977 the call letters were changed to KOXI, broadcasting an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

format. In early 1984, the new general manager and soon-to-be part owner, Stan Tafoya, negotiated a deal to bring the new call letters "KLIR", or "Clear" from a station in Denver. The Columbus station was granted the new call sign by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

on July 9,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. The decision to change the call letters coincided with a format change to an adult contemporary format, or "Soft Rock, with Less Talk". Under the Tafoya's leadership, the "Clear" sound was created for the community of Columbus and surrounding areas. Clear positioned itself as "The Radio Station Columbus Built", and became very successful in both ratings and revenue, still retaining many of the same programming elements today. For years, KLIR has been the most listened to radio station in the Platte County, according to the Arbitron Ratings Company. Chuck Lontine was one of the first talents hired by Tafoya, but left within the first year of the new KLIR to become a sales executive with CBS Radio in San Francisco. Tafoya then searched the Midwest for new voices, recruiting Steve Kohl from the Denver market. Kohl took the on-air name of "Scott Fisher" and helped guide the station to even greater success. A strong on-air team soon developed with Fisher in the morning and Jon Michaels in the afternoon. The credible news voice of James Nickel also contributed to the "Clear" sound. And top salesman Verl Wurtz added his play-by-play talents to the station's popular local sports programming. Tafoya left in the mid-1990s after a subsequent sale of the station to new owners. Many local business people and listeners have long cited the operation under Tafoya as a classic marketing success story, where a relatively small and unknown radio station transforms itself into the market leader.

References

*BIA ''Investing in Radio Guide'' *''Radio & Records'' Magazine *''Broadcasting & Cable'' *''Columbus Telegraph'' Newspaper *''Omaha World Herald''

External links

KLIR official website
{{Adult Contemporary Radio Stations in Nebraska

LIR Lir or Ler (meaning "Sea" in Old Irish; ''Ler'' and ''Lir'' are the nominative and genitive forms, respectively) is a sea god in Irish mythology. His name suggests that he is a personification of the sea, rather than a distinct deity. He is na ...

Mainstream adult contemporary radio stations in the United States Companies based in Platte County, Nebraska