KPTY (1330 AM, "107.3 Hank FM") 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 ...

serving the Waterloo/ Cedar Falls metropolitan area with a

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

format. It broadcasts on AM frequency 1330 kHz and is under ownership of NRG Radio, LLC.

History

On June 12, 1947 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 ...

granted a

construction permit Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...

to Black Hawk Broadcasting Company for a radio station in Waterloo, Iowa. Less than five months later, Black Hawk President R.J. McElroy made the launch of KWWL a reality. The station began broadcasting on 1320 kHz, operating at 1,000 watts of power in studio space once occupied by WMT in the

Hotel Russell-Lamson The Hotel Russell-Lamson is a historic building located in Waterloo, Iowa, United States. Clyde O. Lamson, a real estate developer, and his wife Lillian Russell Lamson were instrumental in the construction of the hotel. Completed in 1914, it uses ...

. The frequency changed to 1330 a short time later, operating at 5,000 watts. KWWL was a very popular Top 40 station until the format moved to co-owned sister station KFMW in 1982. KWLO's format moved to Adult Contemporary and evolved into Full Service. In the summer of 1992, KWLO switched music formats from Lite AC to Oldies, adopting "Oldies 1330" as a moniker. The new format maintained existing Full Service news and talk programming as well as local features like Buy, Sell, & Trade, a

Tradio Tradio is a type of talk radio show format, though now considered archaic, where listeners call in to buy or sell items. The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midwest. "Tradio" is a p ...

program. After KWLO and KFMW were purchased by Bahakel Communications in 1996, the Adult Standards format that was on KXEL moved to KWLO. For a time, it was syndicating a combined Oldies/Adult Standards format courtesy of

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which w ...

's " Timeless" satellite feed. With that network's demise on February 13, 2010, KWLO slightly tweaked their format and switched over to

Dial Global Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...

Kool Gold Classic Hits (known as Kool Gold until June 17, 2012) is a 24-hour music format produced by Westwood One. Its playlist is composed of oldies music from the mid-1960s to mid-1980s, from artists such as Billy Joel, The Beatles, The Temptations, Flee ...

Oldies network. On July 1, 2012, KWLO's format changed to sports. McElroy formed

KWWL-TV KWWL (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Waterloo, Iowa, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for Eastern Iowa. Owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, KWWL maintains studios on East 5th Street in Waterloo, with news bureaus and ...

in 1953 and KWWL-FM (now

KFMW KFMW (107.9 FM), known as "Rock 108", is a radio station based in Waterloo, Iowa. The station has an active rock format. Its signal is transmitted from the AFLAC Tower north of Rowley, Iowa. History KFMW came on the air in November 1968 as KWWL- ...

) in 1968. In 1981, KWWL became KWLO with the sale of the Black Hawk Broadcasting Company to Forward Communications. The station was purchased by Bahakel Communications in 1996 and then purchased in April 2012 along with Bahakel's other Waterloo radio stations by Woodward Communications, Inc. Woodward Communications sold KWLO and three sister stations to NRG Radio's NRG License Sub, LLC effective December 1, 2014, at a price of $3.55 million. On June 28, 2015 at midnight, KWLO flipped to Top 40/CHR, branded as "107.3 The Party" (simulcast on translator K297BS 107.3 FM Waterloo). On July 9, 2015, KWLO changed their call letters to KPTY to go with the "Party" branding. On January 31, 2020, after playing “

Him & I "Him & I" is a song recorded by American rapper G-Eazy and American singer Halsey. It was written by G-Eazy, Halsey, Edgar Machuca, Jim Lavigne, Dakarai Gwitira, Madison Love, and production duo The Futuristics. The song was released via RCA Rec ...

” by G-Eazy, KPTY flipped to classic country, branded as "107.3 Hank FM". The first song on “Hank FM” was “

Live Until I Die "Live Until I Die" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Clay Walker. It was released in October 1993 as the second single from his self-titled debut album. The song reached the top of the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Sing ...

” by

Clay Walker Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single " What's It to You", which reached Number One on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Son ...

.Party Over as Hank is Cranked in Waterloo
Radioinsight - January 31, 2020

References

External links

KPTY website
* * {{coord, 42, 28, 01, N, 92, 15, 59, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title PTY Classic country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Iowa NRG Media radio stations