KWED (1580
AM) 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 ...
in
Seguin, Texas broadcasting a
full service Full service or Full Service may refer to:
* Full-service radio, a wide range of programming
* Full Service Network, a communications company
Entertainment
* "Full Service", a song by the New Kids on the Block from their album ''The Block''
* F ...
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
format. It is currently owned by Guadalupe Media, Ltd. Programming is sourced from
Premiere Radio Networks
Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. It ...
and
Westwood One, along with news and weather updates every hour from
CBS News Radio and an in-house news staff. KWED also operates an online newspaper, ''Seguin Daily News'', produced by the news staff every business day and available for free on the station's website.
KWED uses a
non-directional antenna
In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle to the axis (elevation angle), declining ...
, broadcasting with 1,000
watt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
s during the day, covering all of
Guadalupe County and most of the Eastern
San Antonio metro area, including the cities of
Schertz
Schertz ( ) is a city in Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe, Bexar County, Texas, Bexar, and Comal County, Texas, Comal counties in the U.S. state of Texas, within the metropolitan area. The population was 42,002 at the 2020 United States census, ...
,
New Braunfels
New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal County, Texas, Comal and Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas known for its German Texan heritage. It is the county seat, seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a popula ...
,
San Marcos
San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to:
Towns and cities Argentina
* San Marcos, Salta
Colombia
* San Marcos, Antioquia
* San Marcos, Sucre
Costa Rica
* San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú)
...
, and
Luling. But because
1580 AM
The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 1580 kHz: 1580 AM is a Canadian clear-channel frequency. See list of broadcast station classes.
Argentina
* LT 36 in Chacabuco, Buenos Aires
* LT 27 in Villaguay, Entre Rios
* Tradici ...
is a Canadian
clear-channel frequency, KWED powers down to 253 watts at night to protect
CKDO
CKDO (1580 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, serving the eastern suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area. The station airs a classic hits/oldies format and is owned by Durham Radio Inc. CKDO is one of only two radio s ...
in
Oshawa
Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. This means that the station cannot be heard outside of Guadalupe County at night. The signal originates from a transmitter site located on C.H. Matthies Jr. Drive in west Seguin, just to the north of the
Texas Lutheran University
Texas Lutheran University (TLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America university in Seguin, Texas.
History
The university traces its roots back to 1891, to an academy of the first German Evangelical Lutheran S ...
campus. Studios and offices are located on East Court Street, also in Seguin.
History
Early Years
On June 27, 1946, KWED's initial construction permit was granted to Seguin resident Weldon Lawson. KWED was to initially broadcast with unlimited hours on 1400 kHz, contingent on KONO's move from 1400 kHz to 860 kHz. However, KWED was granted a license for 1580 as a daytime-only station prior to sign-on; this was necessary as 1580 was, and still is, a Canadian clear-channel frequency. KWED began broadcasting on September 9, 1948, and its initial license to cover was granted on October 4, 1948. On January 1, 1950, Garfield Kiel, the station's initial general manager, became a co-partner in the operation. The two re-organized their holdings into the Seguin Broadcasting Company, effective July 18, 1952. By 1957, KWED had relocated to its current studios on East Court Street.
In 1969, Stan McKenzie, who had been associated with the station since 1950, became the station's majority owner, taking over from Kiel's wife Edith. That same year, KWED received an initial construction permit for a new FM station that would broadcast on 105.3 MHz.
Aborted 2016 sale to Seguin ISD
On August 18, 2016, the
Seguin ISD school board voted 6-1 to enter into negotiations with Guadalupe Media to lease the company's assets including KWED, the Seguin Daily News, and its community web portal seguintoday.com. The school board stated that the purchase of the station would provide learning opportunities to students interested in broadcasting. The district would have paid $6,250 a month over five years to lease the paper and radio station, with the opportunity to purchase them outright after two years. Community backlash against the district was swift, with some residents (including Seguin Mayor Don Keil) feeling that the school board's intent was to silence a media outlet whose reporting had been critical of the district in recent years. On August 24, 2016, Guadalupe Media opted out of negotiations with Seguin ISD, thanking the community for its support.
References
External links
{{San Antonio Radio
WED
Country radio stations in the United States