KBOI (AM)
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KBOI (670
kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
) is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...
AM
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 the
western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, located in
Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...
. It is owned by
Cumulus Media Cumulus Media, Inc. is an American broadcasting company and is the third largest owner and operator of AM and FM radio stations in the United States behind Audacy and iHeartMedia. As of June 2019, Cumulus lists ownership of 428 stations in 87 ...
and airs a
news/talk Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...
.
Studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
s and offices are on Bannock Street in Downtown Boise, while its transmitter is located at a six-
tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower a ...
southwest of the city. KBOI is Idaho's most powerful AM station, broadcasting with 50,000
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 around the clock. During the day, a single
non-directional antenna In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna (electronics), antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis (mathematics), axis (azimuthal directions), with power varying with angle ...
beams the station's full power to Southwestern Idaho and Eastern
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. At night, power is fed to all six towers in a directional pattern to avoid interfering with
WSCR WSCR (670 AM) – branded as 670 The Score – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, servicing the Chicago metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana and parts of the Milwa ...
in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, the Class A clear-channel station on
670 AM The following radio stations broadcast on AM frequency 670 kHz: 670 AM is a United States clear-channel frequency. WSCR Chicago and KDLG Dillingham, Alaska, share Class A status of 670 kHz. In Argentina * LU9 in Mar del Plata, Bs. A ...
. Even though it must direct its signal north-south as a result, KBOI can still be heard with across much of the western half of North America at night with a good radio, but is strongest in the Pacific Northwest. Because of this, KBOI is Idaho's designated primary entry point station for the
Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via cable, satellite, or broadcast television, and bot ...
. KBOI is licensed by the
FCC 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 jurisdictio ...
to broadcast in the
HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
hybrid digital format, although it currently does not have HD turned on.


Programming

Weekdays begin with an news and information show, "Kasper and Chris," featuring Mike Kasper and Chris Walton. The KBOI morning newscaster is station news director Rick Worthington. KBOI's afternoon
drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...
slot is hosted Nate Shelman, who also serves as the station's program director. In middays and nights, the station features syndicated
conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...
shows, including
Dan Bongino Daniel John Bongino (born December 4, 1974) is an American conservative political commentator, radio show host, and author. He served as a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer from 1995 to 1999 and as a Secret Service agent from 1999 ...
,
Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States. ...
,
Mark Levin Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show '' The Mark Levin Show'', as well as '' Life, Liberty & Levin'' on Fox News. Levin worked in the admin ...
and
Red Eye Radio ''Red Eye Radio'' is a talk radio program currently hosted by Eric Harley and Gary McNamara. The program is syndicated nationwide by Westwood One, and originates from WBAP in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The show traces its history throug ...
from the co-owned Westwood One Network. Most hours begin with world and national news from
ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five minute newscasts on the hour and news briefs at half-pas ...
. Weekends on KBOI include shows on money, real estate, home improvement, law and gardening, as well as religious and paid
brokered programming Brokered programming (also known as time-buy and blocktime) is a form of broadcast content in which the show's producer pays a radio or television station for air time, rather than exchanging programming for pay or the opportunity to play spot comm ...
. Syndicated shows include Bill Handel on the Law, Ben Ferguson and
Bill Cunningham Bill Cunningham may refer to: People *Bill Cunningham (rugby union) (1874–1927), New Zealand rugby union player * Bill Cunningham (footballer), Irish international footballer active in the 1890s *Bill Cunningham (infielder) (1886–1946), profe ...
. The station broadcasts NFL
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
as an affiliate of the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
' Radio Network.


History


KDSH

The station first
signed on Signing may refer to: * Using sign language * Signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on do ...
in 1947. The
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
was originally KDSH, founded by Boise Valley Broadcasters, with its studios at 311 North 10th Street. Boise Valley Broadcasters was a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
. KDSH was originally on 950 kHz, powered at 5,000 watts. It was a
CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
Network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...
, carrying its dramas, comedies, news, sports,
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
s,
game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
s and
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
broadcasts during the " Golden Age of Radio." In 1953, Boise Valley Broadcasters put a TV station on the air, Channel 2 KBOI. It was Boise's second TV station after Channel 7 KIDO-TV.


KBOI

On February 11, 1955, the stations switched their call letters to KBOI and KBOI-TV; the change was made possible by the relocation of the television station's
city of license In American, Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broa ...
from
Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...
to Boise. An FM radio station was added in 1960, 97.9 KBOI-FM (now
KQFC KQFC (97.9 MHz, "Magic 97.9") is a commercial FM radio station in Boise, Idaho. It airs a soft adult contemporary radio format and is owned by Cumulus Media. Studios and offices are on West Bannock Street in Boise. The transmitter is off Nort ...
). As network programming moved from radio to television, KBOI-AM-FM switched to 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 ...
, middle of the road (MOR) format of popular music, news and sports. In the late 1960s, KBOI-FM broke away from the simulcast and began playing
beautiful music Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator musi ...
. In the 1980s, as listeners switched from AM to FM for music listening, KBOI added more talk programming. It eventually completed the change over to all talk.


Cumulus Media

In 2005, its owner at the time,
Citadel Broadcasting Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country. Only iHeartMedia and Cumulus Media ...
, switched KBOI's affiliation to
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's Information Network, in advance of Citadel's 2007 acquisition of ABC Radio. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011. At the beginning of 2015, Cumulus switched KBOI and most of its other news/talk stations from ABC News to Cumulus-owned
Westwood One News Westwood One News was a radio news network launched on January 1, 2015, and operated by Westwood One through its parent company Cumulus Media. Using audio from CNN reports and correspondents, and anchored by Cumulus employees, it provided radio ...
. In 2020, Westwood One News was discontinued and KBOI returned to ABC News affiliation. KBOI was the contracted radio station for
Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...
Broncos football and men's basketball from 1973 through early 2008, with Paul J. Schneider as play-by-play announcer. The Broncos returned to KBOI during the
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
season with Bob Behler serving as the Voice of the Broncos.


FM simulcast

On January 3, 2022, KBOI began simulcasting on KTIK-FM (93.1), which concurrently took on the
KBOI-FM KBOI-FM (93.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station located in New Plymouth, Idaho, broadcasting to the Boise area. KBOI-FM airs a news/talk format branded as "News Talk KBOI" and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. History Adult contemporary ...
call sign. KTIK-FM had previously simulcast the sports format of sister station KTIK.Cumulus Preparing January Boise Changes
Radioinsight - January 3, 2022


Morning show

The KBOI morning show, "Idaho's First Morning News/Idaho Talks Live" was anchored by Paul J. Schneider and Chris Walton until December 2018, when Schneider retired from full-time broadcasting after 51 years with KBOI-TV and KBOI Radio. Schneider, an
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
native who moved to Idaho as a teen with his parents and brother, was a KBOI Radio morning host from 1976 to 2018. Walton, a native of Twin Falls, joined the program in 2001, moving from the morning drive show at
Citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...
-owned
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
station
KKGL-FM KKGL (96.9 FM, "The Eagle") is a commercial radio station located in Nampa, Idaho that serves the Boise area. KKGL airs a classic rock format. This station is also an affiliate for the Bob and Tom Show Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Plac ...
. Idaho native Mike Kasper, the former morning drive co-host of Boise station KCIX-FM, was hired by KBOI following Schneider's retirement. Since January 2019, the KBOI wake up program has been known as "Kasper and Chris". The radio morning show was
simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...
on then-local
Fox Television Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
station KTRV-TV from 8am to 10am Monday through Friday from 2003 through 2010. KTRV dropped the program after Boise CBS affiliate television station KBCI-TV changed its call letters back to
KBOI-TV KBOI-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Boise, Idaho, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside low-power CW+ affiliate KYUU-LD (channel 35). Both stations share studios on North 16th Street in ...
in 2010 (after spending the last 35 years as KBCI-TV) to reflect a renewed partnership with KBOI radio.


References


External links


FCC History Cards for KBOI
* {{coord, 43, 25, 44, N, 116, 19, 43, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title News and talk radio stations in the United States BOI Cumulus Media radio stations Radio stations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Idaho