KGGO (94.9FM) is acommercialradio station inDes Moines, Iowa. It is owned byCumulus Media and airs aclassic rockradio format. The station's studios and offices are inUrbandale, Iowa, with Cumulus Media's other Des Moines stations:KJJY,KHKI,KWQW, andKBGG. (Before 2001, KGGO's studios were located inBerwick, north of Des Moines.) KGGO carries twonationally syndicated shows on its weekday schedule,The Bob & Tom Show, in morningdrive time andNights with Alice Cooper in the evening. Middays and afternoons feature localDJs.

KGGO has aneffective radiated power (ERP) of 100,000watts, the maximum output for non-grandfathered FM stations. Thetransmitter is located off 24th Street SE, near 6th Avenue SE, inAltoona.^[1]

The first radio station to occupy the 94.9 FM frequency in Des Moines wasKNDR (NewDirectionsRadio), whichsigned on in 1961.^[2] It was under the ownership of the Hopkins family, with studios in the Brown Hotel. But in the early 1960s, few people owned FM radios. The station left the air a year later due to financial problems.

On May 31, 1964,KFMG debuted on that frequency with a "fine arts"classical music format.^[3] The station was owned by Bill and Ruth Plymat. Once again, the station used studios in the Brown Hotel in downtown Des Moines. The tower was located atop the hotel with the transmitter on the 11th floor. The station started broadcasting inFM stereo in December 1969 with a concert from theBoston Symphony Orchestra.

Longtime announcer Ron Sorenson hosted a late night program ofprogressive rock music called the "Roc Show," during the years KFMG was owned by the Plymat Family. When the Woodland Corporation bought the station in 1969, Sorenson convinced the new owners to go with that format on a full-time basis. On March 1, 1970, KFMG became afree-form station that played a wide variety of rock and other music. Morning host John Krantz played the first song at 6 a.m. that day, "Colour My World," byChicago.

KFMG had some setbacks that year. The planned demolition of the Brown Hotel caused Woodland to seek a new studio and location for the antenna and transmitter. A new location atop the Teachout Building did not give KFMG the coverage that it previously had from the Brown Hotel. In 1971, the station was sold to the Stoner Corporation and became asister station to KSO (1460 AM, nowKXNO). When Stoner took over, KFMG's format was changed toTop 40 music during the day which Sorenson protested. As a result, he left the station in protest during his morning shift. Stoner management soon found out that KFMG had a small but loyal listenership when they expressed displeasure over Sorenson's departure.

Stoner ran a full-page ad in theDes Moines Register to appease disgruntled KFMG listeners, but the station did not return to a rock format for several years. KFMG becameKGGO in 1975.^[4] For its first few years as a Top 40 outlet, it used the moniker "Go-95."

The station shifted to analbum-oriented rock (AOR) format on July 19, 1978.^[5] In the spring of 1984, KGGO became the first FM station in the Des Moines area to finish in first place in the localArbitron ratings.^[6] KGGO remained the Des Moines area's highest-rated radio station throughout most of the late 1980s and 1990s.^[7]

KGGO's rock format wassimulcast on 1460 AM from 1989 to 1994 after the former KSO radio ended its country music format. The AM frequency adopted the KGGO call letters during that time period, while 94.9 added an -FMsuffix. The simulcast ended in 1994, when 1460's call letters became KDMI.^[8] By the end of the 1990s, KGGO had transitioned to aclassic rock format.

KGGO's ownership has changed several times in recent years.American Radio Systems bought KGGO from Stoner in 1993. ARS owned KGGO until October 1997, when AMFM acquired the station.^[9] In 2000, AMFM merged withClear Channel Communications. Since Clear Channel already owned several stations in the Des Moinesradio market, KGGO and sister stationKHKI were spun off to Barnstable Broadcasting. (Clear Channel kept KDMI, which later becameKXNO.)^[10] In May 2001, Barnstable sold its Des Moines cluster of stations to Wilks Broadcasting.^[11] Two years later, Wilks sold the stations toCitadel Broadcasting.^[12] Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.^[13]

On September 22, 2005,Citadel Broadcasting purchased thenaming rights to the former Buccaneer Arena in Urbandale. The home of theDes Moines Buccaneers was then renamed 95KGGO Arena.^[14] In 2008, the name reverted toBuccaneer Arena.

• KGGO website
• Facility details for Facility ID 12965 (KGGO) in theFCC Licensing and Management System
• KGGO inNielsen Audio's FM station database
• Des Moines Broadcasting History: KGGO

41°37′55″N93°27′25″W / 41.632°N 93.457°W /41.632; -93.457

• Radio stations in Des Moines, Iowa
• Cumulus Media radio stations
• Classic rock radio stations in the United States
• Urbandale, Iowa
• Radio stations established in 1964

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