| Frequency | 550kHz |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Format | Public Radio -News - Talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Oregon Public Broadcasting |
| History | |
First air date | January 23, 1923; 102 years ago (1923-01-23) |
Former call signs | KFDJ (1922–1925) |
Call sign meaning | Oregon Agricultural College (former name ofOregon State University) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 50587 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 44°38′12″N123°11′33″W / 44.63667°N 123.19250°W /44.63667; -123.19250[2] |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | opb.org |
KOAC (550 AM) is anon-commercial, listener supported,publicradio stationlicensed toCorvallis, Oregon. The station is owned byOregon Public Broadcasting, and airs OPB'snews and talk programming, consisting ofsyndicated shows fromNational Public Radio,American Public Media and thePublic Radio Exchange, as well as locally produced offerings. It is operated from OPB's studios and offices on South Macadam Avenue inPortland.
KOAC is powered at 5,000watts. To protect other stations on550 AM from interference, it uses adirectional antenna with a two-tower array. Thetransmitter is off NE Granger Avenue nearU.S. Route 20 inAlbany.[3] Due to its transmitter power and location near the bottom of the AM dial, its daytime signal provides at least secondary coverage from Portland toRoseburg. It is the only directional AM radio station in theUnited States which uses a shunt-fed antenna.[4]
KOAC is one of the oldest radio stations in Oregon. It was first licensed, with the sequentially assignedcall letters KFDJ, to Oregon Agricultural College (nowOregon State University) on December 7, 1922.[5] It made its debut broadcast on January 23, 1923; 102 years ago (January 23, 1923).
Its call sign became KOAC — the last three letters being the initials of Oregon Agricultural College — in late 1925.[6] KOAC was one of a number of AM stations started by universities in the early days of radio as a way to experiment in the new medium and train future broadcasters. Unlike most early radio stations that had to share a frequency with other stations, KOAC was eventually able to have a frequency to itself full-time.[4]
In the 1930s, it was powered at 1,000 watts.[7]
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In 1932, the station's management was transferred from Oregon State College to theOregon State Board of Higher Education's General Extension Division. However, the state headquarters and network studios remained at the university's campus in Corvallis.[8][9][10]
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The first broadcasts by KOAC were made from the original campus studio in Kearny Hall in 1923.
From 1928 to 2006, KOAC's studios were on campus in Covell Hall, where OSU faculty and students broadcast educational programs and later live news programs across the state. Starting in the 1950s, the board signed on a number ofsimulcast radio stations in Portland, Eugene and other communities. It also began a sister network of television stations fronted by KOAC-TV (channel 7, which signed on in 1957). This group became known as Oregon Educational Broadcasting, with KOAC AM-TV asflagship stations. OEB evolved into the Oregon Educational and Public Broadcasting Service (OEPBS) in 1971.
The radio and TV studios remained on the Corvallis campus until 1981. The network was then spun-off from the Board of Higher Education and became a separate state agency known asOregon Public Broadcasting. At that time, the satellite stations in Portland, KOAP-FM-TV (nowKOPB-FM-TV), became the flagship stations.
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