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| Broadcast area | Des Moines metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 640kHz |
| Branding | Iowa Public Radio |
| Programming | |
| Format | Public radio;news-talk |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Iowa Public Radio, Inc. |
| WOI-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | April 28, 1922; 102 years ago (1922-04-28) |
Call sign meaning | The first three letters in "Iowa" backwards |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 29119 |
| Class | B |
| Power |
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Transmitter coordinates | 41°59′34″N93°41′27″W / 41.99278°N 93.69083°W /41.99278; -93.69083 |
| Translator(s) | 104.7 K284CN (Ames) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | iowapublicradio |
WOI (640kHz) – brandedIowa Public Radio – is anon-commercialAM radio stationlicensed toAmes, Iowa, and serving theDes Moines metropolitan area. Owned byIowa Public Radio, it is a listener-supportedpublic radio station airing anews and talkformat. WOI is theflagship station for Iowa Public Radio's News Network,affiliated withNPR,Public Radio International and theBBC World Service. Its transmitter is located at a two-tower array off Zumwalt Station Road near Y Avenue, southwest of Ames.[2]
By day, WOI is powered at 5,000 watts using a singlenon-directional antenna. Due to its low transmitting frequency and Iowa's flat land (with near-perfect ground conductivity), its daytime footprint is equivalent to that of a full-power FM station, providing at least secondary coverage to almost all of Iowa-as far east asCedar Rapids and as far west asSioux City. Its secondary signal also covers portions ofMinnesota,Nebraska,Missouri andSouth Dakota. Its daytime coverage area is similar to that of central Iowa's most powerful AM station, 50,000-wattWHO. As640 AM is aclear channel frequency reserved forClass AKFI in Los Angeles, WOI reduces power at night to 1,000 watts, with power fed to both towers in adirectional pattern that pushes the signal to the east, concentrating it in the Des Moines and Ames areas.[2] Programming is also heard on 250-wattFM translatorK284CN at 104.7MHz.[3]
Historically, WOI is one ofthe oldest radio stations in the United States, having begun experimental transmissions in 1911.
The history of WOI can be traced back to 1911. "Dad" Hoffman, a physics professor at what was then Iowa State College, installed a transmission line between the Campus Water Tower and the Engineering Building and set up a wirelesstelegraph station. By 1913, this was known as experimental station 9YI and it was sending and receiving weather reports byMorse code on a regular basis.
The first sound broadcast was an hour of concert music on November 21, 1921. The Commerce Department issued a full radio license to WOI in April 1922. The first regular broadcast took place on April 28, 1922. The original call sign 9YI is now W0YI and is retained by the ISU Campus Radio Club, with theamateur radio station in the Electrical Engineering building.
WOI may be the oldest fully licensed non-commercial station west of theMississippi River. Sister stationWSUI, founded by theUniversity of Iowa inIowa City, also began telegraph transmissions in 1911 and also has claims to being the earliest educational station west of the Mississippi. Other Midwestern universities also started stations in the 1910s: theUniversity of Minnesota'sKUOM in 1912,St. Louis University'sWEW also in 1912 and theUniversity of Wisconsin'sWHA in 1915.
The first regular programming on WOI was farm market reports gathered by ticker tape and Morse code, broadcast throughout the state. Another early staple was sporting events by Iowa State's athletic teams. In 1925, "The Music Shop" aired for the first time. One of the longest-running programs in the history of radio, it moved toWOI-FM in the 1970s before going off the air in 2006. In 1927. another longtime favorite, "The Book Club" was added; it also aired until 2006.
On December 1, 1949, Iowa State launched an FMsister station, WOI-FM at 90.1 MHz.WOI-TV was subsequently launched in 1950 as the first television station in central Iowa. It was also the first commercial TV station owned by an educational institution. It wasaffiliated with all four networks at the time:CBS,NBC,ABC and theDuMont Network. WOI-TV became solely an ABC affiliate in 1955. The television station was sold by theIowa Board of Regents on March 1, 1994; it is now owned byTegna.
WOI-AM-FM became a charter member ofNational Public Radio (NPR) when it began its regular schedule of afternoon news programAll Things Considered in 1971.
Today WOI's programming consists of both NPR and locally produced talk shows along with local news reports andBBC news updates. Theclassical music of the early years migrated exclusively to 90.1 WOI-FM in the 1960s. When the radio services of Iowa's state universities were merged intoIowa Public Radio in 2004, WOI became the flagship of IPR's Operations and IT services.
| Call sign | Frequency | City of license | FID | ERP (W) | HAAT | Class | Transmitter coordinates | FCC info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K284CN | 104.7 FM | Ames, Iowa | 144461 | 250 | 0 m (0 ft) | D | 42°1′53.1″N93°39′4″W / 42.031417°N 93.65111°W /42.031417; -93.65111 | LMS |
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