KBWG (89.7 MHz), known as Thunder Radio, is a radio station in

Browning, Montana Browning is a former town and current Census-designated place in Glacier County, Montana, Glacier County, Montana, United States. It is the headquarters for the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and was the only incorporated town on the Reservation. T ...

, United States, owned by the Blackfeet Tribe. The station began as KBWG-LP 107.5, a

low-power FM Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonl ...

radio station, in 2004. It was owned by the town of Browning and initially broadcast emergency and weather information before the town received a grant in 2006 to upgrade the facility. It then began broadcasting classic country music. In 2010 and 2011, the station began broadcasting with live DJs and local news and sports programming, adopting the name Thunder Radio. By 2015, the station had more than two dozen volunteers. The station temporarily shut down on January 14, 2016, amid the closure of City Hall and a dispute between the town of Browning and the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council and discussions of a possible municipal bankruptcy filing for Browning. By March 2017, the town was in receivership, and Glacier County was evaluating spinning Thunder Radio off to a community board. The Blackfeet Tribe was owed $2.6 million by the town of Browning, and as part of a court-ordered settlement agreement in which the tribe acquired most of the town's assets, KBWG-LP was included. The Blackfeet Tribe obtained a full-power license and replaced KBWG-LP with KBWG on 89.7 MHz in 2024. The tribe also holds the licenses for four other full-power stations on the reservation: KIYO 88.1 in

St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, KWRR 90.3 in Heart Butte, KIPP in East Glacier Park Village, and KEOP in Little Browning.

References

{{reflist 2010 establishments in Montana Radio stations established in 2010 BWG Blackfeet Tribe