KGAB (650
AM) is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...
broadcasting a
News Talk Information
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. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews wi ...
format. It is licensed to Orchard Valley, Wyoming, and serves the
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...
, area and operates with daytime power of 8,500 watts. The station is
owned and operated
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
by
Townsquare Media
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
.
Signal
Day
During daylight hours, KGAB operates a
non-directional signal of 8.5
kw using one tower on
Terry Ranch Road which provides a local coverage to all of Laramie County, as well as the city of
Laramie, and the
Fort Collins-Greeley-Loveland area.
A decent signal is available to the Denver area, as well as a decent swath of Southeast and Central Wyoming including Casper, while a barely readable signal reaches Colorado Springs.
The daytime signal has been reported in Salt Lake City and in Missouri.
Night
The station does not adjust its power during
sunrise and sunset, therefore allowing a window where the station extends its coverage dramatically.
At night, class-B KGAB is required to drop their signal to 500 watts, which points directionally north-west to protect clear-channels
WSM Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
and
KENI
KENI (650 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news/talk format. Licensed to Anchorage, Alaska, United States, the station serves the south-central Alaska area. The station is currently owned by . Its studios are located at Dimond Center in ...
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...
. This provides a local signal to Cheyenne and Laramie, and can provide a skywave signal to Casper and even Billings. The nighttime signal has reportedly been received as far as
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
at night.
Translator
In order to serve a younger audience, KGAB began testing a
broadcast translator
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...
on 99.5
FM in July 2021, at the tower site of sister-station
KIGN
KIGN (101.9 FM, "King FM") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Burns, Wyoming, United States, the station serves the Cheyenne area. The station is currently owned by Townsquare Media.
History
The station was a ...
, as part o
AM revitalization it operated with 250 watts non-directional ERP.
Around mid-August, the signal was again off the air due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
causing backlogs for the construction company involved;
as a result, the translator will instead use an old antenna
at the same site, and it will be directionalized towards Cheyenne. When the translator (K258DN) was on the first time around, it faced massive interference from both
KQMT in Denver, as well as excessive overlap from a transmitter in downtown Cheyenne. On September 7, 2021, the new antenna system was approved for the translator, and the license to cover was granted. The station officially returned to the air on October 12, using the new antenna and contour.
Under the old set-up, the translator produced a strong local-grade signal to much of Cheyenne, despite the aforementioned interference, and it could be heard up to Burns and Pine Bluffs. The west side of Cheyenne, particularly near
I-180, reception proved to be difficult for most listeners, due to overlapping interference from a tower on 15th street not having their bandwidth adjusted properly. Under the new construction permit, the KGAB translator will provide a good signal to the city of Cheyenne, to hopefully prevent interference. However, it will throw a severe null to its east, preventing most listening this way. Officially, the city of license, Orchard Valley, is the same as KGAB's COL; however, the tower itself is closer to Altvan, Wyoming.
History

The station was assigned the call sign KVWO on June 9, 1978, which moved to a low-power
station
Station may refer to:
Agriculture
* Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production
* Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle
** Cattle statio ...
in
Welch, Oklahoma
Welch is a town in northern Craig County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 619 at the 2010 census, an increase of 3.7 percent over the figure of 597 recorded in 2000. It is south of the Kansas state line, at the intersection of s ...
On October 11, 1979, the station changed its call sign to KUUY and on December 9, 1996, to KMRZ. On March 21, 1997, the station became the current KGAB.
There is evidence that KGAB operated at 8,600 watts at times as opposed to the licensed 8,500 during the early 21st century.
Programming
:''Main source
On Air
On Weekdays, most shows are nationally syndicated, and conservatively leaning, including
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...
,
Sean Hannity
Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...
,
Dave Ramsey III (a financial analyst), Ken Coleman,
Michael Savage
Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942) known by his professional name Michael Savage, is an American author, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Nation'', a nationally ...
,
Ben Shapiro
Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator, media host, and attorney. He writes columns for Creators Syndicate, ''Newsweek'', and ''Ami Magazine'', an ...
, and
Coast To Coast AM
''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 198 ...
with
George Noory
George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is radio syndication, syndicated to ...
. The early morning timeslot offers a regionally syndicated program called "Wake Up Wyoming w/Glenn Woods", as well as the national "This Morning w/Mark Deal".
Upon the passing of
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...
, guest hosts narrated past episodes of the show, in his honor; Premiere networks eventually chose
Dan Bongino
Daniel John Bongino (born December4, 1974) is an American government official, Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator, radio host, and former law enforcement officer who has served as the 20th Deputy Director of ...
as the replacement for the timeslot
On Saturdays, KGAB presents several hours worth of local programming, including ''Kar-Gab'', featuring "Nick the Motor Guy", described as an escaped Englishman, and ''This Weekend in Wyoming'' with Doug Randall, a local anchor. The afternoon line-up features
Joe Pags
Joseph John Pagliarulo (born August 1, 1966), also known on the air as Joe Pags, is an American nationally syndicated conservative television and radio talk show host.
Biography
Born in Amityville, New York, Pagliarulo later lived in nearby C ...
, while the evening line-up again includes Dave Ramsey and George Noory.
On Sundays, KGAB switches back to hosting nationally syndicated broadcasts, including Hannity at an earlier time, as well as the Dave Ramsey show (although the Sunday edition is hosted by Anthony O'Neil so he can produce his show for nearby
KOA
KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded ...
. In addition,
Bill Cunningham runs the 10pm time-slot.
News updates are provided either by
Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
, or by the local staff, mainly Doug Randall and Joy Greenwald, and appear at the top and bottom of each hour. Weather is also provided during these times, often provided by Cheyenne based "Day-Weather".
As of 2021, KGAB clears the entire
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
football schedule,
as a result of former Wyoming quarterback
Josh Allen
Joshua Patrick Allen (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wyoming Cowboys football, Wyoming Cow ...
having moved to the Bills.
KGAB in popular culture
The
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...
movie
''Talk Radio'' takes place at a fictional radio station called KGAB, located in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. The movie was made in 1988, and as KGAB's current call sign only dates back to 1997, it is unknown if the name was taken from the movie.
In ''
The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...
'' episode "Cowboy George", originally aired February 11, 1986, and guest-starring
Boy George
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...
, KGAB was a top-40 country and western station serving Mono County and Twin Rivers, Arizona. In an effort to promote a concert, "Howling Mad" Murdock posed as a guest DJ playing "The Lennon Sisters" songs.
References
Notes
External links
Official WebsiteFCC History Cards for KGAB
{{Townsquare Media
GAB
News and talk radio stations in the United States
Townsquare Media radio stations