KWHW (1450 AM) is an American

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 ...

licensed to serve

Altus Altus or ALTUS may refer to: Music *Alto, a musical term meaning second highest musical or vocal type * Altus (voice type), a vocal type also known as countertenor Places * Altus, Arkansas, US ** Altus AVA, a wine-growing region near Altus, Ark ...

, the seat of Jackson County in southwestern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States. Established in 1947, KWHW is owned by James G Boles, Jr. It airs a full service mix of music, news, sports, and local programming. The station is simulcast on

sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...

KPRO KPRO may refer to: * KPRO (FM), a radio station in Altus, Oklahoma, United States * KPRO (Texas), a defunct radio station (1410 AM) in Marshall, Texas * KPRO (California), a defunct radio station (1570 AM) in Riverside, California * KFOO, a rad ...

(93.5 FM).

Programming

KWHW broadcasts a full-service

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format along with farm reports on weekdays. Sunday programming is primarily church broadcasts and

Gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

programming. KWHW airs a

tradio Tradio is a type of phone-in radio program formatted to provide a venue for listeners to freely advertise items they have to sell or trade. The concept is analogous to classified ads in local newspapers and most prevalent in the south and midw ...

program called "Swap Shop" on weekday and Saturday mornings. The station broadcasts the meetings of the Altus City Council on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. KWHW station also airs select sporting events involving Altus High School and the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

. Some of the station's news and music programming comes from

Citadel Media Cumulus Media Networks was an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. From 2011 until its merger with Westwood One, it controlled many of the radio assets formerly belonging to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), whi ...

Dial Global Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The c ...

. KWHW's

morning show Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

is hosted by Eddie Wilcoxen. He is a published poet, recognized landscape designer, karate champion, and was named as an official Olympic Hero in 1996. In January 2011, Wilcoxen was named Poet Laureate for the state of Oklahoma for 2011 though 2012 by the Oklahoma Humanities Council.

History

This station began broadcasting on April 2, 1947, at 1450 kHz with 250

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s of power under the ownership of the Altus Broadcasting Company. The company was 50% owned by local newspaper '' The Altus Times-Democrat''. Frank E. Wimberly served as both the company's president and the station's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. The station was assigned the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

"KWHW" by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC). The call letters, WHW, are the initials for Will Harrington Wimberly, Frank's brother. Harrington Wimberly was the publisher for the Altus-Times Democrat from 1929-1966. In 1961, the station was granted a

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

by the FCC to increase their daytime power to 1,000 watts. KWHW Logo

On September 9, 1969, the station was acquired by KWHW Radio, Inc., with Hugh Garnett serving as president and general manager. By 1974, George Wilburn had taken on the general manager role and KWHW broadcast a middle of the road music format with 30 hours of

and one hour of

each week as "special" programming. On April 1, 1974,

KWHW-FM signed on at 93.5 FM. In 1979, Eddie Wilcoxen became the station's music director. In April 1984,

broadcast license A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which va ...

holder KWHW Radio, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station and

KWHW-FM to Altus Radio, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on May 29, 1984, and the transaction was formally consummated on July 2, 1984. During the 1980s, the station transitioned from middle of the road to a country music format. In October 2003, Altus Radio, Inc., made a deal to sell this station, along with

s KRKZ in Altus and KQTZ in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, to Monarch Broadcasting, Inc, for a combined sale price of $1,800,000. The deal gained FCC approval on December 12, 2003, and the transaction was consummated on December 31, 2003. Effective September 8, 2021, Monarch Broadcasting sold KWHW, KQTZ, KWHW-FM, and translator K245CY to James G Boles, Jr. for $1.

References

External links

KWHW official website
{{AM Stereo radio stations in the United States WHW Country radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1947 Jackson County, Oklahoma 1947 establishments in Oklahoma