KWTO (560

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) is a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

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 ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. It is owned by Zimmer Midwest Communications and airs a

talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

radio format A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when Radio broadcasting, ...

. The

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

s and offices are on East Chestnut Expressway in Springfield. KWTO is powered at 5,000

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 by day and 4,000 watts at night. It uses a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

with a five-

tower array A tower array is an arrangement of multiple radio towers which are mast radiators in a phased array. They were originally developed as ground-based tracking radars. Tower arrays can consist of free-standing or guyed towers or a mix of them. Tower ...

. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

is off Tower Lane in

Ozark, Missouri Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Missouri. Its population was 21,284 as of the 2020 census. Ozark is also the third largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Area, and is centered along a business loop ...

, near

U.S. Route 65 U.S. Route 65 (US 65) is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 425 in Clayton, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at Interstate 35 just south of I ...

. The signal reaches parts of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and

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 ...

. It provides at least secondary coverage as far north as

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, as far west as

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

and as far south as Fort Smith. Programming is also heard on 250 watt

FM 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 tr ...

93.3 K227AO.

Programming

Weekday mornings begin with ''Wake Up Missouri'' hosted by Randy Tobler, Stephanie Bell and John Marsh. Afternoon

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

is hosted by Elijah Haahr. The rest of the weekday schedule is made up of

nationally syndicated Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

conservative talk Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...

programs: '' The Erick Erickson Show,

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show ''The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show'' is an American radio program hosted by former Fox Sports Radio personality Clay Travis and former '' America Now/The Buck Sexton Show'' host Buck Sexton. It is broadcast on over 400 talk radio stations ...

, The Gary Nolan Show, Fox Across America with Jimmy Failla,

The Jesse Kelly Show ''The Jesse Kelly Show'' (formerly known as ''America Now'' and ''The Buck Sexton Show'') is a three-hour early evening conservative talk radio show hosted by Jesse Kelly, and carried by Premiere Networks, a subsidiary of iHeartMedia, Inc. It ...

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 ...

'' and ''

This Morning, America's First News with Gordon Deal ''This Morning: America's First News'' (formerly ''The Wall Street Journal This Morning'') is a two-hour radio news/talk program hosted by Gordon Deal and Jennifer Kushinka, who replaced long-serving co-host Gina Cervetti on January 2, 2015. I ...

''. Weekends feature shows on money, health, law enforcement, guns, home repair and religion, as well as repeats of weekday shows. Weekend programs include '' The Chris Plante Show, Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb'' and '' Sunday Nights with Bill Cunningham''. World and national news is provided by

Fox News Radio Fox News Radio is an American radio network owned by Fox News. It is syndicated to over 500 AM and FM radio stations across the United States. It also supplies programming for three channels on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. History In 2003, ...

History

56 Country

KWTO was founded by local businessman

Lester E. Cox Lester Edmund Cox (August 22, 1895 – August 14, 1968) was an American business executive with interests in mass media, distribution, transportation, and banking in southwest Missouri. He is best known for his service to Burge Hospital ( CoxHe ...

and began broadcasting on Christmas Day, . Cox applied for and got 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 ...

KWTO, which stands for "Keep Watching The

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

." The studios were at 600 St. Louis Street in Springfield. Cox also applied for several other licenses including

KCMO Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by population and area. The city lies within Jackson, Clay, and Platte counties, with a small portion lying within Cass County. It is the ce ...

. At the time the

Federal Radio Commission The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was a government agency that regulated United States radio communication from its creation in 1927 until 1934, when it was succeeded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FRC was established by ...

prohibited playing recorded music on the air, so the station had its own live bands. From the 1930s through the 1950s, KWTO's staff musicians included

Slim Wilson Clyde Carol Wilson (July 14, 1910 – July 15, 1990), better known as Slim Wilson, was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio and TV personality who was a cornerstone of country music in the Ozarks for more than 50 years beginning ...

and the Tall Timber Trio,

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...

The Carter Family The Carter Family was an American folk music group that recorded and performed between 1927 and 1956. Regarded as one of the most important music acts of the early 20th century, they had a profound influence on the development of bluegrass, c ...

Wynn Stewart Winford Lindsey "Wynn" Stewart (June 7, 1934 – July 17, 1985) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He was one of the progenitors of the Bakersfield sound. Although not a huge chart success, he was an inspiration to such artist ...

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz guitarist, jazz, country guitarist, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid body ...

, The Haden Family and The Goodwill Family. KWTO'S ''Korn's-A-Krackin, a weekly "hillbilly variety" program, was carried nationally by the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the station played a key role in launching the careers of stars such as

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Por ...

and

The Browns The Browns were an American country and folk music vocal trio best known for their 1959 Grammy-nominated hit, "The Three Bells". The group, composed of Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie, had a close, smooth harmony characteristi ...

. In 1954, the station began airing a country music and bluegrass show, ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s American television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ''Country Mu ...

''. Because KWTO was a

network affiliate In the broadcasting industry (particularly in North America, and even more in the United States), a network affiliate or affiliated station is a local broadcaster, owned by a company other than the owner of the network, which carries some or a ...

of ABC Radio, the Jubillee became an ABC-TV and

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

network show. In 1959, KWTO broke with its live music tradition and began playing

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 ...

records. For the next 30 years, it was known as "56 Country."

News/Talk

By the 1980s, country music listeners were shifting to the FM band for to hear their songs. On October 22, 1990, KWTO ended its long-standing country format and became the region's first full-time

news-talk 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 ...

station. It carried popular national hosts 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 ...

Jim Bohannon James Everett Bohannon (January 7, 1944 – November 12, 2022) was an American broadcaster who worked in television and radio and hosted the nationally syndicated late night radio talk show ''The Jim Bohannon Show'' originally broadcast on the ...

(who once worked at the station), and

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 ...

. With his 2008 album ''Rambling Boy'',

Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than fifty years. Haden helped to revolutionize the harmonic concept of bass playin ...

acknowledged KWTO's country roots by featuring the station's transmission tower on the album's cover. On December 10, 2008, Rep.

Roy Blunt Roy Dean Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he pre ...

recognized the station's 75th anniversary with remarks from the floor of United States House of Representatives.

Change in ownership

On July 24, 2020, Meyer Communications announced it was selling its radio stations (KWTO,

KWTO-FM KWTO-FM ("101.3 Real Country") is a radio station broadcasting a classic country music format, licensed to Buffalo, Missouri, United States. The station was previously owned by Stereo Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Meyer Communications. Histo ...

KTXR KTXR ("98.7 the Dove") is a radio station licensed to Springfield, Missouri, United States broadcasting a soft adult contemporary format. The station was previously a sports talk format known as "JOCK 98.7 ESPN." This format moved to 98.7 FM's ...

KBFL (AM) KBFL (1060 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. The station most recently and throughout most of its history had a Music of Your Life adult standards format; from September 1, 2013 through March 2, 2015, KBFL broadcast a smooth j ...

, and

KBFL-FM KBFL-FM (99.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station licensed to Fair Grove, Missouri. The station was previously owned by Meyer-Baldridge, Inc. The station is simulcast on KBFL (AM), KBFL and translator K245CA 96.9 FM. On March 2, 2015, KBFL-F ...

) to Zimmer Midwest Communications.Springfield News-Leader, July 24, 2020: https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/2020/07/24/springfield-sports-radio-station-jock-98-7-programming-moving-frequencies/5507238002 The new owners kept the news-talk format in place. The station was formerly a

CBS Radio News CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

. On January 5, 2024, Zimmer Midwest Communications announced that KWTO would become an affiliate of

beginning on January 8, 2024.

References

External links

{{News/Talk Radio Stations in Missouri Radio stations established in 1933 News and talk radio stations in the United States WTO (AM) 1933 establishments in Missouri