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KXEL (1540 AM), branded as ''News/Talk 1540'', is a Class A,
clear-channel A clear-channel station is a North American AM broadcasting, AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from Interference (communication), interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classifi ...
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 ...
serving the Waterloo and
Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...
metropolitan areas with a
All-news radio All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to the discussion and broadcast of news. All-news radio is available in both local and radio syndication, syndicated forms, and is carried on both major US satellite radio networks. All-news sta ...
/
Talk radio 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, Interview (jo ...
format. KXEL is one of two FCC Class 1-A stations in Iowa, the other being
WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
in
Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
. It operates at 50,000 watts, 24 hours a day from a two-tower facility near Dysart, IA on the Benton/ Tama County line. A single tower is used during the day for a non-directional signal. It provides secondary coverage to most of eastern Iowa during the day (as far west as
Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
, as far south as Ottumwa and as far east as
Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...
and as far north as Mason City). At night, power is fed to both towers in a directional pattern to protect ZNS-1,
Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...
. Due to the cardioid-shaped pattern aimed north, KXEL's
skywave In radio communication, skywave or skip refers to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back toward Earth from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere. Since it is not limited by the curvatur ...
signal can be heard throughout the northern plains states and central Canadian provinces.


History

KXEL was created by Don E. Kassner, who worked for Joe Dumond. The station began broadcasting on July 14, 1942, and was the first radio facility in the United States to be granted 50,000 watts of power with its original license. It began airing ABC Radio programming from pop hits of the 1940s under the "Stardust" satellite format before switching to a middle-of-the-road (MOR) format under the name " Timeless" until the network's demise in 2010. KXEL also featured
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 ...
programming before switching to its current news/talk format. Dumond later sold KXEL to career broadcaster Egmont Sonderling, then on November 9, 1958, Sonderling signed the papers transferring KXEL's license to Cy N. Bahakel. Woodward Broadcasting owned the station between 2011 and December 2014 before selling it, and its sister stations, to current owner, Cedar Rapids-based NRG Media LLC.


KXEL-FM

On November 16, 1947, KXEL-FM began broadcasting in Waterloo on 105.7 MHz. It was licensed to Josh Higgins Broadcasting Company, which also held the license for KXEL.


Television station attempt

In the early 1950s, KXEL filed for the channel 7 television license in Waterloo. However, Waterloo's other powerhouse radio station, KWWL (now KPTY, a sister station to KXEL) wanted the license as well. KXEL and KWWL went to court and battled it out. KXEL was so sure it would win the suit that it built a new studio large enough to accommodate a television station. This studio was mainly useless because KWWL won the lawsuit and signed on KWWL-TV on November 29, 1953.“The Battle for Channel 7: A Media Showdown in Waterloo” by David F. McCartney and Grant Price; retrieved October 11, 2023.
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References


External links


KXEL News/Talk 1540 - official website

KWWL-TV Channel 7 - official website

FCC history cards for KXEL
{{coord, 42, 10, 48, N, 92, 18, 38, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title News and talk radio stations in the United States XEL Radio stations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Iowa NRG Media radio stations Clear-channel radio stations