KWPC

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss
these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template
messages)

This article possibly contains original research. (October 2017)

This article needs additional citations for verification. (September
2011)

KWPC

City Muscatine, Iowa

Frequency 860 kHz

Branding AM 860 KWPC

Slogan The Voice of Muscatine

Programming

Format Farm, Classic Country

Affiliations WestwoodOne News, Radio Iowa, Learfield

Sports, AgriTalk, Brownfield Network

Ownership

Owner Jam Media Solutions, LLC

Sister stations KMCS

 History

First air date January 6, 1947

Call sign meaning Keep Watching Port City

Technical information

Facility ID 47085

Class D

Power 250 watts (daytime)

8 watts (nighttime)

Transmitter 41°26′34″N 91°04′33″W
coordinates

Translator(s) 95.1 K236CF (Muscatine)

Links

Webcast Listen LIVE

Website KWPC AM website

KWPC (860 AM) is a commercial radio station serving the Muscatine, Iowa area. The

station broadcasts a Farm format by day, with classic country music at night. The
station airs regular news, weather and sports coverage. KWPC is owned by Jam Media
Solutions, LLC.
The studio, transmitter, and broadcast tower are located at 3218 Mulberry Avenue in
northwest Muscatine, behind Muscatine High School. The tower is 108 m (354 ft) tall.
[1]
 KWPC shares its tower with sister FM station KMCS.

History[edit]
[2]

Charles Henderson was the original owner of the land that was to become Muscatine's
KWPC Radio. During the 1940s this portion of Mulberry Avenue was a gravel road
extension and considered to be located just outside the city. The property was a
working farm with grazing livestock. “Charlie” Henderson, who also owned an
automobile dealership in Muscatine. In 1946 Henderson gave his daughter Thelma and
her new husband George J. Volger the land and financial backing to start the radio
station. Cattle continued to roam the land around the station's tower well into the 1970s
and KWPC still occupies the original farmhouse today.
Both George and Thelma were Muscatine natives. George, born in 1914, was the son of
a local jeweler. Following graduation from the University of Iowa, he traveled with Roy
Rogers and the “Sons of the Pioneers” as a Public Relations agent. He began his
career in “broadcast” with what was known early on as the “Red and Blue” Television
Network. Eventually, the “Red” Network became the National Broadcasting
Company (NBC) and the “Blue” Network became the “American Broadcasting
Company (ABC). Over the years Roy Rogers frequently visited Volger at the radio
station.
The planning for a new AM radio station in Muscatine began during the mid-1940s.
Radio signals broadcast in the AM Band (Amplitude Modulation) can travel hundreds, or
even thousands, of miles. Part of the duties of the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) includes protecting the “signal coverage” of each station to ensure
that no other broadcast station interferes in the station's licensed coverage area. By the
mid-1940s many AM licenses had already been issued and it was difficult to find a
frequency for Muscatine that would not cause interference. The solution was found by
sharing a common frequency with a station licensed in Ontario, Canada which was
licensed to operate using high-power (50,000 watts) from sunset to sunrise. The
terminology used is "clear-channel station". In 1946, through a special treaty
coordinated between the licensing authorities of the United States and Canada, the
frequency 860 AM was assigned to Muscatine with the restrictions of a maximum power
of 250 watts and operation only between the hours of sunrise to sunset. Although
KWPC did eventually receive permission to broadcast 24 hours a day (a provision
added for national security reasons), the transmitter power is not permitted to exceed 7
watts after sunset, and that is why the signal strength changes so noticeably at night.
The radio station's first broadcast day was January 6, 1947. Lee de Forest, the inventor
of the “triode vacuum tube” and considered by many to be the “Father of American
Radio”, was keynote speaker at the event. The hand-written pages of his speech are on
file at Muscatine's Musser Museum. The following day Sterneman's Clothing became
the first official advertiser. KWPC was the first to broadcast Muscatine City Council
Meetings and in the fall of 1947 became the first to broadcast from the West Liberty
Fair. Mr. Volger thought it was important to use community members when building the
staff. This included engineers, sales staff and all on-air positions. Important early
programs on KWPC included:

 Marian Templeman... hosting “Problems and

Solutions” ... and “Swap Shop”
 William D. Randall produced the “Little Known
Stories of Muscatine” series (Still available in book
form today)
  Thelma Volger enjoyed leading the Children's
Programming ... and “Happy Hour” aired on
Saturday mornings
 Anna Opel provided philosophical “Gardening
Programs”
 Don Wooten did both the news and sports, along
with hosting a music program called “Don’s Den”
 Bob “Spike” Woody also did sports
 Joe Roth Jr. hosted Muscatine's first phone-in talk
show. Afflicted with polio, Joe hosted the show
“Live” from
his home on Broadway Street. A dedicated telephone line connected the home to the
radio station.
The most common way of preserving radio broadcasts during radio's golden age was
through the use of 16-inch transcription discs (also called “Electrical Transcripts” ... or,
ET's). They were of various types and sizes, but the most commonly found today are
16” diameter. They are usually aluminum-based coated with cellulose nitrate lacquer, a
thick black compound similar to that used in automotive paint from the 1920s through
the '50s. They were used to create instantaneous recordings, records which could be
played directly after being recorded. A large record cutting machine (essentially a
phonograph with a heavy and precisely regulated turntable) was used to cut a groove
into the coating to create an audio recording of the program. ET's were usually recorded
at 33 1/3 RPM, although some were recorded at 78 RPM as well. (The original discs
containing KWPC's 1947 sign-on ceremony were donated to the Musser Museum by
John and Darlene Schwandke.)
Another, and more portable recording device of the era, was the wire recorder which
used steel piano wire on a stainless steel spool. The wire recorder was the very first
reliable audio recorder to find its way into the American home in significant numbers.
The popular “Webster 80-1” model sold for $150 in 1947. That would equate to $1,250
in year 2005 money. Magnetic tape recorders did not become available until the mid-
1950s.
George Volger wanted to add a second radio station using new technology known as
FM, or frequency modulation. Although FM broadcasts at a very high frequency (VHF)
and has limited range, advantages include a static free signal and broadcasting in
stereo. It also meant a radio station that could broadcast at full power 24 hours a day.
“KWPC-FM” went on the air in 1949. Additional space was added to the back of the old
farm house for the transmitter and the FM antenna bays were mounted at the top of the
existing broadcast tower behind the building. Like most FM stations of the 1950’ and
60's KWPC-FM played “easy listening” music. To provide independent identity for the
“FM” station the call letters were eventually changed to KFMH during the 1970s. The
slogan at the time was... “FM is our middle name”! George Volger was a highly
respected member of the broadcast community and served several terms on the Board
of Directors of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) which represents
broadcasters on a national scale.
In 1982 John Flambo purchased the Muscatine radio stations from Volger. John was the
son of well known Quad-City personality G. Laverne Flambo, who had been the
executive director of Mid American Media which owned two Quad City radio stations.
John had been General Manager of Davenport's KRVR radio prior to purchasing
KWPC-KFMH. Under his ten-year ownership, and with the help of station manager
Steve Bridges (Captain Steve), the programming and talk show content of both radio
stations gained national notoriety. KFMH programmed alternative rock music, which had
gained widespread popularity on the west coast at the time. “The Pirate FM”, as it
became known, soon gained a devoted, fiercely loyal audience, as the station played
lesser-known artists in a variety of genres... rock, jazz, blues and folk. KFMH disc
jockey's included Borderline Bob, Sean Tracy, Dirty Judy, John Obvious and Captain
Steve. The station was known for “pushing the envelope” which became apparent
following a broadcast in August 1991 that resulted in the station being fined for airing
jokes the Federal Communications Commission deemed indecent. KWPC also drew
attention with its controversial morning talk show. In 1991 Flambo Broadcasting
constructed a new and much taller tower in rural Wilton on which to relocate the KFMH
antennas and increase the range of its signal.
In September 1992, Steve Bridges, who by then had become vice-president and
minority owner of the two stations, contacted John Schwandke, who was managing the
Washington Iowa radio stations at the time. The question was... “Would you be
interested in purchasing Muscatine’s KWPC-AM radio station”? It was proposed that
Flambo would sell KWPC, along with its buildings and property, while they retained
ownership of KFMH and relocated those studios to Davenport. Schwandke, who is a
Muscatine native and began his radio career under the tutelage of George Volger and
Vincent Beckey, purchased the radio station where he had worked from 1970 through
1982.
John and Darlene Schwandke began operating KWPC on January 1, 1993 with
renewed emphasis on local news and information. Many of the philosophies applied to
their “code of ethics” about station operation were extensions of what Volger and
Beckey had implemented. Expanding the news department became a priority and
included the addition of a state-of-the-art “mobile studio” which made it possible to
provide instant remote broadcasting, even while driving, from anywhere within KWPC's
coverage area. The husband and wife team worked in partnership on a daily basis with
John being responsible for sales, and programming and Darlene in charge of office
management and accounting. Tim Scott Lissy handled the engineering. He had been
employed with the station previously with Steve Bridges. Muscatine Communications
Inc. was considered a “family business” with son Warren active in advertising sales and
the voice of John's mother being used on KWPC's daily sign-on and sign-off tapes.
“There was even a feeling of family among our young co-workers”, said Darlene, “Some
of them called us Mom and Dad too. They are our radio family and we are proud of
them!”
Also during 1993, KFMH moved its studios to Davenport where it continued its
alternative format for another year. It signed off on March 1, 1994 at 3:00 pm while
playing “I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move” by the rock group “Yes”. It was the
same song they had signed the alternative format on with in June 1973. The night
KFMH signed off about 500 people showed up outside the station to protest, but the
door was locked. Later that same month the 99.7 MHz frequency was sold to New York-
based Connoisseur Communications and the call-letters changed to KBOB. It was sold
again to Cumulus Media and became KBEA. Even though the operation studios are
located in the Quad Cities, the frequency of 99.7 MHz remains licensed as a Muscatine
radio station. In March 2013, Steve Bridges launched 99 Plus KFMH as an internet
station and picked up where it left off, playing rock, blues, and jazz. The original deejays
returned, as well.
The Schwandkes set out to explore the possibility of finding a new FM frequency that
could be assigned to Muscatine. With the help of consulting engineers they were
successful and in June 1996 brought 93.1 MHz - KWCC to the airwaves. KWCC is
believed to be the first completely digital broadcasting facility to be built between
Chicago and Denver, which was quite an achievement for a small town radio station.
Every source of pre-recorded audio destined for transmission over the airwaves was in
“digital format” and sourced from computer hard drives. Even the FM transmitter had
digital capability... ready, in advance, for the day the FCC would finally mandate that
mode of radio transmission (radio's version of HDTV). The station's call letters were
later changed to KMCS.
John and Darlene Schwandke were proud to have had the opportunity to give KWPC its
50th Anniversary Celebration. They invited George Volger Jr. to be the guest of honor
and he shared stories about growing up at the station. Live bands played throughout the
day from stages set up in the antenna field. Several visitors from far away brought
historical memorabilia about KWPC that has since been donated to the Musser
Museum. It was a grand ceremony as Muscatine's oldest and newest operating radio
stations celebrated together.
In the fall of 1999, the Schwandke's received an unsolicited offer to sell the two radio
stations. After much consideration they agreed. W.P.W Broadcasting of Monmouth
Illinois, who already owned 15 radio stations along the Mississippi valley between
Quincy and Dubuque, became the new owners of KWPC and KWCC on December 1,
1999.
On October 22, 2014, KWPC replaced the soft oldies portion of its format with classic
country and added an FM signal via translator K233BI 95.1 FM Muscatine. [3]
Effective October 3, 2018, WPW Broadcasting sold KWPC, the K236CF translator, and
sister station KMCS to Jam Media Solutions, LLC for $965,000.

References[edit]
1. ^ FCC Antenna Structure Registration data
2. ^ Portions of this history were taken from a taped interview
with Mr. George Volger, which was conducted by Irene
Sweitzer of the Musser Public Library on June 14, 1974.
Additional details were provided by John and Darlene
Schwandke in May 2007.
3. ^ KWPC Adds Translator; Flips to Classic Country
External links[edit]
 KWPC AM website
 KWPC in the FCC AM station database
 KWPC on Radio-Locator
 KWPC in Nielsen Audio's AM station database

 K236CF in the FCC FM station database

 Radio Locator Information for K236CF
show

Radio stations in the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area (Iowa/Illinois)

show

Radio stations in the Cedar Rapids–Iowa City market

show

Country radio stations in the state of Iowa

Categories: 
 Radio stations in Iowa
 Radio stations in the Quad Cities
 Radio stations established in 1947
 1947 establishments in Iowa
Navigation menu
 Not logged in
 Talk
 Contributions
 Create account
 Log in
 Article
 Talk
  Read
 Edit
 View history
Search
Search Go

 Main page
 Contents
 Current events
 Random article
 About Wikipedia
 Contact us
 Donate
Contribute
 Help
 Learn to edit
 Community portal
 Recent changes
 Upload file
Tools
 What links here
 Related changes
 Special pages
 Permanent link
 Page information
 Cite this page
 Wikidata item
Print/export
 Download as PDF
 Printable version
Languages
Add links
 This page was last edited on 13 December 2020, at 16:09 (UTC).
 Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
 Privacy policy

 About Wikipedia

 Disclaimers

 Contact Wikipedia

 Mobile view

 Developers

 Statistics
 Cookie statement