Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

KGHM (AM)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
City
  
Midwest City, Oklahoma

Format
  
Sports

Frequency
  
1340 kHz

Class
  
C

Broadcast area
  
Oklahoma City Metroplex

Power
  
1,000 watts (unlimited)

KGHM (1340 AM) is a radio station located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is among a cluster of stations in the market owned by iHeartMedia, Inc.. Its transmitter is located blocks from the Oklahoma State Capitol, and studios are located at the 50 Penn Place building on the Northwest side.

Contents

KGCB/KOCY

1340 started as KGCB, a church-owned station. It was purchased in the late 1930s by Matthew Bonebrake - a former OPUBCO and WKY radio sales manager - who changed the call letters to KOCY.

It was a Mutual affiliate during the 1940s and early 1950s. It became Oklahoma City's first full-time Top-40 station in the mid-1950s. It was also the first radio station in the country to offer "News Every Hour - On the Hour".

After WKY and KOMA [1] went Top-40, KOCY had a "funeral" for their format, by giving away records in a coffin before switching to a MOR format.

Changes over the airwaves

In the mid-1990s KGHM aired an Urban Contemporary format in the evenings and overnights as "The Groove 1340".

In 2000, Clear Channel went into an agreement with Perry Broadcasting to broadcast KVSP-1140 and its Urban format (See KRMP) on KEBC from 7 pm − 7 am as "The Power Jammin' Network after AM 1140 signed off at sunset. Between 7am-7pm KGHM aired Spanish programming.

The agreement between Clear Channel and Perry Broadcasting discontinued when Perry purchased KRPT-103.5 out of Anadarko, Oklahoma (See KVSP) and upgraded the station to target Oklahoma City, then moved KVSP's Urban format to the FM dial. The Spanish format was also dropped as well for Talk format.

"Keeping Everybody Country"

KEBC's call letters were previously used for 94.7 KEBC, later a property also owned by Clear Channel. The station's slogan, "Keeping Everybody Country." Ironically, KEBC's competitor at the time, KXXY-FM, simulcasted their FM signal at 1340 AM.

The call letters KEBC stood for Electronic Broadcasting Company which was the original ownership of 94.7 KEBC. (Ronnie Tutor- Engineering and Gene Wingate- GM among others) KEBC originally studioed and transmitted from "Rambling Ranchstyle studios" in SE OKC before moving to 31st and Western to studio space owned by Ralph Tyler.

Mounting debt to Tyler for rent and other financial obligation created a situation where Tyler became controlling owner of KEBC radio. After Ralph Tyler's controlling ownership of KEBC, the slogan Keep Everybody Country was formed on a suggestion from a friend of Ralph's.

Programming

KGHM had simulcast some programming of sister station KTOK along with their own line-up since 2005. In January, 2007, Clear Channel flipped the station to Fox Sports Radio 1340, making it the fourth all-sports station in Oklahoma City.

References

KGHM (AM) Wikipedia


Similar Topics