City Fort Dodge, Iowa Slogan "True Country" First air date 1956 | Branding AM 540 KWMT Frequency 540 kHz | |
Broadcast area Iowa
Northern Missouri
Eastern Nebraska | ||
KWMT (540 AM) is a radio station licensed to Fort Dodge, Iowa, whose format is country music. The station's frequency is 540 kHz, and it broadcasts at a power of 5,000 watts during the day and 170 watts at night. KWMT was previously co-owned with WMT; consequently the call WMT was used with the addition of the necessary K. KWMT operates with a two-tower directional antenna system with much of its power headed south of Fort Dodge and very little headed north. Due to its coverage on 540, it limits its coverage to the north to protect a station in Canada. During the daylight hours, KWMT has regular listeners as far as Oklahoma, western Nebraska, eastern Illinois and all of Iowa. KWMT is located in one of the areas of high ground conductivity, which makes the 540 signal glide along the prairies.
KWMT — whose slogan is "True Country" — is owned by Alpha Media. Its studios are with KKEZ. Previous owner Three Eagles Communications purchased the stations from Clear Channel Communications in 2007.
Programming
In 2009, KWMT shifted its focus to entirely classic country music, focusing largely on the 1960s through early 1990s; some newer songs (mainly by neo-traditional country artists) recorded since the early 1990s have been retained. In addition, songs recorded by local and Midwest country artists that did not necessarily gain nationwide exposure are also featured. Prior to the switch, the station mixed in current and recurrent hits with oldies throughout the day, and dedicated one hour each weekday to exclusively classic country. A six-hour block on Saturday mornings for the classics was also set aside. On Sunday mornings, KWMT mixes Christian-related programming with country gospel music, featuring recordings from both current and classic artists; this program is called "Country Sunday," with retro-styled cues used as bumpers.
KWMT also provides extensive agriculture-related programming, with farm markets, advertising from area auction barns and weather reports throughout the day. The station can be heard throughout the state of Iowa and in nearby states during daytime hours. [1]