WOI (AM)

Infobox Radio Station
name = WOI


city = Ames, Iowa
area = Des Moines, Iowa
branding = 640 WOI
airdate = April 28, 1922 (experimental 1911-22)
frequency = 640 (kHz)
format = NPR/Talk
power = 5,000 watts (daytime)
1,000 watts (nighttime)
erp =
class = B
owner = Iowa State University
website = [http://www.woi.org/ www.woi.org]

WOI is a News/Talk radio station affiliated with National Public Radio serving the Des Moines, Iowa area. Due to its dial position, power and Iowa's flat landscape, it can be heard throughout most of the state of Iowa. Its signal also reaches parts of Missouri, Minnesota and Nebraska. It is located at 640 on the AM dial. The station's studios are located in room 2022 of the Communications Building at Iowa State University in Ames (where the station is licensed) along with WOI-FM.

9YI: The experimental years

The history of WOI can be traced back to 1911 when Physics Professor "Dad" Hoffman set a transmission line between the Campus Water Tower and the Engineering Building and set up a wireless telegraph station. By 1913 this was known as experimental station 9YI and it was sending and receiving weather reports by morse code on a regular basis. The first sound broadcast was an hour of concert music on November 21, 1921. The Commerce Department issued a full radio license for station WOI in April of 1922 and the first regular broadcast took place on April 28, 1922. The original callsign 9YI is now W0YI and is retained by the ISU Campus Radio Club, with the amateur radio station located in the Electrical Engineering building.

Programming in the early years

The first regular programming on WOI was farm market reports gathered by ticker tape and morse code and broadcast throughout the state. Another early staple was sporting events by Iowa State's athletic teams. In 1925, "The Music Shop" was started. This program is one of the longest-running shows in the history of radio and can still be heard on sister station WOI-FM. In 1927 another long time favorite, "The Book Club" was added.

New technology and NPR

On December 1, 1949 WOI launched WOI-FM at 90.1 on the FM dial. In its early years it primarily simulcast the AM station. WOI-TV was launched in 1950 as the first TV station in the Des Moines market. It was also the first Commercial TV station owned by an educational institute. It originally was affiliated with all four networks of its time before it became solely an ABC affiliate. WOI-TV was sold by the Iowa Board of Regents on March 1, 1994.

WOI today

Today WOI's programming consists of both NPR and locally produced talk shows along with local news and BBC news updates. The classical music of the early years migrated exclusively to WOI-FM in the 1960s.

External links

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