1. History
     Experimental 9YI   Programming in the Early Years  New Technology and NPR 

2. WOI Today

3. WOI's Signal

4. References

5. External links

  name      = WOI |  image     =  |  city      = Ames, Iowa |  area      = Des Moines metropolitan area and Central Iowa|  branding  = Iowa Public Radio {{HD Radio}}|  airdate   = April 28, 1922 (experimental 1911-22) |  frequency = 640 kHz |  translator = K284CN (104.7 MHz, Ames) |  format    = Public Radio News/Talk |  power     = 5,000 watts (daytime) 
 1,000 watts (nighttime)|  class     = B |  facility_id = 29119 |  owner     = Iowa State University |  affiliations = National Public Radio (NPR)  |  callsign_meaning = sequentially assigned|  website   = IowaPublicRadio.org  |  webcast   = Listen Live (IPR News Network)  |

WOI (640 kHz) is a non-commercial public AM News/Talk radio station in Ames, Iowa. A member station of National Public Radio, it owned by Iowa State University. It primarily serves the Des Moines metropolitan area and Central Iowa. WOI is among the oldest radio stations in the U.S., beginning experimental transmissions in 1911. It is the flagship station of Iowa Public Radio's News Network.

The station's studios are located on the second floor of Iowa State's Communications Building in Ames along with co-owned 90.1 WOI-FM. The AM transmitter is located southwest of Ames, off Zumwalt Station Road.^[1] WOI is licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to broadcast in the HD Radio (hybrid) format.^[2] Programming is also heard on a 250 watt FM translator station, K234CN at 104.7 MHz in Ames.^[3]

History

Experimental 9YI

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 1922 and the first regular broadcast took place on April 28, 1922. The original call sign 9YI is now W0YI and is retained by the ISU Campus Radio Club, with the amateur radio station in the Electrical Engineering building.

WOI may be the oldest fully licensed noncommercial station west of the Mississippi River. Another university radio station in Iowa, 910 WSUI at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, also began telegraph transmissions in 1911 and also has claims to being the earliest educational station west of the Mississippi. Other Midwestern universities also started experimental stations in the 1910s: the University of Minnesota's KUOM and St. Louis University's WEW in 1912 and the University of Wisconsin's WHA in 1915.

Programming in the Early Years

The first regular programming on WOI was farm market reports gathered by ticker tape and Morse code, broadcast throughout the state. Another early staple was sporting events by Iowa State's athletic teams. In 1925, "The Music Shop" aired for the first time.

One of the longest-running programs in the history of radio, it moved to WOI-FM in the 1970s before going off the air in 2006. In 1927. another longtime favorite, "The Book Club" was added; it also aired until 2006.

New Technology and NPR

On December 1, 1949, Iowa State launched WOI-FM at 90.1 MHz. In its early years it primarily simulcast the AM station. WOI-TV was launched in 1950 as the first television station in central Iowa. It was also the first commercial TV station owned by an educational institution. It was affiliated with all four networks of its time before it became solely an ABC affiliate in 1955. WOI-TV was sold by the Iowa Board of Regents on March 1, 1994.

WOI-AM-FM became a charter member of National Public Radio when it began its regular schedule of afternoon news program All Things Considered in 1971.

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.

When the radio services of Iowa's state universities were merged into Iowa Public Radio in 2004, WOI became the flagship of IPR's Operations and IT services.

WOI's Signal

Due to its location near the bottom of the AM dial and Iowa's landscape, WOI's non-directional 5,000 watt daytime signal reaches most of the state of Iowa, similar to 50,000 watt 1040 WHO.^[4] With a good radio, WOI can also be heard in parts of Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

At night, two towers are used in a directional pattern to protect Class A KFI in Los Angeles, the clear channel station on AM 640. The 1,000 watt nighttime signal is directed toward Des Moines and its suburbs.

References

External links

• Iowa Public Radio official website
• Spark to Voice - History of 9YI and early WOI

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