KAWO

For the airport in Arlington, Washington, assigned ICAO code KAWO, see Arlington Municipal Airport (Washington).

KAWO (104.3 FM, "Wow Country 104.3") is a commercial radio station located in Boise, Idaho. KAWO airs a country music format branded as "Wow Country 104.3". Until 2007, the station was called "My Country 104.3" and its call letters were KTMY.

KAWO

Boise, Idaho
Broadcast area	Boise metropolitan area
Frequency	104.3 MHz
Branding	Wow Country 104.3
Programming
Format	Country
Affiliations	Compass Media Networks Premiere Networks
Ownership
Owner	Townsquare Media (Townsquare License, LLC)
Sister stations	KCIX, KFXD, KIDO, KSAS-FM, KXLT-FM
History
First air date	July 15, 1979 (as KIDQ)
Former call signs	KIDQ (1979–1985) KUUB (1985) KLTB (1985–2006) KTMY (2006–2007)
Call sign meaning	K A WOw
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	63916
Class	C
ERP	52,000 watts
HAAT	786 meters
Transmitter coordinates	43°45′18″N 116°05′52″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	1043wowcountry.com

History

The station started operating on July 15, 1979, with the first Album-oriented rock station in the Boise market as Q-104 (KIDQ). In late January 1985, the station dropped AOR and switched to an adult contemporary format with the KUUB as the call letters branding as K-Lite 104 FM. However, the call letters were short-lived and changed the call letters to KLTB to match the branding. This left Boise without an Album-oriented rock station for the next 9 months until KJOT (J-105) debuted in November 1985 after switching from country. KLTB was switched to oldies as Kool 104 (later known as Kool Oldies 104.3) until January 2006 when then-owner Clear Channel Communications switched from oldies to a country format. The new format brought new call letters, KTMY, and new positioning as My Country 104.3.

On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel Communications planned to sell 448 of its radio stations outside the top 100 markets including KTMY, along with Boise's sister stations including KSAS-FM, KCIX, KXLT-FM, KIDO, and KFXD, making Boise the largest radio market in the United States for Clear Channel to sell the stations. In March 2007, Peak Broadcasting LLC bought the former Clear Channel-owned stations.

The station's ratings continued to decline, however, and in late May 2007 KTMY shed its "My Country" imaging to become "WOW Country 104.3". While this involved a change to the on-air talent lineup, imaging, nickname, jingle package, and call letters the station maintained a country music format. One notable programming feature of the station became 104-minute music sets, a nod to the station's broadcast frequency, which was abandoned upon Lisa Adams taking over the Programming duties.

On August 30, 2013, a deal was announced in which Townsquare Media would purchase Peak Broadcasting's stations, including KAWO. The deal was part of Cumulus Media's acquisition of Dial Global; Townsquare swapped Peak's Fresno, California stations to Cumulus for its stations in Dubuque, Iowa and Poughkeepsie, New York, and Peak, Townsquare, and Dial Global were all controlled by Oaktree Capital Management. The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.

Previous logos

External links

• KAWO official website
• Ranger Rick's Web Site
• Facility details for Facility ID 63916 (KAWO) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KAWO in Nielsen Audio's FM station database