KGOU

KGOU
Broadcast areaOklahoma City Metroplex
Frequency106.3 MHz
BrandingKGOU
Programming
FormatPublic Radio - News - Talk - Jazz
AffiliationsNational Public Radio
American Public Media
Public Radio International
WFMT Jazz Network
BBC World Service
Ownership
OwnerUniversity of Oklahoma
History
First air date
September 25, 1970; 54 years ago (1970-09-25)
Call sign meaning
OU is the abbreviation for the University of Oklahoma
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID69369
ClassA
ERP6,000 watts
HAAT88.7 meters (291 ft)
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen live
Websitekgou.org

KGOU (106.3 MHz) is a non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio station. It is licensed to Norman, Oklahoma, and serves the Oklahoma City Metroplex.[2] It is owned by the University of Oklahoma, with the license held by the Board of Regents. It is operated by OU's College of Continuing Education (OU Outreach). Studios are in Copeland Hall on Van Vleet Oval, part of the OU campus. The staff consists of ten full-time and four part-time employees.

KGOU is a Class A FM station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 6,000 watts. The transmitter is on East Indian Hills Road at 60th Avenue NE in Norman.[3] Programming is also heard on four full-power satellites: KROU (105.7 FM) in Spencer, KWOU (88.1 FM) in Woodward, KOUA (91.9 FM) in Ada, and KQOU (89.1 FM) in Clinton. It also operates FM translators in Seminole (103.1 FM), in Ada (97.9 FM), in Chickasha (106.9 FM) and in Shawnee (105.1 FM).

Programming

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KGOU is a National Public Radio (NPR) member station. On weekdays, KGOU has a news and information format with programming from NPR and other public radio networks. They include Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, 1A, Here and Now and Marketplace. Evenings feature jazz music from The WFMT Chicago Jazz Network. The BBC World Service runs overnight.

On weekdays at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. and most of the day on weekends, KGOU airs one-hour specialty shows from NPR and other public radio networks. They include Reveal, Radiolab, Freakonomics Radio, This American Life, Zorba Paster on Your Health, Snap Judgment, The TED Radio Hour, The Splendid Table, To the Best of Our Knowledge, Travel with Rick Steves, Left, Right and Center and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Weekend evenings have shows devoted to world music, blues, bossa nova, new age, Broadway and Hollywood show tunes.

History

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KGOU signed on the air on September 25, 1970; 54 years ago (1970-09-25).[4] It was originally licensed as a commercial radio station. KGOU had a progressive rock format and sold advertisements, even though it was owned by the University of Oklahoma, a non-profit organization. The tower was atop Walker Dormitory. The station was an affiliate of the ABC FM Radio Network.

In the early 1980s, OU decided to use KGOU as a public radio station and discontinue the rock music and commercial ads. The university applied to the FCC for a non-commercial license. The station's new public radio format, featuring news and talk, took effect on New Year's Day, 1983. The studios were originally located in Kaufman Hall on the OU campus.

KGOU's main signal operates at 6,000 watts, which is fairly modest for a full NPR member station on the FM band. By contrast, Oklahoma State University's public radio station, 91.7 KOSU Stillwater, is powered at 100,000 watts and can also be heard in Oklahoma City. Soon after joining NPR, OU sought a license for a repeater station that would better cover Oklahoma City's northern suburbs. This station, 105.7 KROU, officially signed on the air on June 28, 1993; 31 years ago (June 28, 1993). This means listeners in the suburbs south of Oklahoma City can tune in 106.3 KGOU while those north of Oklahoma City can listen to 105.7 KROU. KROU was the first in a network of eight repeater stations and translators that cover much of central and western Oklahoma.

KGOU renovated space in Copeland Hall on the OU campus in 2006. It moved its studios and offices to Copeland Hall that fall.

A rebroadcaster in Clinton was added in December 2017. Cameron University transferred the license for a station at 89.1 FM to KGOU ownership. The move expanded KGOU's listener base to 32 counties, nearly all in central, western and east-central Oklahoma. The new call sign for the Clinton transmitter is KQOU.[5] It has an ERP of 40,000 watts, the most powerful station in KGOU's network.[6]

Repeaters

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Call sign Frequency City of license State Facility ID Class ERP
(W)
Height
(m (ft))
FCC info
KOUA 91.9 FM Ada Oklahoma 173673 A 1,500 81.9 FCC (KOUA)
KQOU 89.1 FM Clinton Oklahoma 122436 C1 40,000 193 FCC (KQOU)
KROU 105.7 FM Spencer Oklahoma 69175 A 1,600 194.6 FCC (KROU)
KWOU 88.1 FM Woodward Oklahoma 172867 C1 23,500 224.1 FCC (KWOU)

Translators

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Broadcast translators for KGOU
Call sign Frequency City of license FID ERP (W) HAAT Class FCC info
K250AU 97.9 FM Ada, Oklahoma 141599 250 29.9 m (98 ft) D LMS
K295BL 106.9 FM Chickasha, Oklahoma 141689 250 28.5 m (94 ft) D LMS
K276ET 103.1 FM Seminole, Oklahoma 141580 250 59.9 m (197 ft) D LMS
K286BZ 105.1 FM Shawnee, Oklahoma 141589 140 117 m (384 ft) D LMS

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KGOU". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "KGOU." Accessed December 23, 2017.
  3. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KGOU
  4. ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1977 page C-169. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  5. ^ Pryor, Dick. "KGOU adds Clinton transmitter." KGOU. December 6, 2017. Accessed December 23, 2017.
  6. ^ Radio-Locator.com/KQOU
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35°17′22″N 97°21′31″W / 35.2895°N 97.3586°W / 35.2895; -97.3586