KIDO (580 AM) is a commercial radio station, owned and operated by Townsquare Media, which broadcasts a news/talk format. Licensed to Nampa, Idaho, it serves the Boise metropolitan area.
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| Broadcast area | Boise metropolitan area |
| Frequency | 580 kHz |
| Branding | KIDO Talk Radio 107.5 FM 580 AM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Talk radio |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| KAWO, KCIX, KFXD, KSAS-FM, KXLT-FM | |
| History | |
First air date | 1925 |
Former call signs |
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Former frequencies |
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Call sign meaning | Idaho |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 17396 |
| Class | B |
| Power | 5,000 watts |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°33′34.59″N 116°24′5.45″W / 43.5596083°N 116.4015139°W |
| Translator(s) | 107.5 K298CN (Boise) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | kidotalkradio |
KIDO's studios are located at 827 East Park Blvd. in Boise, in the same building as co-owned 630 KFXD, 103.3 KSAS-FM, 104.3 KAWO, 105.9 KCIX, and 107.9 KXLT-FM. The transmitter site is on West Amity Road in Meridian, Idaho. KIDO operates with 5,000 watts around the clock. By day, the signal is non-directional, but at night, to protect other stations on 580 kHz, KIDO broadcasts a directional signal.
Programming
editKIDO has a local wake up program, Kevin Miller in The Morning featuring local news and interviews. Nationally syndicated talk shows are carried the rest of the day, including Glenn Beck, Dave Ramsey, Sean Hannity, Lars Larson, Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis, and Coast to Coast AM with George Noory.
Weekends feature shows on money, real estate, gardening, firearms, farming and ranching. Computer expert Kim Komando and Somewhere in Time with Art Bell are heard. Some weekday shows are repeated and paid brokered programming also airs.
History
editKIDO's first license was granted on September 2, 1925, with the sequentially assigned call letters of KFXD, to L. H. Strong (Packard Motor Co.) in Logan, Utah, transmitting on 1460 kHz.[2] In early 1926, station ownership was transferred to the Service Radio Corporation, still in Logan.[3] In early 1927 KFXD's license was allowed to lapse, but a few months it was relicensed to Service Radio, although now located in Jerome, Idaho, and broadcasting on 1470 kHz.[4]
KFXD moved to its current location of Nampa, Idaho, in mid-1930.[5]
For three weeks in February 1998 the call letters were changed to KBKK, before returning to KFXD.[6]
2002 KIDO / KFXD call letter swap
editOn August 14, 2002, stations KIDO and KFXD exchanged call signs, with AM 580 becoming KIDO, and AM 630 assigned the KFXD call letters by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[6] For the general listening public, this resulted in the two familiar call signs appearing on new dial positions, with 580 inheriting the legacy of the oldest surviving station in Idaho. The KIDO intellectual unit signed on in 1922 as KFAU, becoming KIDO in 1928. However, the FCC generally traces station identities by individual facilities rather than call signs. Thus, it was noted at the time that "As far as the FCC is concerned, this was not a frequency change at all. KIDO on 580 is the same station that used to be KFXD on 580 - the only thing that changed were the call letters. Likewise for KFXD on 630; it is the same station that was KIDO-630."[7]
On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel Communications planned to sell 448 of its radio stations outside the top 100 markets[8] including KIDO, along with Boise sister stations KSAS-FM, KCIX, KTMY (now KAWO), KXLT-FM and KFXD. In March 2007, Peak Broadcasting LLC bought the Boise stations.
For 2011, KIDO announced it would become an affiliate for the BYU Cougars Sports Network.
On August 30, 2013, it was announced that Townsquare Media would purchase Peak Broadcasting's stations, including KIDO. The transaction was part of Cumulus Media's acquisition of Dial Global; Townsquare concurrently swapped Peak's stations in Fresno, California, to Cumulus for its stations in Dubuque, Iowa, and Poughkeepsie, New York. Peak, Townsquare, and Dial Global were all controlled by Oaktree Capital Management.[9][10] The sale to Townsquare was completed on November 14, 2013.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KIDO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, September 1, 1925, page 3.
- ^ "Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, January 30, 1926, page 7.
- ^ "New Stations", Radio Service Bulletin, June 30, 1927, page 3. (This notification incorrectly listed the state as Utah instead of Idaho, with the error corrected in the next month's issue).
- ^ "Alterations and Corrections", Radio Service Bulletin, June 30, 1930, page 15.
- ^ a b "Call Sign History". FCC Media Bureau CDBS Public Access Database.
- ^ "American Bandscan: Moving Day" by Doug Smith, Monitoring Times, November 11, 2002, page 70.
- ^ "Clear Channel Agrees To $18.7B Buyout". Billboard. November 16, 2006.
- ^ "Official: Cumulus Buys Dial Global, Spins Some Stations To Townsquare; Peak Stations Sold To Townsquare, Fresno Spun To Cumulus". All Access. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ^ "Cumulus Makes Dial Global And Townsquare Deals Official". RadioInsight. August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ^ "Cumulus-Townsquare-Peak Deal Closes". All Access. November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
External links
edit- KIDO Website
- Facility details for Facility ID 17396 (KIDO) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- KIDO in Nielsen Audio's AM station database
- FCC History Cards for KIDO (covering 1927-1981 as KFXD)
- Facility details for Facility ID 142206 (K298CN) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
- K298CN at FCCdata.org