KBOI (AM)

KBOI (670 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. It is owned by Cumulus Media and airs a news/talk radio format. Studios and offices are on Bannock Street in Downtown Boise.

For the FM radio station in Boise which formerly used the KBOI callsign, see KQFC. For television station in Boise, Idaho, see KBOI-TV.
KBOI
CityBoise, Idaho
Broadcast areaBoise metropolitan area
Frequency670 kHz
BrandingNews Talk 670 KBOI
SloganIdaho's News Talk Authority
Programming
FormatNews/Talk
AffiliationsWestwood One
Premiere Networks
ABC News Radio
Ownership
OwnerCumulus Media
(Radio License Holding
CBC, LLC)
KIZN, KKGL, KQFC, KTIK, KTIK-FM
History
First air date
1947 (as KDSH at 950)
Former call signs
KDSH (1947-1957)
Former frequencies
950 kHz (1947-1968)
Call sign meaning
K BOIse another meaning is K BOise Idaho
Technical information
Facility ID51211
ClassB
Power50,000 watts
Links
WebcastListen live
Websitewww.670kboi.com

KBOI is Idaho's most powerful AM station, broadcasting with 50,000 watts around the clock. During the day, a single non-directional antenna beams the station's full power to Southwestern Idaho and Eastern Oregon. At night, power is fed to a six-tower array in a directional pattern to avoid interfering with WSCR in Chicago, the Class A clear-channel station on 670 AM. Even though it must direct its signal north-south as a result, KBOI can still be heard with a good radio across most of the Western United States and Western Canada at night. Because of this, KBOI is Idaho's designated primary entry point station for the Emergency Alert System. KBOI is licensed by the FCC to broadcast in the HD Radio hybrid digital format, although it currently does not have HD turned on as of 7 March 2018.[1]

Programming

Weekdays begin with an news and information show, "Kasper and Chris," featuring Mike Kasper and Chris Walton. The KBOI morning newscaster is station news director Rick Worthington. KBOI's afternoon drive time slot is held by host Nate Shelman, who also serves as the station's program director.

In middays and nights, the station features syndicated conservative talk shows, including Rush Limbaugh, Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin and Red Eye Radio. Except for Limbaugh, all the national shows heard on KBOI come from Westwood One, a subsidiary of Cumulus Media; Limbaugh is syndicated by Premiere Networks. Most hours begin with world and national news from ABC News Radio.

Weekends on KBOI include shows on money, real estate, home improvement, law and gardening, as well as religious and paid brokered programming. Syndicated shows include Bill Handel, Ben Ferguson and Bill Cunningham. The station broadcasts NFL football as an affiliate of the Seattle Seahawks' Radio Network.radio network.[2]

History

KBOI first signed on 74 years ago in 1947.[3] Founded by Boise Valley Broadcasters, it was originally on 950 kHz and moved to 670 kHz in 1968. In 1953, Boise Valley Broadcasters put a TV station on the air, Channel 2 KBOI-TV. It was Boise's second TV station after Channel 7 KIDO-TV. An FM radio station was added in 1960, 97.9 KBOI-FM (now KQFC).

KBOI was a CBS Radio affiliate until 2005 when Citadel, its owner at the time, switched its affiliation to ABC, leading to Citadel's 2007 acquisition of ABC Radio. Citadel merged with Cumulus Media on September 16, 2011.[4] At the beginning of 2015, Cumulus switched KBOI and most of its other news/talk stations from ABC News to Westwood One News. In 2020, Westwood One News was discontinued and KBOI returned to ABC News affiliation.

KBOI was the contracted radio station for Boise State University Broncos football and men's basketball from 1973 through early 2008, with Paul J. Schneider as play-by-play announcer. The Broncos returned to KBOI during the 2010 season with Bob Behler serving as the Voice of the Broncos.

The KBOI morning show, "Idaho's First Morning News/Idaho Talks Live" was anchored by Paul J. Schneider and Chris Walton until December 2018, when Schneider retired from full-time broadcasting after 51 years with KBOI-TV and KBOI Radio. Schneider, an Illinois native who moved to Idaho as a teen with his parents and brother, was a KBOI Radio morning host from 1976 to 2018. Walton, a native of Twin Falls, joined the program in 2001, moving from the morning drive show at Citadel-owned classic rock station KKGL-FM. Idaho native Mike Kasper, the former morning drive co-host of Boise station KCIX-FM, was hired by KBOI following Schneider's retirement, and since January, 2019, the 5am-10am KBOI-AM program has been known as "Kasper and Chris".

The radio morning show was simulcast on then-local Fox Television Network station KTRV-TV from 8am to 10am Monday through Friday from 2003 through 2010. KTRV dropped the program after Boise CBS affiliate television station KBCI-TV changed its call letters back to KBOI-TV in 2010 (after spending the last 35 years as KBCI-TV) to reflect a renewed partnership with KBOI radio.

References
  1. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=51211
  2. "Seahawks Radio Network Affiliates". Seattle Seahawks. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  3. Broadcasting Yearbook 1977
  4. "Cumulus now owns Citadel Broadcasting". Atlanta Business Journal. September 16, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2011.

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