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{{short description|Talk radio station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name = KWAM
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| airdate = {{start date and age|1947|2|9|p=y|br=yes}}
| language = [[American English|English]]
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| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
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▲| format = [[Talk radio|Talk]]
| callsign_meaning = Rhymes with "wham"{{r|newsound}}
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| affiliations = {{ubl|[[Compass Media Networks]]|[[Premiere Networks]]|[[Salem Radio Network]]|[[Townhall|Townhall News]]|[[Westwood One]]}}
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▲| coordinates = {{Coord|35|8|4.00|N|90|5|38.00|W|region:US-TN_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
▲| licensee = Snowflake Media Group
▲| webcast = {{listen live|https://mighty990.com/player/}}
▲| website = {{URL|http://www.mighty990.com}}
}}
'''KWAM''' (990 [[Hertz|kHz]]) is a [[commercial radio|commercial]] [[AM radio|AM]] [[radio station]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]. The station airs a [[talk radio]] [[radio format|format]] and is owned by former [[Fox News Radio]] personality Todd Starnes’ Starnes Media Group.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?call=KWAM |title=KWAM Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www1.arbitron.com/sip/displaySip.do?surveyID=SU08&band=fm&callLetter=KWAM|title=KWAM Station Information Profile|publisher=[[Arbitron]]}}</ref> The studios and offices are on Murray Road in Memphis. The [[transmitter]] is located off Bridgeport Road in [[Marion, Arkansas]].<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/patg?id=KWAM-AM&h=N&lat=35.11736&lon=-89.97107&locn=Memphis%2C%20Tennessee Radio-Locator.com/KWAM]</ref>▼
▲'''KWAM''' (990 [[
By day, KWAM is powered at 10,000 [[watt]]s. But because [[990 AM]] is a Canadian [[clear channel station|clear channel frequency]], KWAM must reduce power at night to only 450 watts to avoid interference. It uses a [[directional antenna]] at all times.<ref>[https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&s=C&call=KWAM&nav=home Radio-Locator.com/KWAM]</ref> Programming is also heard in Memphis and adjacent communities on low-power [[FM translator]] '''W300DE''' ({{Frequency|107.9|[[FM broadcasting|FM]]}}) and is available online.
==Programming==▼
==History==
===Early years===
The owners of Little Rock-area radio station [[KLRG (North Little Rock, Arkansas)|KXLR]] sought to build a statewide network of stations to carry [[Arkansas Razorbacks football]], and they felt that the Memphis area would provide important coverage and exposure for the football program.<ref name="rex">{{cite news|url=https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2013/apr/10/resurrecting-radio-legend-20130410/|date=April 10, 2013|title=Resurrecting a radio legend|first=Rex|last=Nelson|work=Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette|accessdate=August 30, 2021}}</ref> On May 24, 1946, the West Memphis Broadcasting Company obtained a [[construction permit]] to build a new [[daytimer|daytime-only]] station on 990 kHz in West Memphis, Arkansas.<ref name="hc">{{FCC letter|hcards=yes|callsign=KWAM|letterid=45336}}</ref> After delays, KWEM (990 AM) began operating on February 9, 1947, utilizing studios in the Merchants and Planters Bank Building.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88016399/|page=11|work=The Commercial Appeal|title=New Station Gathers Audience From Afar: West Memphis KWEM Reported Clear 175 Miles Away|date=February 11, 1947}}</ref><ref name="poindexter">{{cite book|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/Arkansas-Airwaves-Poindexter-1974.pdf|via=World Radio History|title=Arkansas Airwaves|first=Ray|last=Poindexter|date=1974|accessdate=August 10, 2021}}</ref>{{rp|317}} The official opening was two weeks later on February 23.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88016514/|title=Kay Arrives Today!|date=February 23, 1947|page=4|work=The Commercial Appeal}}</ref>
West Memphis was described as the "Las Vegas of the South" in this era, and its programming drew from musicians playing in clubs.{{r|rex}} [[Howlin' Wolf]] had a show on the station from 1949 to 1952, and [[Sam Phillips]] heard him and signed him to a contract with [[Sun Records]];<ref name="flips">{{cite news|url=https://theeveningtimes.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/kwem-flips-the-switch-at-mid-south-community-college/|work=The Evening Times|first=Mark|last=Randall|date=June 5, 2014|title=KWEM 'flips the switch' at Mid-South Community College}}</ref> his program aired after music by rockabilly guitarist [[Paul Burlison]];<ref>{{cite news|work=Providence Journal|date=September 19, 1986|title=Sun's sons: Rockabilly pioneers|first=Mike|last=Boehm}}</ref> [[B.B. King]] was first heard over the station, getting his break on a show helmed by [[Sonny Boy Williamson II]];<ref>{{Cite news|first=Fred|last=Shuster|work=Daily News of Los Angeles|title=Blues king had pauper start|date=October 23, 1991|page=L8}}</ref> [[Stax Records]] founder [[Jim Stewart (record producer)|Jim Stewart]] started at KWEM, as did [[James Cotton]] and [[Hubert Sumlin]];<ref>{{cite news|title=Wolf's guitar man keeps his bite|work=The Commercial Appeal|date=April 29, 2005|first=Bill|last=Ellis}}</ref> [[Johnny Cash]]'s first radio broadcast was on KWEM in 1953.{{r|rex}}<ref name="mitch">{{cite news|url=https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2010/jul/13/back-on-the-air/print|first=Mitch|last=McCracken|work=Memphis Daily News|date=July 13, 2010|title=Back on the Air: Historic KWEM returns to airwaves|accessdate=August 30, 2021}}</ref> The station allowed aspiring performers to pay for 15-minute blocks of air time.<ref name="mine">{{cite news|url=https://www.wknofm.org/news-and-features/2013-05-13/youll-be-mine-bringing-musical-tourism-to-west-memphis|accessdate=August 30, 2021|title= You'll Be Mine: Bringing Musical Tourism To West Memphis |first=Eleanor|last=Boudreau|work=WKNO|date=May 13, 2013}}</ref> [[Elvis Presley]] made his first radio appearance on KWEM in 1953, which did not go well because he lacked a band and moved around too much;{{r|flips}} [[George Klein (DJ)|George Klein]] worked there as a DJ after its move to Memphis;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/50s/1955/CB-1955-02-12.pdf|work=Cash Box|date=February 12, 1955|title=Platter Spinner Patter|via=World Radio History|page=11|accessdate=August 30, 2021}}</ref> so did [[Eddie Bond]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/50s/1957/CB-1957-08-17.pdf|work=Cash Box|date=August 17, 1957|page=43|title=Country Round Up|accessdate=August 30, 2021}}</ref>
KWEM was purchased by Dee Rivers in 1951.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1951/BC-1951-12-03.pdf|accessdate=August 26, 2021|date=December 3, 1951|title=FCC Actions|work=Broadcasting|page=98}}</ref> In March 1952, Rivers applied to have the station moved across the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee, which was approved in January 1954; the transmitter site remained in Arkansas.{{r|hc}} He started the "Dee" Rivers Stations Group, which later owned [[WEAS-FM]] in [[Springfield, Georgia|Springfield]]/[[Savannah, Georgia]], and WGOV (now [[WGUN]]) in [[Valdosta, Georgia]], as well as other stations in Georgia and Florida. KWEM held a construction permit to build a channel 48 television station in Memphis, KWEM-TV, but abandoned it in August 1953 because it could not find an adequate site that could house both AM and TV studios and the TV station's transmitter site and did not want this situation to hinder improvements to the radio station.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1953/BC-1953-08-10.pdf|page=11|work=Broadcasting|date=August 10, 1953|accessdate=August 26, 2021|title=KWEM Turns In TV CP, Unable To Get Site}}</ref> It continued to be an influential hotbed of talent; the transmitter remained on the Arkansas side of the river.<ref name="hc" /> This lasted through the end of the decade, when KWEM became KWAM.{{r|hc}}
===Power Boost===
On March 31, 1959, Rivers changed the call letters to KWAM{{r|hc}} as part of a presentation overhaul that did little to change the station's format.<ref name="newsound">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88054088/|date=March 31, 1959|work=The Commercial Appeal|page=22|first=Henry|last=Mitchell|title=That 'New Sound' Is Wham, But Country Tunes Remain}}</ref> The next year, it stopped playing live music.{{r|mine}} In 1963, the station got FCC permission to boost its power to 10,000 watts, using a [[directional antenna]], but it still could not broadcast after sunset.{{r|hc}} The transmitter, however, failed and was destroyed in a fire the next year; competitor WLOK loaned equipment to help KWAM return to the air.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88054278/|title=Friends|agency=Associated Press|page=4|work=The Nashville Tennessean|date=April 8, 1964}}</ref>
The KWEM call letters were later revived for [[KWEM-LP]], a low-power FM station in West Memphis owned by [[Arkansas State University Mid-South]], which serves as a tribute to the KWEM of the late 1940s and 1950s and began broadcasting on FM in 2015 (an earlier version had been established in 2009). The project was led by Dale Franklin, who died in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://theeveningtimes.com/theeveningtimes/2017/11/21/dale-franklin-kwem-radio-revivalist-passes-away/|accessdate=August 26, 2021|date=November 21, 2017|work=The Evening Times|title=Dale Franklin, KWEM radio revivalist, passes away|first=Mark|last=Randall}}</ref>
===Gospel and religion===▼
Around 1980, as music listening moved over to FM radio, KWAM began airing [[Christian radio|religion shows]], selling blocks of time to preachers and playing [[black gospel music]].<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1980/C-2%20Radio%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201980.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1980 page C-213]</ref> In 1981, Dee Rivers Stations acquired FM station 101.1 KLYX, which was renamed KWAM-FM. At first, it also aired a gospel and religious format like its AM counterpart. But in 1983, the call letters were changed to KRNB, with the station switching to a [[rhythmic contemporary]] and [[disco]] format, while 990 KWAM continued its gospel sound.<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1984/B-Radio-NE-Ter-BC-YB-1984.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1984 page B-239]</ref>▼
In 1986, KWAM got nighttime authorization. It was allowed to stay on the air after sunset, but at 450 watts.<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1990/B-Radio-NE-Terr-BC-YB-1990.pdf Broadcasting Yearbook 1990 page B-289]</ref>▼
▲
▲In 1986, KWAM got nighttime authorization.
===Change in ownership===▼
Clear Channel sold KWAM to Concord Media for $1 million in 2000.<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2005/Radio-NE-Ter-2005-BC-YB.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005 page D-480]</ref> Concord switched KWAM to a [[talk radio]] format, which competes with iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel) talk station [[AM 600]] [[WREC]]. Several years later, KWAM changed hands again, this time bought by Legacy Media, which also owns [[WEKS]], an FM [[country music]] station in [[Zebulon, Georgia]], just outside [[Atlanta]]. In 2017, Legacy Media added a 250 watt FM [[broadcast relay station|translator station]] to [[simulcast]] KWAM, 107.9 '''W300DE'''. The next year, Legacy Media would change the station's branding to "KWAM The Voice - Talk Radio for the Midsouth."▼
[[File:Todd Starnes 2012 09.png|thumb|Memphis native [[Todd Starnes]] has owned KWAM since March 2020.]]
In February 1996, U.S. Radio announced it would purchase KWAM and the FM station, [[KJMS]], from Rivers. This united the two stations with their principal competitors, [[WDIA]] (1070 AM) and [[WHRK]] (97.1 FM). One month later, U.S. Radio was purchased by [[Clear Channel Communications]] for $140 million.<ref>{{cite news|first=Laurel|last=Campbell|page=B5|work=The Commercial Appeal|title=Clear Channel agrees to buy Radio Equity|date=May 10, 1996}}</ref>
▲Clear Channel sold KWAM to Concord Media for $1 million in 2000.<ref>[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2005/Radio-NE-Ter-2005-BC-YB.pdf Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2005 page D-480]</ref> Concord switched KWAM to a [[talk radio]] format
Legacy Media sold KWAM as well as its translator for $685,000 to the upstart Starnes Media Group, which is owned by Todd Starnes, a long-time journalist who served stints at Baptist Press and later Fox News before starting his own radio station in his native Memphis.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.insideradio.com/free/former-fox-news-radio-host-todd-starnes-purchases-memphis-am/article_f88a8f9e-332a-11ea-bf17-ff38e6f50358.html |title= Former Fox News Radio Host Todd Starnes Purchases Memphis AM.- Inside Radio|author=|date=9 January 2020|website=insideradio.com}}</ref> Upon the close of the purchase, Starnes Media Group changed the station's branding to reflect the history of the station, renaming it "The Mighty 990."▼
▲Legacy Media sold KWAM as well as its translator for $685,000 to the upstart Starnes Media Group,
▲==Programming==
After Tim Van Horn left for station WKIM in late October 2022, Ben Deeter now hosts the station's morning [[drive time]] news and interview show, ''Wake Up Memphis''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ben Deeter - at KWAM |url=https://mighty990.com/author/bdeeter/ |access-date=November 2, 2022 |website=KWAM|language=en-US}}</ref> The majority of the station's lineup consists of [[Broadcast syndication|nationally syndicated]] talk shows and is regarded as the [[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship station]] for owner [[Todd Starnes]]'s weekday afternoon program.<ref name=":0" />
Other syndicated hosts include [[Armstrong & Getty]], [[Lars Larson]], [[Sebastian Gorka]], [[Rita Cosby]], [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]], [[Charlie Kirk]] and "[[Red Eye Radio]]." Weekends feature shows on money, health, guns, gardening, home repair and the outdoors. Some weekend shows are paid [[brokered programming]]. Most hours begin with an update from [[Townhall|Townhall News]].
==References==
{{
==External links==
{{AM station data|35873|KWAM}}
*{{FCC-LMS-Facility|148438|W300DE}}
*{{FXL|W300DE}}
{{Memphis Radio}}
[[Category:Radio stations in Tennessee|*]]
[[Category:Talk radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in
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