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KWGS (89.5 FM) is listen-supported, non-commercial, public radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. KWGS and classical music sister station 88.7 KWTU are owned and operated by the University of Tulsa. The studios and offices are in Kendall Hall near the intersection of 5th Place and Florence Avenue, on the university's campus.
 | |
| Broadcast area | Tulsa metropolitan area - Northeastern Oklahoma |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 89.5 MHz (HD Radio) |
| Branding | Public Radio 89.5 |
| Programming | |
| Format | Public Radio - News - Talk |
| Subchannels | HD2: Jazz "Jazz 89.5 HD2" HD3: BBC World Service "World Radio 89.5 HD3" |
| Affiliations | National Public Radio American Public Media Public Radio Exchange BBC World Service |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | The University of Tulsa |
| KWTU | |
| History | |
First air date | October 19, 1947 |
Call sign meaning | William Grove Skelly (Tulsa philanthropist) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 66586 |
| Class | C1 |
| ERP | 50,000 watts |
| HAAT | 325 meters (1,066 ft) |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Webcast | Listen live |
| Website | publicradiotulsa.org |
KWGS is a Class C1 station. It has an effective radiated power (ERP) of 50,000 watts. The transmitter is on South 273rd Avenue East, off the Muskogee Turnpike in Broken Arrow.[2] KWGS is licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to broadcast using HD Radio technology.[3][4] The HD2 subchannel plays jazz and the HD3 subchannel carries the BBC World Service.
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Most days, KWGS is all news and information. It is a National Public Radio (NPR) member station. It airs shows from NPR and other public radio networks on weekdays, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Fresh Air, 1A, Here and Now and Marketplace. The BBC World Service runs overnight.
On weekends, KWGS carries hour-long specialty shows, including Snap Judgment, Radiolab, The Moth Radio Hour, Selected Shorts, It's Been A Minute, Freakonomics Radio, This American Life, Latino USA, Hidden Brain, To the Best of Our Knowledge, The Splendid Table, The TED Radio Hour and Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Music shows are heard on weekend evenings, mostly jazz as well as folk and world music. The station airs American Routes on Sunday evenings.
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KWGS is Tulsa's oldest FM station. It was established in the 1940s, through the initiative of TU speech professor Ben Graf Henneke, who later became president of the university. The call letters are the initials of Tulsa oil executive and philanthropist William G. Skelly, who provided the funding.[5][6]
The station signed on the air on October 19, 1947.[7] For most of its first decades, it was a college radio station, offering students a chance to develop broadcasting skills. Few people owned FM receivers in that era, so the station did not have a large audience outside the campus.
In the 1960s, it increased its power to 4,100 watts, using a 500 foot (152 meter) tower.[8] That allowed it to be heard around Tulsa and adjacent suburbs. Then in the 1980s, the station got a signal upgrade. It increased both power and tower height to current levels. And it switched to a public radio news and information format, becoming a member of National Public Radio.[9]
Until the early 2000s, KWGS's schedule included some classical music, along with its news and information programming. Management wanted to give classical listeners a full time station. In 2004, co-owned 88.7 KWTU came on the air, offering classical and other genres of music. That allowed KWGS to air all news, talk and information most days, with some music on weekends.
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