March/April 2024 (Volume 16, Issue 2)

 

By Michael Swanger

Whether you are a regular listener, or you occasionally tune in to hear the latest news, sports, agriculture, traffic, or weather coverage, chances are as an Iowan you have turned your AM radio dial to WHO “Newsradio 1040,” which marks its centennial in April. 

 

According to WHO’s historian George F. Davison Jr., a Des Moines lawyer and former WHO employee who I interviewed in 2011 for an Iowa History Journal cover story about the history of WHO, the radio station was established in the spring of 1924 by Bankers Life Co. When it aired its first regularly scheduled broadcast from its studio on the top floor of the Liberty Building in downtown Des Moines on April 10, 1924, WHO had only 500 watts on a frequency of 570 kilocycles (570 AM).

 

It’s call letters — WHO — stemmed from George Kuhns, president of Bankers Life Co., who was a long-distance listener and like others who tuned in to distant stations, would ask “Who is it?” In 1929, the stations’ next owners, the Palmer family, changed the call letter slogan to represent “With Hands Only,” which they adopted as a slogan of chiropractic care. 

 

In 1925, WHO increased its power to 5,000 watts. Two years later it became an NBC network affiliate, and in 1928 it changed to 1000 kilocycles (1000 AM).

 

In 1933, WHO began reaching Iowans across the state as well as listeners throughout the Midwest when it became an FCC Class 1-A clear channel station and increased its power to 50,000 watts. It would become the first of two Iowa radio stations with the maximum power permitted for AM stations in the U.S. — the other being News Talk 1540 KXEL in Waterloo, which began broadcasting in 1942.

 

It was during its early days that WHO began to establish itself as an important media outlet for rural Iowans as it was not focused solely on reporting news from the Capital City.

 

On March 29, 1941, WHO moved to 1040 kilocycles (1040 AM) where it has remained over the years.

 

Today, WHO is owned by iHeartMedia and features a conservative news/talk format. It also remains the longtime flagship station for the University of Iowa’s football and men’s basketball games. 

 

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