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KXIC

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KXIC
Broadcast areaCedar Rapids; Johnson County
Frequency800 kHz
BrandingKXIC 800
Programming
FormatSports
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
KKRQ, KKSY-FM, KMJM, KOSY-FM, WMT
History
First air date
June 7, 1947 (1947-06-07)
Call sign meaning
Iowa City
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID29075
ClassD
Power
  • 1,000 watts day
  • 199 watts night
Transmitter coordinates
41°41′15″N 91°32′39″W / 41.68750°N 91.54417°W / 41.68750; -91.54417
Links
Public license information
WebcastListen Live
Websitekxic.iheart.com

KXIC (800 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Iowa City, Iowa, and serving the Cedar Rapids area as well as Johnson County. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC. It airs a sports radio format, with some news and talk shows. Most programming comes from Fox Sports Radio.

KXIC operates on 800 kHz, a Mexican clear channel frequency reserved for XEROK in Ciudad Juárez. As a result, it reduces power at night from 1,000 watts to 199; prior to 1986, it broadcast during the daytime only. It uses a directional antenna for both daytime and nighttime operation.[2]

History

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The Johnson County Broadcasting Corporation received a construction permit for a new daytime-only radio station in Iowa City from the Federal Communications Commission on December 15, 1947.[3] The permittee was formed by four war veterans, two with prior involvement at WSUI and two employed other stations in the region and sought to bring the first commercial station to Iowa City (WSUI is owned by the University of Iowa).[4] KXIC began broadcasting on June 6, 1948, as an independent outlet.[5] The station was the originating outlet for radio broadcasts of Iowa Hawkeyes football, feeding a statewide network for decades;[6] Gene Claussen called games until the 1980s, when the Hawkeyes consolidated their network under one broadcast originating at WHO.[7] George M. Ludwig, a state representative and father of space scientist George H. Ludwig, served as KXIC's farm editor for 11 years before his death in 1959.[8] While he was in college at the University of Iowa, future NBC newsman Tom Pettit worked at KXIC.[9]

In the 1960s, Interstate 80 was constructed in Iowa. For several years, KXIC protested the condemnation of part of its transmitter site land for use to build the new highway, as the 8.47 acres of land seized was crucial to the station's future plans to increase power from 1,000 to 5,000 watts.[10] The radio station had initially been awarded $13,200 by a commission seizing land for the interstate, but it appealed the award, asking for $75,000 and later $100,000.[11] The case reached the Iowa Supreme Court before it was returned to Johnson County district court, where a jury awarded the station $53,250;[12] the higher court overturned the award because it included inadmissible evidence about a power increase it felt was infeasible.[13] After the interstate was built, studies were conducted to ensure that lighting on the nearby interchange with Dubuque Street did not interfere with KXIC's operation.[14]

With the door shut on an increase to 5,000 watts, KXIC opted to expand into FM broadcasting. In May 1966, KXIC-FM 100.7 signed on.[15] In addition to a new FM station, KXIC constructed expanded studios at the transmitter site.[16]

Former logo

After more than three decades of broadcasting, the Johnson County Broadcasting Company sold KXIC and the FM station, at that time known as KICG, to Tom Ingstad's Red River Valley Broadcasting Corporation in 1979 for $975,000.[17][18] In the early 1980s, the station jettisoned its longtime full-service middle of the road format[19] to take on country music sound; KXIC then adopted the syndicated Music of Your Life oldies/adult standards format in 1984.[20] Two years later, in September 1986, KXIC was allowed to broadcast at night for the first time, picking up NBC Talknet programs.[21] Several months later, KXIC flipped to classic hits.[22]

Ingstad reached a deal to sell KXIC and KKRQ to Heartland Media, a group headed by Ron Hamilton, in 1987 for $2.3 million.[23][19] The transaction, however, never closed, and it was not until 1997 that Ingstad would sell the pair to Jacor for $8 million, with KXIC having moved to a news/talk format.[24] Through all of the changes in KXIC history, one fixture remained constant: a daily 15-minute show hosted by Dottie Ray, who had been at the station since 1956 and began the daily show in 1959, hosting the show for 55 years until 2014 and interviewing 32,397 guests on more than 14,000 broadcasts.[25][26] Her show had survived the Ingstad purchase when advertisers pulled their support upon the announcement of the program's cancellation, prompting its restoration.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for KXIC". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ "KXIC". fccdata.org. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  3. ^ "History Cards for KXIC". Federal Communications Commission. (Guide to reading History Cards)
  4. ^ "Two Groups Seek Right to Operate Radio Station". The Democrat and Leader. February 9, 1947. p. 12. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  5. ^ "Iowa City's New Radio Station, KXIC, Will Go on Air Sunday at 2 P.M." Iowa City Press-Citizen. June 5, 1948. p. 2. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "To Air Hawkeye Grid Games Here". Sioux City Journal. September 23, 1958. p. B2. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  7. ^ Hansen, Marc (May 7, 1987). "Which voice will be the one?". Des Moines Register. p. 1S. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  8. ^ "Father of SUI Space Scientist Dies". Times Herald. Associated Press. November 16, 1959. p. 7. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  9. ^ Rexroat, Dee Ann (December 21, 1985). "NBC newsman Tom Pettit gets back to basics". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. p. TV Vision 3. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  10. ^ "Iowa Supreme Court Rules On 2 Appeals From County". Iowa City Press-Citizen. October 20, 1964. p. 4. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  11. ^ "Court to hear condemnation suit appeal". Globe-Gazette. Associated Press. May 13, 1964. p. 3. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  12. ^ "Jury Raises Land Award". Iowa City Press-Citizen. March 18, 1965. p. 2. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  13. ^ "Property Case Is Remanded". Iowa City Press-Citizen. March 8, 1966. p. 1. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  14. ^ "New Lighting May Hamper Broadcasting". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. June 11, 1970. p. 9C. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  15. ^ "FM Broadcast Station Begins Operation Here". Iowa City Press-Citizen. May 10, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  16. ^ "Iowa City Station Will Build Studio". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. June 24, 1965. p. 31. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  17. ^ "Local radio stations to get new owners". Iowa City Press-Citizen. May 12, 1979. p. 2A. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  18. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. August 27, 1979. p. 44. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  19. ^ a b Muller, Lyle (August 14, 1987). "Two Iowa City radio stations sold". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. p. 6B. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  20. ^ "KXIC-AM drops its country format". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. November 9, 1984. p. 7B. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  21. ^ Schuelke, Kent (September 8, 1986). "KXIC to turn on 'Talknet' tonight". Iowa City Press-Citizen. p. 1C. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  22. ^ "KXIC format goes classic". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. March 14, 1987. p. TV Vision 20. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  23. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. September 18, 1987. p. 14. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  24. ^ "Transactions" (PDF). Radio & Records. July 4, 1997. p. 6. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  25. ^ Gruber-Miller, Stephen (August 9, 2016). "KXIC legend Dottie Ray was a 'pioneer in broadcasting'". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  26. ^ "Dottie Ray Passes Away At 93; Hosted At KXIC/Iowa City For 55 Years". All Access. August 10, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  27. ^ "Iowa City radio icon Dottie Ray dies at 93". The Cedar Rapids Gazette. August 9, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
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