1400 AM, Alliance

Through the Years

• 1947

  December, 1947-  A group of local business and professional men form Sandhills Broadcasting with the intention to build a station in Alliance.

• 1949

  February 15, 1949-  KCOW signs on at 6:30 a.m.  Temporary studio/offices in the Drake Hotel.  Transmitter is located at 1100 West 3rd Street in Alliance.

  Studios and offices are later moved to the transmitter site, with the address being 1030 West Third Street, Alliance.

• 1950

  Gene Ackerly takes over as General Manager.

• 1955

  Studio and transmitter is moved to 1100 West 10th Street. Mailing address is later adjusted to 1210 West 10th Street.

• 1960

  Daytime power is increased to 1,000 watts.

• 1966

  KCOW is sold to KLOE, Inc. a subsidiary of the Beach-Schmidt Group (Ross Beach, Robert E. Schmidt) headquartered in  Hays, Kansas, for $117,500.    Don Gill is named general manager.

• 1968

  February, 1968- Permitted specified hours with 7:30 pm sign off, sign on at 6:45 am and 6:45 am Sundays.

• 1975

  Station returns to unlimited hours of operation.  Mike Garwood is hired as afternoon DJ starting a 32 year career with KCOW.  Garwood was also a sportscaster, promotion manager, operations manager and became General Manager in 1989, a title he held until his passing in 2007.  Garwood was inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2010.

• 1985

  October 1, 1985-  Co-owned KAAQ 105.9 FM signs on.

• 1991

  Ross Beach sells out to Robert Schmidt.  AM/FM sells to KAYS Inc. (Robert Schmidt) in a package deal that includes ten other co-owned stations in Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri for $14.14 million.

• 1992

  October, 1992-  Company is renamed Eagle Communications, Inc (Robert Schmidt).

• 2002

  October, 2002- Employees of Eagle Communications, Inc., and its subsidiary, Eagle Radio, Inc. acquire majority ownership.