89.7 FM, Council Bluffs, IA

Through the Years

• 1981

  November 23, 1981-  KIWR signs on programming classical music with some New Age Music.  Studios located at Iowa Western Community College, transmitter on the WOWT tower at 72nd & Crown Point, Omaha, with 100,000 watts direction eastward at 1013 feet.

• 1983

  KIWR joins NPR, becoming the second affiliate in the Omaha metro.

• 1990

  Station drops NPR, in a money-tightening move.  Joins APR as a secondary affiliate.

• 1992

  With $62,000 in debt, the owners intend to silence the station by July while seeking a buyer.  However, a last minute fund drive brought in enough to keep the station on until the end of the year.

• 1993

  A new March 15 deadline was set while again seeking a buyer.  Bidders fell short of requirements and the IWCC Board renews their commitment to the station for three years.   New program director Scott Hanley changes the station imaging from The Classical Station  to Heartland Public Radio,  brings back NPR and hires a news director.

• 1995

  New Program Director Vicki Ratliff turns the station into a teaching station as part of a broadcast journalism program.  Tuitions supplement grants from the Corporation of Public Radio.   NPR is gone again, replaced by classical music mornings,  jazz afternoons, and New Age in the evenings.

• 1996

  KIWR station format flips to contemporary mainstream pop-rock.  The staff is a mix of student announcers and local personalities from commercial environments.   Funding is supplemented by local businesses and retailers assisting with on-air auctions.  The money difficulties subside.  A $3 million bond issue is approved by the voters.

• 1997

  Plans are approved for a 27-thousand square foot classroom to house the broadcast program and new studios.

  Station hires “Free Beer & Hot Wings” for mornings on the station.

• 1998

  Program Director Bill Stewart shifts the music to Alternative Rock.

• 1999

  Summer ratings put KIWR on top, beating the other non-religious non-commercial stations KVNO 90.7 and KIOS 91.5

• 2000

  Free Beer & Hot Wings leave KIWR for Knoxville, TN.

• 2004

  June, 2004-  Jason Neimeier, aka “Spicoli” is Morning Show host and leaves in September 2021 to do mornings at KQKQ 98.5 FM in Omaha.

  September, 2004- Jake Ryan assumes afternoon shift and stays until April, 2012.

• 2007

  KIWR continues to sponsor concerts at Westfair Amphitheater in Council Bluffs.

  July 1, 2007- Red, White & Boom- with 311 and Matisyahu.

  July 21, 2007-  River Riot- including Incubus, Poppas Roach, Buckcherry, Hinder, the Exies & more.

• 2008

  July 2, 2008-  Red, White & Boom- featuring 311, Snoop Dogg, P.O.D., Five Finger Death Punch, Kottonmouth Kings.

  August 2, 2008-  River Riot-  3 Doors Down, Staind, Seether, Finger Eleven, Sick Puppies.

• 2009

  Concerts at Westfair Amphitheater

  August 14, 2009- Rockfest, with Korn, Mudvayne, Black Label Society, Static-X, Suicide Silence, Bury Your Dead.

  August 16, 2009-  River Riot- Blink 182, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Dirty Little Rabbits, Pomeroy.

• 2010

  Westfair Concerts-

  May 14, 2010- Rockfest- Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Papa Roach, Hellyeah, Halestorm, Skillet, Dirtfedd.

  August 14, 2010- River Riot- Weezer, STP, Cage the Elephant, Blue October, Flobots, Paper Tongues, Spose, Something to Burn, Emphatic.

  September-  Skinman is hired to do middays on the station.

• 2011

  Westfair Concerts-

  May 13, 2011-  Rockfest- Seether, Stone Sour, 10 Years, Hollywood Undead, My Darkest Day, Escape the Fate.

  Uproar Music Festival- Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Sevendust, Bullet for My Valentine and more.

• 2012

  April 16, 2012-  Corey Stroud, aka Corey is hired to do (Amplified Afternoons).

  Concerts at Mid America Motorplex, Pacific Junction, IA

  May 11, 2012-  River Riot-  Incubus, Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Emphatic, After the Fall

  Knotfest- Slipknot, Deftones, Lamb of God, Machine Head, Serj Tankian, Prong, The Urge, Dirtfedd.

• 2013

  Concerts at Westfair-

  May 11, 2013- River Riot-  Blue October, Hollywood Undead, 10 Years, Taproot, Trapt, Smile Empty Soul, Hurt, Sick Puppies, lamdynamite.

• 2014

  Westfair Concert-

  May 30, 2014-  Rockfest- Fiver Finger Death Punch, Black Label Society, Hellyeah, Killswitch Engage, Sick Puppies, Gemini Syndrome, Emphatic & more.

• 2015

  Westfair Concerts

  May 29, 2015- Rockfest- Papa Roach, Halestorm, In this Moment, Starset, The Pretty Reckless, Emphatic, We Are Harlot, Screaming for Silence, Arson City.

  No Coast Music Festival- Cage the Elephant, Bleachers, Joywave, Saint Motel, In the Valley Below, Icky Blossoms, Twinsmith.

  July 19, 2015- River Riot- Breaking Benjamin, Hollywood Undead, 10 Years, Powerman 5,000, Thousand Foot Krutch, Shaman’s Harvest, Full Devil Jacket, I Prevail, Soil.

• 2016

  Westfair-

  May 13, 2016- Rockfest-  Lamb of God, Rob Zombie, Hellyeah, Clutch, Atreyu, Parkway Drive, Corrosion of Conformity, Radkey, Narcotic Self.

• 2017

  Westfair-

  May 12, 2017-  Rockfest- Soundgarden, Papa Roach, The Pretty Reckless, Sum 41, Pierce the Veil, Biffy Clyro, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Through Fire.

• 2018

  Westfair-

  Summer Concert Series

  May 11, 2018- Five Finger Death Punch, Shinedown, Starset, Shaman’s Harvest

  June 2, 2018- Blue October, Kitten

  August 25, 2018- Stone Sour, Gemini Syndrome, From Ashes to New, Arson City, Shim

• 2019

  Westfair-

  May 10, 2019- River Riot- Halestorm, In This Moment, I Prevail, Sevendust, Through Fire, Palayae Royale, Beasto Blanco, The Impulsive.

• 2021

  Westfair-

  September 10, 2021-  River Summer Bash- Machine Gun Kelly, jxdn, Kennyhoopla, carolsdaughter, Mike Vicious, Dropout Kings.

• 2022

  February, 2022-  Joshua Nelson, aka Nelson, takes over the morning show.  Leaves in February 2023.

  Westfair-
  July 15, 2022- River Summer Bash- Shinedown, Jelly Roll, Austin Meade, Salt Creek

  August 6, 2022- River Riot- Rob Zombie, Mudvayne, Static-X, Powerman 5,000, Through Fire, The Tale Untold.

  August 20, 2022-  Rockfest- Alice in Chains, Breaking Benjamin, Bush, Messer, Arson City.

• 2023

  March, 2023-  Jake Ryan assumes morning show host

  Westfair-

  August 4, 2023- Rockfest- Motionless in White, In This Moment, From Ashes to New, Fit For a King, 10 Years, Fame on Fire, The Tale Untold, The Impulsive.