The station first signed on the air in 1948 as KWGB (King Western Goodland), operating at 730kHz with 1,000 watts during the day and 20 watts at night, a power specification it maintains to this day.[5] The station was originally licensed to the Goodland Broadcasting Company, owned by James E. Blair. In 1958, as the company launched a new television station, KWGB-TV (Channel 10, now KBSL-DT), the radio call sign was briefly changed to KBLR (Kansas Blair Radio) for a period of two years. Both the radio and television stations experienced significant financial difficulties, and by 1960, they were put into bankruptcy.[6]
In 1962 the radio station was acquired by Bob Schmidt of Hays, Kansas, who also owned KAYS-TV in Hays. The acquisition reunited the radio station with its television counterpart, which was simultaneously acquired by Schmidt after having briefly operated as KWHT-TV. Following the reunion, the radio station's call sign was changed to KLOE, and the television station became KLOE-TV (Channel 10).[7]
KLOE and KLOE-TV immediately became part of the newly formed Kansas Broadcasting System (KBS), a network of stations across western and central Kansas anchored by Wichita CBS affiliate KTVH (now KWCH-DT). KLOE and its sister stations provided local news and programming to the extreme western portion of the state. KLOE-TV and KLOE radio shared facilities in Goodland, a setup that continued even after the stations were separated.[8][9]
In 1989, a new corporation purchased KLOE-TV and the other KBS satellites, separating the radio and television licenses. The television station call sign was changed to KBSL-TV (later KBSL-DT), while KLOE radio retained the KLOE call sign and continued to operate from the facility on West 31st Street in Goodland.
n the 2000s, KLOE operated under the ownership of Rocking M Media, primarily running a sports radio format branded as "Fox Sports 730."
In 2024, the station, along with several other Rocking M Media properties, was acquired by the Kansas Broadcast Company (led by Kyle Bauer and licensed to Melia Communications) through a bankruptcy auction. On August 5, 2024, KLOE dropped its sports format and flipped to an oldies format, branded as "730 Gold."[10][11]
Previous logo
The station was forced to close after high wind gusts on December 17 and 18, 2025, caused the tower to lean, which resulted in the failure of the porcelain insulators at the base of the tower. More gusty conditions on December 27 and 28 caused the tower to collapse. The costs associated with reconstructing the tower and the "realities facing AM broadcasting" forced the owners to take the station silent. [12]
↑"KWCH-TV History". Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications and Computation. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
↑Harmon, Steve (November 21, 2024). "Throwback Thursday: KTVH - Vol. 97". Hutch Post. Retrieved November 2, 2025. In 1983, the station was sold to Ross Beach and Bob Schmidt, who changed the call letters to KWCH-TV and the main broadcasting was done from Wichita.
