KONA (AM)

The station signed on the air on February 15, 1949.^[4] It was originally on 1230 kHz and its call sign was KWIE. It was owned by Mid-Columbia Broadcasters and was powered at only 250 watts, a fraction of its current output. In 1951, KWIE was authorized the Federal Communications Commission to move to 610 kHz and boost the power to 1,000 watts; in 1955, the station further increased power to 5,000 watts, allowing it to be heard over the entire the Tri-Cities of Washington.^[5]

In 1957, KWIE was acquired by Cascade Broadcasting. Cascade already owned KEPR-TV Channel 19, so the radio station switched its call sign to KEPR to match the TV station.^[6] Because the TV station aired CBS television shows, KEPR radio became an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network. In 1967, it added an FM station, KEPR-FM 105.3.

In 1969, the KEPR radio stations split from KEPR-TV, acquired by Tri-Cities Broadcasting. The call signs were switched to KONA and KONA-FM. AM 610 had a middle of the road format of popular music, news and sports, while the FM station played beautiful music. In the 1980s, as music listening switched from AM to FM, KONA gradually reduced the music shows and added more talk programming, until it made the transition to all-talk.

In 2003, KONA and KONA-FM were acquired by CCR-Tri Cities IV.^[7] Effective June 17, 2022, Cherry Creek Radio sold KONA as part of a 42 station/21 translator package to Townsquare Media for $18.75 million.

• FCC History Cards for KONA
• Official website
• Facility details for Facility ID 67668 (KONA) in the FCC Licensing and Management System
• KONA in Nielsen Audio's AM station database