View source for KOUU

{{short description|Radio station in Pocatello, Idaho}}
{{Infobox radio station
| name             = KOUU
| logo             =
| city             = [[Pocatello, Idaho]]
| area             = 
| branding         = ''Country Classics 1290 AM/96.5 FM''
| airdate          = November 21, 1956<ref name="airdate">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41309960/|date=November 19, 1956|title=Radio KYTE To Open Here|page=3|work=Idaho State Journal|accessdate=December 29, 2019}}</ref>
| frequency        = 1290 [[kHz]]
| translator       = ''see below''
| format           = [[Classic Country]]
| power            = 50,000 [[watt]]s day<br>24 [[watt]]s night
| class            = D
| facility_id      = 28255
| coordinates      = {{coord|42|57|28|N|112|25|46|W|region:US-ID_type:landmark}}
| callsign_meaning = 
| former_callsigns = KYTE (1956–1962)<br>KSNN (1962–1978)<br>KISU (1978–1981)<br>KZBQ (1981–1995)
| affiliations     = [[Citadel Media|ABC Radio]]
| owner            = Idaho Wireless Corporation
| licensee         = 
| sister_stations  = 
| webcast          = 
| website          = [http://countryclassicsidaho.com countryclassicsidaho.com] 
| licensing_authority= [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
}}
'''KOUU''' (1290 [[AM broadcasting|AM]]) is a [[radio station]] broadcasting a [[classic country]] music format, as well as local high school sports events.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://countryclassicsidaho.com/|title=Country Classics Idaho|date=February 15, 2019}}</ref> Licensed to [[Pocatello, Idaho]], United States, the station is currently owned by Idaho Wireless Corporation and features programming from [[Citadel Media|ABC Radio]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=KOUU |title=KOUU Facility Record |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref>

==History==
The station went on the air as KYTE on November 21, 1956.{{r|airdate}} J. Ronald Bayton, the original owner of the independent, music-minded KYTE, sold the station a year later for $60,000 to Thomas R. and A. H. Becker of [[Newport, Oregon]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41323036/|work=Idaho State Journal|date=November 1, 1957|title=KYTE is Sold For $60,000|accessdate=December 29, 2019|page=1}}</ref>

Further changes came during 1961 and 1962, when KYTE moved from its original base to a new downtown studio,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41323198/|title=KYTE Moves During Year|date=February 27, 1962|accessdate=December 29, 2019|work=Idaho State Journal|page=B-4}}</ref> reopened after a month's silence under new management,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41322959/|date=October 31, 1961|work=Idaho State Journal|title=New Managers To Reopen KYTE|page=11|accessdate=December 29, 2019}}</ref> and changed its call letters to KSNN on February 26, 1962.<ref name="hc">{{FCC letter|callsign=KOUU|letterid=45893|hcards=yes}}</ref> The new managers, Tommy Thompson and Daniel C. Libeg, also acquired the station itself: in 1965, Libeg bought out Thompson's share in KSNN.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41324120/|work=Idaho State Journal|date=February 28, 1965|title=KSNN Owner Sells Interest|page=8|accessdate=December 29, 2019}}</ref>

After a vandalism attempt in April 1967 in which someone shot out the tower lights with a .22-caliber rifle,<ref>{{cite news|title=Vandalism At Tower|accessdate=December 29, 2019|work=Idaho State Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41324248/|date=April 23, 1967|page=11}}</ref> the station sought approval to move its transmitter site<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41324304/|work=Idaho State Journal|title=Zoners Favor Kennel South of City|date=October 19, 1967|page=2|accessdate=December 29, 2019}}</ref> as part of a $100,000 expansion that also included new studio facilities and the construction of an FM station at 93.7&nbsp;MHz, [[KZBQ|KSNN-FM]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41324360/|work=Idaho State Journal|date=November 2, 1967|accessdate=December 29, 2019|title=Radio Station To Expand|page=19}}</ref> The new offices opened in September 1968,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41324437/|title=Chiefs to Participate In KSNN Opening|page=2A|accessdate=December 29, 2019|date=September 24, 1968|work=Idaho State Journal}}</ref> while the FM outlet launched in 1969. KSNN also was hit with a lawsuit from the [[Associated Press]] in July 1969 for failure to pay a wire service bill.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41324494/|work=Idaho State Journal|date=July 25, 1969|accessdate=December 29, 2019|title=AP Sues KSNN Radio, Charges Contract Broken|page=A7}}</ref>

While the AM and FM outlets simulcast for the latter's first years in operation, the two stations split the simulcast in 1977, with the FM continuing to offer a Top 40 format while the AM flipped to oldies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41324626/|accessdate=December 29, 2019|work=Idaho State Journal|date=June 7, 1977|title=KSNN Radio to Split AM, FM Operations|page=A9}}</ref>

In March 1978, KSNN-AM-FM was sold to the KSNN Broadcasting Company, composed primarily of three businessmen from [[Hutchinson, Kansas]], for $159,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1978/1978-03-20-BC.pdf|work=Broadcasting|date=March 20, 1978|accessdate=December 29, 2019|title=For the Record|page=58}}</ref> The new ownership changed the call letters of the AM station to KISU on May 1.{{r|hc}} A format change in April 1981 resulted in new KZBQ call letters, allowing the television station at [[Idaho State University]] to pick up the [[KISU-TV]] calls later that year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41325074/|agency=Associated Press|work=Spokesman-Review|date=December 9, 1981|accessdate=December 29, 2019|title=Station Changes Letters|page=A8}}</ref>

KZBQ was acquired by its current owners, Idaho Wireless, in 1985 for $325,000; by this time, it ran an adult contemporary format.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RandR/1980s/1985/RR-1985-12-13.pdf|work=Radio & Records|date=December 13, 1985|page=12|accessdate=December 29, 2019|title=Transactions}}</ref>

On January 23, 1995, the station changed its [[call sign]] to the current KOUU, call letters that had resided on the then-unbuilt 104.1 station at American Falls which became [[KORR]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=28255&Callsign=KOUU |title=KOUU Call Sign History |work=United States [[Federal Communications Commission]], audio division }}</ref>

==Translators==
Three translators are listed as associated with the KOUU license:

{{RadioTranslators
| callsign = KOUU
| width    =
| call1    = K243CJ
| freq1    = 96.5
| city1    = Pocatello
| fid1     = 153928
| watts1   = 99
| haat1    = 61
| class1   = D
|
| call2    = K275BL
| freq2    = 102.9
| city2    = Pocatello
| fid2     = 152298
| watts2   = 99
| haat2    = 64
| class2   = D
|
| call3    = K294CD
| freq3    = 106.7
| city3    = Pocatello
| fid3     = 152582
| watts3   = 250
| haat3    = 485
| class3   = D
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{AM station data|28255|KOUU}}
*{{FCC-LMS-Facility|152298|K275BL}}
*{{FXL|K275BL}}

{{clear}}

{{Pocatello Radio}}
{{Country Radio Stations in Idaho}}

[[Category:Radio stations in Idaho|OUU]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1956]]
[[Category:1956 establishments in Idaho]]