WKZO (AM)

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WKZO

Kalamazoo, Michigan
Broadcast area	Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan area - Southwest Michigan
Frequency	590 kHz
Branding	Newsradio 590 and 106.9 FM WKZO
Programming
Format	Talk
Affiliations	CBS News Radio Compass Media Networks Premiere Networks Radio America Westwood One Detroit Lions Detroit Red Wings Detroit Tigers Kalamazoo Wings
Ownership
Owner	Duke E. Wright (Midwest Communications, Inc.)
Sister stations	WFAT, WNWN, WTOU, WVFM, WZOX
History
First air date	April 28, 1923 (in Berrien Springs, moved to Kalamazoo in 1931)
Former call signs	KFGZ (1923–1925) WEMC (1925–1930)
Call sign meaning	W KalamaZOo
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	54485
Class	B
Power	5,000 watts
Translator(s)	106.9 W295CL (Kalamazoo)
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Webcast	Listen Live
Website	wkzo.com

WKZO (590 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is owned by Midwest Communications, Inc., and airs a talk radio format. The studios and offices are on West Main Street in Kalamazoo.

WKZO's transmitter is a four-tower array on McKinley Street at 21st Street North in Cooper Township, Michigan.^[2] The station operates at 5,000 watts, using a non-directional antenna by day. Due to its location near the bottom of the AM dial, as well as its transmitter power and West Michigan's mostly flat land (with near-perfect ground conductivity), its daytime signal reaches much of the southwestern Lower Peninsula, with Grade B coverage as far east as Lansing, as far south as South Bend and as far north as Mount Pleasant. But at night, to protect other stations on AM 590, WKZO switches to a directional antenna, with power fed to all four towers. Much of the nighttime signal is directed north, concentrating it in the Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids areas. WKZO programming is also on a 200-watt FM translator, 106.9 W295CL, heard in Kalamazoo and adjacent communities.^[3]