Bill Stewart built KLMO in Longmont from a 250-watt local into a 10,000-watt AM, at the time second in Colorado only to KOA.
Getting started
Born in Winfield, Kansas, Stewart served three years in the Army Air Corps, two of them in the Asian theater, then studied radio and TV at Columbia University and earned his radio-TV degree from the University of Denver in 1948. That same year he was night news editor at KMYR and spent six months writing news for Starr Yelland at KOA.
Station manager
He moved into sales at KFKA in Greeley and worked up to general manager, then ran KGHF in Pueblo from 1951 and KWRL in Riverton, Wyoming, from 1958. In 1959 he became president and general manager of KLMO in Longmont. The FCC approved the jump to 10,000 watts in 1964, and he added KLMO-FM in 1969.
Stewart was a past president of the Colorado Broadcasters Association and its Broadcaster of the Year, and he was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado Hall of Fame in 2000.
Sources
Stations They Worked At
FROM THE TIMELINE
Career Moments
1951: Bill Stewart becomes general manager of KGHF
1951 — Bill Stewart, who had worked up from sales to manager at KFKA in Greeley, took over as general manager of KGHF in Pueblo.
1959: Bill Stewart takes over KLMO in Longmont
1959 — Bill Stewart became president and general manager of KLMO in Longmont, then a 250-watt station.
1964: KLMO approved for 10,000 watts
1964 — The FCC approved a power increase for KLMO in Longmont from 250 to 10,000 watts, making it, under Bill Stewart, second only to KOA in power among Colorado stations at the time.
1969: KLMO-FM signs on in Longmont
1969 — Bill Stewart added KLMO-FM to his Longmont AM.
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