KGHL Radio 790 Billings Photos from the John in Arizona Collection
All photos are the property of John C Johnson / John In Arizona / johninarizona.com and may not be used in any form elsewhere.
KGHL: KGHL Radio came on the air June 8, 1928 when Charles O. Campbell, who owned Northwestern Auto Supply, wanted Billings to have a radio station. Starting out at 250 watts on 950, the move to 790 was in March of 1941. An early example of a KGHL QSL card is on display in the current studio building. The original towers located west of Billings were a landmark for the area. When constructed in 1928, the 568 foot self-supporting tower was the tallest of its kind in the United States. The shorter tower was constructed in 1932. The 568 foot tower was pulled down by the land owners on January 21, 2020 out of safety concerns. The photos from 2020 taken by a former KGHL Chief Engineer, John Webber, show what remains. The "dog house" is empty now. That shorter tower is still in use by a wireless internet provider. The Art-Deco style building shown no longer exists. We understand that would have been in the middle of I-90 if it were still standing.
The photo from 1972 shows the studios and transmitter building at that time. The photo from 2007 shows how the building looked at that time. The tower photo from 2011 shows that the towers are still there, but no longer being used. The land where the station and towers were located has been sold. The towers remain, they are lighted, blinking away nightly, the building is now used by another business. In 2014 we noticed an old KGHL promotional item was in one of the windows. The KGHL billboard photo is from 1977. The drawing of the city scene is interesting. Note the large clock atop the one building. That was the world's largest revolving clock located atop the Security Bank building. For a number of years in the 1980's and 1990's KGHL's studios were located at 2070 Overland Park. Note the tower and antenna used to send the studio signal out to the transmitter site. When KGHL stopped using the west end towers, they moved the transmitter and constructed a new tower on the east end of Billings located off I-90 at the Johnson Lane exit. KGHL later moved to 222 North 32nd Street in the Granite Tower building. Later the station was sold to the Northern Ag Network and studios were moved to their 600 1st Avenue North location. The photos from inside KGHL are from 2014. We thank Russell Nemetz for the wonderful tour.
KGHL's FM facility came on the air in August of 1978 as KBMS. The call letters were changed to KIDX on December 9, 1978. Briefly from March 9, 1998 until April 17, 1998 they used the KOOK-FM call letters, then back to KIDX. On December 13, 1999 the calls were changed to KGHL-FM "The Wolf" until the station was sold, they are now KEWF. See KEWF for more information.
KGHL-TV is covered elsewhere on this site.
KGHL Radio 950 Billings early QSL card - 1927.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings print ad - 1965.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings Art-Deco style building on Laurel Road.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings postcard showing the art deco building and tower.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings building - 1972.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings transmitter building - 2007.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings towers - 2011.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings tower base - 2014.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings "dog house" after the tower was taken down - 2020.
GHL Radio 790 Billings land after the tower was taken down - 2020.
Former KGHL Radio building - 2014.
Former KGHL Radio building - 2014.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings billboard - 1977.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings billboard - 1977.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings new east Billings tower site - 2008.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings 600 1st Avenue North studios - 2013.
KGHL Radio 790 Billings 600 1st Avenue North studios - 2013.
Northern Ag Network's Russell Nemetz in KGHL Radio 790's main control room - 2014.
Some of the equipment racks used by KGHL - 2014.
All photos are the property of John C Johnson / John In Arizona / johninarizona.com and may not be used in any form elsewhere including social media sites. All rights reserved.