IA-MO Radio: KOKX-AM, WCEZ-FM Return To Airwaves

Mike Greenwood and Leah Jones

After being off the air for a month, two Keokuk, Iowa radio stations are up and running under local management, as of June 1.

KOKX 1310 AM in Keokuk, Iowa and WCEZ 93.9 FM Z-93 licensed to Carthage, IL are being bought by Mike Greenwald, a local city councilman and station employee Leah Jones, partnering as Keokuk Broadcasting.  Terms were not disclosed.

KOKX 1310 AM (1 kw-D, 500 watts DA-N)

Jones has worked at KOKX-AM and WCEZ-FM for years, both on-air and in management. She said it was devastating when she learned that the stations were on the chopping block and the employees were laid off.

But instead of sitting back and looking for a new job, Jones started organizing meetings with city and county leaders to save Radio Keokuk.

Greenwald said the station had meetings with several broadcast companies but either side couldn't reach an agreement.

So Greenwald and Jones decided to buy it from Riverfront Broadcasting and they said its because the station has a big impact on the community.

"We were worried for quite a while that it wouldn't exist anymore," Greenwald said. "It was just an asset that was too big and too important to the community to let it go."

"We will be adding health shows, things that the community has asked us for that brings something to their life and impacts their day to day," Leah Jones said.

WCEZ 93.9 FM (6 Kw) Red=Local Coverage Area

Jones said KOKX-AM will continue with a country music format for now while WCEZ-FM, which currently features Rock & Roll from the 1950’s-1980’s will fast forward a couple decades, focusing on the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s.