KXSP

Coordinates: 41°19′0.00″N 95°59′52.00″W / 41.3166667°N 95.9977778°W / 41.3166667; -95.9977778

KXSP 590 AM is a radio station located in Omaha, Nebraska. It currently broadcasts as AM 590, ESPN Radio, an all-sports talk station. The station is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company.

History

The station was established in 1923 by the Woodmen of the World life insurance society as WOAW, after failing to obtain the WOW call letters (for Woodmen Of the World) because they were used by the steamship Henry J. Bibble. A callsign beginning with "W" was possible in Nebraska because the original dividing line between "W" and "K" call signs included the state's western border; WOAW's call sign was issued on November 27, 1922, shortly before the divide was moved to the Mississippi River in January 1923. Despite this, the station was able to adopt the WOW call sign on December 16, 1926, upon retirement of the Bibble. The Woodmen society put the station up for sale in 1945 out of fear that it would jeopardize its tax-exempt status; it eventually leased the station to Radio Station WOW, a group of local investors. That group gradually added an FM station (later KFMX and now KEZO-FM) and a television station (now WOWT).